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 Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:26 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:54 pm
Dipping his head down to snuffle in the hair of a young human foal, Betula grinned to himself. The two-leggers were strange, there was no arguing that, with their dexterous paws and their upright stature, but most were good-at-heart and that was why Betula kept coming back to visit. Here in the Kawani Village there was kindness and understanding towards the soquili, a welcoming reaction that could not be expected when out and about in the wilderness. Here, even the hunters had a love and respect for life, like this boy's father who was processing some fish for their upcoming meal a few strides away. This feeling of warmth and acceptance always had Betula smiling widely as he walked through the village of the Kawani people.
The boy reached up with both paws and tugged at Betula's mane with one and pointed upwards with the other, gurgling in laughter and muttering some sort of words at him. Another snuffle and he lowered his head some more so the boy could touch his horns. Curiosity was something that Betula always encouraged, in foal and adult alike, so why not let this little one reach out and touch something as strange as his branch-like antlers? He could spare a few more minutes with this young one, before moving on.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:10 pm
Camaria couldn't remember the last time she had visited the Kawani Village. Certainly it had been some time ago. So on a whim the winged mare had taken to this skies this morning and set course for the village. She didn't have anything to do in her line of work at the moment. Sometimes months were quiet, which other months she couldn't keep up with things. Best to enjoy this slow time while she could. Though she didn't often come to the village she did enjoy the time here. The Kawani were always nice to her, some would brush her, others would say kind words, while a few would share an apple or two with her.
Setting down at the edge of the village Camaria gave her wings a stretch before folding them at her sides. The sights and smells of the village were much as she remembered the last time. Slowly she began to walk, stopping for a moment at an older woman who gave her a scratch behind the ears before letting the mare wander again. Not too far away a Cerynei stallion was letting one of the two-legger children touch his antlers. Those antlers were unlike any she had seen before. Oh she had seen plenty of Cerynei in her time but this ones antlers looked as if they were branches off of a tree. How peculiar. Taking a few steps closer Camaria tried to get a better look at the stallion while looking like she wasn't trying to look at him. It helped than a young woman came up to greet her, so she could turn some of her attention to the woman while watching the stallion from the corner of her eye.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:13 pm
The little one tugged at a horn, as if trying to see if it would come loose, but gave up quickly because it wasn't about to budge, and instead went back to rubbing his face into Betula's soft nose once more. The silver stallion breathed warm gusts of air through at the little one, causing his hair to puff out to the sides and a happy gurgle to emerge his tiny lungs. The boy's father kept an eye on the pair, just for safety's sake, but for the most part would nod and mumble something that would catch the boy's attention for a moment or two and sometimes expel a response in return.
Betula had come down to the village for a reason, but that very reason wasn't an immediate demand, so he liked to wander between the teepees and see the changes since his last visit. There were always new adventurers and traders wandering about, not to mention all the soquili that passed through. His head could spin with the very thought of trying to list all the different breeds that made their way through here, but the most joyous meetings, he would have to say, were when the villagers were helping to raise the various foals that kept cropping up. One was never too far out of reach at any given point in time.
Movement of some sort caught Betula's attention and he turned his head to see a wind mare a little ways off, yellow and blue in coat, but the wee one wasn't done in his affections, so Betula merely rubbed his cheek on him in a playful nudge. Allowing his eyes to travel between the boy and the new mare, he hoped to eventually catch her eye so that he could throw her a greeting. The village brought out the best in most soquili and it always had him smiling, and being more open towards others, in contrast to his mostly solitary attitude.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:43 pm
Leaning into the young woman lightly Camaria enjoyed the attention. Her life was mostly spent traveling about, sneaking around gathering information on and for others. So it was times like these she enjoyed, where there was nothing to do but soak in the atmosphere of the village and enjoy some attention. Good attention. Nothing like what she occasionally encountered out in the fields and forests. Sometimes her hiding spot was discovered and she would need to flee before anything truly bad happened. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind Camaria gave the young woman a soft nuzzle, who in turn patted them mares neck then went back to her chores.
Her attention turned to that stallion once more, who seemed to still be preoccupied by a youngling. Perfect. She could walk by and get a close look without drawing attention to herself. Turning away from the young woman's teepee Camaria walked a path that took her along side the stallion. When she got beside him she turned her head, nodded a greeting and continued on. Sure enough in that moment she saw that his antlers were very much tree branches. How very strange. She would need to learn more without it being too obvious. So she kept walking, thinking that perhaps after a few moments of wandering about she could 'accidentally' bump into him, making her way slowly down the row of teepees looking over all the two-leggers who were out and about, nickering happily to a few as she passed by.
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:49 pm
That very same yellow mare that he had spotted walked by and nodded a greeting, which he responded with his own slight nod and laughing smile as best he could with the little one tugging at his nostrils and soft muzzle. The best way two-leggers seemed to learn about other animals was by touch and when they learn patience also by watching. This little one was obviously still in his impatient stage, but as soon as the father noticed the tugging there was an angry bark of a command. The youngster winced and drew his hands away from the small cerynei, an apologetic if sheepish look on his face before he mumbled an obvious goodbye and turned to run into their teepee. Betula followed the boy a few steps but came to a stop in front of the father to offer a gentle nuzzle, and to show that he was ok, that his boy hadn't hurt him, that it was all in good fun. The man stretched out a hand and placed it upon Betula's nose, whispering a few calm words before withdrawing back to his work. The apology had not been necessary in Betula's mind, but he appreciated it all the same.
