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 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:25 am
Thanatos galloped through the forest, then field, and then uphill, mane and tail flaring out from his body. He didn't have the faintest idea of where he was headed - all he knew right now was that he really liked running and he wanted to be some place high enough to watch the sunset.
If that involved a little more sweat, so be it.
When he reached the top, he reared up on his hind legs and called out to all and sundry below... just to celebrate the natural beauty surrounding him, the fact that he was his own master, life, the sky, and so on.
"I'm the king of the world!" He yelled, before dropping back down on all fours and having a good chuckle at himself. Youth would go, yes, but why not enjoy it while he could?
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:18 pm
 Gemini ran along the stream, careful to avoid the muddy areas. She liked the open space, it kept leaves from getting stuck in her mane. She made sure to run as slowly as possible, to keep sweat at a minimum, but she had to keep in shape, in case her human ever wanted her back. Besides, a little sweat was all right. In the setting sun, it gave her coat a soft glistening shine.
She paused to get a careful drink from the water when she heard the strangest thing. A king? She turned, and gasped. Up on a nearby hill was someone who's beauty almost came close to hers! That deep voice that rang out... a stallion perhaps? The male kirin back home had nothing compared to him. That proud horn and those bold colors!
Now regretting the sweat, she shook herself off, licking a couple spots clean. As much as she wanted to have a closer look, a lady was not supposed to rush anything! So she stayed back, strutting delicately along the stream, hoping that her mane wasn't a mess.
((a wee tad edited ninja ))
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:47 pm
((I heard you might have to change her backstory, so if you need to edit Gem's opening I can understand. But for now, I'll assume she keeps her actions the same... since they're in keeping with her character.))
It was a lovely sunset. The large ball of fire in the sky bled a slow death over the horizon, drenching everything red and orange and flame, just like his mane.
Thanatos stood on the cliff when something caught his eye amidst all the greenery below. There was something blue, glittering in the light, right next to a stream not very far away from the hill.
... A mare? The way she moved definitely fit, and there was the horn and mane and tail. He could have sworn she looked up at him for a brief second, before turning her attention back to the water. Logically speaking, if she was interested she should be the one heading over; but why have a lady go through the trouble of scooting over when he was a perfectly fit stallion?
Curious, Than cantered downslope towards the stranger, slow enough that she could spot him early and leave if he had misinterpreted her.
"Good evening," he said politely when he was within earshot. She seemed to get prettier as he got closer.
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:44 pm
Gemini felt tickled with excitement when the stallion started heading down in her direction. Of course he had noticed her. She pretended to be oblivious a moment longer, giving her mane a showy toss, only looking at him a moment before he spoke. "Good evening to you, too." She called back, walking over for the closer look she wanted. Most of the kirin she had been around had nothing like this coloring.
She slowed as his scent reached her. What was that? Not dirty necessarily... The few colorful stallions she had seen before had smelled something like this. It was sweat. Heavy sweat. She wrinkled her nose a little. Didn't he know what a bath was? "Er- How do you do?" She asked as politely as she could. Smelly or not, he was the first she had seen for miles here.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:03 am
Thanatos found the mare's behaviour puzzling. First, she had pretended not to see him coming when he'd painstakingly made sure she could see him - there was nothing blocking her view. Then there was the nose wrinkle...
He realised with a start that half the reason she was so lovely was because there was hardly a speck of dirt on her. This explained why she gleamed in the sunset.
Cleanliness was good, but why go to such lengths to become spotless?
"Well. Assuming that nose wrinkle is for me, I must be... really smelly." He cracked a sheepish grin. "Beg pardon. I had a good run. And now, I'm going to have a good bath."
Than plunged into the water with knees bent, staying under for a while before surfacing again and flicking his mane back.
"Sorry about that!" He winced as the spray hit her legs. "Well... what's your name?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:52 am
Gemini at least had the decency to blush lightly when he stated his notice of her nose wrinkling. Before she could say anything though, Than had jumped into the water. She backed away a few steps as the spray caught her legs. Was his sweat in this? She gave each of her legs a gentle and distasteful kick to shake of the water. "It's... all right." She said. "Just, a little more careful next time?"
Her name? Oh! How had she not introduced herself yet? "Yes, my name is Gemini." She said with a small inclining of her head. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" At least the worst of his smell was already gone. With the layer of sweat wisked away, she found his natural scent unique and, actually, endearing.
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:31 pm
Curiouser and curiouser. Was she averse to smells and water? What did she do when it rained? Than wondered what kind of childhood this mare could have had to make her so... against... what the elements he took to be part of his home.
Maybe she was a mountain Kirin, accustomed to nothing dirtier than pure snow. Then again, she didn't really have the coat to match.
"I'm Thanatos, son of Silarial," he replied, climbing out of the water. "You can call me Than.
Just curious - Where do you come from? It must be a pretty place to produce someone who looks like you."
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:31 am
"Thanatos. Than. Son of Silarial." She repeated to herself, tasting the name in her mind. It sounded like a strong name. "Where? Why, from the cities. They're... distant, from here." Her voice lowered gently. She did miss home, and with Than speaking of his parent, she recalled that she didn't have one herself.
