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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:34 pm
 "Ah, what a beautiful day!" Nalani remarked aloud to herself, trotting carelessly through the forest. The sun was bright in the sky, the birds were singing up above, and all around the day just had a nice feeling to it. Coming upon a small stream, the mare lowered her head to take a long drought of the cool water, her ears turning every which way as she did so. Even with as relaxed and at ease as Nalani was right now, ever since that incident with the cats as a filly she had learned to be more aware of her surroundings. That truly had been a close call.
The mare lifted her head at the sound of a twig snapping nearby, her ears and eyes on the alert. "Is someone there?" she questioned innocently. If she didn't receive a reply she would be moving on very quickly. Better safe than sorry after all.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:02 pm
 Red stood in stark contrast to white fur in the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees. Kratos breathed in the scent of the forest, smiling faintly to himself. It had been a long time since he'd been back to this particular forest. Disturbing though. He'd smelled another stallion just at the boundary. It's not like he'd planned to stay long, and hopefully the diffuser of said scent didn't take issue.
And, ah, water! That, at least, was a welcomed smell. Rounding a tree, he started toward that delicious freshness. Hmm? He looked down as something cracked beneath his hooves, ears pricked forward. Well, woops. He grinned sheepishly, the expression just as soon wiped from his muzzle."Is someone there?"Oh Aerithe, oh Aerithe, he'd stepped in it. That voice probably owned this land. And with his luck, it probably belonged to something large and angry. Could bears talk?
He glanced around nervously, biting his lower lip before finally retorting. "... no?" Smooth. Really smooth. But he'd just go on his way and pretend like nothing had happened. Maybe whoever it was hadn't noticed.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:24 pm
Nalani giggled at the very feeble 'no' she had received in reply. Certainly wasn't a predator. Relaxing again, she titled her head in the direction of the voice. "If you weren't there then you couldn't have answered me," she called back teasingly to the owner of the voice. "Come on out. I won't bite." The mare didn't really know many others outside of her family, so she was curious to see who the mystery kirin was.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:40 pm
Kratos cast a longing glance in the direction he'd just come. The voice didn't sound vicious, but they never did. Never at first. Then again, manners dictated he at least introduce himself.
Stupid manners.
He crept forward carefully, his bells jingling slightly with each step. His antlers emerged from the bushes first, for all the world like branches themselves. His head poked through a moment later as he paused, looking up to the smaller and much more female Kirin. He offered her a nervous smile. "Can you prove it?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:57 pm
The mare looked on admirably as the stallion's head emerged. She had never seen such antlers on their kind before, but they were quite impressive. These thoughts were quickly diminished into another giggle however at his question. "Prove that I won't bite you? How should I go about that?" Nalani shook her head. "Well, I assure you that I'm quite tame. Although even if I wasn't there's no way I could stand a chance against a stallion such as yourself." Were most of their kind this shy? It was odd, but at the same time quite amusing.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:06 pm
Crystal blue eyes studied the mare for a long moment before the stallion finally relented. "I don't really know. You have teeth enough." His gaze swept her quickly. She was definitely in fine form, even if she promised not to bite. And he wasn't in the habit of fighting girls. Or males for that matter. At least, where he could avoid it. Moving out slowly, wings pressed to his back, he kept his head lowered in deference. "This is your land?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:18 pm
"My land?" She questioned with a tilt of her head. "My family resides here if that's what you mean." Nalani's eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of the plumage on his back. "You have wings?" the mare asked in awe, trotting over to him for a closer look. "Awesome~... Can you actually fly with them?" The mare was so intrigued by the extra appendages that she didn't stop to consider the fact that the stallion might be unnerved by her sudden closeness.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:25 pm
Starting, Kratos took a sudden step back, eyes wide. "Ah- ah heh. Err... yeah." Wait, what had she just said? He craned his head to try to get a better look at her, willing himself to keep still at the same time. Shifting from one hoof to the other, he nodded, repeating himself, and once more finding himself at a loss. Oh right. She was looking at his wings. He unconsciously tucked them a little closer. They'd only ever brought him bad luck before.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:33 pm
Noting his nervousness, Nalani looked back up at him curiously. "Is something the matter?" she asked, her expression completely innocent. "I really don't bite you know. Plants are more my thing." Was she really that scary looking? Perhaps something was wrong with her. She frowned slightly at the thought. Did most Kirin outside of their family look more like him or something?
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:44 pm
Kratos' ears twitched a fraction of a centimeter. Ah! He'd offended her. "N- no! It's not like that. I mean- I know that-." Wait, no he didn't. Okay, deep breath. There, that was better. No, no it wasn't. He drew another, holding it a few seconds before speaking. "I'm sorry. I just- sometimes others of our kind aren't too happy with a lone stallion coming on to their land..."
He suddenly wished it had been a bear. Those weren't half as scary as mares.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:59 pm
"Really? Well that's not very nice," Nalani replied, her previous worries having practically vanished at his explanation. "Well, you don't have to worry about us. My sister's a bit of a snob, but I can't imagine any of us running you off the land." Well, perhaps her father would, but she wasn't about to say that right now and frighten the poor stranger even more. "Ah, I'm Nalani by the way. What's your name?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:27 pm
"Your sister?" He breathed a soft sigh of relief. Or perhaps he was just loosing all that pent-up air. It left him in a soft woosh. That at least seemed to have appeased her. For now anyway. And he even had some kind of a direction to go in now that wasn't the feathery harbingers sprouting from his back. Ah, manners! "I'm Kratos. It's good to meet you, Nalani..."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:35 pm
"It's good to meet you too, Kratos," the mare replied with a friendly smile. "So, does your family live very far away?" Nalani had taken note earlier when he referred to himself as a 'lone stallion', and found the idea to be pretty interesting. Perhaps he had been unsatisfied with herd life or something and wanted to venture out for a bit.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:55 pm
The stallion smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure how far they are now." Pointing his muzzle toward the north, he bobbed his head. He supposed they were family, at least. He didn't look like a one of them, and most herds-... well, there was some similarity there. But the ones he'd been with - the ones he could remember anyway - they'd been nothing like him.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:13 pm
"Aw, really? That's sad," Nalani replied with a slight frown, looking off in the direction that he indicated. "What do you do when you want to visit them then? Search from the skies?" That could be a definite advantage to having wings.
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