Welcome to Gaia! ::

(Creative title coming soon)

Start Date: Now, yayness.
End Date: Monday 1AM PST



Rules.

1. All shop rules apply of course.
2. Contest is newbie only. Co-owners and familiar owners are clear to enter, but no full owners of any Soquili (Usdias count as a Soquili).
(May add more as I think of stuff).

Prompt



Parents and siblings may be used if you like. If you have an indian persona, you may use them.

Name: Selene
Meaning: Its not a meaning as such, but it is one of the Lunar names.
Number of Soq: 0 (I do not co-own any either)
Temper: Protective

Selene watched as her siblings played together, she had always enjoyed their company yet at the same time she felt a little ‘out’ of the loop. They seemed so close to each other that she found herself feeling slightly jealous, yet she simply suppressed this thought and watched them happily. Being born first she expected it was mainly because of her instincts to protect her family. Flipping her tail playfully she continued to watch, it was then she started to catch snippets of their cheerful conversation.

“Only two-legs!” One had called; the younger of the two she believed, while the other swiftly replied “I know it’s weird. We should go look!” Panic raced forward now, go look for some strange creatures. Selene had never coped well with the unknown, her heart beating faster was a clear giveaway of her rising fear, after all how could she protect her siblings if she did not understand the danger very well. Her father, Sol, had told her she was overreacting, yet he had been considerate about her needs trying to show her all the details of the world around her so she did not need to be afraid. This was not that type of situation, nor would her parents approve, she was sure of this.

Eventually she stood to her feet and walked towards her siblings, nipping playfully at their manes in turn before speaking. During the time he had taken her to stand and reach them her mind had been made up, if her siblings were prepared to go then she would join them, even fear wouldn’t allow her to be relieved of her protective duty. “Lets go.” Her words could be described in one word –song. Similar to the cheery chirping of young birds her voice would erupt from her mouth and dance towards the ears of those listening, light and airy upon the air. Puffing out her chest in an effort to look brave she headed in a random direction, soon the sound of giggling reached her ears causing her to swirl around, what was so fun? Her mind began racing. The older of the two spoke, for a moment she found herself mesmerised by the golden leaved markings that danced upon her pelt (she had always noticed that her sisters had far more intricate designs upon them, she merged easily in with the starry night sky but they caught the attention of those around, it was almost saddening to her), until finally a red flush covered her cheeks at the realisation of her words. “Not that way silly Sel!” Silly Sel. Silly Sel. Her blush increased. Heart racing now out of embarrassment rather than fear. Until finally she joined them in their laughter. “Lead the way then.” Selene’s voice was gentle, yet the first word came out a little shaky, two octaves too low for her normal melody. Still giggling her sisters turned and lead the way toward the forest, an omen in itself perhaps.

Twenty minutes later

After walking for what seemed like a year Selene’s legs started to feel heavy, her parents usually allowed them to rest every now and then but her sisters seemed so determined to find the magnificent creatures on two legs that they did not stop or waver from their current course. It was rather nice to see, she had never seen her siblings more intrigued in all their short existence. Silently they continued, flipping their tails every now and then in unison, a strange connection that drew them ever more together.

Suddenly she heard an unfamiliar sound, her heart automatically began to race as she flicked her ears desperate to pick up the sound once more without worrying her siblings, it was not necessary if the sound simply turned out to be a fox on some unknown surface, she was sure that the world and the forest held many secrets for her to uncover throughout her life. As that thought started to soothe her she found the sound again, fear gripping her soul once more. Why was she not more prepared? How could she had ever believed she was strong enough for this? She really was ‘silly Sel’. Sighing she stopped in her tracks to force herself to understand the sound, it was a ‘dum-dum’ sound upon the moist forest leaf litter.

Following suite her siblings also stopped, she could see them glancing with worried looks through her peripheral view but she tried to ignore it. The sound was too close to lose even a second of thinking time. What felt like hours in her head (and mere seconds in reality) past as she finally twisted her body and nudged her head to her rump for her siblings to hide behind her. Breathe shallow. Heart beating strong. She waited. The sound was moving inevitably towards her, towards them, and although they would have a chance of survival if they ran she would never been able to ensure the safety of all three, especially if one was to make a mistake. No, standing was defiantly the safe options, she could at least sacrifice herself if it was required.

