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 Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:08 pm
 Life with the kid wasn't too different from life before the kid, all things considered. Snow still fell. Vartan still froze his a** off. The sun rose, the moon set, and the world kept on turning. His only problem was that now he had an extra mouth to feed, and bark wasn't a great staple for a growing colt. That mother of his coulda picked a more convenient time to spawn.
"Hey, kid," Vartan beckonedbeckoned the colt over with a toss of his mane. They'd spent the morning running, and dialed it down to a trot when they reached the edge of a foriegn river. Vartan'd taken a few minutes to test the ice, while the kid... did whatever it was that foals did these days.
Hell if Vartan knew. He wasn't a goddamn mare. He just had to make sure the kid didn't freeze to death in a snowbank, or get his a** chewed to mulch by wolves.
"You ever had to keep yer balance solid water, before?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:52 pm
Gaaaasp!
Damn, how much longer did they have to walk? With every pause and glance Manjii' took back, he never did find an answer to that one question? Hadn't they gone far enough? Seriously, the surroundings were all the same now, so what is it that Vartan is looking for? Is he even looking where he's going, or just going? D<
"Don't 'hey kid' me. It's Manjii' darn it! Else I just call ye dude." The colt snirked to himself, proud to be his own entertainment on this little trek. The stranger was hardly the kindly sort to deal with. Sighing at the end of his humor, the soqu trotted up towards the other male. But what?....
Brows rose as eyes fell tot he reflective ground before him. Oh, water? But no...it was foggy and hard to the tapping of his hoof. One ear considered the adult's brief question. "Nay...but how hard can it be, right?" And he stepped forward, it only taking one slipped hoof to make him tumble forward. Short fur bristled instantly to the freezing touch on his naked belly, but pride held him from shouting out.
Though not enough to stop his teeth from chattering....
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:05 am
They walked until their legs ached. And then? They walked some more. That was how long they had to walk. Trotting in the deep snow, working their muscles against cold and heavy resistance, was one of the best workouts Vartan could have asked for. This kid wasn't gonna grow up to be some kinda p***y on his watch. It was a matter of his pride as a fighter.
Vartan was maybe a little impressed with how the colt bore their journey without complaining. Maybe. But he wasn't about to say anything like that. The kid had enough attitude as it was.
"Tell you what, kid. You can call me dude, if you think you can get away with it without fallin' on yer a** again," Vartan smirked, his violet eyes sparking with a tiny, infintesimal bit of... amusement? Maybe even laughter, or fun? Surely not! It must be a trick of the cold. "And I'll call you Manjii when you ain't acting like a kid anymore."
Slowly, carefully, the stallion edged onto the ice, and slid over to Manjii's side. The key was to keep three of his legs locked in a solid stance at all times, so that one slipped hoof couldn't send him toppling the hell over.
"Until then, you still got a whole lot to learn."
Spirits. Had he been this much of a dumbass when he was young? Probably. That incident with the bees didn't bear too much thinking about.
He nosed at the prone colt's shoulder.
"You wanna wait for some advice, this time?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:25 pm
"Errrr, just shut up already!" Who cares that the adult only spoke just now through the trip, it was still so annoying! What an unpleasant fella that he had to get paired with. It was almost more unbearable than his own siblings. No wait, it was more unbearable. Simply because he couldn't n** and fight back with the larger male like his siblings.
Pft, what else did he expect him to act like? He was a kid, for goodness sake. And until then, it seemed he'd be stuck calling the other Dude for awhile. The colt curved his neck as he heard a slick cutting sound. That wasn't the sound of falling. And his light eyes saw that the other soqu was...sliding? But how? The touch to his shoulder only sent him slipping more onto his tummy. Dx; "Make it quick, make it QUICK!"
So coooold it hurt his skin!
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:22 am
At this, Vartan bit back a low, barking laugh. The little pain-in-the-a** looked miserable. It was priceless.
"I look like I got hands to lift you up, kid?"
He carefully placed one of his fetlocks against the colt's stomach, and prodded a bit to see how mcuh force he was gonna need to get them outta this mess. It was a damn lucky thing that the ice was still thick enough not to break under the weight of a full-grown stallion.
"Think again."
With that, Vartan stomped his back hooves into the ice, to create grooves where he could keep his grip without slipping around. Then he used his forelegs to push Jumanjii towards the shore, sending the colt sliding towards dirt and snow, where he could hopefully get enough of a grip to stand up on his own.
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:52 pm
"What are hands?!?" Dx<
The colt continued to shiver, enough so that his short tail lifted like that of an Arabian's. 'Cept his was going to be frozen that way if nothing happened soon. And making up a word like "hands" was nay working right now!!! Short ears spazzed into a pin as Vartan slowly approached. The minor wartmth from his leg making contact to Manjii's tummy was enough to make the youth squeak.
Then there was a terrible crack in the ice, caused by the adult's stomping. The boy didn't know whether to cuss or pee at this point, now only praying to the spirits that the ice didn't split apart.
"Wooowo!" Suddenly, and quiet painfully, the dull ice was sliding under him and he bumped numbly into the snowbank. It took several slips and shakes to finally get a footing and make it off the frozen lake. "I'm free, I'm free! Yip!-" He stumbled again on his a**, scrawny legs still too numb to walk properly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:39 am
Vartan had been about to explain that two-leggers had funny-lookin' tentacle things at the ends of their limbs, instead of hooves. They were covered in weak-looking nails that weren't even good for scratching at enemies or walking on the ground. Their only use was for grabbing dumb-a** foals and setting them upright, or putting stupid flowers around their necks, or other questionable practices.
Pffft. Kawani.
