Armor...What's Armor?: Tuli and Knight (PRP)

[Dixie]

Tuli had finished soaring high above the earth for the day. She found her wings to be tired and temperature had risen well above her liking. Her hooves carried her to the forest to find shade and perhaps a few ripe berries for a snack.

Her tail swatted casually at insects that buzzed about her, picking up a few stray leaves here and there as she walked along at a slow and steady pace. She smiled as she listened to the birds overhead singing their songs and conversing in various sounds. The feathers hanging from her ears twisting delicatly in the breeze as she moved along. It had been a good day.

From the corner of her eye she spotted a berry bush. The berries were plump and gorgeous shades of red. Tuli nickered to herself in delight as she carefully plucked a few to chew on.  

[Firkasa]

Ghostly wings faded in and out of the sunlight as a dark colored stallion made his way through the forest. He wasn’t particularly interested in wandering around in the sunlight and the occasional glare from his armor was a bit of a pain… he couldn’t help but admit to himself. His metal armor was removable but that required the delicate touch of a human’s hand… and he had no interest in that. Only one human was ever allowed to remove his guard and he would keep it that way.

Knight’s oddly soft and gentle footsteps brushed passed the loose earth as he made his way towards the grass he could smell on the outskirts of the trees. The aroma of something else caught his attention. One scent was that of berries. Berries… he hadn’t had those in a long time. The other scent was one he was familiar with, the scent of another soquili.

The war horse became slightly wary… but not enough to continue onward. His red eyes looked out towards the sunlight, pondering who he’d encounter next. Friend? Foe? Or something else entirely? Life was certainly filled with unknowns… and yet everything was inevitable…  

[Dixie]

She couldn't hear his ghost like movements, but his scent flowed with the wind. She stopped chewing for a moment, her head rose and her ears flickered. Tuli's eyes searched the surroundings for movement that was more than just the small mouse or rabbit in the forrest.

The sunlight had few beams that could get through the canopy overhead, but a small patch seemed to reflect off of something in the distance. Tuli didn't know what to think, her parents had never told her of glowing creatures. She wasn't sure what to do ither. She was too deep into the forest to take flight...she could try to outrun the creature to the plains and fly from there....but would she be quick enough?

Tuli shook her head to herself and thought it best to be still. Perhaps, whatever it was coming her way, wouldn't notice her if she stood still enough. She cautiously moved to hide behind the nearby underbrush and lot of trees....Hopefully that would suffice in covering her bright colors.

(It's been almost 2wks without a reply. I'm going to consider this rp stalled. PM me if you wish to continue.)  

[Firkasa]

The war horse raised his head and followed the path of the scent with his eyes as best as he could. He was no wolf or dog but his sense of smell was usually good enough to lead his to what he was looking for. His red eyes scoured across the land until the fleeting movement of brilliant colors stood out from the forest. Seems like whomever was here was trying to hide themselves.

Shrugging, Knight made his way towards the scent of berries he caught earlier in the wind. If the other party chose to keep away from him, then that was fine. He wasn’t one to impede on other’s lives. Approaching the berry bush, he noted how some berries had been previously plucked off and eaten by something not too long ago. Most likely, it was done by whomever had the brilliant colored coat.

Not minding in the current situation, the stallion moved off to the other side of the bush to n** off some of the ripe berries that were rather juicy, much to his approval.
 

[Dixie]

Tuli watched cautiously as the stallion seemed to walk straight towards her. It took all of her ability not to swat at the insects that annoyingly buzzed around her ears and legs.

He wasn't Kalona....nor was he skinwalker. Those were the two that Tuli's parents had warned her never to greet. She watched him carefully, her eyes curiously falling on his wings and the shiny patches on his body.

Tuli's curiousity normally got the better of her, she couldn't help but to ask questions. She stood there silently thinking to herself, then snorted. She cringed as she realized that snort came out as loud as it did. She thought it best to make her appearance now.

She took a few small steps out from her covering, her petite body tense and ready to run if needed. "Excuse me....Sir?"  

[Firkasa]

Though the other did their best at hiding, Knight was aware of the presence of another during the entire duration of his berry nibbling. He had to give the other credit though for they were very diligent at what they were trying to do: keep hidden away. The only mistakes that he noted in their hiding attempt were not camouflaging themselves and making the slightest bit of noise when trying not to. Otherwise, they were doing pretty well.

The snort from the mare made the war horse’s ear twitch involuntarily as his head slowly rose up from the berry bush to gaze upon a uniquely colored mare. Knight watched her intently at first but quickly relaxed finding nothing dangerous in the aura that emitted from her.

“Yes? How may I help you?” He spoke in a firm voice that wasn’t quite kind, but wasn’t harsh either.
 

[Dixie]

The stallion's demenor reminded her of her father's. Strong and reserved. She wasn't sure if he would mind her questions, but her mother had always told her she'd never learn if she didn't ask. "What's the worst that could happen?" she thought to herself as she took a few steps closer.

"I was wondering if I might ask about your wings....and your shiney..." Her head tilted as she looked at the armor. Now that she was closer, she could see that the areas were smooth, not fur like the rest of his coat. "Well...Your coat I suppose?"

She lifted her gaze back up to meet the stranger's, "I'm Tuulikki, I don't mean to be rude, Sir."  

[Firkasa]

The dark blue stallion eyed the mare quietly with a slightly raised brow. It seemed that his wings and armor were causing quite a commotion for almost every single soquili he’d come across had asked him similar questions. This was a definitely flashback to his past. This happened a lot before he was given charge of the forces opposing the demons. All of his comrades then distrusted him for his strange physical appearance. Well, they grew to accept him eventually considering he was their new commander and all.