"It's grand back home." She recalled the crowds of people she used to see, all coming for her. At least in her mind, they were. She grinned coyly at his compliment. "Simply grand. And what of you? Where are you from?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:17 am
Thanatos let out a surprised grunt at the answer, his face arranged into a puzzled frown as he picked his drippy way out of the water. Cities? What were those? He nearly shook himself off immediately, then remembered he couldn't splash her. Whew.
"I couldn't tell you exactly where I came from. My mother and I have wandered far, and after we parted ways I wandered even further. Let's just say it doesn't look very different from here. Trees, soft grass. Rain. Sun."
Suddenly the stallion was reminded of how very late in the day it was - it was getting dark.
"Say, you don't strike me as the nocturnal type. Shall we find us a spot to bed down? On the way there... you could tell me what these 'cities' of yours are like. I've never been to one."
Than rather hoped she would agree - he needed a good walk if he hoped to dry off being sleep.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:20 am
Gemini was too busy half dreaming of her cities to notice Than's shock. Didn't everyone know what the city was? She blinked when she registered his words. "Yes, the grass. How does it get so long and tangled out here? It's ghastly how unkempt it is. The caretaker must be terribly lazy."
Her eyes started to drift into past memories again. "Actually, I rather enjoy the night..." She shook her head. "Yet, it has been a long day. I must say, it feels like I've been walking a thousand suncircles, and I've yet to see a single stall or ranch. I could do with a nice bed of hay to rest on for the night."
Her eyes widened slightly. "You've never been to a city?" Almost immediatly though, she nodded. "No," She said, correcting her initial surprise, "I suppose you wouldn't have. Otherwise, you would probably not be out here." She hadn't seen many kirin with colors like Than's in the cities, and the ones she had seen were stuck there.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 4:20 am
Thanatos blinked very slowly. This was a very pretty mare, but also a terribly strange mare, he decided. She had some very odd ideas. For example, he didn't know there was someone around who had to keep the grass in order, and he'd always rather liked the grass the way it was - unkempt grass was a sign of a ready meal. Also, she used a lot of foreign words. Hay? Stall? Ranch?
What were those?
He headed into the forest, keeping his eyes open for something soft and not too prickly for Gemini to sleep on. If the stallion was on his own, he honestly couldn't care where he slept as long as it wasn't dangerous - but something told him this beauty was a good deal more delicate than he was, and he was inclined to be kind.
"No, I've never been to the city... But first, what are these... these stalls and ranches you are looking for? Also, what's hay?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:27 pm
Thinking on the colorful kirin she had known in the city, Gemini shook her head. One such as Than would not enjoy the city most likely anyway. Though she loved the city, she almost winced at the thought of this stallion captive.
"A stall? It's... like a shelter, with protective walls." Her voice went a little dreamy as she recalled her old home. "And a ranch is made up of many stalls, with space to run and play and practice in. Though, not as much space as out here. Hay is like long grass, but dry. It kept us from lying in mud. Some of the lessers would eat it as well, but I was fed apples and oats." Her chin raised slightly at this fact.
Now it was her turn to be curious. He didn't know about all this? "Where do you sleep if not a stall? It has been hard for me to find clean places to bed down out here."
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:32 am
One ear flicked back unconsciously as the stallion caught the word "apples". Those were his favourite treat in autumn - crisp, sweet, and abundant. Finally, something they had in common!
Listening to her description of the city, Thanatos came to the conclusion that the city was not only unnatural, which he disliked, but also potentially even more dangerous than the wild. If a stall was protection for Gemini every single night, what was it protection from? What kind of nightmare-ish creature would attack so relentlessly each time the sun left the world for a day?
With a small shiver, Than paused at what he figured was probably the softest bed he could find in the forest for Gemini - a large patch of moss.
"We sleep under the stars - or if it's raining, under the trees. And if we're lucky, in cave." He didn't think what he was about to propose would sit well with her, so, turning around to face her, he attempted to soften it with praise.
"If your mention of "lessers" is any indication, you must have been a very respected mare, or great in some way. However... I can't give you stables, or hay, or a city, and I don't think it's possible to find any of those out there.
I'm sorry.
We'll sleep here. It's the softest spot I could find this night. You can have the moss. I'll stick to hard ground."
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Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:32 pm
"Under the stars?" She looked up at the sky warily. "But, I'll be exposed. A cave is lucky? What's a cave?"
At Than's interpretation of her use of the word 'lessers', Gemini's chin raised again, tail flicking proudly. Then her jaw nearly dropped. "No... stables..." What kind of uncivilized place was this? "Moss?" She walked forward, sniffing slightly at the ground. It was indeed soft, but it smelled funny. Yet, it was better than sleeping on the rock. Rock had no smell, but it was hard and uncomfortable. "Thank you Than. It'll do for tonight." She said politely, her past making it hard to register that there would be no beds of hay to sleep on again. That moss and leaves were as close to a bed as it got in the wild.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:26 pm
((Let's wrap this one up, shall we?))
You'll get used to it, thought (or willed) Than as he settled down on the spot. She had to get used to it. In the meanwhile, he'd do his best to help her - winter was coming, and he suspected that it would a harsh one for Gemini. Maybe she wouldn't even survive. They needed to either head to the tropics or find some place they could shelter in.
Given the issue of food, the tropics sounded much better.
"I'll, uh, try to show you a cave tomorrow. It's a shelter, like a stable, but made of rock," he said sleepily.
"Sweet dreams."
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