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 Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:44 pm
 ((if this font is too light, just let me know and i'll make it darker.))
Florica sat contentedly on a warm rock at the mouth of the canyon next to the clear water. With all her travelings and exploration, a quiet afternoon in the sun was always a reward. She was never really concerned with what or who she was going to find, just that she was going to find it. At this point, nothing troubled her because she just ran away from it all. And where Florica ran to was her favorite place on this whole island, near the water. Somehow she was naturally inclined to head to the beaches and enjoy herself in the area. Her tan wings were stretched over her back to catch all the warm sun rays she could. Her pink flower she always wore flickered in the sea breeze and glimmered in the afternoon sun.
Besnik, her mimicgryph familiar, played with a small hermit crab in a shallow pool nearby. He was tired of continually flying and enjoyed every bit of solid ground he could.
"Besnik... please be nice to that crab..."
Florica opened one eye to eye what her companion was doing. In reply, the mimicgyph stopped and gave her a look until he watched her eye close again and continued his play.
Florica continued to sunbathe, ignoring his shinanigans, and slowly started to doze off, at least until she's disturbed from her slumber.
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:55 pm
Some distance away, a dark green shape plummeted like a stone from the heavens, sharply angled into the wind. Malachite snapped out her wings a little ways above the water, sending up sheets of water to either side as a wingtip skimmed the surface, then she tacked the other direction and repeated the trick deliberately, laughing aloud at the feeling of water droplets striking her sides. Then, abruptly, she folded her wings again and let herself drop into the water with a tremendous splash.
She let herself drift with the current for a bit, paddling happily with just her head out of the water, wings half-furled at her sides like absurd fins. She was no Merdrac in the water -- more of an ungainly, splashing thing, really -- but Malachite still loved swimming as much as she loved running or flying. Besides, it was good exercise; it would never do for a girl to let herself get out of shape, hence why she pulled stunts like this so frequently. As soon as her feet brushed bottom, her paddling switched to a bounding gait, and she headed for shore.
Once on the relatively drier beach, a tiny, sopping-wet figure slid off Mal's back, down her shoulder, and onto the sand, gazing up at her reproachfully. Mal just laughed and nudged the corn baby. "C'mon, you can't say you didn't enjoy that," she lilted, even as she shook vigorously to dislodge excess water from her scales. She hadn't yet noticed Florica, the other painter's tan hide being considerably less noticeable against the beach background than Mal's own deep green.
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:30 pm
Besnik was the first to notice the great green painter plummet into the water. He bounded over to Florica and hid in her shadow.
"Uh.. Flor? I think something just..."
Florica swatted her tail, barely missing Besnik's head and went back to contendedly rested on the warm rock. Normally she was a fun-loving painter, but when it came to naps or eating, you did not mess with her. She continued to snooze happily and ignored Besnik's bounching up and down in excitement. Glaring at his large companion, he went back to playing with the hermit crab that was no long there. Wondering where it went, the mimicgryph swiveled from side to side looking for where it went. Suddenly his leg got caught on the other and he fell into the soft sand.
Done with sunning her tan hide, Florica sat up and gave a beastly yawn that let out a loud roar. Shaking off the excess heat form her scales, she stepped down from her rock and stepped lightly into the cool water. Florica still didn't realize the other painter was there until she was shoulder high into the water.
"Besnik... is that another painter that I see?"
Besnik bounded over after shaking off the sand and sat on the bank.
"That's what I tried to..."
Before he could finished she started to swim over to the green dragon.
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:20 pm
"Honestly," Malachite teased the round little figure currently occupied in drying itself off on the sand, "you'd think I was trying to torment you, the way you sulk." The corn baby glared at her, but didn't reply. Mal honestly had no clue why the little creature followed her... it had simply shown up one day, it didn't speak, and wouldn't or couldn't tell her why it insisted on staying close to her. She shrugged it off as one of life's mysteries.
Still half-in, half-out of the water, her legs totally submerged and the occasional splash against her flanks, Malachite turned away to dive in again, but then caught the sound of a roar and a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye. Uh-oh. Now, she wasn't a girl who picked fights, but she knew she wasn't always so careful about territory borders, either. Especially when she was in high spirits, her mind on other things. Had she accidentally intruded on someone who would rather be left alone?
