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 Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:12 am
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:14 am
It had been two, maybe three years since he’d been here. He’d ‘toured’ during this period, wandering idly from pillar to post as he regaled foreign tribes with myth, legend and song. He was unsurprised to find that this was well received; a pacifist minstrel was rarely regarded with hostility. However, as the months had drifted on the world around him changed and with it, so did he. He had reached an impasse and a very awkward moment in his life – as a minstrel he made his way in the world through various performance pieces and now he found himself faced with a predicament.
For months now he had been attempting to piece together a set of new works, something that could be presented to the world and would freshen up his portfolio. Unfortunately he had discovered that his heart just hadn’t been in it. He couldn’t decide whether it was the added stress and pressure that often came with being creative in a tight spot or whether or not his inspiration had seemed wilted. At first he had permitted frustration to overwhelm him and then, in a moment in clarity, he realised that this simply made things worse. With no progress made he soon came to the conclusion that perhaps it was time to travel home, it was a long shot, but he was of the impression that a family reunion and familiar territory might spur him into action once more.
...For all he knew, he might encounter his old muse.
Alas, such an encounter was most unlikely – very few soquili were prepared to wait months, let alone years, for the return of a dear friend and most certainly not anything more. However, he was an optimistic sort and the stallion had no idea what the future might hold. The spirits might have decided that he would be blessed with the presence of his muse or they might provide him with entirely different inspiration. It had been with this in his mind that he had taken flight and had begun to make the rather arduous journey home.
A week of drifting, alternating between flights and trekking, had soon brought him to familiar terrain. As he touched down on the shores of the Kawani province his nostrils flared at the familiar scents and his ears swivelled at the sounds. It had been so long since he had been here but the salt lined breeze and the small bite it brought was refreshing. It was in moments like these that the Angeni found himself burdened by just a touch of nostalgia (a testament to his age, though he was by no means ancient). Good to be back? He would certainly say so, he could even feel the tension drifting away from his form – he’d made the right decision in coming home.
Nevertheless he still had a ways to travel and rather than waste any further time admiring the view (something he could do later without issue) he set off along the shoreline. Head swaying just a touch, he soon began to hum. Notes fluttering from the depths of his chest, it wasn’t designed to be an impressive song and was, as with most individuals’ choices of tune went, completely random...
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:10 pm
For a while now, she had tried to get accustomed to this land. A land that was not familiar to her. The beach where she now resided was much different than the beaches she would call her home. The sands were fairer in color and was colored like the softest golds. Unlike here, the sands were a dimmer gray and more coarse. She could not help but notice that seas appeared a deeper blue-gray, in comparison to the pale blue and transparent waters of her homeland. These were mere observations, but those slight differences prevented her from ever feeling like she was at "home".
The mare dropped her gaze to the water that lapped against her legs in a rhythmic and soothing manner. Her eyes softened a bit, looking down at the water. She could at least rationalize that the water brought her peace. The soothing, rhythmic noises always calmed her, and reminded her that the seas were all connected. Even if she was here in this foreign land, the water would always connect her back to her home.
Stepping back from the water, she moved to start her day. Her meal was not going to find itself had she stayed in the water.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:29 am
A lot had changed around here - at least this was what he could surmise from the tiny details that he caught glimpses of as he walked passed. As a creature who thrived of observing the world (as this was the best way to gain content for his tales), he had a penchant for taking note of the smallest things. Some might have called him a touch pedantic in that respect for there were few who could spot the smallest of shifts or dents that just hadn't been in one particular cliff face before. To be entirely honest, there were probably very few soquili in the world that would care to notice.
Alas, it was in his nature and as he passed by various key landmarks upon the shore his gaze flicked to them, assessed them and noticed how Mother Nature's caress had shaped them. Some of these changes were amiable and pleasant as the spirit had decided they should be more presentable to the 'public', where there were once jagged lines the rocks had been smoothed down. However, in other regions along the shore what had once been pleasant had become fiercesome and unforgiving. It was truly fascinating how the world grew alongside one such as he.
...And they said that the land wasn't a living creature itself!
Nevertheless, rosen eyes continued to skim back and forth across his immediate line of sight and while he fully expected to see his most noted landmarks he had not been expecting to see a soquili. The coasts were not populace and were not regarded fondly by many due to their limited resources. If she had been there years ago he would have known for the simple reason that she would have been such an oddity.
