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 Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:03 pm
 In the last weeks there had been a lot of activity on the beach. Luckily not the portion she and her family called home, but much further down. Still to see so many Soquili in the area it was both exciting and a little frightening. Aquitaine liked her home because it was quiet and others didn't rarely come this way. Sure it could get lonely at times without visitors but the important thing is that she had her family. Besides from her past experiences leaving home wasn't always a pleasant experience. So event though there had been some sort of festivities going on not far away Aquitaine had chose to stay home, avoiding the large groups of gather Soquili who were celebrating whatever it was. Part of her had wanted to go, very much so, but she had stayed because socially she was still quite awkward.
Following the beach along, Aquitaine took a stroll away from her home in direction the festivities had been in. The last few days all had been quiet down there, a good indication that things were over with and most of the Soquili had returned to their own homes. Her dragon rumbled as a seagull flew overhead. He was something that she was getting more used to every day. At first it had been horrifying, but slowly Aquitaine realized that while he could be unpleasant company and weighed quite a bit he was there to stay so the only thing she could do was learn to adapt. It was hard of course, he had a bad attitude about him and would often lash out at her but they were slowly learning what the other did and did not like. There would likely be times when she wished he wasn't there but the best she could do was just smile and wait until his mood improved once more.
Spotting some flowers amid the beach grass Aquitaine hurried over to them. It was getting late in the season and soon all the flowers would die off to give way to winter weather. She had to enjoy them while she could. Perhaps she could bring a few back to her mother, who always appreciated the gifts that Aquitaine brought her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:17 pm
 Pacing along just out of the reach of the waves, Bernard cursed: cursed the festival, cursed the drinks, cursed the food, the music, the company, the night - but most of all, he cursed himself. Fat lot of help that did now, though. Now some sullen-eyed mare with an inappropriately colored pelt was going to be giving birth to his children, and his own personal code dictated that he stay to at least be witness to, if not oversee, their raising. But the very thought of having foals, foals for gods' sakes, made the stallion quiver and fall to some despair, for he knew somehow, some way, it was all going to go wrong.
About his neck, the tiki mask continued to vomit out innocent puffs of black smoke.
Issuing a whine, Bernard peeled himself away form the coast, tripping in the sand dunes until his hooves hit solid ground. It was only then, pulled out of his dismal reverie, that he noticed he wasn't alone. A few gallops away laid a . . . what was that creature? No, there had to be two, he could see two heads bobbing about . . . But while Bernard couldn't make out much of the other animal, he could spy that there were dirtied bandages about its neck and some sort of spirit painted up its leg.
Nether were very good signs. He gulped and tried to make himself appear smaller.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:27 pm
The dragon let out a long, low rumble. Aquitaine knew this sound, she had heard it plenty of times and thanks to her wising to learn how to keep him happy she became suddenly aware of the fact someone had came towards them. Not wanting to lose the flower she had found for her mother Aquitaine picked it quickly before tucking the stem into a section of her mane. "Easy boy." She whispered to the dragon as she took a few backward steps out of the beach grass to see who had come up on them. Lifting her head Aquitaine got her first look at the stranger. A good sized stallion with the most interesting looking necklace hanging about his neck. Was that smoke coming from the necklace? How strange.
Then she noticed the stallion was acting a bit...well he looked a bit scared perhaps. Taking a deep breath Aquitaine didn't have to guess as to why this stallion would be looking fearful. It was her. The dragon sensing her unhappiness at this rumbled once more, his red eyes trained onto the stallions every more. Aquitaine shushed him again. The last thing she needed was for him to scare this stranger even more.
Well, the stallion had seen her and she had clearly seen the stallion, so there was no reason to just continue standing here without at least acknowledging his presence. "Hello." She called out, her tone friendly and then because she thought it might possibly help to ease the situation she added. "Were you are the festival?" Aquitaine asked while motioning towards the odd necklace.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:39 pm
For all the good it did Aquitane, she might as well have been screeching at him.