“Pleasure you meet you Lady Tuulikki. I’m known as Knight,” the war horse responded with a slight bow of his head. Transparent wings slightly ruffled as they remained a soft ghostly hue. “My wings… well, I guess they are what they are. I was born with them this way and for whatever reason I can still fly if I choose to make them solid looking enough.” Stretching out one of his wings carefully enough, the transparency of the ghostly limb seemed to slowly become more so opaque but not enough to look fully solid.

Slowly tucking the wing back against his body, Knight proceeded to answer the next question. “And by ‘shiny coat’ I believe you must be regarding my metal armor right? Well, it’s quite useful in battles but it’s just a piece of clothing I suppose. It is removable.” Though, he’d only let one person remove it…
 

[Dixie]

Her eyes widened as she watched his wings change from a transparent to almost solid state. "That's amazing!" she exclaimed before thinking of how silly she must sound. Her eyes looked up to the stallion then to his armor as he was explaining the purpose of it. Tuli was intrigued and was glad that Knight hadn't taken offense to her questions.

"It's a pleasure indeed, Knight." She offered up a charming smile and bowed her head in humble greeting as well. After a moment, she lifted her neck and her ears flickered, her head tilted a bit. "Battle?"

"My father tells stories of great battles found by the two leggers of the mountains in years past. Are those the battles you fight in?"  

[Firkasa]

The war stallion couldn’t help but give a hint at a smile as he watched the mare’s amazement and fascination. He secretly enjoyed teaching younger generations about the differences in the worlds even though he’d never admit it. His war career allowed him the insight on how wonderful I was to teach a disciple but he still lamented over the fact that his skills had to be used to defend against the oncoming onslaught of then.

“No, the battles I fought were in another land, another place; far from these lands. It took a long time for me to arrive here and an equally long time if I choose to return home.”

If he went home that was… His so called homeland was very far now. It had taken him a vast amount of time to reach Verloren and Amara’s home land and there was no turning back now. He had made a vow that he would chase all those demons back to the hold in whence they came from. Knight had followed the presence of one whom seemingly escaped to follow the two in hopes of driving it off before it could cause either of his subordinates harm.  

[Dixie]

Thanks to her parents teaching, Tuli had grown to love learning new things and basking in the knowledge of those around her. She stood quietly while Knight told of his home and travel.

"Why have you gone so far from home?" her head tilted out of curiousity. She couldn't imagine leaving her home, her family. She'd worry herself sick over her parents and brothers. "Don't you have a family that worries?"

She didn't think that her words may be offensive or too nosey for the stallion. Tuli had a bad habit of speaking before thinking. She stood there, her eyes peering at Knight, her tail swishing back and forth slowly. "I'm sorry, that might have been too personal..." she cringed a bit as she realized what she had asked.  

[Firkasa]

The older war horse stood for a moment, thoughts clearly trailed off to somewhere else. He had many reasons for leaving his so called home. If he called it home anyway… Even though he considered that place his home land, he knew that he wasn’t even born there. And any family he could have had… well, that was long forgotten. And since the war had subsided in that far away land, his only purpose was to chase down whatever else had escaped… That was all he had left… until “that person” summoned him again.

Vaguely catching the last bit of Tuulikki’s words, Knight merely shoke his head lightly. “No. Don’t worry about it.” But clearly, the stallion’s mind was somewhere else as his eyes seem to gaze off into the depths of the nearby tree grove.

“I don’t have to worry about family,” the stallion slowly began. “It’s not like I recall any of them anyway.” He was trying to be mindful of his words but when it came to the matter of families, he was rather indifferent about his own. “Ah. Sorry. I’m not particularly used to talking about such things.” After all, his only real companion in life had been war itself.  

[Dixie]

His words, as few as they were, pulled at Tuli's heart strings. No family? How sad that must be for a soquili. She didn't understand that some went their whole life without knowing family and were perfectly content with living that way.

Her ears flickered as Knight came back from his 'daze' to answer her quesitons. Her face saddened slightly, though she didn't really mean for it to show.

"You don't have -anyone- waiting on you?" Surely, surely he had someone to return to? Tuli just had to believe that there was at least 1 person who cared where this soquili was. "What....what happened?"

One day, her curiousity would get the best of her and land her into a LOT of trouble.  

[Firkasa]

Raising one brow slightly and lowering one of his ears in a slightly odd perplexed look, Knight was somewhat taken aback by the mare’s response to his own words. He had tried to be careful about the way he talked about his past but he guessed that Tuulikki was rather sensitive about the matter. She probably grew up in a very loving family that led to such a result.

“Well, I don’t know what happened to my family. My memories of my childhood are very vague and my parent’s vanished around the time I was born so…” The war horse shrugged for this was something he saw a lot back on his “homelands”. He wasn't the only one who had suffered from the plague known as loneliness. “I don’t really have anyone in particular waiting for me back there.”
 

[Dixie]

"Knight, that's terribly sad..." her voice trailed off as she pondered on his situation. He was correct in his assumption. Tuli had come from a very loving and close knit family. She didn't know, or really understand, life any other way.

"You're..." she didn't want to word it wrong, but she had no other way to ask, "You're 'ok' with being alone all the time?" her head tilted in curiousity again. She took a few steps, small steps, closer to the stallion.

She wondered if the war he had spoken about earlier had anything to do with it. Her father had told her how gruesome and destructive wars were. Tuli had never met anyone who'd actually fought in them though.