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 Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 5:45 pm
This is PRP between Cajmera & -Polar-. Please do not post.  
A black and white mare lay upon the cold ground beneath a thick tree that was quickly shedding it's few remaining leaves. The branches were almost completely bare as the mare's gray eyes looked up after a dainty leaf had fallen onto her head from above. A velvety blue coated the sky's canvas during; twilight was always a beautiful and rather peaceful time of the day. The mare shook her mane causing the tiny braids in her hair to create clickity sounds as the beads holding them clashed into one another. She sighed and closed her eyes for a minute or two as she embraced the cold air surrounding her. The weather was steadily growing colder, and for Arctica that meant only one thing. Winter was coming. Winter was the mare's favorite season; she loved watching the snow fall and seeing the sparkling white crystals coating the earth. It was all so magical one could say, and that was somewhat how Arctica felt during that time of year. It was odd in a sense; the mare's favorite seasons all followed one another. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. She smiled to herself, picturing snow falling from the gray clouds covering the sky. Soon enough white flakes would coat the ground once more as soon as winter began.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 2:02 pm
In one sense, Arctica could almost be the poster child for introspection. Quiet, meditative, unmoving...she was a picturesque image of the serene and mental. However, the quiet image of mare and landscape was perhaps trying fate, testing it to be broken by some raucous happening; in that sense, it was only a matter of time before something happened to shake thing up.
It was likely the thuds that were the first sign, the heavy thud of hooves against frozen ground. As more time passed, the thudding became louder, then louder, then finally reached its maximum volume as the source burst out of the woods and raced across the open bit of plain. Blonde hair streamed from neck and rump, and the last rays of the dying sun glinted on golden hooves, golden feathers, and a single golden horn; twilight and dawn had always been flattering to the features of Raphael.
Such things were lost on the stallion as he ran, though, his mind instead full of thoughts of youthful abandon. Specifically, his abandonment of Zaris, his father's hawk familiar and Raphael's near-constant companion for the last few weeks.
While a good bird, Zaris had a bad habit of being...well, to put it bluntly, insufferable. Always moralizing, always preaching, always saying 'if I were you', his prescence was enough to grate on even the usually affable Raphael. Today, though, after days of effort, Raphael had FINALLY gotten Zaris to leave. Granted, he had sent him after his younger brother, but whatever it took. Ae was pretty mellow, he'd be able to deal with Zaris. And in the meantime, he was FREE!
Which was why he was celebrating with a mad gallop through the countryside, his pleasure at being on his own broadcast to all and sundry by his laughing visage and energetic caperings. This was AWESOME!
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:45 pm
The mare's ears swiveled upon her head as a distant sound was progressively invading the silence. A slight frown appeared on Arctica's face as she tried to discern what the noise was. Tilting her body to one side she looked over her shoulder; her gray eyes scanning along the edge of the clearing where it converged with the forest. The noise was steadily growing louder and louder until it was so close Arctica thought that the noise might even be her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. The mare watched in surprise as a stream of blue and gold raced out of the forest and galloped off across the clearing. At once she was on her feet and cantering after the creature. Arctica assumed it was another Soquili; it had to have been. Although it was moving much faster than she was the mare kept her eyes focused upon the other. The mare suddenly halted, stumbling a bit as she did so. Why was she chasing after the other Soquili? It was doubtful she would catch up to them... The mare suddenly looked hopefully as she thought about whinnying to them so they would notice her presence. A frown quickly appeared on her face again though as she realized that she didn't have anything to talk to them about even if they did notice her and then it return come back to speak to her. These thoughts as well as a mixture of other ones quickly drifted in and out of the mare's head. What was she to do? She closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. Again she began to canter after the other, who was steadily increasing the distance between them. Arctica whinnied loudly hoping to catch their attention, though she didn't try to think any further than that for the time being.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:49 pm
Raphael wasn't expecting to encounter someone else. It wasn't that he thought he was alone; indeed, he knew that there were other Soquili out and about. But to encounter someone else while on his madcap run wasn't something he'd thought about, and to have actually missed the fact someone else was around was..
Well, remarkably unobservant, for one thing. But just because he hadn't seen didn't mean that he couldn't hear.
At the sound of the whinny, Raphael paused, turning his head back over his shoulder to look back at the source. At the sight of the mare running along after him he blinked, uncertain as to why she would be running after him (or even running at all, when she had wings!). But whatever the reasoning, running was just what she was doing, and he wasn't the type to ignore someone that was trying to get his attention.
