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 Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 10:42 am
 It was another one of those spring days where the surface was more beautiful than Amitola's underwater home. In the lake, things were still just beginning to brighten up - the sunlight was still only strong enough to send a few shafts of light down into the water.
Amitola drifted up to the surface, humming to herself. She'd woken up a little while ago, finding, much to her surprise, one of the rare beams of sunlight shining down on her cave's doorstep. When her head broke the surface, she let out a little squeal of delight.
Yup, definitely pretty up here!
All the flowers were blooming in brilliant bursts of pink, blue, and yellow. Citlali's teepee looked like its beige sides were almost glowing in the morning sun. But Amitola didn't head that way - not today. She wanted to see what the upper world looked like farther down the river.
She let the slight current carry her down to the beginning of the river.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 12:59 pm
However, that just wouldn't do, sleeping her life away as if she had nothing more interesting to be up to. And the best remedy for a warm, sleepy feeling was almost always at her side. The water, even heated by the sun, was still cool and refreshing enough to bring her back to life. That was what she thought as she stepped a hoof in and then another, savoring the chill around her ankles.
She waded in deep enough to bring the liquid to her belly. For being a Soquili with no natural ties to the water, she was one who enjoyed it more than most. The mare dipped her head down to take a drink to calm her sleep-dried throat, even taking a moment to dunk a good portion of her muzzle below the surface.
"Mhm... Nice day," she muttered to herself, shaking her head to clear the tickling droplets from underneath her fine fur. Moving a bit closer to the shore, but only to make walking easier, she moved off in the direction she had been traveling before that earlier nap, towards the lake.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 1:47 pm
Amitola sighed happily. The river was healthy, gurgling along at just the right speed. She stayed close to the shore, trying not to pass anything by too quickly. The trees were just beginning to get their leaves in full.
She relaxed, letting the water soothe her tight muscles. Winter had always made her a little edgy - it made the water cold and depressed. Closing her green-lidded eyes, she sank below the surface and let the water carry her a little way south.
Only a little time had passed when she heard hoofsteps, muffled by the water. Amitola's eyes shot open. No one ever walked in the river! She bolted up to the surface, and found herself only feet away from a pretty violet land-mare. She craned her neck to get a better look at it, and nickered a hello.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:52 am
It was a rather cheery sight, things blooming not too far away from the water. As she clopped along, kicking up water this way and that, she watched the world outside of the little space she had created for herself here. Every once in a while a falling leaf would catch her eye and she would watch it, trying to turn her head nearly backwards on her neck to see the entire drop as she kept walking. She only flung her attention back to the water when something felt flittery around her ankles.
In a moment, she slowed to almost a crawl, peering down between her legs for the fish or two she was sure had just swam by. She certainly didn't want to step on anything, despite spotting nothing, so she kept as this leisurely pace for quite a while, eyes downcast. Only a decent sounding splash was enough to snap her out of the semi-trance she had suddenly fallen into. In fact, it startled her a bit.
She pulled her leg back as if she really had stepped on something, looking worried. However, as soon as she saw the colorful little thing not too far away, she put two and two together and the look shifted into a gentle smile. "Oh, hi there!" she called, lowering her head a bit. It had been a long time since she had talked to someone else.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:29 pm
Amitola bobbed a bit in the water, tilting her head a little to the side. It was then that she realized that she hadn't spoken in a very long time above water. She tried to work her vocal chords. A little coughing sound came up her throat.
Frustrated, she dipped her head below the surface. "Why can't I talk?" she said, trying to get a better feel for the mouth movement. Hoping to try again, she came back up.
"Hello-oh," she said, stuttering a little. Her voice was still rough, but she came to the conclusion that it'd get better if she kept speaking. "Why do you walk in the river?" Amitola asked.
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Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 11:54 am
For a moment, she only watched, gaze becoming somewhat curious. However, her motherly instinct woke within her upon hearing the noise and she took a step forward. "Are you-" But the Seathi had dunked her head before the words could fully come out and Ki froze, wondering if she had possibly just misunderstood something. She was unaware that speaking underwater was so different from speaking above, since she lacked the ability to breathe at all without air.
