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 Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:20 am
 She had made sure not to wander far from home, knowing that with recent occurrences her father would be worried if she did... She just hadn't been able to resist the call of the evening. It was so beautiful; the sky stretching on forever above her with thousands of stars glittering like tiny gems... And beyond that she had just needed to get away.
Someone else was staying with them now; a friend of her sister's that had helped her father, a stallion that had earned her father's respect despite his heritage. It was strange, really, to have someone other than family there and it left her wondering just how she fit in to everything still.
Sighing she flopped down onto the grass, lying on her side so that she could watch the sky above her, wings giving a slight flutter from time to time.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:55 am
 Night or day, it didn't really matter. After all, as long as the path ahead was visible, there was nothing to worry about. Heavy hooves pounded against the ground, but the sound was muffled by soft grass. The speed of his run had his tail nearly straight out behind him and flapping wildly. Every once in a while he would slow just enough to prance around and jump like a foal before zooming off again. The one man race in the moonlight continued for quite a while before he finally slowed to a steady trot, but just before he meant to turn back, something caught his eye. Not one to ignore curiosity, he wandered closer, coming upon the back of a winged mare in the grass.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, standing behind her and letting his gaze find the sky like hers. He was oblivious to the formalities of introduction. Rather, he was far too interested in what she might be doing laying out here at night. Especially if it had to do with something besides the running and playing he was used to.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:03 am
Startled, she rolled quickly to her feet, all but disappearing with a little 'tink' as she shifted sizes. It wasn't something that she had ever done before, never having reason to do it and enjoying what normalcy she could. Her mother had told her that all flutters had the ability to do so... But this was just strange; to have changed simply because she'd been frightened?
The voice that she heard wasn't mean though and the question it asked wasn't an angry one... Just something simple. There was nothing to be afraid of.
"I..." She landed on the ground, gazing up at the stallion for a moment before focusing her attention on returning to her normal size (still petite for a full grown mare). "... I was watching the stars..." She said softly, seeming almost bashful at the little episode.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:15 am
That reaction hadn't been expected at all. In fact, not knowing of the flutters' ability, himself, he was completely surprised when she disappeared from his sight. Letting out a soft whinny, he pawed the ground and stepped back, eyes darting around until he was finally able to notice her. Tiny, yes, but certainly not small enough that she'd disappeared. His gaze followed her as she landed, extremely curious how she'd managed to get so small. Still, he held in the thought as she returned to normal size.
"Watching the stars, huh?" he half repeated, half asked with a grin. He looked up again. They were bright tonight, weren't they? Or maybe they always were. Maybe he just moved to fast to notice most of the time. "Is that a lot of fun?" he asked, genuinely curious, as his gaze returned to her again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:36 am
"It's..." She paused, pondering that for a moment before responding. "No... Not really. Not unless you're watching them with someone, that is, and talking while doing it. I was..." She sighed softly. "Thinking. I do that a lot..."
It took another brief pause before she'd realized that she was being rude in that she had yet to introduce herself. "Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Inakamono. My family calls me Ina though."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:54 am
"Oh." Well, that didn't sound very exciting. Alone and having no fun. Thinking too much. Nakawara couldn't say he knew that feeling. He wasn't stupid, that wasn't it. He just didn't always think things through. Sometimes he made steps that got him in trouble. It was only after the fact when he would realize that he could have done something differently. Ah well, he would decide. Life was boring if you thought to much and stopped yourself from having fun.
At her introduction, he was called out of thinking about having no fun. "Inakamono. Is it okay if I call you Ina, too?" He wasn't family, but she wouldn't have brought it up if she didn't want him calling her by her nickname. Right? "I'm Nakawara, but I've got no nickname. You can call me what you want." He grinned toothily, tail flicking out behind him.
"By the way..." he didn't consider the fact that she might not want to talk about it. But now that introductions were pretty much over, he was interested in knowing. "What were you thinking about that keeps you from having fun? I didn't think something like that was possible!" His eyes widened childishly.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:16 am
"Of course it's okay." She found herself smiling brightly, delicate wings giving a little twitter. "I only get called Inakamono when I'm in trouble... Or when my brother or sister are being funny, anyways." There were other times, of course, but 'Ina' was so much easier to remember.
