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 Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:07 pm
 The sun shone directly overhead, and though a thick layer of snow blanketed the ground, Abiron was warm and content. He had no reason to feel either; a rather vicious wind had whipped up in the meadow, and snow swirled around him as he trudged across. But, though he was miserable with cold, he thought happy thoughts -- sleeping by the ocean in the summer, the warm sun bearing down on him, the salty air burning his nostrils and making his lungs scream happily -- and ignored the wind and the cold.
Every step he took was a struggle, every time he lifted his hooves, it made his muscles ache. He had been moving non-stop since he had left his first home in the Soquili lands nearly four days before, and since the snow had hit, he was really feeling it. He had only slept sparingly, eaten on the go, and refused to talk to anyone passing by. He was on a mission, and he had to complete the mission.
The night before he left, Abiron had had a dream, a vision. It wasn't exactly clear as to what he was seeking, but in the dream, he had traveled far and wide to get to a certain stream next to a forest, just after a seemingly endless meadow. At the end of his journey, he didn't see what was waiting for him... but he knew it was important. He had learned long ago to not ignore these dreams.
His beads and bones rattled against his freezing skin, and icicles had begun to form on his antlers. But he was almost there. Only about two hundred more yards, he figured. You can do it. He trudged forward, head down, eyes squeezed shut against the blinding wind.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:02 am
 With the sun out offering warm sunshine, and the ground below covered in a thick layer of snow, Aleshanee found it perfect for soaring the skies. Her wings spread out as far as they can, as she leisurely soared the skies. The sun offered warmth upon her wings and her back, and the ground offered cool air beneath her. It was an interesting combination, but it felt lovely all the same. She loved most about winter was that crisp air that could only be found on a cold day, such as today. The mare was blissfully happy the Gods had blessed this weather upon the lands, on this very day.
With every beat of her set of wings, she soared higher trying to reach the sun, but would eventually drift down to settle closer to the earth. Even though the sun offered her much warmth, the lands offered her much needed air and substance. Stuck in her mind was the realm of the gods being out in the sky, rather than on the lands itself, but she knew better than that. Being told that as a young filly stuck to her like glue, and only started to break away from her when she truly started to examine her faith.
As the mare started to realize where she was, she decided she need a little rest after exerting so much energy in soaring the skies. Gazing down upon the lands before her, she spotted a river up ahead. A smile appeared on her lips as she swooped down from her current position to a position close to the earth. Her wings started to flap forwards to come to a stop near the river. After coming to a smooth stop, she gently set her first step on the lands and the rest of her body followed in the smooth motion. Her ears perked up at the initial crunch of fresh snow compressing under her weight, and laughed blissfully in silence at the lovely sound. Her joyful eyes looked at the earth around her, appreciating the beauty of it all before she sought to explore it.
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:20 pm
Abiron replayed his dream over and over again in his head as he made his way across the meadow, using it as a sort of mantra to keep himself going. Endless meadow... stream near a forest... flash of white... feeling happy... endless meadow... stream near a forest... A flash of white? Now, about a hundred yards from the edge of the meadow, Abiron finally saw what he thought was a small stream in his dream, but what actually turned out to be a rather healthy-looking river. And near the bank of this river was a flash of white in Soquili form; a mare, with wings and feathers of such a beautiful color that he suddenly felt self-conscious about the mud-colored ones tied to his mane.
He had found his meadow. He had found his stream. And now he had found his flash of white. But what did the mare have to do with the happy feeling? The dream hadn't specified... sometimes, the vague details he was given in these dreams made him so extremely frustrated that he didn't want to continue on. But the little part of his brain that didn't want to go on was dormant somewhere away from his thoughts, and the huge part of his brain that was intensely intrigued by this mare was taking control.
About thirty yards away from the mare, Abiron stopped. He lowered his head slightly, a submissive greeting gesture so as not to frighten the mare, and looked up at her from under the cover of his deerskull. His beads and skulls still rattled against his skin, and the only sound besides the wind was the gentle babbling of the river behind the mare.
