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 Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:55 pm
Inside the cave, it was a long long time ago and a bone-clad figure stared blankly at the shiny piece of blackness still wedged into a crevice. Though the sounds from outside met his ears, though his eyes registered the flashes of lightning he noticed none of it. Before him was a small, sincere green colt; the colt who should have been gifted with the well concealed piece of obsidian long, long ago.
Lucius took a pace forward and, closing his teeth about it, pulled the many-angled shape out of its hiding place before placing itself on a small rock ledge some way off the sand. The vivid-eyed stallion sighed wearily to himself and shook his head, glancing down briefly as a particularly large wave washed all the way into the cave and swirled briefly about the bottoms of his hooves before retreating, trying to pull the sand he stood on with it.
How much longer, a very sensible and very cold part of him wanted to know, did he plan on continuing this idiotic hunt? All through Yisi he had searched, and now all the way along the coast. Vox had not been there, was not here, and that part of him did not think that the green colt, stallion now, would ever be found. Another part of the red-maned creature however, an altogether more stubborn and passionate part, was adamant that he would search for as long as it took. Alive or dead, he would find the son who did not share his blood.
The orange-eyed creature sighed to himself and dipped his muzzle to nose at the piece of obsidian. One day, no matter how far in the future, he would give it to Vox; he was determined of that and nothing kept Lucius Aeri from doing as he intended.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:23 pm
A figure thundered through it, a little way from the cliffs so as not to be dashed against them should a large surge come but not so far down the beach as to risk being dragged out into the raging sea by retreating waves. Lightning flashed again, revealing the detail of the galloping shape. It was a Bae, no doubt of that, but a Bae that possessed but one wing.
Silver-white eyes darted about desperately as the sodden figure raced onward; there was one thing and one thing alone on his mind and that was finding shelter. Earlier, when he had picked his way down the cliffs some way back, it had been calm and pleasant. By the time he had realized how bad the weather had turned the place he had come down had become inaccessible; he’d been hock deep in water and nearly dashed to pieces on the cliffs several times before he’d even got near it.
So here he was, running along unfamiliar terrain in near blackness in the hopes of finding a place to hide himself from the harsh weather. Had he been any other Nequus, the black-coated stallion considered bitterly, he could have escaped with no trouble at all. Life really bit sometimes.
Even as he thought this however, another flash in the sky highlighted a shadow on the cliffs ahead. The mouth of a cave. Smiling grimly to himself, the goldish-maned Bae sprinted towards it as thunder sounded and was inside as the last echoes of the great boom died away. He slowed to a trot and, once the rain no longer reached, him he paused to shake as much water as he could out of his coat.
When he had finished, he noticed that he was not alone in seeking shelter here; there was an Aeri at the back of the cavern. It didn’t seem to have noticed him. The one winged Bae narrowed his eyes and took a few more paces before coming to a halt and giving a snort. “Who the hell are you?” he asked bluntly.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:37 pm
Lucius gave a snort of surprise as the voice invaded his privacy and spun about, ears pinned flat back against his skull. Blank orange eyes regarded the creature before him; it was a Bae, big enough so far as Bae went but not anywhere near as large as the idiot he’d run across in Yisi. What in the name of the Gods was somebody else doing down on the beach in weather like... Oh, it only had one wing. Well, whatever the reason for its presence, its presence was not welcome and neither was its rudeness.
The red-maned stallion took a pace towards the other occupant of the cave and turned his body slightly, accompanied by a dramatically conscientious flash of lightning, so as best to show off the bones he wore; that usually gave folk a start and the eerie lighting should help too. “My name,” he rumbled in bass tones, “is Lucius. Who, as you say, ‘the hell’ might you be?” It would be interesting to see whether the Bae picked the storm outside over sharing a cave with him. He wasn’t quite sure which eventuality he wished for. Something to take his building frustration out on would be good, as would company if the Bae turned out to be decent, but equally the curly-maned stallion felt the urge to be alone with his thoughts and his memories. Still, it was the Bae’s move now; he had only to wait to discover the next gambit he was to play against.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:50 pm
When the flash of light brought the details of the figure before him into view, the black-coated Bae swore and backed up a few paces. Bones. The stallion was covered in Gods-effing bones! They weren’t even natural in appearance; the colour of blood and glowing faintly in the near blackness of the cave. What kind of weird s**t had he got himself mixed up with? Some kind of sick cult or other? Just his damn luck.