The sound grew stronger and stronger by the second until it was finally upon them. Selene held her breath from the anticipation as the creature was finally revealed through the tree line. Horror riddled her face, ‘two-leggers’ were the correct name for them. They stood as high as a horse but seemed to be missing their rumps, and rather than strong muscles they seemed to have appendages growing out of the side of their chest. Curiosity seeped through her as she attempted to imitate their pose by standing on her hind legs, she wobbled unsteadily but she was able to hold it long enough before falling to notice a similarity. She began to settle when suddenly her nerves found themselves shattered once more by the strange noises she heard from the creatures’ mouth. She imagined it was trying to communicate, just with words that she did not recognise.

After a while she found herself beginning to understand, her siblings were now in full swing, surrounding the creature with tails wagging in approval, once again she stood back and watched. Their eternal protector.

Name: Ravenara
Temper: Dreamer



Evening was Ravenara's favorite time of the day. Young as she was 'Nara was already showing the tendancies of an introspective loner. It was not unusual to find her standing apart staring up at the stars as they appeared; and that's where this evening found her. She had a lot on her mind. Her parents had just that morning told her and her two siblings of their strange neighbors. Her curious siblings had bugged Lucine and Sol the rest of the day about wanting to go see them.

"We told you they didn't want to be disturbed!" Lucine said finally putting her hoof down. "That includes bringing you close enough to gawk at them!"
That had finally shut them up, it wasn't often that their kind and gentle mother raised her voice. The two had wandered off to graze and play the day away.

Admittedly 'Nara was as gnawingly curious as her siblings but had no desire to disturb their neighbors if that was what they wished. "Two-legs," she said to herself, trying to picture them. She couldn't wrap her mind around the concept; the figures her creative mind came up with kept falling over when they walked. She giggled to herself and danced about beneath the moon and stars. Distracted by her thoughts the foal wandered further than she had before and when she looked around she spotted a patch of light coming through the trees nearby.

Curious about the strange glow so much like the stars that burned in the sky above, she moved forward a step at a time. Soon she got her first glimpse of fire and the two-legged strangers around it. They looked nothing like her imaginings. They moved gracefully tending the glowing ground-star and preparing a meal. The smell of smoke and cooking meat caused the foal to sneeze. One of the figures looked up from tending the fire. Frozen in fear for a moment Ravenara took in the dark hair and eyes that gleamed in the firelight, one eye was encircled by a silvery crescent moon. When the stranger made a move to investigate the noise, Ravenara was able to fight her fear enough to turn and run back to her family.

"Mother! Father! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" she babbled when she reached her family. A sobbing mess worried that now the strangers with their glowing ground-star would be offended at her disturbing them, she leaned against her father.
Sol nuzzled her as he and Lucine slowly made sense out of her rambling story. "It's ok little dreamer. They probably don't even know who was out there. They know they are not alone around here."

"Now that you know where they are you can help keep your siblings from bothering them even by accident," Lucine added turning a brief warning glare at her other children.

With the comfort and reasurance of her parents Ravenara relaxed and soon slept. Before sleep took her she promised herself that someday she would learn more about the strangers and their curious ground-star.

Name: Sonitina
Number of Soqili: 0 (non co-owned)
Temper: Timid
Personality: she it a very timid soquili. everything about her is fragile. she hardly ever speaks above a whisper, and never goes as far as a shout. she loves the moon and its soft colors. at night she likes to sing to the moon, and to anyone who will listen. she believes that there is music in everything, and her favorite music is that of the night. if ever put into a bad situation she will try to talk or sing her way out of it. if there is someone in danger she will do what ever it takes to save them, ever if it means taking some hits. she is very loving and extremely loyal to those she holds close to her heart.

Response:

Sonitina sat with her family as the night settled in. She watched as one by one her siblings began to fall asleep, followed by her parents. She loved this time of night. A claming hush fell over the earth as the moon washed away the harsh colors of the day, turning everything into soft tones of blues and grays. She loved the moon. It was so courageous and brave to come out and chase away the creeping darkness of the night. To go and save everyone from the strangling shadows that came when the sun went away. She looked to the moon and began to sing softly. Her quiet voice gently drifted in the air. The song was a fragile one with soft tones that would make anyone stop to listen.

Something rustled in a bush at the edge of the clearing. Sonitina immediately stopped singing and held absolutely still. Nothing moved except the rise and fall of her sleeping family’s chests. Sonitina got up to investigate. She cautiously walked over to the bush and poked her head in-between the branches. She expected to find some small night animal, but nothing was there. She pulled her head out and looked around. Something moved in the distance. She turned and saw a strange light not too far away. It seemed to flicker and twitch as if it was alive. Intrigued she headed towards it. As she got closer she could hear strange sounds coming from the woods. The sounds seemed to be drawing her towards the light. Calling her to come closer. She stopped at the edge of the trees and stared at the flickering fire. Strange two-legged creatures were jumping about a large, red, fire in beat with its flames. Something tugged at the back of her mind. Something her mother had told her. Something about staying away from this place, but Sonitina was riveted, caught up in the beat and the music and the flickering of the fire. There was a drumbeat in the background and one of the creatures stepped forth and began to sing.