The second she had turned her attention to him, Bernard froze. Well, save for the perk of his ears when she spoke. But it wasn't her voice he was listening to, no, it was the strange gurgle he had caught from the -
- from the moving hair. Ohgodswhatwasthatthing?!
"I-I-I-I-" Nothing coherent was coming out, so Bernard just shut his mouth, his eyes fixated on the roiling mass that was supposedly the mare's hair with open fear. This was a bad sign. Of course he would just keep getting more bad signs; he was cursed now, thanks to the tiki's influence. He took a step back as if the distance between them wasn't already enough.
"Y-Y-Yes . . . ?" He hadn't meant it to come out like a question, but his throat was somewhat constricted right now.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:48 pm
Oddly enough Aquitaine was getting used to reactions like this. It had been tough at first, especially when she was younger and just couldn't understand why others would fear her, but as time went on she learned to accept it, hard as it was, and move on. Of course this stallion seemed to be on the extreme side of things, she would need to be extra careful not to frighten him any more than he already was. So she remained where she was allowing the stallion the large space between them. "It's alright, he won't hurt you." While she was almost certain that the stallion wouldn't believe her it couldn't hurt to tell him this anyways.
Aquitaine let the gentle sounds of the water keep her calm. Perhaps they would calm the stallion as well. "I'm Aquitaine." She told him with a slight dip of her head, though she worried that he may interpret the action as threatening.
Perhaps if she kept the conversation away from herself then he would feel more comfortable. "Did you get that at the festival? It is quite interesting looking." Nothing like a little bit of friendly chatter to help break the ice, right?
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:58 pm
"He" won't hurt? The thing had a gender? Bernard blinked furiously, trying to wrap his head around the fact that not only was hair capable of being alive, but that its owner could be so complacent and casual with him while the hairy mass thrived with . . . Oh gods, was that a mouth?
No. Nononononono. Nope. Nope.
"H-Hullo," Bernard greeted nervously, shifting his weight from leg to leg. The mare's calm tone had some effect, but he was still quite on edge. "I, uh . . . y-yeah. It's cursed, though. S'been bringing me nothing but b-b-bad luck." His eyes kept flitting between Aquitane's and her hair-dragon's as if expecting this rather normal conversation to suddenly turn deadly.
"I-I'll, um, have you know m'a professional knight, miss. So don't let th-that thing get too close." Or he'd . . . flail at it or something. Really calling himself a knight gave him a sick twist in his stomach, but Bernard's nerves were already frayed at the sight of such black magic before him that he felt pristine in comparison.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:07 pm
Perhaps her tactic wasn't working. The stallion still seemed horribly nervous and couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her dragon. Did he worry that it could perhaps somehow attack him over such a large distance? Well based upon the reasons of others in the past that was very possible. Many seemed to think he would jump after them if he wished, but the truth was he was restricted in his movements greatly, so unless she stood right beside someone the chance of her dragon attacking them was pretty darn small. The worse he could do at this distance was vocalize his unhappiness, glare and them and perhaps snap his jaws together if he was really feeling threatened. So far he had been content to rumble now and then, peering at the stallion with only mild interest now.
But then Aquitaine noticed the stallion was looking a bit calmer. Perhaps her tactic was working after all. She knew her appearance was frightening to others, but her words and actions could show them otherwise. The necklace brought him bad luck? "It's cursed? Then may I ask why do you still wear it if it causes you so much bad luck?" Did he fear that getting rid of it could potentially cause even more bad luck?
Of course when he stated he was a knight and to keep her dragon at bay Aquitaine had to work hard to suppress her smile. He could be telling the truth, yet it was hard to imagine a stallion this skittish being a knight. Of course this also gave her the opportunity to keep the conversation going. "A knight you say?" She asked cheerfully. "My father is a knight, though he is quite a bit smaller than you are. I suppose size doesn't matter so much as what you do."
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:21 pm
"Its work is d-done," Bernard lamented with a small shrug. "It won't matter if I take it off now, I've already got some bad luck heading my way. Better to keep it so n-no-one else gets its curse." He didn't have viable proof linking his recent misfortunes to the mask's acquisition, but what else could it have been? Surely it was the thing's fault that his judgment had grown so clouded for a few nights . . . And now it was forcing him to make small talk with an actual mutant not long after. Joys.