Shivering, and not entirely because of the cold, the one-winged stallion forced himself to hold his ground just out of reach of the wind. “Karasu,” he managed after a few moments, eyes locked on the red skull that covered the Aeri’s face. Just when it had seemed like his day couldn’t get any worse this thing had come along. Sometimes life really, really, really bit. Still, if the morbid creature turned unpleasant he had given himself enough distance to turn and flee. If it didn’t... well, some boned freak was better than freezing out in the storm. Slightly better at any rate.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:06 pm
Hum, well at least this Bae wasn’t being an idiot; not a stress relief device then. Lucius tried not to look scary, gave up, and smiled slightly instead. “You startled me,” he said with a slight nod, “thought I was all alone down here tonight... You can come further in if you like; I don’t bite.” Perhaps the mono-winged Nequus even had news of Vox... Should he ask right away or leave it a while? If he asked right now, the gold-maned creature might still be hostile and angry in his fear... Yet if he left it, the storm might let up and the Bae might decide to go. Another large wave washed into the cave and splashed against Lucius’ hooves as he debated with himself. He never had been much good at making snap decisions; he over analyzed things, that was his problem.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:50 am
Karasu shifted his golden hooves as another wave washed up over them. Going further in would mean the rushing waters reached him less often, and that he would be better sheltered from the lashing rain and howling wind. However, it also meant going closer to the boned freak. As if ‘I don’t bite’ made him feel any better. After a few moments of internal debate however, his body’s wish to be warmer won out and the Bae moved further into the cave, doing his best not to show how the Aeri unnerved him.
“So,” the black Bae twitched his single wing, “I know why I’m down here in weather like this. What about you? You nuts or something?” Perhaps he should try being a bit politer... Eh, what the hell; the orange-eyed creature seemed sane enough now, and most sane Nequus wouldn’t stove your head in just for being blunt and possibly slightly rude. If the morbidly adorned creature looked like getting pissed with him he could always lay off after all.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:06 am
Well, he had to admit that the smaller stallion had courage in speaking like that to him and Lucius approved of courage. He didn’t approve of rudeness however, and for the time being at least the two balanced one another leaving the strongly-built Nequus with a feeling of neutrality towards the cave’s other occupant. The red-maned stallion snorted and gave a shrug of his leathery wings. “I’m looking for somebody,” he told the lopsided Bae. “Somebody specific,” he added, just in case the silvery-white-eyed creature decided to be a smart arse... Should he ask at all? Everyone else he’d asked thus far had shaken their head to his description, yet every time he opened his mouth to ask the question he got his hopes up. Lucius sighed, he wasn’t sure he wanted those hopes dashed again; what were the chances this snippy creature knew anything? Slim, certainly... yet... yet not nonexistent. Perhaps he would ask later.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:42 am
Karasu made a noise in the back of his throat. “Well, they don’t seem to be here,” he commented, privately thinking that nobody in their right mind who could avoid being here would be on such a night. Still, maybe the person this Aeri was looking for was one or two branches short of a tree; weirdness did like company after all. Curiosity piqued somewhat, and lacking anything better to do, the white-eyed stallion dropped down onto the sandy cave floor and regarded Lucius thoughtfully.
“So who is it y’ looking for?” he asked as he settled his wing more comfortably against his side. “I’ve been coming along this beach all day and not seen anyone before you. You sure they’re actually around here?” Perhaps whoever it was had had the sense to get up and away from the storm, or perhaps they’d been dumb enough to get swept away. Whatever the Aeri said next might give him a clue one way or the other, he supposed.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:50 am
Lucius looked down on the golden-maned Bae and sighed, well it looked like he had to ask now, didn’t it? Who knew, he might be in luck; the Bae might have seen Vox yesterday, or two days ago or a week or a season... You never knew. Giving another sigh, the boned Aeri joined Karasu on ground level, though he was careful to keep a polite distance away; the black creature seemed a bit tetchy, and tetchy people weren’t likely to help you if you got into their personal space.
