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 Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:08 pm
 The morning air was of a bitter cold nature, quite out of the ordinary for Sanyue’s normal dwellings in the scorching hot sun of the desert. Her feathers were not quite used to the forested areas south of the mountains; some dew still clung to the silky strands of her feathery mane like glue. It wasn’t quite unbearable, but it was uncomfortable and annoying to some degree. As it was Sanyue couldn’t bring herself to complain too much at her fortunes as of late. The war between her people and the magical Ulun'suti had finally come to an end after a tense stalemate. Her people were finally at peace, able to travel wherever they pleased again, and her duty as a leader was complete, at least, for now. She was sure that if tensions grew again between her people and another race her abilities would be called upon again. But so far things have been of a quiet nature and the pull to travel had caught her like a sticky bug, expand her horizons and experiences. In whole it wasn’t long before the desire had led her to leave everything that she had known in search of something new, something exciting.
The female Hippogryph took in a deep breath of the cool air, her lungs expanding to full capacity as the beat of her wings lulled her mind into a comfortable glide. She wondered if this place had anything new and exciting happening. The thirst for something to happen came in sharp bites of time every few days. To be blunt she was finding herself becoming rather bored with nothing new to do. Flying and gliding around could only do so much for a certain amount of time. Sanyue’s need to find something of a social and adventure nature was becoming much more apparent. A snort left her nostrils as they flared at the thought. Those back home would surely laugh at her if they ever knew that she was bored with nothing to do. She’d have to remind them that despite her…older age she still was young enough to thoroughly enjoy excitement. She was still capable of fighting, bearing foals, becoming someone she could be proud of. Age was just a number and if they thought that being eight years was old then she had to wonder what they’d think of meeting someone who was twenty or older.
Finding a nearby clearing in a patch of trees, the floor littered with berries and flowers of all types, Sanyue’s stomach rumbled. That place would suffice to sate her need to eat breakfast. Tilted herself downwards she glided gracefully until her hooves and claws touched down onto the slightly wet grass, her front nails gleaming off of the sun as she fitted her wings tightly down against her sides. Twisting her ears about to see if anyone was nearby, and not finding anything that immediately warranted her attention, she lowered her beaked muzzle down and began to eat.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:28 pm
 "Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream..." The usually carefree voice of the mare Carmine was low and serious as she spoke the first few clues of the treasures they were hunting. She paused after the first three and glanced at the stunted kalona that followed after her. It had been Othelia's idea to get a start so early in the morning but she seemed so dead on her feet to Carmine. The wind mare frowned.
It had been an unusual string of events that had lead them away from their home and toward the mountains. For Carmine these events started with a young stallion crossing the Under Ground's path and ended when Othelia had disagreed with the pairings for these hunts. As with the jungle mission Carmine had tried to pair Othelia with Xelloss only to have Othelia protest and demand to go with Carmine. She had assumed that Othelia had gotten into another fight with Xelloss and had agreed to the revised pairings. Now Carmine was wondering if that same fight was what was causing Othelia's moodiness.
She cleared her throat and started again trying to sound more important this time. "Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time...is...where...these powers glow! By the gods of the east, the west, the south and north! Grant me your aid as we...sally forth!" Her voice grew steadily louder with each line and her grin grew larger simultaneously. Once more she looked back at Othelia, "Sounds like a spell don't cha think?" She asked happily.  Othelia's thoughts hadn't settled since that first fateful day in the jungle. It was no surprise. She had learned of a heritage that she had no prior knowledge of and just like that everything she had known had been flipped on it's head. She now saw marks and signs everywhere of things her father had been a part of and things that she would now take part in herself. Her hooves fell automatically and with her eyes locked on Carmine's back she knew she wouldn't stray leaving her to think as freely as she pleased.
Carmine suspected nothing. Carmine never suspected anything, she was too trusting and too willing to look past outward appearances. Othelia frowned. That would be her downfall. It would be the end of the mare that had freed her all that time ago. Her ears twitched as Carmine began chanting her rendition of the basic clues that Phibrizzo had provided them with. What was she doing? As Carmine looked back Othelia just shook her head and picked up the pace. They needed to find this piece quickly so they wouldn't upset Phibrizzo or Xelloss's Lord Beastmaster. Othelia passed Carmine by heading towards an open space in the trees. She would never know that Othelia was only with her now to keep her on track and she suspected Xelloss was doing something similar with other members.