"Hello!" he had to nearly shout over the brisk wind. "My name is Abiron. Do you mind if I come a little closer?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:17 pm
Aleshanee was surprised by the wind, tousling her mane and tail up and about. A few of her feathers would stray away from the rest, getting tousled by the wind too. She blinked, thinking she heard something in the distance and looked up from her current position. Her eyes landed on a stallion, wearing something over his head and wearing quite interesting things. She quirked a brow at him, and nodded her head.
The mare continued to observe him, trying her best to not get tousled around too much by the wind. Her form seemed to be tense from trying to keep her body warmth to herself in the cool weather. The wind only made trying to keep her body warmth worse, and effectively cooled her to the very bone. Her wings were tightly folded against her back and sides, trying to keep her body warm. Her previous thoughts of the cold and of getting something to drink escaped her thoughts, and was filled with the curious thoughts of the stallion before her.
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:43 pm
Abiron saw the mare nod her head, and even from this distance, could feel the curiousity rolling off of her like water off of a duck. He took a few tentative steps forward, head still down like a gentleman, until he was sure that this mare would not attack, or worse, bolt. He always felt a stabbing sense of sadness tear through his heart when he thought another being was going to accept him, only to find that he was thought of as a freak or a threat.
"Sorry to disturb you," he said slowly in his rich, deep voice, the tiny hints of an accent playing at the edges of his words. Though he had lived in the Soquili lands for quite some time, he still felt like a tourist, an outsider; only here because of his overwhelming dreams of his siblings, his Shaman-teacher leading him from one shore to the opposite on a near wild goose chase. It got to be very tiring... he was glad for this dream, this vision. It was a good distraction.
Now that he was about ten yards from the mare, he stopped; his mother always taught him manners, and now was not a good time to forget that he was a rather intimidating stallion. He was larger than most, taller and wider, and emitted body heat like a hot spring, with some frightening talismans permanently secured to his body. He could be scary if he really tried.
"I was wondering if you could help me with something," he began. Then he noticed how tense the mare was, how her wings were tucked close to her sides, and felt immediately guilty. "I'm sorry, are you cold?" He started to take a step closer, but stopped. "Do you mind?" he asked, motioning toward himself with the antlers on his deerskull.
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:21 pm
Aleshanee observed as the stallion approached her. She felt no fear for him, only curiosity. Never had she seen a stallion garbed in such a way. From her recollection, she had only seen mares dressed in an eloquent manner, and stallions garbed that would suit royalty or that would protect royalty. The mare offered the stallion a friendly smile, standing there, shivering in the chilly cold snow.
Her ears perked up to listen to him, somewhat relaxing under his deep, rich voice. The mare was not deft enough to catch the subtle accent in his voice. She shook her head in disagreement that he was disturbing her. If she did not want to be disturbed, she would not want to be out, and that was hardly the case. She loved spending her time outside and attempting to socialize with other Soquili. Sometimes it was not successful, but she would always hope there would be one that would understand her.
Her eyes then met his gaze, and tilted her head in response. What would he want her to help him with? She smiled and nodded her head, still mildly shivering. She blinked at his apology, and shook her head. It was not his fault she was cold, so he should not apologize. She was not sure what he was suggesting, and shook her head ‘No,’ saying she did not mind. He seemed like a being that she could trust, right? Her bright gray eyes looked up to him, waiting to see what he was going to do.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:57 pm
Abiron stood where he was for a moment, hesitating. He was not usually such a confident stallion, but something about this mare put his mind at ease, and at the same time, he wanted to protect her. From what, he had no clue. But an overwhelming feeling of being her guardian washed over him, and before he could really register what he was doing, his thick hooves were carrying him through the deep snow toward the mare. His talismans jingled against him, and before he knew it, he was standing directly next to the mare, his right side touching her left.