“I’m looking for my son,” the brownish-marked Aeri said after a few moments, glancing away from Karasu to regard the piece of obsidian for a moment before looking back at the Bae. “I haven’t seen him in a long time... he used to live around here, but it seems that he doesn’t anymore... I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?” It was worth trying. “His name’s Vox, green coat dappled with white, white and yellow on his legs, yellow mane, pale eyes...?” It was quite a distinctive colouring, surely anyone would remember it, or perhaps he was just biased and other people wouldn’t note the colt, the stallion, in a crowd.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:02 am
Karasu resisted the urge to laugh; some mare had actually let the bone clad stallion...? Well, maybe she’d been blind, or maybe Lucius had been cuckolded. Still, there was no harm thinking about it; it cost him nothing after all... But no, he didn’t remember anyone who looked like that. The stallion gave a shake of his head as he reached that conclusion.
“No,” he said aloud, “not seen anyone like that... Green and yellow though you say? Guess he must look like his mother, hu?” Ha, there, he'd put a polite face on the matter; hadn’t insinuated that this Vox might not be Lucius’ son in the slightest. Pretty good, he thought.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:08 am
Lucius gave a rumbling chuckle at that and a shake of his head. Despite the disappointment of yet another person who hadn’t seen Vox, the Bae’s words cheered him up. For some reason he was always very proud to say that Vox was not of his bloodline. Probably because that meant that the other Aeri had chosen him as a father; that, so far as Lucius was concerned, meant a lot. ...The Bae was going to think he was crazy if he didn’t explain his amusement soon; the one-winged creature was already looking at him a bit funny.
“Sorry, just amusing,” the orange-eyed Aeri said with a chuckle. “I have no idea if he looks like his mother or not, see, he isn’t actually my son by blood. We adopted one another when he was a colt. He never saw his parents, so I suppose he could look like sire or dam or both or neither. All I know is that he’s my son now and... and that I want to find him.” And the amusement was gone, brining a wave of weariness in its wake. The orange-winged stallion twisted his neck around to regard the obsidian gift again and nudged it a bit further onto the rock ledge. “It’s been a long time since I saw him last,” the bone-helmed Nequus murmured with a sigh.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:18 am
Against his better instincts, Karasu felt a little sorry for the freaky Aeri. He didn’t care two stick about his own parents, but he’d cared for the old stallion who had taken his younger brother and himself in. They were both long dead now, and he’d come to accept that but... well he supposed it would have been different to not know. If he hadn’t been with them when they’d died, he might well still be looking for them today. Not knowing was almost always the worst. Still, much though he might feel for this Aeri he had no idea of how to make the larger Nequus feel better about the whole situation. He’d never been any good at comforting people, never been good at finding the right words to say.
“...Well I guess you’ll find him in the end,” the white-eyed Bae managed eventually. “Mean... he’s gotta be out there somewhere, right? The more places you’ve looked the fewer there are left he could be in.” Well, that hadn’t actually been too bad. Lucius seemed like a smart guy, and he probably already knew what he’d just been told, but still it had been something to say.
“So... what’s with that rock there?” Karasu went on after a moment with a nod to the shiny black object that Lucius had just rearranged on a little ledge; he was keen to move on from the fact that he’d actually just been nice to an Aeri wearing a bright red skeleton, it was a little difficult to get his head around that fact.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:35 am
The dark-coated stallion smiled gratefully behind his bone mask at Karasu’s words. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Provided nothing awful had happened to him... Well Vox was a sensible lad, knew how to keep himself out of trouble... But if some Nequus kin in heart to the black devils, or those to evil Bae themselves had cornered him... It didn’t bear thinking about. He had to be safe somewhere. Had to be. But where? Vox had loved the ocean, why would he leave it? Yisi perhaps Lucius could have imagined him living in but somewhere like D’ob?... It just didn’t seem like Vox to take to such a populated area. Still, D’ob he would search next, then the human lands, then the Red Mountain and after that... Well, Shrilal, he supposed, though he couldn’t think why Vox might be there. If even that failed... Well that left Casa Tiner, didn’t it?