Once she knew to look, dark golden eyes narrowed slightly against the reflections of light on the water, she spotted Florica easily. The other painter was moving towards her... Still, she was determined to give the situation the benefit of the doubt. And even if the other was cross at her interruption, better to play cheerful ignorance than either hostility or craven behavior. So Mal unhesitatingly struck out into the water to meet her halfway, calling out as she did so. "Hallo! Is this your beach?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:14 pm
Still in the shallow parts of the water, Florica's claws dug into the soft wet sand below her as she continued foward. Seeing the dragon come to her, she slowed a bit, hoping she didn't anger any other dragon. She was not much of a fighter, but when the time would come she would. Besnik watched from the shore, tail twitching back and forth in curiosity. Hearing the other painter, she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt this was just another traveling painter as herself.
"Oh dear no. Just enjoying the afternoon sun and a cool dip in the water."
Flor stopped half way as they finally met. She treaded the water comfortably as she met the green painter. The water felt cool against her warm scales as the water lightly lapped up against her sides. Her brown wings rested at her sides, occasionally unfolding a bit to help keep balance in the water. Florica loved to swim, especially around this area. As a hatchling she came around her a lot with Besnik, as she had no idea where the rest of her family even was for most of her life.
"My name is Florica."
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:19 am
Oh, good. A friendly face and voice. Such a relief that Mal chuckled and struck out into the water at a quicker pace than before, though she still bobbed rather awkwardly. Natural buoyancy made up for a relative lack of experience on her part -- a creature too heavy for its size would never be able to fly, after all -- but she had to occasionally use her wings like paddles to compensate for the currents that seemed to want to tilt and turn her in all directions.
"Name's Malachite, though Mal's less of a mouthful," she responded lightly. Then, noting how easily the other Painter took to swimming... goodness, it's like she'd been hatched in the water!... Mal couldn't quite restrain herself from a sudden outburst of "How d'you do that?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:33 pm
Florica chuckled as Mal responded.
"Then it is nice to meet you Mal. If you would like, feel free to call me Flor."
Besnik, still seated at the water's bank, breathed a sigh of relief as the other painter was a friendly one. He bounded back over to his small pool and continued to paw at the small creatures that inhabited it.
Flor continued to tread the water as she watched Mal, and was a bit taken a back at Mal's outburst.
"What? Oh, this?"
She swam around in a circle and came back to face her. Flor had a big grin on her face and chuckled.
"I used to come down here a lot. Ask Bessy over there. He's been with me my entire life."
Besnik's ears perked up at hearing his name but went back to playing with the creatures.
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Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:38 pm
Mal chuckled ruefully, a bit more stable in the water now that she was trying to remain stationary rather than move towards Florica; she'd turned in to face the current, and found it was simpler to just paddle against it to stay in place, rather than trying to swim at an angle to it to reach a destination. She twisted her neck around to follow Florica's motions, trying to study how the other Painter did it -- where she put her wings, how she managed. "Lots of experience, then, eh? That's the ticket... I'm more of a runner and a flyer meself, but I always do like trying new things."
A faint, piteous wail came from the direction of shore, and Mal again turned her head to look -- her familiar was standing on the bank, gazing at her with wide and reproachful eyes and waving its stubby arms in the air, as if chastising her to come back to the beach at once. "Ahh, relax, short stuff," she called back. "I'm not leaving ya behind, or anything..." She shot Florica an apologetic look.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:52 pm
Florica chuckled lightly as she watched the poor little familiar flail on the shower. She continued to paddle against the weak current and watched Mal. It was not that Flor did not trust the new aquiantance, she meerly was watching her own back. She had more than enough run ins with dark characters and barely escaped. With that, she took away caution and a little trust.
"Ah flying. Now that is an activity."
Florica stretched her wings at their fullest length and with a huge beat of her wings, the air pressure sucked her out of the water and into the air. Her muscles flexed at every beat of her wings and every movement she made. The water trickled down her scales and dripped softly into the larger body of water. Continually flexing her wings up and down kept her stationary a few feet above the water.
"If I could fly and swim all day... I would be the happiest painter on this island."
She let out a laugh like bells and rose up a few more feet into the air and plummeted back into the water with a splash.
Besnik continued to vary from watching his companion and attacked various small critters that scurried from his claws.
