[PRP] A very colorful family (Vara, Scythe and foals)

[Roniel REVOLUTION]

Vara walked up the trail towards where she had last seen Scythe and the other foals before her walk with Karma. She had taken Karma on a little excursion because he had seemed like he needed some time on his own. He was definitely the quiet one of the bunch and she hoped that his reserved personality wouldn't be overwhelmed by his more active siblings. She'd just have to try the best that she could to allow him his own space and she was sure that Scythe would help with that too.

Karma walked alongside his mother and thought about the different things they had seen on their walk. He had found something called a turtle with a hard shell. It probably wasn't that fun being a turtle, he thought. It was slow and ungainly. Maybe the turtle didn't mind it so much. It probably didn't know any better not to.

He looked up as he began to hear the sounds of his father and siblings and wondered what exactly they had found that was so exciting this time.  

[Dixie]

Scythe had remained with the other foals as Vara took Karma for an adventure of his own. Scythe thought back to his own childhood as he looked at Karma walking at his mother's side. Karma was his father's son, that was certain. Quiet and a bit distant, Scythe could only hope he'd learn to lower his defenses some when he was older.

Tuli looked up as she heard steps in the distance, her eyes fell on her mother and Karma. "Karma! Karma!" she hurried to him as quick as her still wobbly legs would carry her. "Look at what I found!" she turned showing a red bird's feather in her mane. "Dad put it in for me, do you like it?"

Tuli loved her brothers, she couldn't imagine having any other siblings. She didn't, however, realize that sometimes she was too exhuberant for their tastes.  

[vollyballrocks91]

Mel had been busy sniffing around some of the trees and tended to wander off without he himself noticing, his father having to constantly remind him to stay near. One of these days he'd end up getting himself lost without him even knowing it.

So many curious creatures hung around trees like bugs and different kinds of birds and if he dug in the ground he'd find more bugs! It seemed everywhere he looked there was something new. When he spotted Vara and Karma coming back he sprinted past both his father and sister. "Momma! Momma! Have you seen all the bugs and birdies around? There's so many! Did you see some on your walk too?" He grinned happily up at Vara and swished his little tail with excitement.  

[Roniel REVOLUTION]

Karma looked at the feather in his sister's mane and gave a noncommittal shrug. He rarely expressed a strong opinion about things. "It looks ok." He stepped out of the way for Mel to dash by and looked back to his sister when his brother was past. "I saw a bird colored like that on the walk," he added. "Mom said it was a... carindal, I think."

Vara only had time for a short "Hello, dear," to Scythe before Mel bounded up excitedly. She couldn't help but smile at his exuberance and gave him an affectionate nuzzle. "Yes, your brother and I saw a lot of them on the walk. If you like, sometime I can take you out too and teach you all their names. Would you like that?" Mel certainly was the one with the thirst for knowledge among their three. She wondered what he would use to fulfill that thirst once he had learned more about the world he lived in.  

[Dixie]

Tuli smiled at Karma, "A cardinal," she repeated, her head tilting just a little bit. "You're so smart, Karma." She nuzzled his neck quickly before turning to Mel and Vara.

"Momma, Momma! I've got a cardinal feather!" She bounced over to the two, accidently bumping into Mel during her excitement.

Scythe laughed and just nodded as Vara greeted him upon return. He never expected for things in his life to be so...busy. He enjoyed it. He looked over to Karma as the other foals raced to their mother, he motioned with his head quietly for his son to come closer.

"Tell me about your walk son, did you find anything of interest?" Scythe knew that Karma would be the first to 'grow up' and he didn't seem to have interest in childish conversations. Scythe was trying to talk to him as he would any other Soquili.  

[vollyballrocks91]

"Oh yes momma I would! When can we go? Right now? Can we go right no-oof!" Mel stumbled a bit when his sister bumped into him and retorted with tugging on her mane playfully. He loved his sister, she was most like him and loved to play and jump but Karma was quiet. Momma had said he was more like dad. "We can bring Tuli too, momma! We can see one of those cardinal bird creatures! Oh oh, earlier I saw this bug and it flew but I didn't see it's wings they were super fast. It was red and it had black spots on it too!"  

[Roniel REVOLUTION]

Vara was now surrounded by bouncing foals and she could hardly keep up with what they were both blurting out at her simultaneously. She had started growing used to this sort of amusing chaos and she did her best to answer both of her foals in turn. "Yes, you do have a cardinal feather," she said to Tuli. "It's very beautiful in your mane like that." She then addressed both Tuli and Mel. "If you both want to we can go on a walk soon. I'm sure we'll be able to see more cardinals and all sorts of birds. Karma and I saw a big bird called a heron that I'm sure you'd love."

Each foal was very different but each seemed to have their own love of exploration and learning. Vara was immensely proud of them for that. By the time they were adults they would have some very sharp minds indeed.

Karma walked closer to his father while his other siblings were crowding their mother. He always liked talking to someone alone rather than in a group. It was easier to be heard this way and he didn't like to raise his voice. "We walked down by the lake and mom said it would be a good place to practice flying when I was older. There was a big bird with long legs there called a heron. I think it was looking for food. Are there fish in the winter, Dad?"  

[Dixie]

"Oooh, yeah, I wanna go too!" She squealed out as Mel tugged on her mane. She laughed, turning to n** at him quickly in a playful manner. Tuli liked playing with Mel, he'd rough house with her where Karma wouldn't. Karma tended to be more quiet and didn't like to play so much. Tuli didn't understand that, but she loved both of her brothers anyway. "I've seen one of those!" She stopped as Mel described the bug he had seen. "It was on a flower, but it was round. I didnt' see wings! Do they all have wings, Momma?"