How puzzling.
Novel.
Now he was curious.
His head tilted to the side and his headwings gave a slight flare as he observed the mare pick her way across the dunes to some unknown destination. He hadn't quite cottoned on to the fact that it was breakfast yet, his sleep schedule and ability to recognise what time of day it was had been messed up quite considerably. There was a certain element of grace to her but the longer he watched, the more he knew that he simply didn't recognise her...so that begged the question; who was she?
Snorting his forelock out of his eyes, the stallion picked up a mild trot after the mare. He'd never been one to shy away from being sociable and curiosity when unsated was a pain in the rear. Aware that others might panic if he approached quietly, he sacrificed his grace for the time being in favour of heavy and echoed hoof steps. At least this way she would know he was on his way and could prepare will in advance rather than leaping out of her very skin!
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:29 pm
Treading softly on the sand, her steps were light and even, leaving behind dainty soft imprints of her hooves behind her. The mare headed away from the ocean towards the vegetation close to the water, but far enough away from the high tides. She was hopeful that she would be able to forage more food due to the warming of the weather and the spring showers that would come now and then to bring water to the thirsty plants. If this was not fruitful, then she would need to procure some seaweed from the ocean. Her nose wrinkled at the thought of having that again, not really being adept in knowing what possibly could be eaten here in this foreign land. She was used to finding various tropical fruits and lush grass not too far from the shore.
Her attention shifted from her current thoughts of food to an unfamiliar noise of her hooves stepping on the sand. Her soft hazel eyes turned to look up and around. She did not take this beach to be inhabited by many besides the crabs and various sea critters that made this shore their home. This creature was by far bigger than the side-walking crabs. Turning towards the origin of the noise, her eyes widened a bit to see another Soquili.
Observing the stallion before her discreetly, she was surprised to see such colors. Her eyes were used to the sights of bulkier stallions with long, dark hair, and varying coats of browns to blacks to sandy browns. She would only associate colorful, bright colors on the tropical flowers, much like the orchid pinned near her ear. This stallion very much reminded her of her own orchid flower with the soft pink in his hair and wings, much similar to a bird's wings. What a curious being.
Offering the stallion a soft smile in a warm, welcoming manner, the mare nodded her head to him. "Aloha." She greeted him.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 1:16 am
Place his grace on the sacrificial pyre appeared to have worked and as she turned round and registered his existence he ceased in such 'heavy hooved' methods. His steps became soft once more and only the faintest of beats could be heard pressing against the grains of sand. He had little trouble in regaining his composure from this point having never struggled across the ever shifting sand under hoof. While others might have stumbled or slid across the unsteady surface, he could be thankful for the blessings he had received, both his mother and father had been blessed with grace. Granted, his mother's was natural and his father's had been drilled into him but they still excelled at it so it would only be fitting for him to be the same!
Unaware that he was as much a curiosity to the mare as she was to him, a mild smile lifted his features as he grew closer. By now she had come to a halt and was observing him as he approached. He slowed his pace, his tail flaring out as it sought to coil around his hindleg and then he too came to a halt. Best to provide the mare with ample room for her personal space, no? He may have been one of the most unthreatening soquili to ever walk the earth but it was unwise to presume anything. This knowledge came from a relatively large pool of personal experiences for the stallion.
"Aloha?" he replied. It seemed to be some form of greeting but evidently the mare's home was not one he had set hoof in yet. Unsurprising given the size of this world but nevertheless a touch disappointing; if she spoke an entirely different language then he was going to have a few difficulties. Not that he minded much, it just meant that he was going to have to brush up on his drawing skills - as if to act as encouragement, his tail tightened around his hind leg reassuringly.
"Good morning," he responded pleasantly, and gave a small bow. "A new face to the area I see, and certainly not from the immediate local lands either," he observed. His statements weren't designed to insult, he merely stated facts as he regarded the mare with appreciation. She was dainty, that much was evident, but he was more fascinated by the plants that adorned her form. They definitely weren't local but their vivid colours and the hint of scent that rose from them were positively delightful.
"I must say they are the most fascinating decorations I've ever seen, where are they from?" he queried. While he enjoyed idle conversational topics such as weather and scenary, he never generally used them for initiating an encounter. On the contrary, the rose soquili was rather up front when it came to approaching others!
