[PRP] - Memory of an Elephant ((Swirly/Para))

[Epine de Rose]

 

[Epine de Rose]

It was a glorious day. With barely a cloud in the sky, it gave the mare the ideal opportunity to admire her reflection in the lake as she woke. It had taken her a while (many months in fact) to grow accustomed to the rather long locks of hair she had developed. That being said, even though she frequently stumbled on land with said feature, she absolutely adored it and thanked her mother daily for letting her have it.

...Alright, so it never looked as shiny as her mother's but she had her reasons!

With a small smile on her lips, the mare had already tentatively dipped her hooves into the water. Lowering her head for a few small sips, the twinkle in her eye grew more intense as she watched the small flickers beneath the surface - fish! Not a day went by when she didn't positively grin at the sight of her friends. They'd never laughed at her and they took her games (and lessons) in good humour.

It was the one place she never fell, completely at home in the water it was a wonder she wasn't a Kelpi!

Nevertheless, with such a good day on the horizon she was fairly certain that her vigil of the lake would not remain undisturbed for long. The heat would rise and many would visit causing her friends to hide deep in the depths to avoid being trampled. It was a shame, but these things did happen... was just a little unfortunate that she couldn't plan her next lesson with them if they were hiding!

Oi, sometimes other soquili could be so brash and inconsiderate!  

[`Swirly]

Praise be. It wasn’t 10 trillion degrees outside by the time the sun rose. The stallion slowly made his way, winding through trees and remembering the paths that he took. His herd mate and friend, Flossy, had invited him to her herd lands for a couple day visit before both of them headed home. The little chit had acted a bit peculiarly lately, but it wasn’t for Faolen to question. He had enough trouble to wonder about.

His eyes grew a bit more fierce then lowered, opening back up when they were their normal vivid teal.

The very faded sound of water began to play softly in the back of his mind and the thought of a cool drink or perhaps a slight swim was enticing. His body was incredibly black, nearly as black as his grandfather. With a mane and tail that were both long and partially curly, it was hard to stay cool. Right now the white-green mix was bouncing around but held in control by “hair product.” The only true markings on the stallion were the etch-y markings around his hooves and the four white socks.

He tossed back his mane and snorted softly, the heat today would require a lot of napping probably. Or he just wanted to nap.

Wandering always made the appearance of other things come oh so much sooner, didn’t it? Before much longer Faolen stepped to the edge of the tree line and looked both left and right. Nothing to his right, but to his left was someone that seemed so very familiar. Moving nearly silently forward, he paused several feet away and simply stared for a moment. His reflection couldn’t be seen in the water as he wasn’t close enough to her for that.

Shaking his head slowly, Faolen spoke, “Do I know ye?”  

[Epine de Rose]

Crash!

No sooner had he spoken than the tiny mare lost her footing and plummeted head first into the lake. Partially submerged in water, she threw her head up to gasp for air and pulled herself to her feet again. She couldn't really pretend no one had seen it, but as she stood in the lake and shook the water from her sandy locks she did feign ignorance - it hadn't happened and that was that!

End of.

No arguments!

Nevertheless, after a few moments she regained her composure and slowly turned around. With the support of the water around her legs the mare seemed to have much more balance. In fact, her movements were much faster in water. At first her eyes simply fixed on the stallion as if he was nothing more than a stranger - that was until he spoke. Well, to say her face was a picture would have been an understatement.

"YOU!" She yelled angrily, memories of her childhood returning to the front of her mind.  

[`Swirly]

.. The hell.

Faolen had come forward when she toppled into the water to stand by the water’s edge and make sure she was alright. If he were in her position pride would’ve been damaged if someone had charged in to help, hence his standing back. That didn’t mean he wasn’t ready to help her if something was actually wrong with her from the fall. Nothing seem injured so he smiled at her.

Ut-oh.

.. They had met.

His teal eyes became a bit more intense as he looked the mare over, discreetly. She had Lovey’s hair that was for sure. Of course, nobody would ever get that same ridiculous amount of volume that his sort-of auntie had.. But a smaller-scale version suited both Fudge and this one… Her name was in the back of his mind and it wasn’t wanting to come forward. Something sweet.. Gr.. He frown a moment… HONEY!

“Aye, leannan ‘tis me.” His voice was lazy and he just kept smiling, waiting to see what she’d do next.  