He let a friendly grin spread across his face, a real smile that traveled up to his eyes and left a sparkle in their silvery-blue depths. He was a big stallion that projected a lot of big, warm body heat; why not put it to good use?
"You don't talk much, do you?" he asked the mare politely, not meaning to pry. He didn't really mind; sometimes silence was a whole lot more comfortable than endless, mindless chatter. Maybe this mare just didn't like sharing her innermost secrets with a strange stallion? Speaking of which...
"Oh, pardon my manners," Abiron said, chuckling a little. "I didn't catch your name...?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:24 pm
Aleshanee stood there before the stallion with a curious look in her eyes. She watched as the stallion neared her, but she didn't feel scared of him. He did not seem like the type to have ill-intentions, but then again, the angeni mare was a bit naive to the dangers of the Soquili land. Her ears twitched at the sounds of his hooves making the distinct noise of compressing snow beneath his hooves, as well as the soft jingling of his accessories. Her eyes examined the accessories, wondering where he got all of them. Of course, the accessory that stood out the most was the skeleton of an animal adored on his head and extended down his back.
And then she felt it, the warmth that the stallion just seemed to project. Her tense body visibly relaxed with the warmth that the stallion projected. Without thinking, her body moved towards the warm body and did not notice her close proximity until she felt the stallion's side lightly touching her left. She took comfort in his warmth, folding her left-side wings close to her body to get closer to the stallion. She did not feel strange at all doing this with a stranger, but she felt like she could trust him.
Her head craned up to look to the stallion when he asked a question, and merely shook her head. It was more like she had given up speaking for the sake of getting closer to her faith life. The mare just looked up to the stallion with laughter in her eyes, showing her amusement. Aleshanee shook her head, when he said he didn't catch her name. Unfortunately, she could not share that with him without breaking her oath, but her name did not matter to her so much. She never recalled her mother giving her a name, but the native two-leggers bestowed her a name because of her playful nature. Her name 'Aleshanee' meaning 'She who always plays'.
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Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:02 am
Abiron looked down at the mare with his nearly silver-blue eyes, a kind and gentle gaze that offered warmth and protection while still asking a question. But it was obvious to him that this mare wasn't going to speak; in his travels, he had met other Soquili who had taken a vow of silence, or had been physically or mentally unable to speak, so it did not really bother him. But he felt like this was a major obstacle he had to overcome to realize what his dream meant.
"Well, I'd hate to just call you 'Mare,'" he began, settling closer to the mare as he felt her relax next to him. He was very self-aware of how the deer ribs around his own body were sticking out, and angled himself just right to avoid nearly stabbing the mare in the side.
"Maybe I'll just call you Flash or something," he joked, remembering the vision he had all too clearly. "It seems fitting, don't you think? Or Snow. Or Spots. I was never really the creative-type." He laughed, a deep belly laugh that was all at once booming and friendly, familiar. He missed laughing like that.
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Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 6:36 pm
Aleshanee looked back up to Abiron with a light smile, feeling calm and relaxed in his presence. Her attention shifted to the animal ribs that could potentially poke her in her side, but did not appear bothered if it did manage to brush up against her. It just made her tense up at the surprised feeling before she realize what it was.
Hearing the possible names that the stallion offered to call her, the mare shook her head at the first one. She did not like that one too much. It sounded something that would be given to a male. She tilted her head at the next two. Snow was alright, but not spots so much. It was kind of stating the obvious since she had spotted markings. She shook her head at the possible name before wondering how well he knew the two-legger language. Her ears perked up at his laugher, before finding herself laughing as well. Of course, her laughter was different than his. There was no sound to her laughter, but the emotion and the motion of the laughter.