Some moments passed in silence before the part of Lucius’ brain that had been paying attention to the outside world gave him a poke. Eh? Rock? Oh! The obsidian. The curly-maned stallion blinked a couple of times and gave Karasu a smile. “Sorry, lost in thought there. It’s a substance known as obsidian. I’ve not seen it very often, quite a rare thing I think, so when I found this I picked it up... It was supposed to be a gift for Vox, I thought it would please him. I left it wedged into the wall of this cave... I don’t know, quite a while ago now, when I first came looking for him again. I didn’t have time for a proper look for him though; my mate and I were called to Shrilal. Now that our daughter is grown I’ve come to look again but... Well, as you see the obsidian is still here, and Vox still isn’t.”
He missed Alice and Lydia but... but he couldn’t give up on this hunt, not yet. Only once he had been everywhere he could possibly go and asked everyone he met for news of his son would he considered himself beaten, and even then only maybe. He was not a stallion accustomed to losing, and he had no intention of learning how it went now or ever. He would find Vox, he would give him the obsidian, and then he would take his son to meet his mate and his daughter. It was just a matter of time and determination, that was all.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:55 am
...Well there you had it, the boned creature had a girl after all. Ha! Perhaps there was hope for a half-formed thing such as himself after all. If there were mares out there who would take one covered in death to be their mate surely a one-winged Bae could find somebody. Well, it was possible at any rate, just as it was possible that Lucius would find this Vox boy of his. Not likely, but possible and unlikely things had to happen to some people, otherwise who would people know that they were possible but unlikely?
“Hu... Well it’s pretty cool,” Karasu said eventually with a nod to the obsidian. As another boom of thunder preceded by its lighting flash rumbled about the cave, the pale-eyed Bae gave a sigh and a shake of his head. “This weather had better let up soon,” he muttered, glaring at a wave that almost managed to reach him. “Don’t fancy being stuck down here for too long.” No food, no fresh water... Yea, if the storm went on for too long or if it had destroyed the path back to the top of the cliffs he was pretty screwed. He hated only having one wing, he really truly did.
Snorting to himself, Karasu turned his attention from the weather back to Lucius. “I’ve not been around here before,” he told the Aeri, “how long do storms like this usually last?” The leather-winged Nequus could get out of here if the wind just let up for a little while, possibly even right away if he was a strong flier. Some people had all the luck.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:11 am
Lucius had been watching the wave too and only half listening to the other stallion’s words. “Humm? Oh, should let up by morning I think,” he said as he shoved himself back to his hooves. “If there’s a lot of bad weather around another one might come along quite soon so getting off the beach is advisable...” He wanted to get some sleep at some point, and he didn’t want waves bothering him ever three seconds. Therefore he had to come up with a solution. Giving himself a shake to remove some of the sand from his coat, the red-maned stallion moved a little way towards the cave’s mouth and frowned.
Right.
“Yeees, that could work,” the Aeri muttered to himself.
Plan made, the tall Nequus began to scrape a ditch in the sand. If he made it quite deep the water would fill it up and not go past. A small series of these ditches at intervals ought to keep all but the biggest surges from reaching himself and his companion even if the tide came in a bit more... Oh yes, and he could use the sand he scraped out to make little banks behind each channel, that would help too. Channels first though... perhaps he could get Karasu to help him. Pausing in his ditch-digging, the orange-winged stallion turned about and gave the black Bae a smile.
“I’m making water defenses,” he said with a nod. “Would you mind helping? Just get the sand I’ve scraped out from each one and sort of shove it up into little banks behind the channels. If we do a few of these we should be able to get some sleep without having to worry about getting wet.” To him, it made perfect sense to do as he was doing. He just hoped it made sense to Karasu as well; sometimes people gave him odd looks when he started doing things like this. Oh well, it didn’t matter even if the one-winged creature thought he was a complete twerp or some kind of nut case; so long as he helped or at least didn’t hinder Lucius didn’t much mind what he actually thought.
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