When her new company final lifted her head back up, the mare remained where she was, waiting for a sign of what had happened. The cute little voice that now returned her greeting was enough to make her feel much better. She smiled brightly, clopping her front hooves in the water. "Well, I just really like water," she admitted. There was really no other reason. "I grew up around the water, my momma never left it when she was raising me, so I didn't, either." It didn't seem strange to her that she still never ventured out of the view of some form of the liquid. It was just what she was used to.
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Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 9:07 pm
"Oh!" Amitola smiled. "I guess that makes sense. I was born to be in the water, so I guess I have to like it. There's nothing like a good swim around the lake in the morning. Your momma was smart, raising you near water. It's amazing stuff."
She splashed her hooves in tiny mimicry of the violet horse's actions. Ami liked the sound of it. She did it some more, grinning at the splashing water. She felt like a foal. The feeling wasn't something she was used to - she'd been taught by her parents to be mature in any situation, no matter what happened. She decided she liked this cheerful emotion.
Her habitual head tilt kicked in when a question popped into her head. She'd forgotten introductions! "Hey, what's your name?"
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 8:21 pm
Though it might have seem impossible, the smile on her face stretched into something grander. It was certainly nice to meet a kindred spirit. She had never come across a Seathi before, and so could not completely understand her new company's dependence on the water. However, the simple fact that the other had so quickly matched her sentiments had brightened her day in a way that had not happened in a long while.
"Thank you for saying so, I think my momma was a very smart lady." She had been gone for a long time, to some place that Kailani'ki didn't know, but the thought of her and her teachings stayed with the young mare always. "Morning swims are the best to wake up with when the water is still a bit cool."
She giggled, unable to hold it in when her own silly actions were mimicked. It was somewhat like a game to her now, for she splashed her hooves a bit more to show she too was enjoying herself. Only when she was asked for an introduction did she still completely, looking a bit surprised.
"Oh, sorry!" she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I'm Kailani'ki. What's your name?"
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 10:33 am
Ami grinned. "Morning swims are the best! Especially when you can see the dawn reflecting in the water. Sunset swims are nice too."
Ecstatic at finally meeting a new friend, Ami splashed around a bit before finally giving her name. "I'm Ami. Well, actually, my name's Amitola. But I like Ami just fine." She paused and giggled. She felt like a silly little filly! "Nice to meet you, Kailani. Can I call you Kailani?"
Ami spun around in a little water circle, all the while keeping her bright eyes on Kailani'ki. She stopped, then, thinking. "Have you ever met another like me?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:20 pm
Well, while they were talking about their favorites, she felt the need to continue the trend. "The moon is nice, too," she mused. "Sometimes I like to swim in the silver water and pretend it's something else." That was a tidbit she rarely told others. Sure, she was a mare with a personality all her own and hardly minded that, but sometimes she wondered if others would think she was a little bit childish to still pretend. She didn't feel that way now.
"Ami, you can call me what you'd like!" she responded with a laugh. "I've been called so many things before, so I don't mind at all." It was true, her name allowed for many interpretations. As she canted her head, remembering, her new friend's words pulled her immediately into a different train of thought.
"Another like you?" she question, her voice dropping low and contemplative. "No, I suppose not." For all her time around the water, a Soquili with such fins and no hind legs was a remarkable sight! In fact, as she realized this, her eyes widened considerably. "How wonderful!" she nearly shouted, splooshing her front hooves down in river muck. "You're much like a fish!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:00 pm
She smiled. "The moon is my favorite part about night... But what do you pretend you're swimming in?" Ami asked. What was there to pretend to swim in? "Is there some kind of water you've seen before that looks like moon-water?"
Giggling more, Ami wiggled a bit in the water. "I'll call you Kailani, then. What else have you been called?" she wondered curiously. Kailani was so much like her! There was so much they had in common!
Ami was just thinking about showing Kailani the holes in the ground that led to her underwater cave when Kailani responded to her question. Ami sighed. "I've been told that there aren't many of us. The only ones I've ever met have been my family and some wandering male in this very river." She grinned at Kailani's outburst. "Yes, we're a lot like fish. But our tails are different; they stretch up and down rather than side to side."