Lapsing in to silence to give the young mare an opportunity to reply, he readjusted his footing to get himself more comfortable. Both ears and petite head wings lifted to emphasize his curiosity, though every now and then the headwings would give a flutter that would indicate they may very well have a life of their own...
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:25 pm
With further observation, the mare observed the stallion’s steps were much lighter than a few moments prior. It was certainly a different way of enter an area with the intent of not scaring anyone present, or at least letting everyone else know of his presence. She smiled lightly at the thought.
Her hazel eyes lingered on his form as he drew closer to her. A mild feeling of nervousness and self-preservation tingled at the back of her mind, as she felt a little unsure how to feel about this stallion. He was definitely different than what she was accustomed to seeing. It was not a bad kind of a different, but he definitely had a dash of femininity to his appearance which sparked her curiosity.
The mare’s ears flicked towards to him, hearing him repeat back her words of greeting. “Ae.” She nodded, affirming his question. He had pronounced it properly. “It means ‘Hello’.” She responded back to him with a slight accent to her voice. The mare nodded in reply to his observation that she was not a local to the lands. “Do I stand out that much?” She asked pleasantly with an amused smile to her face.
His next question drew her attention to her accessories that adorn her body. The mare took in a deep breath, catching scent of the plumeria flowers that adored on her ear and around her neck. “They come from my homeland.” She smiled softly. “I was able to grow some here, but it was not easy for my flowers to get adjusted to the soil here.” She nodded.
Her hazel eyes wandered back up to look over the stallion. Her eyes stopped on to observe the wings adored on his head. The mare had never seen such wings on any Soquili, and it was quite different. She had only seen such wings on the body of a bird, but not on another horse. One of her fore legs lifted, as if she were going to step forward to observe the stallion, but she stopped herself from taking that step closer. Her eyes drifted back to his face. “I do not mean to be rude, but are you part bird?” She asked softly.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:00 pm
Zhu Had he been aware of her assumption that he was feminine he probably would have given an appreciative nod towards the floral hairpiece and his overall colouration. By many standards the male was not one who conformed to society's standards on masculinity - pink had its downside apparently. Alas, he was no mind reader and as a consequence he remained oblivious to her perception of him - that being said, even if he had been aware he was highly unlikely to regard it with offence...suffice to say that the soquili in question was suitably difficult to enrage!
"Good to know," he responded smoothly, not missing a beat as she clarified what her greeting had meant. He could have hazarded a guess at this one, logically speaking it should have been obvious, but there were certain things that one could never be so certain of. The greeting aside, he was then capable of approaching the other topics poffered towards him...especially when the mare seemed to be an amicable sort. "Ah, perhaps not to others but as a traveller I can typically spot someone who doesn't quite fit, it is..." he paused briefly to consider how best to describe this. "It is generally down to how another moves," he explained and rolled his shoulders in a lose shrug.
"Unfortunate that you were unable to find the appropriate sort of soil for your plants, though depending on where you explore here you are likely to find something sufficient or almost identical," he mused. It was at this point that he observed her flowers briefly and conceded that they were a rather appealing colour, a mental note was made to acquire one for himself - he could have used a bit of colour! Nevertheless, the angeni refrained from lingering on the subject too long and within moments he was chuckling at her enquiry. "You would be amazed at how often I am asked that - no, I am no bird though I do not blame you for thinking of me as such. Don't tell me, the bows were the big giveaway, no?" he mused, feigning a level of ignorance. Nani Naniahiahi nodded her head to him. “It is, isn’t it? At least you will know what it means if you ever hear it again.” She said softly. Her gaze glanced up at him, quite surprised. “You are saying that you can tell I am foreign by the way that I move?” She asked curiously. She had never thought of being different in that way, but only thought of it in the most obvious way, through her accent. “Everyone moves differently though. Although, you move different than I.” Her brows furrowed together in her confusion. “If you are from here, do others move like you in these lands?”
“I will? Is there a place much similar to my homelands here then?” She asked, wondering if there was a more tropical area in these lands. She would not mind moving to a more tropical area to feel more comfortable in these foreign lands. The weather where she resided got too cold during the winters, and the water much to cold to search for anything.