"You haven't eaten yet." She said to Carmine. "I smell bush fruit in here. You can eat then we can go." The faster they found this treasure the faster they could get started on the next one. Speed was key. Carmine wasted too much time goofing off and sleeping. She was so lazy. It wasn't a desirable trait at all. She was too free with her emotions too. Othelia peered discretely over her shoulder. There were so many bad things about Carmine she was sure that with enough time she'd be able to hate her.
Maybe then this all wouldn't stink of betrayal so much.
"Food?!" Carmine explained before kicking her rear in gear and racing passed Othelia again. "Alright I'm starving!" She charged into the clearing the same way she did everything else, headfirst and came to a screeching halt once past the trees. Someone else was in here. Someone with a lot of feathers and jewelry. Carmine tried to tear her eyes away from the gold as she managed a very thought out, "Uh...hi."
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:49 pm
Sanyue had just begun to relax her body and dig into the wonderful spread around her when, quite suddenly, she felt a shift in the wind and the powerful smell of two soquili bombarded her senses. They were very close too and her mind was put on full alert. She knew she shouldn't have let her guard down so quickly, now she'd have to deal with whatever came her way. Most of her hoped that it wasn't a soquili who would do her harm. That would have dragged her mood down, something that wasn't really wanted since so far she was having a relatively normal day.
Thoughts were interrupted as a mare with pitch black wings burst into the clearing with a somewhat...less than graceful entrance. Sanyue couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight as the mare didn't right away assess her presence and instead was now focused on her jewelry. Honestly she wasn't sure how to react, the mare seemed young and very much full of energy. For a lack of a better way to describe it Sanyue felt like a deer in the headlights and she was quite sure the other mare felt the same way.
So when it came to replying to the awkward greeting Sanyue felt her own mouth open and greet back in pretty much the same, ungraceful fashion. Although her tone was a little bit more chirpy, like a bird.
".....hi?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:19 pm
Clearing her throat slightly Carmine straightened into a more dignified and confident position before sauntering towards the mare, hunger forgotten. "So," She began managing to focus on the mare's face instead of her bejeweled throat for an extended period of time. "I suppose you're new to these parts then." It was an outright guess. Carmine didn't know much of anything about the areas locals but it never hurt to try this angle when meeting someone new, especially if that person had valuables.
"Have you paid your dues yet? If not I think one necklace outta cover it." Carmine did her best to sound as official as Lorenna but it was coming out more suspicious than she would have liked. Oh well, maybe this one was as air-headed as she sounded. She'd never met someone who chirped while being unsure except for air-heads. The odds looked to be in her favor here.
Othelia chose to stay outside of the clearing listening for a moment. As Carmine started a poor attempt at a con she decided that it would be a good moment to remind Carmine what they were there for and it wasn't some bird-soquili-cross's necklace. Moving with the fluidity and stealth of a wildcat she slunk into the clearing coming up behind Carmine silently with a dangerous look in her eye. Her tail curled and swayed behind her like a serpent as she surveyed the stranger more closely. She was mostly brown with orange-ish colored spots. She adorned herself with the golden jewelery that Carmine coveted. She had wings, feathers for a mane and tail and claws instead of hooves on her forelegs.
Othelia didn't like her, she looked like she could be a predator.
Othelia let out a low hiss to catch Carmine's attention. "We don't have time for collections right now." She said trying to keep her voice less agitated than she felt. "Eat and then we go to where the sun never warms the land. Find the stone and move on." It was like Carmine didn't even care that they had a specific task. She just did what she pleased. That was another undesirable trait that she possessed.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:32 pm
An almost undignified snort came from Sanyue's muzzle as the mare in front of her tried her best to con her out of her jewelry. It was honestly rather amusing, albeit just a tad annoying. No way would she ever give up her prized possessions, and the fact that this mare even tried was rather off putting. As it was Sanyue moved her mind to the place where she always had during her confrontation with the rebels. Drawing up to full height, Sanyue began to give off the air of authority, signaling to the other that she was far from stupid.
"Dues means little when it seems the collector is unsure of herself. Which tells me that either she's new at this collecting thing, or isn't a collector at all. For it seems to me that she is also relatively new to this area. Now, let's try this introduction again without having you stare at my accessories like your life depended on it shall we?"
