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 Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:11 pm
Zeda was wondering through the forest once again. Looking up at the trees which were brown with the autumn weather. She took in a deep breathe and was thinking about all the things that had changed for her in the past few months. She liked the turn her life seemed to be changing, especially the fact with every moment was one moment closer to her mate coming home. As her hooves crunched the leaves under them she heard something. Tilting her head she wondered through the trees, it sounded like a foal was sobbing. She was concerned, Zeda had been around foals a lot more lately and developed a need to protect them and make sure they were okay.
"Hello? is there anyone there?" she asked in a soft spoken voice, tilting her head as she turned another corner, a small frame coming into view. "are you okay?" she asked the young colt as she lowered her head to his level with a genuine concern for his well being.
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Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:46 pm
Teykali started at the sound of the mare's voice, and looked up at her with big, watery eyes. He had a small cut on his back leg, under which a larger bruise was forming. It hurt, but he would never let it show in front of a stranger. He may not look it, but he was brave, and he was ashamed that someone had found him crying.
"Who- who are you?" he hiccuped, trying to force the tears to stop as the dark mare came into view. He shook his head vigorously, taking deep breaths and shuffling his small hooves into the ground in an attempt to calm himself.
Finally exhausted, he stumbled over to a tree and leaned against it. Many foals might be wary around a strange adult, but Teykali was just confused. Why would a stranger care that he was crying?
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:12 am
"A mare who had just found a upset child and wants to help." She stated as she walked over to to foal laying next to him, however not too close she did not want to chase him off by being too touchy, she was not going to cradle him, she saw no need especially because the little guy was trying to hard to be a big boy. She thought in all honesty it would just make things worse. She looked at him and thought for a moment, seeing the injury he had gained. Zeda remember when she was a foal, she used to cry for hours. Her pain was more emotional though.
"My name is Zeda." She stated hopefully giving him the information that he needed to feel comfortable around her. She knew she was a stranger and he has probably told not to talk to them. "You know, all mares are born to be mothers, when we see a foal in need of help, our child or not, these instincts we were born with act up. Its for the good of our kind." She tried to explain, Zeda herself did not know if the believed what she just said, however she knew that in her mind children took priority over adults.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:30 am
"My name is Teykali," the colt replied glumly, "And I don't know if you can help."
Teykali had been warned against speaking with strangers, but the blithe young foal understood this warning to be against strangers who were clearly up to no good. He saw no reason why a nice stranger would want to hurt him, since he was not dangerous or frightening, and thus, he rarely kept the warning in mind.
"I wasn't in a fight," he said suddenly, still hiccuping and trying to catch his breath. "Well, I was, but I didn't start it. I mean, I'm not sure why we got into a fight. I don't know what I did wrong."
At this, he dropped his eyes, embarrassed and confused. He was making a fool of himself. He wasn't good at explaining things, and it was particularly uncomfortable when it happened with strangers. His siblings could just laugh at his verbal stumbling, and he knew they were laughing with him, so he didn't mind. But making mistakes in front of strangers was different.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:42 am
Ah. Zeda had been in more than her share of fights in the past. 2 Skinwalkers and 2 Kalona's and countless other species in her years in the land, she must admit, they beat her up pretty good, some of them at least. She nodded tilting her head, her black and purple mane stroking her face so only one of her eyes could be seen. She was a very dark looking mare, she always had been. However she was starting to grow out of her childish emo stage... she was more a punk girl now. She smiled and nodded.
"Sometimes people just want to beat themselves up to feel good about themselves, its how the world works, the strong will always try to trample on the weak, even if the other party does not want to fight, even if they have done nothing wrong." She stated looking at him with a more serious look to her face, she was still new around foals, especially talking one on one like this. Then she decided to share a secrete. "You know when I was a foal I was a bully, my home life made me so mad, I wanted to make others miserable, so it made my life not look as such." She admitted, it was not something she was proud of, however Zeda was a mare who had done many things she was not proud of.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:58 am
Teykali's eyes widened in surprise as Zeda told him about her own childhood. She was so nice now, he couldn't imagine her bullying somebody. Maybe when foals became adults they became nice no matter what. Or maybe you became the opposite of what you were as a foal, so the nice foals turned mean, and the mean foals turned nice. Then again, he had never met a mean adult, so the first one was probably more true. But maybe she had always been nice, and she didn't mean to be a bully. That idea felt most true.
"Well, it was my fault I guess. I made her mad," the foal admitted candidly. "She was playing with some baby foxes, and the mommy fox was upset so I told her she should leave them alone. I think she was being too rough, because the babies were scared." His eyes watered a little at the memory. He hated to see other animals getting hurt or scared. He understood that some animals had to hunt to eat, and that was okay, he supposed. But killing to eat and hurting for fun were different.
"She got mad at me and she kicked me. Her hoof cut me a little, but it doesn't hurt," he lied bravely, wincing slightly.