Florica swam on the bed of the mouth to the river and used her wings and tail to steer her through the water. Since she was no merdrac what-so-ever, she soon came back up for air near Mal. Only her head popped out of the water with her small pink flower drooping from the huge amount of moisture. She wore a grin on her face and looked to Mal.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:31 pm
Mal chuckled, calling a good-natured "Hey!" as Florica plunged back into the water, sending a wave in all directions. Shaking her dark head, Mal let out a most undelicate huff of breath to clear the water from her muzzle. "So now we're flinging the wet stuff around, eh? Even if we are both wet already." Still, her tone was more lightly teasing than actually disapproving or annoyed.
When Florica disappeared under the water, Mal initially made an attempt to follow, ducking her head under the water and trying to imitate the way the other Painter held her wings, her body, to move with the water rather than fighting it. But she gave up quicker and headed for the surface, content to paddle. When Flor's head emerged once again, however, Mal's golden eyes glittered with mischief as she watched for a moment. Then, in one sweeping motion, she brought both wings forward, sending a small wall of water straight at Florica.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:52 pm
((ugh so much writer's block! lol.))
Florica's eyes widened at the wall of water heading towards her. She ducked under the water but came back up, sputtering and coughing on the water that she inhaled before going under to hide from the wall of water.
"Oh is that how you want to play?"
Florica raised up and did the same and began to chuckle at their childish games. Florica hasn't had this much fun with another painter in a long time. All she has had was Besnik, and Besnik is much smaller than her.
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Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:26 pm
Mal yelped and spluttered as she didn't quite avoid the wave sent back in her direction, wings instinctively unfurling and carrying her up out of the water to hover above its surface, mirroring Florica's earlier action. Laughing, she shook the water off of herself in midair, gazing down at the other Painter with eyes bright and sparkling with amusement. "Yep! Only way to play."
Skimming low to the water and gliding a wide circle around Florica, Mal added, "So you've got me in the water. I wonder, though, if you're faster than me in the air? I practice a lot, don'cha know." Her competitive streak was beginning to come to the surface.
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Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:56 pm
Florica's eyes gleamed with competition and dove back under water. She hit the bottom of the river and propelled herself out of the water and into the skies.
"I'll take you up on that offer!"
Florica spread her wings and soared higher and higher until she was level with the top of the canyons. She continued to roll and spin in the air and paused to watch what the other painter would do. Florica's favorite thing to do was swim, but naturally she also loved to fly. With all her traveling brought much practice of flying, but she was not sure how well Malachite was going to fly. She never knew.
Besnik watched as Florica soared high into the air and shook his head. He was not prepared to go after the playful painter. After all... she was much faster than he was and he knew she would be ok. Or at least that is what he had hoped. Besnik stopped playing with the little creatures and saw the other familiar on the beach sands. He scampered over and sat a good distance away in case the little thing was timid.
"Hello. I'm Besnik."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:39 am
Mal watched Florica for a moment, hovering in place, then threw herself forward and upward into the air at full speed, wings slicing through the air as she raced to catch up with her companion. Each wingbeat brought her closer to the top of the canyon, and as her momentum carried her straight past and above Florica, she pulled in one wing slightly and curved into a barrel-roll before catching herself, twisting in midair, and shooting back in the other direction, skimming the canyon walls. Mal did practice every day in these aerial maneuvers, and she couldn't help but want to challenge the other experienced flyer, now that she'd seen what Florica could do.
Wheeling smoothly to face Florica, she called, "How about a challenge? A race, or an obstacle course, or..." She was excited now, eager to put forth suggestions.
Far down below on the sands, Malachite's unnamed corn baby (she had always assumed the creature had a name of its own, and just didn't care to tell her) tilted its head and blinked large eyes as Besnik approached. It didn't seem particularly concerned or alarmed, just curious at the presence of the other familiar.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:13 am
"How about a race,"
Florica thought for a few moments. Malachite really was an experienced flier, so she would be quite the challenge indeed. Florica continued to beat her wings steadily to keep her airborne and looked to the canyon. She knew the canyon fairly well, and with Mal's skills, she was sure she would be all right.
"through the canyon. We reach crater lake and make a loop around it and come back. First one through the mouth of the canyon wins."
Florica was getting anxious now. She hasn't raced someone as fast as her in a while. And going through the canyon was going to be a challenge, with all it's turns, danger of falling rocks, and pieces of rock that stick out or go across the canyon. The thought was exhilarating. She grinned and propelled herself to the mouth of the canyon in preparation.
"Unless you're afraid..."
Besnik awaited a name from the little corn baby but with no response, looked back up to the two painters who seemed to be tiny dots in the sky.
"She better not do something stupid..."
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