The chirp was still there, but much more dignified and authoritative. A semi-smirk yet good-natured one adorned her beaked muzzle now. Her gaze then shifted to the second newcomer to the clearing. And immediately Sanyue got this feeling of dislike. This new mare was draconian looking, horns and a spaded tail to match. However her wings were quite smaller, unusable for flight. Ruffling her wings a bit Sanyue opted to not stare at the other mare and instead gazed upon winged one, humor now in her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:52 pm
Carmine ruffled her feathers before taking on the look of a child just scolded by a parent. This was particularly fascinating because neither of Carmine's parents had ever seriously scolded her. Her mother wasn't present enough for it and most of the time her father would just ditch her somewhere and let her sort herself out on her own. To Carmine this felt like talking to Lorenna except this was a Lorenna that didn't answer to Carmine's whims and play along. She didn't really feel like talking to this Lorenna-like mare, she was mean.
"I'm just here for food." She muttered with a toss of her head. By now tossing her mane and letting it flow was more of a habit than a motion with purpose. "Othie smelt berries and ya can't really blame me for tryin' can ya?" She fixed the chirpy, yet somehow not ditzy, mare with a serious look before diverting her attention to scrounging up a meal like Othelia insisted on. "We'll be off soon, got a ways to go."
Othelia bristled as the mare actually spoke. She seemed rather high and mighty. Othelia snarled slightly. From what she understood so far those types always had people to do there bidding. Like Xelloss's master had Xelloss and who knew how many others. There were other lords, she understood that now, it stood to reason that they had underlings too. Underlings like her father had been. Underlings like she now seemed fated to become.
With narrowed eyes Othelia glanced around the area again checking for other presences. She didn't notice anything, perhaps this mare did not have followers after all. Still, it never hurt to be safe. "Why are you here?" She asked sounding nothing but suspicious not caring to deal with introductions. It seemed even Carmine didn't care for them right now.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:06 pm
Sanyue watched as one mare got the look of a child being scolded and the other bristled. Looks like she ruffled some feather unintentionally. Amusing as though it was she wasn't here to cause trouble or create enemies. In fact, it was her own personal mission to meet others and create ties and allies. And low and behold she wasn't exactly starting off to a good start. Go figure. With a sigh she watched as the winged one moved around to start eating.
"Food is always a good thing, especially if you're travelling a long ways." Sanyue spoke before turning her gaze back to the kalona who questioned her rather harshly. A small frown adorned her maw.
"I am here traveling, trying to see all the new areas that were, up until recently, forbidden to my people and I because of the magic the Ulun'suti possessed. With the uprising and war over, and my position of leadership unneeded for now, a lot of us have decided to branch out and see what the rest of the lands have to offer."
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:24 am
"And boy is it a long way." Carmine said before picking a place off to the side to begin inhaling berries off the ground. If not for the mare this would have been a great start to the day. Even with everything the Under Ground got in terms of food berries were a rare treat. Apples were the most common but berries were hard to pick without humans, squirrels or raccoons while still keeping them in good condition.
As she ate her breakfast she listened. The mare was saying a lot of really strange things. What was this about a war, what were Ulun'suti and how was she a leader? She didn't seem nearly charismatic enough to lead.
Othelia pulled her head back a look of alarm crossing over her features when the mare mentioned her people. She returned to normal after the mention of Ulun'suti. At first she had thought that this mare was going to reveal that she was somehow connected to the mazoku. Othelia had no idea what an Ulun'suti was but she was quite sure Xelloss would have mentioned them if they were important to the mazoku. So far what she had learned was the mazoku were commonly kalona or kalona mixes that abhorred all angeni. There was nothing about "unlun'suti" and she definitely wasn't a mazoku leader.
"You talk too much." She said finally stepping forward. "Just say you're traveling, it's easier." She flicked her tail. If this area has empty she would have gone to hunt but she wasn't leaving Carmine alone with this mare. Who knew what might happen then.
Carmine swallowed hastily and glanced at Othelia. She was being unusually aggressive recently. Normally she was content to just stand by quietly and unless she received orders to attack she didn't bother. "Othie...it's okay, ya know." She said feeling a bit nervous suddenly. "We're travelin' too." She replied looking at the mare feeling her earlier upset fading away quickly. "Treasure huntin, it's more interesting than whatever you're up to for sure." It was a bit of a long shot but maybe if Carmine spoke more favorably towards this mare Othelia would settle down.
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