Unfortunately, Jumanjii'd tumbled back down on his flanks before Vartan could get half a word out, and thus he lost a valuable educational opportunity. Vartan was too busy laughing his a** off to say anything intelligent.
"Kid, you're really something else."
Hell, when was the last time he'd let loose like this? His shoulders were shaking. He hadn't felt this way since he was a kid.
"Y'know, you-"
The ice cracked ominously beneath Vartan's hooves.
"Aw, hell."
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Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:38 pm
Nostrils flared as the colt shivered again, trying stubbornly to control his limbs. He almost lost out in frustration, but a sound caught his ears and motivation. Laughter....that jerk was laughing at him!! Belittled, Manjii' bolted upright, too fast and numb for his senses to realize.
"Shut Up!! Just cause ye legs are larger than me own." Short tail whipped his flanks of clinging snow, and he turned to send a glare at Vartan. But his expression was familiar. The adult was.....grinning. Why it could almost be called smilin! And Manjii found himself tickled, not realizing how much he missed such a youthful emotion. Just like his siblings!
Supressing his own chuckles, Manjii' lifted his chin and quirked a brow. "Yeah, I what?" Oh, what was that? Eyes widened in understanding as he looked to the adult's hooves. The ice, what was wrong with it?...
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:56 pm
No way. No frikking way. Vartan had stood on this ice dozens of times before, and reared back without even a hint of a problem. This should not be happening!
Oh, but it was.
Vartan's laughter dissolved into a comical look of shock, as the ice gave out beneath him, and he plunged into the freezing water.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:00 pm
s**t! W....where did he go?!?!
"Dude! DUDE!!!" The colt floundered to his feet, turning and gaping at the body of water. What had looked so sturdy just moments ago now had a giant abyss in the center, dark water slushing out as if victorious. Biting his cheek, Manjii' glared at the lake. "Errrg, you give him back! Right NOW!!!" Even if he was a jerk, he was still his tour guide damn it!
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:17 pm
Vartan thrashed and struggled in the freezing water, fighting with all his might not to get pulled in by the undertow. Strange, slimy objects rubbed against his fetlocks. He hoped that those were weeds, and not a goddamn Kelpie waiting to pull him down to his doom.
Vartan liked fights. He liked 'em a lot. But he was eating those herbs, and the kid was looking at him, and-
And, faced with the reality of dark, churning water, maybe he didn't want to die that badly after all.
If he could only touch the bottom of the river, he could push himself up! His hooves were almost there. Just a little bit more.
"Kid!" He called out. "Kid, you gotta find the biggest rock you can push, and kick it over to me. Hurry!"
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:35 pm
Blink. "Wha' the hell rocks don't float stupid!?!?" Manjii' growled to himself, thinking the cold water had gotten to the adults already altered mind. Still, it was something to do and a demand nonetheless....one he knew he'd get pummeled for ignoring should Vartan reach him. Swinging his neck side to side, the colt looked frantically for some stone within the white snow. There, just beside a tree's withered base lounged a few rocks, some of mentionable size. But how was he to move one of those?
The sound of splashing water made his short fur bristle, and Manjii' snorted with narrow eyes to the pile of rocks. Pawing his hoof into the snow, the colt did the only thing he could think of. Treat the stone like his brother. Charging swiftly, the young boy slammed a headbutt against the object, wincing as it shocked his skull. But it had been enough to roll it in the snow's slope and toward the lake's edge. Panting, Manjii' peeked over the rock to the other soqu. "Here it is! Catch!" Spinning on his heels, he kicked the stone to slide across the fragile ice.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:44 pm
It looked as though all of that trudging through the snow had paid off. Jumanjii's kick was firm and true, and it send the stone sliding smoothly across the ice, until it finally fell through the water with a decisive splash.
Vartan would have looked proud, if he weren't so busy thrashing in place and trying to not to breath in water.
"Aw, hell yeah," he choked out, lashing out with one of his back hooves until he found the rock beneath him. Finally, he had a solid stepping-stone.
Wildly, desperately, he kicked out beneath himself, and trying his hardest to jump up and out of the freezing river. His muscles were half-numbed by cold, and his mane was heavy with frost. The slow current worked against him. Yet somehow, against all odds, Vartan managed to anchor his front hooves on the surface of the ice.
"This is gonna suck."
The stallion gritted his teeth, groaned with the stress of his own weight, and pushed to try and haul the back half of his body up. Even for a Soquili of his strength, the strain was almost too much. He needed help.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:14 pm
Now all he could do was watch. He had brought the rock that Vartan summoned, whatever good that would do him. And now he would watch and learn. What use was stone against a giant of water?
The rock slid smooth and true towards the adult, and Manjii' cocked his frozen ears curiously. Had....they wanted the rock to fall through the ice; was that part of the plan??? "Oh!" And like magic, Vartan seemed to grow taller above the water's angry grasp. Not by much, but enough to keep his mouth and nose breathing air. "Ooooooy! What now Genius?!" The colt pranced along the edge in an antsy manner, not daring to tip toe on the sheet of ice before him. Harsh sounds of slapping water and chipping ice hit his ears clearly, and he canted his head to the scene. Was he....was Var trying to jump? But he was much too big!
Gritting his teeth, Manjii' searched out his surroundings. Just behind him not feet away stood a tall and narrow sapling. Winter had stripped it bare and it looked flimsy enough with its snowy base..... Mind made up, the colt bolted to the plant and with pulsing energy began to slam against the tree base. It took many a tries and alot of grunts from the youth before the tree finally fell. Snorting to his victory, Manjii' chomped upon the branches and dragged it over to the water.
Now for Vartan to reach it...
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