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:36 pm
A light laugh fell from her maw, not enough to be rude, but just enough to show that what she was thinking might not even make sense to her new friend. Kailani'ki had no idea if there was such a thing as milk in the water. Had Ami ever seen it? Regardless, she began to speak again, anyway. She would just be honest with what she pretended. "Milk," she admitted, tossing her head. "Milk like from mommas and the kind of milk two-leggers drink. The moon kind of makes the water white like that." She chuckled, sheepish.
"Well, speaking of mommas, my momma was the one who first started calling me Ki. And I've met some others who call me Lani or Kai or Kailani, like you. There are lots of ways to break up my name, huh?" The expression on her face had shifted into something contemplative for that moment. Nicknames were sometimes sort of interesting. She thought they were pretty fun.
Her friend's sigh pulled her back into the situation, though. "Oh." It's true she wasn't completely sure how to react. It was kind of sad to think that there weren't a lot of little fin horses like this, she couldn't help but think Ami was adorable. The grin on her face helped to lure one back to the larger mare's lips, though. "Up and down? What kind of sea thing has a tail like that?" She canted her head. Having never been able to dive right into the ocean, she had never seen a seahorse before.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 9:38 pm
Ami tilted her head a little to the side. She couldn't recall milk, though she knew what it was - her baby food had consisted of plankton and tiny shoots of lakeweed. "I know what you're talking about, but I've never seen it..." she replied, bowing her head to stare at the moonlit water. "Does it really look like that?"
Astonished by Kailani's bewilderment, Ami said, "We're called seathi. My mama always told me these tales of little, tiny, delicate things in the ocean that we evolved called seahorses, but I'm not sure if I believe her." Giving a small laugh, Ami flipped herself upside down in the water, to show her new friend just what she was talking about. Slowly, she stuck her tail out of the water and made her swimming motions - up, down, up, down - in the air, trying to keep her balance. She wasn't very good at it, and splashed back down into the water, sending up a small spray. Coming back up to the surface, Ami, said, "See?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:56 am
"Oh sure, it really does," the taller mare assured, hoping that the strength in her voice would convince her friend that she was right and not making up something funny. Maybe moon-water was still a bit too bluish black looking to be considered milk, but Kailani'ki always thought of it that way, ever since she was a kid. In fact, it was Momma who had left her that idea. Sometimes she found herself really missing her mother. But she shook her head. Now was not the time to get down!
"Seathi, huh?" she tilted her head. "It suits you guys, but… seahorses? Little horses in the ocean that are even smaller than you? Wooow, that sounds strange!" Her eyes were wide. "I didn't think a horse could get any smaller. Oh, unless it was a flutter…" Now her mind was racing. She was barely able to focus long enough to notice her friend flipping over to show her that interesting, up-and-down swimming tail. She stared. Amazing!
"It's all curled!" she exclaimed when Ami resurfaced. "It's not like a mer's tail at all. I've never seen anything like that."
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:13 pm
Ami hummed a little in thought as she considered the water that Kailani thought looked like milk. Milk was supposed to be a sort of pale liquid, wasn't it? Nodding slightly in confirmation to herself, Ami said, "Alright, I believe you."
"Yeah, we're called seathi," she continued, nodding vigorously as she shook a stray drop of water away from her eyes - it was fine when she was in the water, but above it, the liquid irritated them. "And that's what I thought! We're already so small - how can there be a creature that looks like us that's any smaller that's adapted like we have, and survived?" Ami asked incredulously. It was a rather rhetorical question, but she'd been wanting to ask it for ages. She'd just never had anyone to talk with before, and the opportunity had finally presented itself.
Nodding even more, Ami confirmed Kailani's thoughts. "It's called pre...prehensile, I think? I can grab onto things with it. Mers have flipper-tails or something," she finished, now uncertain about what to talk about next. It'd been a long time since she'd had a conversation with another soquili. Frowning slightly in thought, Ami said slowly, "So... what do you like to do in the daylight?" Considering the fact that they'd just been talking about the moon, Ami figured that Kailani was out and about some nights - something that she, herself, wasn't exactly fond of. The lake at night was dark, cold, and creepy.
If you don't want to continue this, I completely understand. v.v
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