A happy nicker and Betula was off once more. Walking past that family's teepee he made his way through many more searching for the one he knew should be somewhere close by. Somewhere here there was a certain shaman that he had come to find. It didn't take long for him to find it.
The largest teepee for a ways around, well, in truth, more of a tent it was so huge, stood tall and inviting in it's grandeur. It was paler than the smaller teepees around it and it had been put up next to a log house, one of the few buildings in the village. He wouldn't step inside that strange put-together of wood, but he did walk straight upto the teepee and cautiously poked his nose in through the opening flap. Ears perking up and forward the stallion did not walk any further but instead whinnied softly and waited for something to happen.
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:39 pm
It was easy enough to move around the village without drawing too much attention to herself. Soquili visited here often some making her way between this teepee and that was like walking through an open meadow in a sense. Occasionally she would stop to greet one of the Kawani or them would come to here, in the end it all worked in her favor of keeping a low profile while watching the stallion out of the corner of her eye. Of course he was stuck with that little boy still. This could take a while. But then as luck would have it the father put an end to the boys affection on the stallion and he was free to move around. Lowering her head Camaria nipped at some grass so she could watch where he was going.
He had stopped in front of a larger teepee. Making her way there wouldn't be too much trouble. There were quite a few other teepees around that should could snake around first. Taking the long route around Camaria looped behind three other smaller teepees so that she could approach from behind the large teepee the stallion was standing in front of. Not far away a few children were playing. It was the perfect distraction for her plan. With her gaze set on the children Camaria rounded the teepee bumping into the stallion. "Oh I'm sorry." She said apologetically taking a step back. "I didn't quite see you there." Not the entire truth but she was doubtful that he would accuse her otherwise. Soquili bumped into others on occasion. It was a fact of life that no one was immune to.
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:06 pm
The inside of the teepee was warm and welcoming. There was a scent of leather and various catching plant aromas. Strong flowers and calming herbs wafted their smells just the same, mingling together into an alluring combination that danced into any passerby's nostrils. His eyes had slid to a close as he waited for something to happen after his whinny, so when he got bumped it came as a surprise to Betula.
Jerking his head up and away from the teepee, he took a step back and quickly found himself being talked to. Quickly ducking his head the cerynei smiled somewhat apologetically himself, as if it could have been anyone's fault to be walked into. Bumping into others was not uncommon, especially here in the village, so it did not anger the little soquili, but when he saw just who he was talking to it did intrigue him. Eyes sparkled a moment as he noted that this mare was the same one he saw just earlier a ways across the village. Was it coincidence for her to be here where he was again?
Shrugging it off he decided not to say anything about it, but instead shook his head and jovially responded, "I'm easy to miss," A small joke at his tiny frame was offered in his light mood. There was no point in getting upset. Afterall, she hadn't hurt him, merely nudged him a little.
Just then the flap of the teepee was swept aside by an alabaster hand, letting some of the intoxicating aromas escape. Changing his attention back to the teepee Betula walked inside, following the beckoning hand into the strange woman's company.
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:48 pm
Carmira let a smile cross her lips. At leastt he stallion was the accepting kind. Some would get rude or even violent over such simple and normal things happening to them. Well that told her a bit more about him. She was certain after watching him with that child earlier that he was patient and kind, but now she knew for certain that he was. This would make her job a bit easier of finding out more about him and his interesting antlers. She had taken that moment to look at them again. Sure enough they definitely still looked like tree branches. Honestly it was best to double check these things before asking, sometimes ones eyes could play tricks.
Unfortunately before she could say or do anything the tent flap opened for a moment, a hand gesturing the stallion inside. The mixture of aromas that came out of the tent in that moment made her take a deep breath. As the stallion slipped inside Camaria was torn for a moment. Should she follow him in? That would make it quite obvious that she was trying to learn things about him. Of course she could also be entering to see what the woman was doing and just what all those scents were. After a few quick moments of hesitation the mare poked her head inside and then follow the stallion in. Her eyes however were on the woman, now that she was inside she truly was also interested to see just who this woman was and what she was doing. The stallion would still be a part of her observations of course.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:30 pm
The tent flap fell to a close quickly behind the mare's rump and encompassed the company in near darkness for a few moments as their eyes adjusted to the low lighting inside. It was soon obvious that the lighting inside consisted of all things natural. A few strategically placed containers of lightning bugs, and even more glowing... mushrooms. It was no mistake, it was indeed plants that were giving off most of the light inside of the dusky and damp tent.
The inside of the tent felt larger than even it had appeared on the outside, but though it should have had lots of space, there was in fact a need for careful tread. From the door, free space opened up in the very middle of the tent, but past that it would be difficult for a full-size soquili to make it between the various plants and collections without knocking something over. The woman, wearing only minimal animal furs, made her way past the two soquili and settled near the edge of the circle of open space and gracefully sat down cross-legged on a pile of larger pelts and held her hands up towards Betula's muzzle.
The cerynei stallion raised an eyebrow at the mare when she followed him in, but otherwise his expression had not changed from the pleasant smile. Nor was this a time for talking, though, so he quietly waited for the long-haired woman to settle into her furs and only when she extended her hands did he walk upto her, offer her his muzzle and slowly fold his legs underneath him. Once laying down, face caressed by the woman's cold white fingers the stallion closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply, in and out, taking in all of the strong scents around him. The most prevalent of all must have been the smell of growth, dampness and calm. If one was to focus, a small but steady pulse could be felt, as if the actual life force of all the plants had a heartbeat, and they all beat as one.
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