[Epine de Rose]

"You - you -" She narrowed her eyes furiously at the stallion who didn't appear to have changed. Sure, he had gotten taller and was more well built but that seem lazy attitude and that hint of arrogance. Oh she remembered, she remembered when he had made fun of her oath and had thrown her traditions back in her face.

Now he thought he could just trounce up to her as though nothing had happened?

How rude!

Tossing her mane back, she moved further away from the stallion and unceremoniously hauled as much water as she could towards him with a violent swish of her tail. 'Leannan' indeed, she didn't even know what that meant and he should have more respect around her, especially after what he had done.

No, he should be grovelling.

"Meanie!" She mustered at last and shook her head, "How dare you come back to me!"  

[`Swirly]

“Aye, I.” His response was simple and probably considered to be more than a little bit of what a smart aleck would say to someone. All well, he’d not gotten this far into his life by attempting to be the very best friend of every single person that happened to come upon him in life. He remembered her of course, and also knew that Flossy’s invitation had only sped up something that the colt, now stallion, had promised to “someday” take care of.

There she was. She looked at him as if he had just insulted her all over again. Why did mares have to hold grudges?

How truly and utterly senseless this mess had become..

His own curly white-green locks bounced innocently around and he didn’t even flinch at the hurling of water at him. Inside, his muscles all bunched and nearly flinched but enough training had made hiding reactions oh so much more easy for him. Calling her the simple nickname that came from him was natural, perhaps she’d grow to like it, but if not… well since when did the stallion have to do tooo much chaning? Har.

She was name-calling now?

”Lass, yer lovely as I remember.. but I’m here with yer sister.” That was mostly the truth…
 

[Epine de Rose]

Uh huh, well she couldn't see her sister anywhere and Honey was fairly certain she would be seeing her sister prancing about somewhere. Over the years Flossy had never really grown out of that hyper phase, it had maybe mellowed a little but she wouldn't be Flossy without it! Therefore, it was with a flick of her tail and a toss of her mane that the mare disregarded his comment and narrowed her eyes.

"A liar too," She observed, ignoring his compliment as she began to back further into the water. It's cool embrace and support were enough to give her that extra boost of confidence she required, to the point that she scoffed at his words. "I dinnae like liars at all, they're worse than meanies," she pointed out, swivelling her ears at the sound of the rustling grasses beneath his hooves - today would have a mild breeze...good.

"Ye be the worst kind!" She confirmed her own words and turned her back as she begin to swim away from him. Well if he was here with her sister then he didn't need her to keep him company did he?  

[`Swirly]

Faolen had left a rather sulky Flossy to nap in the shade. They had traveled at an incredibly fast pace because the mare had insisted on it. One moment they’d be walking and the next moment she’d bolt forward remembering some special something that just had to be seen. Flossy was a sweet mare, but definitely too wild for him to even attempt to tame. Maybe it wasn’t even wild because… wild could be quite enjoyable.

“A liar? Nae, lass.” His words were silky and slow, careful not to give too much away nor was he willing to come off as cold. As a colt he’d always thought everything through very carefully and acted just as deliberately. “I canna say I care fer liars either an’ I still am yet ter meet someone that’s classified as a meanie.” True, she did call him that, but was he really? Probably in a rather small way… but not truly.

He smiled lazily and watched the pretty mare paddle around in the water. Didn’t she know he was just as adapt as she was in water? He’d grown up swimming probably the way she had.. Or at least he assumed.  

[Epine de Rose]

[[Swirls, do you wanna reply in the baby RP for Skye's lil Fudge before I post as Biscuit?]]

"Ye be a meanie!" She couldn't contain herself and spun round easily in the water. Using her long tail as a rudder she negotiated through the lake with ease and glowered in Faolen's general direction. Oh she hadn't forgotten, she hadn't let herself forget how mean he had been. He'd been so disrespectful that she hadn't taught a boy anything since!

"Ye be a rude meanie which is the worst kind!" She continued, puffing up her chest which looked somewhat comical against her poofy mane and coat - if anything, she just looked more huggable, "Dinnae think I be forgettin' that ye disrespected me herd and their traditions!" Pulling a face, she lifted her head higher and snorted rather deliberately.

"Nice words are not gonna get ye anywhere with me!"  