"You're nice," Teykali added, after a slight pause. "Maybe when she grows up, she will be nice too." The idea was comforting, and utterly believable to the guileless foal. He couldn't imagine anyone being mean their whole life, and adulthood held so many mysteries, that surely it was possible for unkind foals to become kind. Maybe it was like growing big, maybe it just happened inside.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:16 am
"You did right." She said the back of her head was screaming this was coming from the mare who used to stand on bunnies for fun, she had never really felt bad for doing that until now. "This world has a certain way of working. Us soquili are at the top, other animals are not as strong, so its our job to make sure they are safe. Sometimes if you do the animal wants to thank you, so much so a bond is made and you gain a Familiar. I have one, he is a goat named Koda... a very fat goat." She stated, sure her goat annoyed her, he was lazy and all lovey dovey. However she had grown used to him, she saved him from being eaten by a lion because he looked like her father, he kind of stuck after that.
She was forced to laugh at his last comment. "I am far from nice, even more so I am far from grown up. We never really stop growing, there is always something we are aiming to be. I am yet to have children, more so I am yet to complete my training, in both my fighting skills and my healing skills. My life took a change when a Elder met with me and opened my eyes. I am far from perfect, however I feel I am better than I used to be, the old me would have ignored, maybe even laughed at you. People do not really change unless they want to... Hmm... sounds to me, you might want to learn a lesson from a old mare?" She asked tilting her head still amused, she would have never guessed in 1million years someone would call her nice.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:49 am
Teykali had never seen a Familiar before, but it sounded really neat. He wondered what kind of animal might want to be friends with him. A fat goat didn't sound very impressive, but if Zeda liked it, then it must be a good animal for a friend.
Her self-reflection befuddled him, though he tilted his head and TRIED to understand. He couldn't imagine Zeda as a bully, or as not being grown up. Yet she was still learning new things? He had thought that grown ups already knew everything they needed to know. They always seemed to have the answers, and know what they were doing. He wondered if he would know a lot of things when he grew up.
"I don't think you're an old grown up," he answered her query bluntly, looking at her in mild confusion. "All grown ups are old."
Then, he considered her offer. "I do want you to teach me, but how can I be like you when I'm just a foal? I can't be like a grown up." He felt discouraged. Zeda clearly understood things that he did not, and he wasn't sure he was ready to learn a grown up lesson. She was tall and pretty, and smart. He was small even for a foal, and often his younger sister outsmarted him.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:04 am
"I never had a grown up who was willing to help, not even my parents, I had to learn everything by myself, you see, maybe if I had someone to help me back then, I would have not been as foolish as I was, I thought I knew everything but really I did not know much at all." She stated with a small smile. He was such a cute little foal. Like all of them should be, too bad some where loud mouths, like her thinking they knew everything. She had really started not liking who she used to be, back then she blamed everyone else for her actions, the world abusing her was a reason for her to abuse it, she was wrong, so wrong.
"I think you need to stand up for yourself. Learn how to fight back, dont get me wrong fighting is not a nice thing. However I have been attacked countless times in my life. By Skinwalkers and Kalona alike, breeds who no nothing more than to spread blood. Sometimes you are faced with opponents who you can not run away from, whos reason was long lost. Thats when you need to know how to defend yourself, no matter how nicely you ask. They wont leave you be. It wont only be you though some will attack your family, thats when you need to be strong. Some bullies can be ignored. Others can not." She smiled, it was something she did not really like telling foals, how violent the world could be. However it was needed. Too many thought they could get through life being nice and seeing the best in everyone, they thought that some evil breeds were misjudged that was not the case, except maybe 1 out of 10000000000. "If you want me to, I can teach you how to keep safe. I am not going to lie, life is hard, but it can be wonderful too, as long as you know how to live it."
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:14 am
"You've seen a S-Skinwalker?"
Teykali tried to keep his voice steady, but the fear and awe he felt was clearly audible. He had only heard stories of Skinwalkers, and had never even heard of a Kalona. They were like the bedtime story monsters that children talked about to scare each other, but Zeda was saying she had actually fought them, IN PERSON. He wasn't sure whether to be excited by her offer to teach him, or absolutely terrified.
"I don't think I could fight a Skinwalker," he said hesitantly, torn between how amazingly COOL it was to have a grown up like Zeda teaching him, and his fear of actually meeting a Skinwalker. He knew that Kai would be impressed when he told her, and he DID want to protect his family.