"Nakawara." She said his name once, mulling it over before her smile broadened. "It's a nice name." She blinked, tilting her head to look at him. "Thinking about? Oh, lots of things... But even if I was thinking, I do like watching the stars."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:36 am
"Ina it is!" he exclaimed, nodding happily. He was glad to have a new friend. Maybe he could even convince her to play with him sometime. Right now, he was happy enough with just talking. Probably because it was late and he'd been running all day anyway. After a good night's sleep, he'd be ready to go again. Always energetic and maybe a little childish. That's just how he was.
"Thanks!" he said, looking a little sheepish at first, but more than willing to accept the compliment without much thought. "I guess even if you like watching stars, it's only fun with someone else?" That's what she'd said earlier, if he recalled correctly. "Well, I could watch them with you, if you want. I've never done it before." New things were usually pretty fun. "Do you just look up at the sky?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:08 pm
"You can watch them with me if you'd like." She nodded slowly, smiling. "Sometimes I just watch it... Other times I watch it and make up stories about the stars... And some times I look for pictures. My father calls them..." She paused for a moment to try to think of what the word was. "Constellations. They're supposed to each have a story of their own behind them too."
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:50 am
Glad she'd accepted, he grinned, listening intently to her explaination of this new 'game.' When she'd finished, he shifted, moving to lay out in the grass as he'd seen her doing when they first met. "Constellations," he repeated, mostly settled down. "Do you make them up or are they already there?" With so many stars, he could certainly imagine finding his own pictures up there. But 'constellations' sounded so official. He had to wonder if the stars always showed the same pictures every night. If they were too easy to find, that wouldn't be very fun. Not the same thing every night, anyway.
Looking up, he let out a soft breath. "There are a lot of 'em, huh?" Sure, he knew that from the beginning. Still, he was a runner, not a stargazer. This was probably the first time in his life he truly took the time to take a look at the night sky. It was surely bright.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:51 am
"Some of them are already there; those are the ones my mother and father have told me about... Others? Well, I don't see anything wrong with making them up. Sometimes people see things that others don't..." She nodded slowly, smiling as she carefully lowered herself back down to the ground.
"Yes... There are a lot of them. I tried to count them once when I was younger. I didn't get very far..." There had just been too many and no way of keeping track of which ones she'd counted and which she hadn't.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:20 pm
"Making them up seems like it would be more fun." The words came softly and without too much thought. For once, he seemed enraptured by something other than the feeling of wind against his form as he ran. The streaks of his tail fell in and out of pattern as it flicked, silently displaying his interest. "But I'd wanna see ones that others come up with." He hadn't seen any pictures yet, just a bunch of dots. Some of them threatened to become shapes as he followed a line or two, but in the end they just dispersed into the large group again. Shutting his silver eyes for a moment, he sucked in a breath. "I bet it would be hard to count all of them..." he conceded, mentally praising her for even attempting. "I'd definitely give up." His attention span would never encompass such a feat. Opening his eyes once more, he looked to her a smiled.
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:06 pm
"It can be." Her smile brightened a bit. "You can come up with so many different stories and each person tells them differently. I know I couldn't tell some of them nearly as well as my father does. Mine always seem silly." She laughed, shaking her head slowly. She didn't mind though... At least, not that much. She liked being able to make others smile and laugh. "It was hard to try but I'd thought I could and sometimes I think that thinking you can is just as important as anything else."
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:30 pm
"Ah!" The exclaimation came as soon as she had finished speaking again. The look on his face told of his excitement. It was a mixture of pride, as well, as if he believed the idea he'd come up with was a thuroughly intelligent one. "You should tell me some of your stories!" he told her loudly, ears swiveling at the thought. "I bet they're just as good as your father's. For sure!" Tossing his head, he let out a laugh, oblivious to the racket he was making on this mostly peaceful night. "And maybe, after that, we can try and count the stars together. With both of us counting, we might get further than we could by ourselves." It was still an impossible thing, even he was sure, but it never hurt to give it a try, right? What could they lose but a bit of time?
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:46 pm
"I..." She could feel her face heating beneath the soft coat of fur on it as she shook her head. "I wouldn't know where to start. I guess all stories have a beginning somewhere but..." She gave her head a light toss before glancing up at the sky.
"Most of the stories I have to tell don't belong to me... They're all someone else's story. My father has a story. My mother has a story. My sister has a story... But I haven't found my own yet."
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