Digging in his feet, he capered to a halt, slowing as the mare continued to approach and turning to look back in her direction. Though still breathing a bit hard, he was nevertheless quick to compose himself, giving the mare a smile of greeting. "Hello there."
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:21 pm
After noticing the stallion halt Arctica decreased her pace to a trot until she reached him. She took a few moments to catch her breath before attempting a smile at the stallion. "Hi..." She said somewhat breathlessly still. The mare opened her mouth again. "I..." Suddenly a cold fear spread through her body. What was she to say to the stallion? 'I was just following you because well I saw you and was curious...' Definitely not. 'Isn't it a beautiful night?' No. 'Hi I'm Arctica, what's your name?' Still no. "I... I..." The mare stuttered trying to come up with something to say fast in hopes of resurrecting this horrific situation she now found herself in. "I... I'm really sorry to bother you." She managed in a quiet voice; quickly averting her gaze to her hooves as a blush from embarrassment formed upon her -thankfully- black cheeks. "It's just that... you startled me someone when I saw you dart out of the forest and I... well I just happen to wonder what you were in a rush for." She looked back up at the stallion; still holding her head low and a minuscule yet coy grin tried to make its way upon the mare's face. It was at least a decent response she hoped after making a complete fool out of herself.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:57 pm
...Well then. As the mare cantered to a halt, Raphael stood patiently, waiting with mild curiousity for whatever it was that the mare had to say. After all, she had to have some reason for coming after him, and no obvious reason was coming to him.
Until she proceded to explain, and then it was like a lightbulb came on. "Ah...I guess that seeing a Soquili running along like a bat out of hell isn't a common occurance...or if it is, it isn't something I'm familiar with. I really can't say I've seen it before, so...yeah." Rubbing the back of his head with a wing, Raphael gave the mare a somewhat sheepish smile; from a third-party point of view he supposed his explanation was a bit weak, if not flat-out silly. But such was life sometimes. "Well, I can honestly tell you that it's not for a dramatic reason. I suppose you could call it a bit of a private celebration."
Ditching a nattering bird was certainly cause for a celebration, after all.
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:36 pm
The mare listened as the stallion began explaining himself; though she was rather confused by everything he was saying. "A bat... out of hell?" Arctica's eyes widened some as an image was concocted in her head of a red fiery pit sort of thing that was 'hell' and a huge black bat flying out of it. Somehow that didn't seem possible and the mare closed her eyes and violently shook her head; trying to rid herself of that image. Again the mare focused on the stallion's words. "Celebration?" She repeated. That sounded really interesting... Arctica wondered if he meant something like a party; though decided that was somewhat foolish. A small frown appeared on her face but shook it off. Focusing back on the stallion she asked him, "What were you celebrating?" Her voice was a mixture of anxiousness and a tone of excitement. If there was a celebration something most likely exciting would have happened. After the mare heard herself and she realized how child-like she must sound to this stallion. Giving a small cough she once again averted her gaze to her front hooves. Arctica shifted her feathered wings upon her back and she hoped the stallion wouldn't be annoyed by her inquisitive behavior. Generally she was much quieter and not as open as she was acting at the moment.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:14 pm
"Yeah...never mind that. Just a figure of speech." And apparently one that she hadn't heard before, if she was reacting to the saying with such confusion. Then again, it WAS sort of a weird phrase; he'd never seen any hell-bats himself, and from what he'd seen thus far in his life bats were actually nice creatures. Ah well.
Deciding it was best to simply move on, Raphael gave the mare a chuckle; it was a change of pace to be asked what he was doing in a tone completely lacking in censure. After all, if there was one thing Zaris was good at, it was lecturing; curiousity was a vast improvement, and something he was more than willing to deal with.
"As a matter of fact, I'm celebrating independence, Miss. Up until very recently, every step I took was dogged by a markedly tenacious hawk with a sharp tongue and a holier-than-thou attitude. You might look at me and see an adult, but as far as Zaris is concerned, I'm still a child that ought to stay close to home and listen unswervingly to my father. Nice bird, terrible letting-go abilities."
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:47 pm
The mare attempted a polite grin at the stallion; silently agreeing to make nothing more of the bat-from-hell comment that had created a pinch of confusion between them. The mare blinked up at the stallion when he laughed; not really understanding what he was chuckling at. Arctica tilted her head slightly and a frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. Again the mare was confused when the other began telling her just what he was celebrating. "Independence?" She repeated quietly; more to herself than him even. It seemed like an interesting way to put it. Despite not having a sharp-toothed hawk as the stallion seemed to have; Arctica was able to understand where he was coming from in a sense. "My father was over protective of me when I was a foal so I know what's it's like to gain freedom in a way for the first time." A friendly smile slowly spread over the mare's face. "However, I do have to say that I think you and I both have quite out grown that stage where we need to be watched over... Though I haven't exactly known you long enough to be able to defend that statement." The mare giggled slightly at her words; trying to be somewhat entertaining was a change of pace for the mare, as well as trying to be affable.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:28 pm
It was so much better to have things make sense to all parties involved in a conversation; explaining oneself meant a lot of wasted time and in some cases STILL didn't clear things up between the individuals involved.
