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 Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:33 pm
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Sighing, Pakpao used her indigo hoof to send a conch shell sailing up into the water, only to watch it slowly sink back onto the ocean floor. She walked over towards the deeper water, looking over a craggy edge to the waterworld beneath.
Things shouldn't be so complicated, she thought to herself, pausing to debate whether or not to take a leap and sail down to the lower depths as the conch shell from earlier had sank once it sailed in the water. But then, once she got down there she'd have to walk all the way back up, so it'd probably just be better to stay where she was, and not wander into unfamiliar territory.
Looking up, the Kelpi realized she was already in unfamiliar territory. She must have grown too deep in thought over her talk with Angathi to even realize she was wandering off farther than she normally did. Where was she? And how was she going to get back? Should she even want to get back? |
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:02 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:16 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:26 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:42 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:01 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:10 pm
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With an imitated 'gulp' Kuval chuckled, and did another roll in the water. "Oh Paku, I see you haven't lightened up at all since last time. What a shame, you are such a darling thing." Who, when pestered, would probably get violent! "But I am glad to hear you are doing well.."
He paused, and grinned at her last comment.
"A stallion, eh? Was someone finally able to get lucky wit'ya?" And with a smirkish wink, he paused for a moment before continuing. "I OBVIOUSLY know you are too ladylike, but a man can dream, right?" He really was too flashy with his words...
"What stallion was it, that you met, by the way?" He then asked, with a more serious face. "I have only met two out here, Dev and Angathi.. " Two that were completely different, of course. Angathi was something to be remembered and Just thinking about it made Kuval exhausted.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:38 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:45 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:53 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:16 pm
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"Are you serious?" he then said, while putting a light smile on his face. "Of course I want to listen, I care about you Paku. Why would I always linger around and bother you if I didn't."
Kuval might have been the farthest thing from a true Kelpi. For many years of his life he wandered alone, since he had never experienced the fairytale that Angathi had boasted about. Angathi had even questioned if Kuval was a Kelpi, and the Koi-like fish was easily revolted by his words.
"Besides, I've always wondered what holds you back. You just seem boggled with things on your mind, and.. I couldn't help Angathi.." it was almost shameful to admit.. "I tried to help him lighten up but, it was impossible. But, I hope I can at least try and help you?" Besides, he had a closer bond with the female over Angathi, so he was genuinely concerned.
"I've been treated way worse then you say you have been treating me, so don't sweat it dear!" with a confident but strange grin, he chuckled and awaited what tale the female would reveal.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:38 am
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((Okay... so looking back, I got a bit carried away with post length-age. I'm sorry ;o; ))
She forced out a chuckle, finding his words ironic with her own situation.
"In that case, we'll have to trade stories." She murmured, feeling slightly embarrassed about revealing her memories to the Kelpi stallion. Just as she wasn't used to being physically close to another being, she wasn't used to expressing her thoughts and pent-up emotion. It moved her that he was so open in wanting to listen, to help her. No one had offered anything to her like that.... not since Calantha.
Closing her eyes, she allowed her body to relax, and the soft current gently swayed her as she began to talk.
"I was born into a family of Kelpi that was closely knit with a family of Merlocks. My father was steed to the Merlock father, my mother to the Merlock mother of the family. My siblings were born and raised as companions to the Merlocks' children, and it was expected of me long before I was born, to be companion to their youngest offspring... Calantha."
Just saying the name brought back a rush of memories, and a salty tear escaped from her eye. That was one good thing about living in the ocean... no one could tell you were crying.
"But I was born different from the rest of my family, as I'm sure you can see." she continued dryly, motioning towards her sides. "While my siblings and parents all had fins to swim around with, I was born finless, and therefore, was virtually useless to Merlock's needs. I couldn't travel by swimming, take Calantha where she needed to go... just useless. But she didn't care, Calantha. She was mine as I was hers, and I never met anyone so kinder in all of my life. Unlike her parents and my own, she saw me beautiful for just the way I was, fins or no fins."
The kelpi mare paused, and thought carefully over the next words she would say. It was getting harder to talk... all she wanted to do was clam up and attempt to forget the whole thing. But she had already begun, and it would do her good to get the entire story out in the open, instead of burying it deeper and deeper inside of her.
"It was Calantha's fifteenth summer, a few weeks before she was to be enrolled in the Merlock's training. What she was to learn there, neither of us knew, but both of us had been torn for I could not go with her, not in my condition. So, we spent each day that summer together, as if it were our last. Until, it was the last day."
She could feel her body tense up, but she forced her words to continue.