Shortly breaking away from the stallion, she tried to act out her name. It should not be too hard. Ignoring the winter chill that started to seep back through her fur, she pranced around the stallion before coming at him and nosing him in the shoulder before dashing off into the snow. Stopping for a second to throw a glance over her shoulder, the mare grinned before trotting off to gain more distance between herself and the stallion. If he didn’t get it, she would just need to come back and tag him again.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:12 pm
Abiron continued to think, his mind twisting around itself in an attempt to come up with a name the mare actually liked. He wasn't all too worried; if worse came to worse, he could just ignore names and not call her anything. But that would get confusing... he needed to name her.
When she left his side, a bitter cold hit him, but he had braced himself for it. He was big, and he was tough, he couldn't complain about the wind and the cold when she was off trotting around by herself. Half of him wanted to follow her, and the other half wanted to remain rooted to the spot, so he ended up doing an awkward sort of trot in place.
"What are you trying to say?" he asked, chuckling a little at how extremely thick he must have seemed.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:31 pm
Aleshanee started to shiver again now that she left the comfortable warmth of the stallion's body. Her eyes focused on him, inviting him to play with her. She bowed her body so that her lower legs were almost parallel to the ground and her back bowed inward in this current position. Her bottom swayed back and forth, appearing like a puppy that wanted to play. Prancing forward, which caused some snow to jump up from the ground, she nosed the stallion again before prancing away. She glanced back at him to see if he would retaliate and tag her back. Her tail flicked back and forth in her excitement, sending the loose curl of her tail to spiral in and out.
Maybe she would get it to him this time! She hoped this at least. If not, then she would be happy to just continue the game with him, if he even caught on to what she was trying to illustrate to him.
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 10:28 pm
A light went on in Abiron's head, and finally he realized that the mare was trying to play with him... at least, that's what he figured. If she wasn't, well, she could tell him to stop. Somehow.
Taking her cue, Abiron leaped into the game, dancing around her with a grace a stallion of his size usually did not possess. He kept his front hooves rooted to the same general area, while his rear hooves trotted in place, a smile plastered across his face and the bones attached to his body jingling like morbid beads. He lowered his head a bit, shaking it back and forth and causing his mane to flop from one side to the other with a dull clanking noise, then stood up straight.
"I'm it, right?" he asked slyly, edging up toward the mare with an eyebrow raised. When he was within a few feet of her, he lowered his voice dramatically and looked up at her from under the deerskull. "Two second head start. Run."
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 11:06 pm
The mare looked at the stallion with absolute happiness seeing that he caught on. Her tail swayed side to side, making her curly tail furl and unfurl.
Her eyes widened, watching the movements of the stallion before her. It was a curious thing to see, since she would not associate a stallion like him to be graceful. It was a pleasant sight to see!
In reply, the mare nodded her head in response to his question. Her eyes widened again in a brief moment of fear that he was going to get her as watching him come closer. Feeling him get closer and closer made her tense, and when he told her to run, she ran. She ran with a sweet smile on her face, galloping away from the stallion and disturbing the snow around them. Her movements were a bit less graceful due to the sinking nature of the snow, and her feeling of being cold left her mind as soon as she went into play mode.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:53 pm
Abiron watched the mare dance about in front of him and couldn't help but think of his dream and his happy feelings. Maybe this is what it meant; that he was allowed to come to this place, and meet someone new, and have a grand time with no drama or downsides. How could he say no to that?
"One..." he called out slyly, the muscles in his hindquarters bunching as he balanced all of his weight on his hind end, ready to spring into action. He drew out the pause between the numbers; catching the mare too soon in the game wouldn't be fun!
"Two!" he boomed and leapt toward the mare from a standstill, using all of his energy and might to spring himself from the snow and into the air. For a moment, he was airborne, soaring a foot above the snow, bones and talismans flying free in the breeze. When his hooves hit the snow, he raced after the mare, weighed down slightly by the deer bones that adorned his body, but his large frame and long legs quickly helped him half, then quarter, the gap between them.
"You'd better watch out, pretty mare," he sang from behind her, snow flying as he trudged through it. "I haven't lost a game of tag yet!"
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