The mare smiled lightly, feeling relieved she was not the only one to question his appearance. Although, his next question confused her. Her eyes located the bow adorned on his tail, but did not know how that related to being part bird. “It is certainly not your tail. Your tail does not have bird like qualities.” Zhu "This is very true and perhaps in time I will be blessed with further knowledge of the language," he replied. The enthusiasm was clear in the stallion's voice, a clear indication of his sociable and naturally inquisitive nature. As a bard it was always invaluable to understand the most efficient and polite ways of communicating with other individuals - if he couldn't do this then he couldn't receive new stories or tell his own. Admittedly she had only provided him with an introduction but all goals were achieved in small steps, it was a start and he would take it as a golden opportunity for a later date... after all, the hardest thing about meeting new individuals was figuring out how to open up a line of communication.
Nevertheless her confusion over how he had explained his ability to sense her foreign origins seemed to require further explanation and the stallion schooled his expression into an amused, but approachable one. "Ah, no," he began and shook his head. "What I mean is that when you are new to the lands you are uncomfortable, curious... there are a variety of ways in which a foreigner will react and this translates in their body," he paused for a few moments and trawled through his memories. "For example, if an individual is from warmer lands and they begin to shiver even in summer, you are able to say that they are either from a different place entirely or from a slightly warmer area, you see?"
"But there are places similar to your homeland -" He paused and then shook his head. "Or at least, I would assume there were. As I do not know what your homeland is like then I cannot possibly confirm it," he amended. He wasn't one for embarassment and as a consequence, his slip-up was not accompanied by sheepishness, he simply accepted he'd made a mistake and fixed it. "Though if I do know of a similar land I would endeavour to point you in that direct if that was what you required?" It was at this point that he paused and briefly lapsed into silence, his humour lost on her to a certain degree relating to his tail.
"Forgive me," he offered at last and canted his head to the side. "I am no bird, though I might have wings that could be attributed to them. My mother was of angelic origins and as a concequence, I inherited some of the qualities she possesses." Nani Naniahiahi laughed lightly. “If you want to know something, I would not mind translating it.” Watching the stallion’s enthusiasm made her smile. It was endearing to see such enthusiasm to learn something new, but she supposed that she was feeling the same way towards him. She wanted to learn about this foreign land, and needed this sort of interaction to learn more.
Listening to the stallion, her expression changed from a look confusion to a look of understanding with a hint of embarrassment. “I do see. With that explanation, it makes more sense now. [Ii]Mahalo.” She said gratefully to the stallion. Hearing the traits that made someone to appear ‘new to the lands’, she knew she fit that description. Hearing his example, her curiosity piqued again. “Shiver in the summer?” She knew that feeling. The sun was not constant here, and the winds from the sea did not help the cooler climate of the area. She knew that feeling very well.
Her eyes widened a little bit at the prospect of living in a climate that was similar to her homeland. “I would appreciate it if you could direct me in a direction…” She said softly. “Would you like to hear where I used to live, if that were to help you?” Her mind wandered off to her plumeria plant. She would need to gather it with her so that it may adapt to its new home.
The mare’s eyes only held amazement towards the stallion. “Of angelic origins?” She repeated. “I did not know there would be anything tangible as that.” The mare blinked and glanced down to his tail. “And your tail? It is not like mine, but like the tail of a lion.”
Zhu "Mhm, in certain places it is warmer so when the creature moves to a colder climate, even in the height of summer they will shiver," he smiled at this and then proceeded to purse his lips. There was another momentary pause as he regathered his thoughts and then he continued to speak. "Of course the same can apply for anyone who moves from a cold climate to a warm one - I remember when I first entered the desert," his expression grew grave, more so from the recollection at the intense shock of the heat rather than distaste. "The heat was almost suffocating, at the time I was very used to colder climates so I was overwhelmed," he explained gently.
"Of course that isn't to say that you can adapt quickly if you find a comfortable compromise or comparison," he conceded and returned his gaze to the mare. What came next was to be expected from any bard. Her offer to enlighten him towards what her homeland was like was a must for the stallion. If the opportunity should arise then he fully intended to abuse her hospitality further by asking her more questions. At present his muses were dead, but if he found something intriguing then he might discover that she was the balm he needed to give the aforementioned muses the TLC they required.
"I would love to hear more about your home," he replied almost immediately after she had graced him with the offer. However, rather than leave her in limbo in relation to his origins he cast his gaze briefly back towards his tail. "The tail is from my father, he is a unicorn and as such, possesses the power of healing. As for Angelic origins, they are possible but only if the gods should elect to have that soquili descend from the heavens... At least that is how my mother has explained it...
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