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 Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:13 am
Early morning was the best time, in the humble opinion of Mac Gabhann. That was when most other taurs were sleeping and he could sit by himself with a book or a scroll and submerge himself in words. His words, the words of historians, the words of anonymous poets... it didn't really matter to him. Today he was huddled up underneath his favorite tree with a scroll in front of him, and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he wrote on it. At that moment, his entire world consisted of paper and ink.
And like Mac Gabhann, Eos was equally fond of the early daylight hours, wandering out at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise over the line of the trees. Tanned arms stretched upwards as the little girl trotted towards his tree, her golden-eyed curiosity attracted by the scroll that the little 'taur held in his hands. What was he doing? And why was he up so early, if not to watch the dawn? "Whatcha doin?" she asked, moving so that she could peer over the edge of the paper.
It took a few moments for him to react to the question. When the voice finally made it from his ears to his brain and his brain finally managed to tear itself away from the words, Gabhann's eyes flicked upward and he squinted as if a bright light had been shined into his face. Blinking slowly he attempted to figure out what was going on. The words were still echoing in his head. It took some concentration to lay them aside and look at this other young centaur, who was so brightly colored. Ah yes, she'd asked a question. He looked down at his ink-stained left hand and thought for another moment. "I'm... writing."
"Writing," Eos repeated, considering this a moment as golden eyes skimmed the paper. "A story? Or something else?" Her voice wasn''t loud, as another child's might have been. She doubted that yelling would have gotten her questions answered. And he seemed the quiet sort. There was no need to frighten him off. So the brightly colored girl settled in to sit next to him, letting him explain the paper if he so wished.
He blinked several times before glancing at the paper again and then back at her. "A story... yeah, story." Since she hadn't gone away yet he thought she probably wouldn't be going away for some time, so he carefully set his work aside and wiped the excess ink from his hands.
"About what?" There was no point in a story if you couldn't share it, and she was always a fan of such things. "Or do you not know yet? I've heard that some stories take a very long time to write." She toyed with one of the golden bracelets on her wrists. They had been gifts from her mother, and were still a bit too big, but she would grow into them eventually.
"Um... it's about, uh..." It wasn't that he didn't know. It was more that he had never tried to summarize it before, and for some reason he didn't understand he wanted to keep the idea hidden. Longingly he eyed the scroll, the words glistening as they dried, and after a short time his head twitched slightly as he remembered that he was trying to answer a question. "It's about warriors." His eyes seemed to be adjusting to looking at things that were not a few inches from his face, and he blinked less.
Eos tilted her head to the side, eyeing the scroll. "Warriors," she repeated. "I'd like to be a warrior someday. Or a huntress. I don't suppose there's much need for warriors nowadays." Folding her arms, she pawed the ground with one of her hooves. "Is that why you're up so early? To write?" Most everyone else was still asleep at this hour. She herself was up at this hour, every morning, but she'd never seen him before.
When he nodded it was actually somewhat brisk, and his eyes didn't drift away before he spoke again. "It's hard to write or read when it's dark. I wake up early so I don't waste any daylight." He scratched his head and stretched his arms over his head. He'd gotten a knot in his back from leaning over for so long. Heaving a huge sigh and looking a little more alert he asked, "Why are you up so early?"
"I like to watch the sun rise," Eos replied promptly, glancing towards the horizon. "It's quiet, and very pretty. And it's not so hot in the morning, like it is in the afternoon. So I can play now, and sleep later, when it's hot outside." A red and gold streaked tail flicked idly, and she removed a bangle from her wrist, twisting it in her hands. "I like being up early."
"It's also a good time to avoid taurs who want you to do boring things," he added, but his attention was already on her bracelet. He nodded at it. "That's pretty. Where'd you get it?"
"My Mum gave it to me," Eos said proudly, offering it for him to look. "She said that when I grow up, they'll fit better, but I still like to wear them now." They were gold, much like her eyes, and the streeks in her hair. "Who taught you to read and write?"
He accepted the bracelet and turned it in his hands, watching the shine move along the warm metal. "That was a gift from my mother, much like this was from yours." He smiled slightly and handed it back. "I think she regrets it now that I seldom do anything else." For a second he again looked bemused and lost in thought, but then he brightened. "We should watch the sunrise. That's what you came to do, isn't it?"
"It is," Eos replied, taking her bracelet back, and glancing towards the sunrise. "And we should. And after it's risen, could you teach me to read? I don't know how yet, but I'd like to learn. Nobody says a huntress can't be educated." And then she rested her hands on small, furry knees as the first few rays of light peeked over the horizon, brightening the world around them and of course the village at their back.
Never one to agree to a thing lightly, Gabhann gazed at the colorful sky for a time before replying. "I'll teach you. It's a good thing to know." His eyes wandered around to watch everything become gilded. The sun itself was too bright for him to look at. His vision was a bit dulled from reading so much.
"I thought it might be," the sunny-colored 'taur replied. "But if you're gonna teach me to read, you should prob'ly tell me your name." She offered him her hand. "And I'll tell you mine. I'm Eos. Mama said she named me after a Goddess, but I don't know which one, or why."
Oh yes, names. As usual, he found himself rather lacking in an understanding or recollection of social niceties. ...Such as telling people one's name. "My name's Mac Gabhann." He shook her hand. "I... don't know where my name came from. But I came from here, in the village. Where did you come from?" It sounded rather awkward, but it was some form of conversation so he was reasonably pleased with himself.
"I came from the village too. I come here every morning to watch the sun," Eos replied cheerily. Well, if he wasn't really sure of social nicities, she was happy to carry on the conversation. "It's nice to meet you Mac Gabhann." The little centaur pulled her hand back, and rose to her feet. "So do you ever do anything besides write? Like..play games? Or go exploring?" She went to explore the forests sometimes, or well, the edges of them. Her parents weren't exactly inclined to let her go wandering through the woods on her own.
"Oh, I also read." He smiled nervously, realizing that this was probably not the sort of thing she meant. "And... er... eat. And sleep." Quickly he stood up, trying to think of something else he did. "Sometimes I go to another place with my father and we find new books." His father couldn't read, but he liked to take his son on trips. They had seen a lot of the isle and it gave Gabhann lots of material to write about.
"So have you ever been into the forest?" She glanced towards the treeline, which was still rather dark. "I like to go there sometimes, but I can't go in very far. Mama says I'm too small for that. She says it could be dangerous, though I dunno why. I've never seen anythin' dangerous there."
"I've been in the forest, but I haven't seen anything dangerous either." He puffed his chest out a little. "My father wouldn't let dangerous stuff come near us if there was anything." When he was alone, however, he wouldn't dare go into the forest. Reading about adventure was all well and good. Living adventure was less appealing.
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