Consequently, it was in many ways a relief to see the look of understanding spread across the mare's face. He understood that there were some Soquilis out there that liked explaining things; he himself just happened to NOT be one of them.
Returning the grin with one of his own, he acknowledged her jest with a chuckle. "Well, I like to think of myself as at passably grown up; I'm the same height as my father, therefore I am grown up in the most basic determiner of maturity. However, I grant that there is more to being an adult than size." After all, some oldsters were tiny and some foals were enormous! It would be a silly Soquili who thought that mental maturity and physical maturity were the same thing...
"And I'm Raphael, by the way."
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:08 pm
Arctica carefully took in all of the stallion's words making sure to follow the point he seemed to be trying to make. However; it was all rather confusing since he contradicted himself and on different levels the mare agreed with both of his assessments. "Not to sound presumptuous, but I personally consider myself mature enough to qualify for adult standards; though I'm sure everyone can act somewhat immature and irresponsible at times. Though, I'm sure my father sometimes considers me to still be a foal that needs to be watched over. Maybe it's because he is a taller than myself." She grinned at the stallion. Suddenly the mare realized she was ranting about her opinions and such. "Excuse me." She quickly apologized. "I got rather carried away." A light blush crept upon her cheeks and her voice was quiet. At that moment the mare was thankful her coat was predominantly black; hoping the dark color concealed her temporary embarrassment. The mare's gray eyes focused back on the stallion and she nodded her head to him. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance Raphael. I'm Arctica." Again a small smile tugged at the corners of the mare's lips.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:28 pm
Deciding that further explanation was unlikely to result in any further clarification between the two of them, Raphael decided that the best plan of action was to simply move on. It was a sort of personal thing to be free of Zaris, after all, and he could understand that to an outside observer, it would be a bit hard to understand. So...moving on!
"Nice to meet you too, Arctica. So, are you just passing through too, or did I unwittingly barge right through your home? And just in case it IS the latter, my apologies; it wouldn't be fun to have your peace shattered by roving strangers." With that, Raphael gave the mare a slight bow and apologetic smile; he was his father's son, after all, and manners were an integral part of his character.
"And either way, don't worry about the other thing. You still made more sense than me, after all!"
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:26 pm
The mare closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't worry; you weren't intruding of anything of that sort. It really isn't necessary to be so apologetic; after all you haven't done anything wrong." Arctica didn't mean to be so forward in such a manner that made her seem at all degrading upon the stallion and she sincerely hoped that her words weren't taken to represent anything of that degree. She gave a light cough and continued. "I suppose it would be more appropriate to inform you that I was just in the area and that my home is in the mountains." The mare gave a nod of her head. Suddenly a question absorbed Arctica's thoughts. "Do you by chance live around this area?" Her gray eyes focused on the stallion for a moment before taking a few seconds in order to scan the surrounding land. Her attention then returned to the stallion and she again shook her head in an embarrassed manner. " I would say that I made more sense... Shall we agree that both our opinions contribute to an idea that as a whole makes sense?" Arctica thought that her approach gave them both equal credit and that it had the potential to be well received by the other.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:42 pm
"Agreeing sounds like a good plan....and oh really? Well, in that case that makes two of us, I guess." Seeing as how he was just passing through himself. "But yeah, I'm basically flitting through the area. You might say I'm browsing, really; my parents live back beyond the woods a bit, and I'm looking into real estate myself. You know how it is, no matter how much you like your parents, there just comes to be a time when you want to be on your own."
And that was really the case with him, especially now that he'd gotten rid of Zaris. Much as he adored and respected his parents, he was an adult now and ready to live his own life on his own terms...though his wings meant that it wouldn't be that hard to visit, of course. Independence didn't mean total isolation, after all!
But now it was his turn to be interested. "So you're from the mountains, huh? So, is it as cold up there as I've heard?" Giving Arctica a smile, Raphael hoped that his efforts at polite conversation weren't TOO awkward. Aside of that brief meeting with Kal, most of his socialization had been with his family; while that was important, there were different mannerisms involved in meeting someone new and hassling your siblings!
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