The song was like nothing Sonitina had heard before. It started out as a low trill that went along with the drum, and grew louder and louder until the air was filled with harsh chanting sounds. Sonitina felt a fear begin to wrap around her heart. The harsh music fell through the air like bricks. Every beat seemed to thud through her feet and hit her heart. From the drums, to the singing and the chanting, to the flickering fire and the dancers, Sonitina could not take it. It was too much for her, too heavy, so harsh. She dashed away, running back to her family as fast as her feet could carry her. She broke into the clearing and dropped down by her mother’s side. Her whole body was shaking with fear. She looked up at the moon and began to sing. Her soft voice carried across the clearing, clear as a bell. She sang her song of the moon and its color and its courage. Sonitina began to calm down; the Two-legged creatures were behind her now. She was safe with her family, and the moon. She sang herself to sleep, and dreamed soft dreams of light blues and full moons. She would never forget what she had seen, the harsh chanting and red fire. But now all she thought about was the soft blue moon as it danced across her dreams, saving her from the darkness of nightmares.

Name: Soleil [['Sun' in French. It could work for either of the two baskets, since their father's name is Sol~<3]]
Temper: Untamed [[Not brought under human control; wild.]]
Number of Soq': I co-own Final Pyre All Expired with Shadowlink005. :3

Note: I'll be using the silver/violet basket for the prompt. And I'll be RPing the basket as a male, since we don't know their genders. X3;

"Children, don't run off too far now, and play nicely with each other!.. Oh, and do try to stay away from the two-legged ones!"

"Alright, Mother!" Soleil let out a soft snort at his mother's words and insistent warning to he and his two siblings, giving a smile to the mare before shaking his head and starting off through the borderline of the forest and into the nearby open field. "Guys, come on!" He urged out with a huff, continuing through the brush without a bother to glance back at his two fellow foals. Letting out a soft, throaty hum as he made his way into the field, Soleil allowed a small grin to appear across his face. It was so nice to be away from Mother and Father! Taking in a breath through his nose then letting it out with a sigh, the colt took off in an excited gallop, flitting through the chest length field of autumn crisp grass as happily as any child. "Brother, Sister! What do you guys want to do now? Explore or something of the sor-.." His voice trailed off as he came to a slow halt in his hoof steps, panting lightly from his little burst of excitement at the entrance into this new place. Coming to a complete stop, he raised his head up higher, trying to get a good look around for his siblings. "Guys?" Soliel questioned out loud into the empty field, rearing up and holding himself up for a moment with front legs bent to his chest before going back to all fours with a soft thump.

Okay, now he was getting worried. The dark violet pelted Soquili gave out a soft nicker, in hopes of the two replying and coming to meet him. "Guys.." He breathed out in a hushed tone, giving a slow glance around with his ruby eyes before letting his emotions show, a worried look overcoming his face. "Come on! I know you're out there somewhe-" A sudden noise, loud and ragged sounding, caught his attention, his ears perking up for a moment before flicking back, slicking against his head and mane in a mix of fear and surprise at the outburst. 'What was that?' He asked himself in his head, the male's eyes widening as he brought himself down lower, hiding himself in the field. Whatever it was, he didn't want to get killed. Or worse: hunted. Any old predator with claws and fangs around here would find a little foal like him to be a tasty snack! Mother and Father had warned him about that.

The sound rang out again! But this time, in a softer tone, but still held the ragged tune from before. Curiosity got the best of the dark shaded colt, his attention caught as he started to stand back upright, heading towards the source. Soliel's eyes slitted as he spotted something.. a blob of dark tan and black. 'What's this?' Soliel gave a tilt of his head as he approached the creature, it leaned with it's bare back against a leafed tree. The human let out a soft snore, startling him and causing him to take a step backwards. '..What an odd noise.' Gathering himself and moving closer, Soliel gave a sniff at the being, outstretching his neck so he would have a good distance between himself and this mysterious thing. It smelled.. different! Flicking his tail in his curiosity, he brought himself even closer, moving in on the Native and sniffing at it's 'mane'. "How odd.." He said to himself softly, lipping at a strand of the ebony hair before letting it fall back into place, moving his investigation downward and to the creature's full body.