[`Swirly]

{{xD I marked it as dead, I‘ll grab it in this round of taggings!~}}

Faolen was really getting tired of the word meanie. Besides, the little lass didn’t have nearly enough heat in her words for him to want to just go and run off. Very few times did a Soq speak with true hatred and right now he just didn’t want to believe that she felt that hateful towards him. Slowly, the pitch black stallion made his way into the water…

“Well leannan, how kin I make it up ter ye?” As a colt he’d just been playing around before planning on giving his oath. They meant so much in his family… Why would he have honestly scoffed at hers? .. He wouldn’t have and in his mind he hadn’t. Faolen’s voice held a very soft note to it, gentle and quiet, “and yet I still don’ think I was disrespectin’ ye. Jest playin’ a bit beforehand.”

Nobody else had learned how to fish by him… Simply because it wouldn’t have been right. Stubborn mare.  

[Epine de Rose]

"Ye dinnae joke about these things," Spinning round the mare pulled another face and shook her head. If there was one thing Honey could never do it was act in a deliberately mean way. She found it nearly impossible to hate any one or to express herself in any way that would truly harm. While this could prove troublesome at times (like now) it never did anything bad in the long term.

"They be important an' ye foolin' around like tha' be tellin' me ye dinnae take it seriously!" Flicking her tail lightly against her side, she savoured the feeling of the water as it washed over her back. It was certainly a comfort to her, the added support she required to continue to 'survive' in the presence of a stallion like him.

...But he was being nice.

"Ye cannae make it up te me, ye nae jes' be insultin' me but me family too!"  

[`Swirly]

Faolen had to n** at his tongue to keep from telling her that she ought to have at least a little bit of a sense of humor or become more patient with others. If she had chosen to wait even just a few more moments he’dve had the time to take the pledge and fill her in on his little game. The stallion shook out his curly hair and moved towards the water. Right now a drink sounded incredibly… relaxing and simple.

Smiling with the impudence of youth and yet with more of his own general honestly, Faolen spoke softly after his drink. “I was just a colt, hell I’m hardly more’n one now… How could I take everythin’ seriously?” His father had been driven up the wall with orders disobeyed but rather conveniently indirect.

She was trying to hate him.

“Why canna I make it up, leannan? Ye’ve grown up so much.. Why canna the same be ‘o me?” His tone had a very very subtle provocation to it…  

[Epine de Rose]

Yes she was trying to hate him and it was definitely not easy. Rather, it was a struggle, a battle of will between her own stubbornness and her up bringing. It wasn't in either side of her family to be cruel, they were lovely unless they got really angry so why should she hold grudges? Well, Auntie Yei always told her to 'hold' a grudge until the male learnt his lesson and she could see the logic in it but...

It was just so hard!

"Because males dinnae grow up, me daddy would be the first te admit it and I be thinkin' tha ye be the same as him!" They always did say a mare went after someone who resembled her father and Honey found this rather amusing. Amusing in the sense that he had the same curly hair as her father and a strut (and manner) that was similar to his...that being said this stallion seemed to be a bit more calculated in what he did - her father just didn't care!

"And I be takin' it seriously, it nae be hard...jokin' about somethin' so important is beyond rude and ye parents shoulda been teachin' ye that!" She snapped at last, puffing out her cheeks as she struggled to maintain her 'I hate you' manner.  

[`Swirly]

Faolen could nearly see the wheels in the mare’s brain cranking around and around. It was fairly obvious that the filly in her wanted to hate him for being “mean” as a young colt.. But well, he’d just been that exactly. A young colt. The stallion that stood before her, black as pitch save for his mane, and markings wasn’t anything like what he used to be save for a few important similarities. She was so lovely now.. His mind didn’t want to focus on her as an adult. Boy, being a young adult wasn’t easy.

She kept distracting him.

Lovey was Faolen’s aunt so to speak, so for Biscuit to run his mouth about stallions he wanted to smile. Lovey Dovey had never, not even once spoken a harsh word against the girl’s father although to him it seemed like she would agree with that same statement. He lowered his head to stare into her eyes a bit more easily, even with the water a ways away, “C’mon now leannan, ye’ve got ter stop thinking’ o that one bad experience.. I’m nae that wee one, ye ken?”

His face sobered, family was not a joking manner to him and questioning the way he was raised definitely ruffled his coat, “Me parents are two ‘o the greatest an’ most honest Soquilis that I’ve ever met or will ever meet. Please jest leave them out of this.” He hated his tone.. But that wasn’t acceptable… at all.