"We were out one day, far too deep into the ocean than we should have been, exploring the remains of the pale-face legger's sunken vessel. It was so exciting, finding odds and ends, hoping for glimpses of shiny treasure. It was a childish adventure, but we both were enjoying ourselves. Far too much, to apparently see the danger in our actions.
I still blame myself, to this day, that my coloring was the reason we were spotted. We had always been warned of dangers of the deeper seas, away from the protection of the Knights' watch. Sharks meant nothing to us, though I could not swim us away to safety, but we never feared an encounter all the same. But sharks weren't the ones to greet us that afternoon. No... a Leviathan did instead."
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The water inhaled into her lungs quickly passed through her gills, the oxygen in the water remaining within her, aiding her in her breathing.
"The Leviathan, we had both thought, was merely a legend used to scare young Kelpi and Merlocks into behaving. We didn't know it really existed... how could we? But it was there, in all of it's long serpent form. That wicked creature."
Her voice grew more coarse and harsh as she spoke, venom pouring from her words.
"Of all the days for it to rise from the hell it was spawned in, it chose that day to be near the vessel Calantha and I had chosen to explore. By the time we saw it, it was too late. The beast had spotted us, and had no doubt decided that a Merlock and Kelpi would make a fine afternoon meal.
I... I tried to save her. I really did. But, without fins, all I could do was run... "
Eyes closed again, forming the mental vision in her head of what had happened that fateful afternoon.
"We had spotted a small crack in the large wall of rock nearby... similar to a cavern. It looked big and deep enough for the both of us to hide in, and yet still too small for the Leviathan's larger head to fit in. Calantha clung to my back, and I ran us there.
While we were running, the Leviathan pursued. Being the snake-like creature it is, it wasn't long before it could catch up. Had it been a baby, we might have had a chance. But Calantha... she was snatched off my back before I even realized what was going on. We had almost made it to the cave!"
The tears were constant now, but her voice remained firm in it's storytelling.
"I ran in there, and that's when I realized she was gone. I turned around to look for her... and all I could see was red. Horrifying clouds of red, and then the Leviathan's face. I was shocked... and all I could do was stand there. I was such a coward, allowing her to die like that while I still lived. It was not only a dishonor to the bond between the Merlocks and the Kelpi, but to the greatest friend I ever had."
She felt like collapsing, but the story wasn't over with yet. Not by far.
"The Leviathan tired of waiting for me to leave the cave, and having had an adequate meal already, left the waters it had been lurking in. As I wandered out, the only remnant I could find of her was a hair shell she had worn that day, which must have fallen off sometime in the chase. Picking that up, I brought that back to what I used to know as home.
They.... they didn't know what had happened at first. As I wasn't able to actually speak with the Merlocks, they took the hair shell as a sign that I had been with their daughter, but no one knew her whereabouts. I tried explaining, but it fell on deaf ears. Even my own family saw me as dishonor to their name."
Her head bowed, and she decided to end the ever-long story she had forced upon the stallion, who no doubt would want nothing to do with her at this point, she was sure.
"They searched. And searched. But Calantha was never found. So the Merlocks assumed I had abandoned their youngest offspring, and instead of putting an end to me, as would dishonor the bond between Merlock and Kelpis as well, sold me off to another Merlock. A less kinder Merlock. I was just property... unwanted property.
But the Merlock had children, cruel children. Children who found amusement in a Kelpi that had no fins on her side. That's how I received the scar you see across my eye. It wasn't from some noble battle or war scar to be proud of. It was made by a careless cruel Merlock. Needless to say, the first opportunity I got to bolt, I took. And I never turned back, despite my obligation to the Kelpi and Merlock bond. I was done with Merlocks, I... I hate them."
She stood still, not knowing what else to say. She wanted to raise her head and look into Kuval's eyes, to see his expression, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 11:39 am
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Another fate, and another tale. It was as cruel as the one he had heard from Aganthi, and both Kelpis had suffered tremendously. It was hard for Kuval to understand, since he had no relationship with a merlock like they did. But still.. the pain that came after the death seemed too horrible to describe.
For a moment he allowed there to be a calm silence, and he lowered his initial shocked look into a steady stare.
"I am glad you told me all of this, I .. I think I understand more about you now." Like the constant doubt that was surrounding her aurora, and the reason she was so cold towards him. "What do you plan on doing now?" It was the same question he had asked Aganthi, and he wondered if she would respond differently then the stallion did.
He didn't want to think that Pakpao was completely finished mentally, and he glanced at her calmly with a concerned expression. "I only ask because, there is a whole future ahead of you, that hasn't been molded yet."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:05 pm
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