..Two legs! This thing had two legs! "This was what Mother was going on about!" He said out loud in exclamation, giving a soft stomp of a front hoof at the ground. This awoke the two-legger, the male giving a snap of his eyes open and staring at Soliel. Obviously, the foal had woken him up. "Aah! Mother!" Letting out a whinny of surprise, Soliel burst into a sprint, making his way back into the woods, to the safety of Mother and Father.

(Only co-own Adelle with pippi1884 cool

Name: Citlali
Temper: Curious

Citlali pranced away from where her family lived on long, slender legs. Her tiny hooves made soft sighing sounds as they moved through the grass silver-streaked with moonlight, similar to her pale, starry markings and her mother and brother's equally pale astronomical markings. Nights like this were pretty, and Citlali was eager to explore. Ahead of her rose strange triangular shapes with some baskets laying around. Soquili came from baskets, so maybe some strange Soquili lived here?

Citlali wanted to be an explorer someday, a great one who would be recognized and respected across the lands of the Soquili, one who chased the winds and discovered lands no other Soquili had ever seen. The idea pleased her immensely, and here was a chance to go exploring, a real chance to start making a name for herself as a great explorer!

She slowed down as she approached the triangles to a delicate walk. The full moon shyly illuminated the triangles and baskets, throwing long, deep, dark shadows where the light couldn't reach, but Citlali wasn't afraid of the dark; she was intrigued by the fact that she could explore this place without disturbing anyone, and intrigued by the adventures she could have.

She sniffed at the baskets with her tiny muzzle, expecting the smell of foals smaller than herself, but smelled no trace of Soquili, just a grassy smell. Confused, she nudged at the basket, and the lid came off. Frantic that she might have disturbed whoever was sleeping in there, she picked up the lid, and saw...plants. There wasn't a sleeping Soquili in the basket at all.

Relieved, she dropped the lid a bit more noisily than she should, and she heard the sound of small, tired footsteps. Citlali panicked and dashed out of the circle of triangles to a small copse of trees not far away and watched as the strangest creature she'd ever seen, one that walked on two legs instead of four, looked around, sighed, and put the lid back on the basket. She held her breath as the two-legged-one disappeared into one of the triangles, and let it out quietly, which was still explosively in her nervous ears.

She couldn't help it. She bolted back home to where it was safe and there were just comfortingly familiar and ordinary Soquili, where baskets held baby Soquili, and where there weren't two-legged-ones. So much for the great explorer Citlali. As she settled down next to her brothers and drifted off, she thought to herself, Next time, I won't run away. I'll learn more about strange creatures like the two-legged-ones, and I'll be the brave and mighty and great explorer Citlali.... Between that thought and the next, she fell fast asleep, dreaming of a future as one of the greatest explorers in Soquili.

Name: Ariadne
Name meaning: Type of Butterfly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne_merione
Gender: Female
Personality: She’s her mothers favorite child. But she’d preferred not to be fawned over because it only makes her feel stupid. Because she was born a ‘special’ horse.
Entry:


She was out on her own once again. It was a first for her seeing how protective of her mother was. She wasn’t like that with the other children from there herd. But she was something ‘different’ her mother told her. She was something ‘special’. She couldn’t quite understand this at all. How she was so wonderful? Her siblings were so bright- so spunky…so smart. She wasn’t and she figured her mother was just catering to her because she was so ‘slow’. Even her other siblings knew this and teased her about it. But she just couldn’t do anything about it. Or didn’t really want to…it would just add to the harassment.

She hung her head down low and started to trot out into the distance. She didn’t have any plans of running away. She didn’t have any plans of getting lost. She clearly just wanted to think about things for awhile. Clear her head. She sighed and shook her main too and fro. There were apples further on! She could smell them from here! With a whinny she lifted up her hooves and leapt off the winding path. APPLES! She clicked her lips together and pranced again. Had she not been so caught up she might have realized that she was straying further and further from home- but apples were so rare to her. Mother always thought she would choke on them. So even though they had such a delectable taste mother always took watch over her. Always spoiling her fun.

She pouted, but it was quickly over as she started to gorge herself on all the red delicious she could handle. Why was mom and dad such a fusspot with her?! These were the tastiest things EVER! But by the time she had finished grazing the entire area clean of apples night had already fallen and she found herself stranded out in the wild. In the far distance she could hear a wolf baying at the moon. She tried to steady herself but the noises were making her nervous. And the thought of wolves were just terrifying. No wonder mom told her not to stray.