"I want to keep my family safe," the foal finally decided, nodding his head. He didn't really understand what she was telling him, and he didn't really believe he would ever meet a Skinwalker or need to protect his family from one, but the thought of being trained by a real fighter cheered him up immensely.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:23 am
"I have seen three in my life, two attacked the herd I am a part of once, I did not fight but sent with my alpha... and the fact upset me very much, I felt like I was useless and any injury anyone else suffered was because I was not there to project them, wondering the forest a few days later I found one who was looking for a meal. So she attacked me and I sent her packing before she came close to the herd. Your herd is like your family after all, sometimes at moments you realise that the survival of your loved ones is more important to you than yourself." She smiled with a small nod. "I know what you mean, the first time I had to fight, I did not even see it coming, I was relaxing one day with some Usida who I have adopted as my family. Then one appeared and I went to defend them, I got pretty beat the first time. However life is learning, loosing is just experience."
She nodded and smiled standing up and looking down at the foal. "Okay lets start with something really simple. Stand up and lets walk. That leg will go limp if left without exercise. I will take your to my two-legger, she will clean it and dress it for you. It will feel much better after that and we dont want it to get infected do we?" She stated as she turned around ready to lead the way down a path, her teepee was a ten minuet walk and she was worried about the foals leg.
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Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:39 am
"Okay," the foal replied, surprised. He hadn't expected her to offer to take him back to her teepee, and was a little nervous about meeting a strange two-legger. He had seen his own very briefly, as he spent most of his time with his family once he had left his basket.
He stood, wincing as he put pressure on the injured hind leg. It hurt, but it was manageable. Putting a brave face on, he walked over to Zeda, and followed as she lead him through the forest. It was only midday, so he wasn't too worried about going home yet. There was time.
Leaves crunched as they walked, and Teykali was comforted by the presence of the mare. He felt safe with her around, and was very excited to learn what she had to teach. He hoped that his leg wouldn't get in the way too much, but felt sure that if Zeda thought it was okay, he could bear the pain.
As they walked, a sudden thought occurred to him. "Wait, you said that some Usida are your family?" He squinted in concentration, trying to remember what he had heard. "Aren't they really small?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:33 pm
"Yes. If I am honest my best friend Forte is a little smaller than you, she has a heart much bigger than her body though, sometimes I wonder what I would do with out her." She smiled down at the foal, it was true, Forte was her first friend and had always been there for her, no matter what she put her threw. Zeda would give her life for her best friend, twice she had done so, once Forte had done it for her. Leading a march to save Zeda. It was the first time anyone had.
"Anyone can be family. However you let into it. My friends and my herd are mine, blood is important however it is not everything." She stated looking down at the foal before jerking her head forward. "My teepee is just over that hill, it is lucky I found you just outside my home." She commented before reaching the top, looking down at her home she saw a tent, surrounded by a field on all sides, trees lining the area around. It was a nice place, simple and hidden however before she never really noticed how much like home this could feel, when she was not in her herd lands, she was here.
"The women with the long black hair is my owner, I call her Two-Foot. I dont know her real name, there is a baby inside the tent... boy sometimes I would like to call it names." she joked referring to the fact he never stopped crying, at least at nights.
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Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:09 am
"A two-legger baby?"
Teykali was fascinated, he had no idea that two-leggers had babies just like Soquili did.
"Is it in a basket?" he asked curiously, uncertain what sort of traditions the two-leggers held for their own children. As young as he was, he had only a very vague idea of where babies came from, and as far as he knew, his life had begun within the wicker womb.
When he saw the teepee, the colt was fascinated by it. He had never seen his two-legger's teepee, as he had come out from his own basket surrounded by his true family. The teepee looked pretty, nestled in the clearing as it was. It looked like a safe place.
"Will Two-Foot like me?" he suddenly blurted out, as the spontaneous fear of being rejected by Zeda's friends and family occurred to him. He liked Zeda a lot, but he had no idea how he would ever be friends with her if her own friends didn't like him. He'd had very limited experiences with other Soquili beyond his own family, and the incident with the violent female earlier had shaken him badly.
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Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:45 am
"Erm..." Zeda was a little taken back by his question. "I think so, I mean it sleeps in a basket but most of the time Two-Foot carries it around in a bundle on her back." She replied. Humans were very different to soquili, mainly the fact there children could not walk straight away and had to be carried. Also the mothers were able to pick up the babies and hold them in there arms. "Two-Leggers have babies just like us, I see Two-Foot as a lot like me, her mate also travels for a very long time before coming to see her." She stated, just off the bat.
"Yea. She likes most horse's. Just not the dangerous breeds. She is a big fan of foals, there is a little Usida who lives with her. I dont talk to him much, he runs away from me, then again he runs away from rabbits too." She stated, the two legger had spotted them both by now and had put away her weaving to go and see them. The two-leggers were very slim and they walked as there name suggested walked on two legs.
When coming in the distance of the foal, she said some words that neither of them understood before slowly reaching out her hand in friendship and stroking down his nose. Zeda looked on as she did so."Its okay she is harmless." She stated before walking forward slightly, she had caught the sent of apples in her food bowl. Nothing would stop her from eating them. She nudged her head towards the foal, as if telling him to come and join her with her food.
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