Scythe looked over to Karma as they walked slowly away from the others. "It's always best to learn to fly over water, that way, if you loose your speed you won't break anything when you fall." He looked around as if he had a secret then leaned down close to Karma, "Don't tell anyone, but I learned that the hard way." He winked at his son.

"A heron, eh? Strange looking birds, but great fishermen." His ears flicered as Karma continued to talk. "Yes, there are fish in the winter. Here, the lakes will freeze. A thick blanket of ice will lay across the water. Fish, during this time, will either swim far far to the bottom OR some fish can even live through the winter frozen in the ice. They rethaw in spring as if nothing happened." Scythe was glad that his children were so inquisitive, at least they would understand and appreciate the world around them when they were older.  

[vollyballrocks91]

Mel dodged out of the way of his sister's n** and dove under Vara, hiding behind her front legs. "Yeah they do have wings! It flew so I'm pretty sure it has wings unless things can fly without them...That'd be so cool!" The hyper little colt peered around both of them to look at Karma and their dad. He didn't really understand why he wasn't as excited about things like he and their sister. Everything was so exciting! But he shrugged it off like it was nothing. Strange one, his brother, but he still loved him like brothers should. "Can we go on our walk now momma?" he asked as he looked up at her from between her front legs. "Karma can stay with dad and me and Tuli and come with you."  

[Roniel REVOLUTION]

Karma had a hard time imagining his father ever crashing into the water so ungracefully. Somehow it didn't seem to him like his father had ever been a foal and he had never considered what it must have been like for him. He grew distracted for a moment as he tried to mentally scale Scythe down to his size. It just didn't seem quite right that he should be so small...

He tuned back in while Scythe was talking about the fish and once more took on an expression of mild surprise. "I didn't know anything could live in the ice."

At this rate of chatter Vara couldn't even hope to keep everything straightened out. "Things can't fly without wings, dears," she said in a gap between the two foals' conversation. Then, quickly before they could start up again, she looked over to Scythe. "Would you like to have some time with Karma while I try to work off some of these two's energy?" Hayagriva had been a handful but now she had two more equally energetic foals to watch after along with a more reclusive one. Though she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, this round of parenting was a lot more rigorous than her first!  

[Dixie]

Scythe looked over to Vara and nodded as she questioned him, "I think that'd be a good idea, dear." Now that...that would be one interesting walk for the three of them. His attention turned back to Karma.

"There are! Did you know, there are frogs in some regions that hide in rocky ledges during winter...they secrete an oil type substance on their body that allows their body to freeze and their body temperature to drop so low that they survive buried in the snow for months?" Scythe had learned a lot in his travels. Maybe, with Vara's love for travel, they would all get to see some of these distant places in the future.

Tuli danced in place for a moment then nickered at Mel, "Yes! We get to go!" she looked over to her dad and brother, "We get to go!" she whinied over at them.

She turned looking to Mel and Vara, "What all will we see? Will there be a..." oh..what had her mother said? "...a heron!? Mel, we get to see a heron!"
 

[vollyballrocks91]

Mel got momentarily distracted by why his dad had said. "Frog? What's a frog? Can we make oil and live in the snow too?!" He asked happily as he bounded over to Scythe and Karma. He looked back at Tuli and momma. "I'll come in a second I want to know what this frog thingy is!" The colt looked back up to his father, intense curiousity sparkling in his dark eyes. Maybe once he found out what a frog was he could keep a look out for one on the walk they were going on.  

[Roniel REVOLUTION]

Karma's eyes widened with surprise as his father talked about the frogs. It seemed impossible that something could survive while frozen but his father knew much more about the world than he did. His ear flicked towards his brother when he asked the question about soquilis living in the snow too. He had been curious about that too but hadn't planned on blurting it out the same way. He couldn't help but think about the possibilities, though...

"Could it help while flying high in the cold?" He asked thoughtfully.

While the boys were distracted Vara took the time to give her daughter a soft nuzzle. "We can go see the heron once your brothers hear all about the frogs, ok?"

At this rate it could take a while for them to get moving but Vara wasn't the impatient type. She could let them amuse themselves for as long as they liked before heading back out again.  

[Dixie]

A deep laugh escaped his mouth when Mel asked about making oil. "No son, we can't make oil and survive. During cold months, our coat thickens to help us stay warm, but we must still seek shelter less we want to freeze." He continued to smile, then turned to Karma. "Our kind really can't get high enough," he opened his wings slightly. "At least I can't. I don't know how to answer that question, Karma. I can tell you that there's a breed of Soquili called Angeni that are an acient breed. It's said that they can fly over mountains and even into the heavens if they wanted. I've never met one though, so I'm not sure."

Scythe completely forgot about the rest of the frog question.

Tuli smiled and accepted her mother's nuzzle. This was one of the few times she was actually still, she loved affection. Once her mother was done, she was right back to her bouncy self though. "Mel! Mel! Come on! I want to see the herooooon!" Tuli pleaded with her brother to come on so they could go on their own adventure.  

[vollyballrocks91]

Mel listened carefully to his father's words. One of the few times he wasn't throwing questions around or looking around for something new to explore was when his father spoke to him. His dad seemed so wise, he knew so much and the little colt was almost tempted to stay with Karma and hear more if he wasn't already being nagged to go on the walk he'd wanted to go on moments before. "Ohh okay, I'm coming Tuli!" He nuzzled his dad's leg with a smile and, "Thanks dad," before bounding back over to Tuli and Vara. "Okay okay we can go now! And momma we gotta keep an eye out for that frog thing, I wanna see what it looks like."