She pawed a hoof at the ground trying to get her bearings. But the trail was gone. The familiar landmarks were no place to be seen and ‘AHhhwooooooooo!’ The wolves were getting ever so closer to her. Why didn’t she listen to her mother and father? A small beaded tear slipped down the side of her face then dripped off her long muzzle. All this for apples. Now she knew why her other siblings thought she was stupid and teased her. It wasn’t her fault she was born slower then them. Not at all. Maybe though if she had been born smarter she would have listened…

She slumped down to the ground as the tears rolled more freely. ‘So stupid!’ she kept chanting to herself. ‘So So STUPID!’ But as her own cries got louder. Something strange began to happen. As if by some sort of magic droves of brilliantly white winged butterflies began to land on her. They kissed off her tears with there wings and settled all over her body. And though she wasn’t a butterfly she swore she could understand every wing beat. They were telling her that she wasn’t ‘stupid’ and that her mother and father loved her dearly. That her siblings teased her because they loved her.

Another landed on her nose allowing the young Philly to look right into the butterflies beautiful eyes. ‘You’re like us…’ she swore she heard from it. ‘Starting off as a caterpillar then evolving into a beautiful butterfly!’ The wolves then howled again and she gave another shutter. “But the wolves…” The butterfly then fluttered it’s wings again. ‘Wolves can’t harm you my’ dear. You’re too smart for them!’ And though the small insect really wasn’t talking just the thought alone made her happy on the inside.

The little bug then jumped off her nose and took off in front of her. ‘Follow me and we will find your family!’ The little Philly then nodded and even with the wolves baying behind her felt she could tackle anything.

So they lead her on past the path to her pasture and into the strange realm of the humans. Or the ‘two-legers’ as her family so often referred to them. “This is not my home.” Ariadne said in a meak voice with the butterfly leading ahead. Again it never spoke in words to her. Just mearly flitting forward leading the young girl on. It was just her silly imagination wandering on her once more. The butterfly in the front the motioned towards a village ‘friends…’ The philly squinted her eyes in the dark to get a better look. Though alls she could see was white mountians and smoke.

She blinked again a strange feeling coming over her, blatent curiousity. That and it looked like a much better option then going back into the woods with the wolves. And from what she gathered they had been walking fairly close to where she had been. Then something behind her gave way and a small branch on the ground snapped. She looked back and could now see the wolves clearly behind her. They snarled at her and licked there lips starting to circle her. The small horse gave a shutter wishing her mom and dad were there to save her. Why on earth did she have to stop for those apples?!

Her next act was to look for the butterfly that was leading her, but it had gone too. She shook her head in disbelif that she had really followed it to her death. But as the first wolf launched itself had her something went hurtling narrowly past her head and landed infront of the wolf. ‘When did trees learn to fly?’ She then looked back at where it had come from. Once where there was an empty spot there was now a lovely two legger, and right infront of her guiding them to this spot had been the white butterfly.

The wolves then stood there for a few moments then with haste turned on there tails and ran into the woods. The little philly turned to the human. Then her eyes rested onto the butterfly. “Friends…” It seamed to call out once again. The philly now turning back to the little girl. She seamed to think like Ariadne in the way she moved. Then slowly with a gental hand she rested it by the horses ear and whispered. “I talk to them too my friend.”
She wasn’t so nervous about the white mountians. Or the lonely woods she had come from. The girl then moved her hand over Ariadne’s long mane. “He told me you’ve lost your way…” With a turn of her head she lipped at the girls long black hair, it was her way of saying yes. The girl then leaned in closer now hugging the philly. “Well then it’s settled my friend. In morning you and I shall go look for them.” She smiled then resting a hand agaist Ariadne for balance limped over to the stick she had thrown. It was a crutch not a weapon. Ariadne had not noticed it till now but the girl had been missing a leg.

“I see you noticed my leg…I hope you don’t mind. Everyone else makes fun of me for it.” Her head hung down low half expecting Ariadne to walk away noticing her disablity. But instead she walked closer so that the girl could grab onto her body as she walked back to her camp. ‘I don’t mind’ She told the butterfly to tell her friend. It then flying over to her nose and kissing it. ‘You see,’ She continued. ‘I’m special like you too.’ The girl grinned and understood what the other was tying to say. The butterfly the hopped off the nose of the girl and twittered infront of them before flitting off towards the pale white mountain shapes in the distance. It then sang ‘Two little catterpilers to evolves into beautiful butterflys…’ all the way down into the camp.