Worse, she was claiming to be the spawn of a knight! Bernard fidgeted self-consciously now, equal parts curious and horrified that anyone could say such things with evil creatures lurking on them. Could this Aquitaine be able to see through his sham of a claim? "R-Really? Uh . . . That's nice." He swallowed, trying to think of something better to say. "D-D-Does he have . . . ?" Again the stallion directed his gaze to the hair-dragon, flinching.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:53 am
Aquitaine considered the stallions words for a moment. It made sense really, if he were to get rid of the necklace then there was the chance someone else might stumble upon it and the bad luck would be passed along. Still it must be terrible being stuck with an item that gave one bad luck. Though didn't she suffer from a similar situation. Her dragon head could be looked upon as bad luck as well, so Aquitaine could certainly sympathize with the stallion. "That's a very thoughtful a brave thing to do. Not everyone would keep such an idea knowing it was bad luck just to prevent others from being affected by it." She told him with a smile.
His momentary show of doubt about her father being a knight followed by the unfinished question almost made her laugh. Yes, she understood that as well. How could someone looking like her come from a knight? Aquitaine glanced back at her dragon, then to the stallion and gave her head a shake. "Oh no, my father doesn't have one. My father is a pure unicorn." In truth her father wasn't a pure unicorn, but Aquitaine really didn't think it was necessary to explain that her father's father was actually a wind. Best to keep it simple, plus her father looked pure blooded so it wasn't a complete lie. "As is my mother." She paused for a moment, her long slender tail flicking behind her. "I actually don't look much like my parents. Neither do my brothers either. But I am the only one in the family with one of these." She motioned back to her dragon's head again. Of course she had thought about the differences in her brothers appearance, yet again Aquitaine didn't think telling this stallion that one of her brothers had a hair monster in his tail that could fly a bit as well as blood that constantly ran out of his eyes would be a good thing. Nor would it be wise to mention that her other brother was covered with carnivorous plants. Best to keep those tidbits of information hidden away since the stallion seemed to actually be willing to talk, though he was still quite nervous from what she could see. He hadn't even shared his name with her yet.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:21 am
"Brave"? "Ahahahahahah . . . hah. Yes, let's call it that," Bernard mumbled. He hardly felt it, but . . . whatever it took to make sure this creature stayed amicable.
So this Aquitaine not only was a supposed daughter of a knight, but was also the creation from two unicorns? Unicorns? The startled expression on his face was easy to see, and the stallion pawed at the ground. Lies! Now she was just toying with him with that gentle voice. How could two pure-blooded creatures produce something so . . . twisted? No, this mare had some sort of agenda, he was sure of it now. What sort of blasted story . . . no.
"Forgive me, b-but I don't believe you," Bernard answered with a look somewhere between being cross and being wary. "Unicorn blood doesn't give way to that monstrosity, and you don't look like any unicorn I've ever seen. In fact, you look more like kalona spawn. What do you really want from me, miss?" Did she still deserve that title? Hrrrm.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:41 am
Well she wasn't sure why he thought her saying it was brave was oddly funny but she just shook her head slightly. Best to simply ignore it. She thought it was a brave thing to do regardless of what the stallion thought. Not everyone would choose to suffer bad luck forever, at least she assumed the necklace would affect him for the rest of his life, over gaining freedom from it but chancing that someone else would come by it later. Whatever she had wished to say next was interrupted by the startled look that crossed his face. Aquitaine closed her eyes for a moment, this stallion wasn't believing her and what's worse his next words made her cringe.
Ouch. It had been a while since she had felt so vulnerable over a strangers judgement of her. She knew that the monstrosity that he referred to was her dragon - or was he talking about her - but by far the worse thing he said what that she looked like the spawn of a Kalona. That was a terrible comparison. She looked nothing like a Kalona, and yes her unicorn features were skewed quite a bit, but how did he see her as Kalona spawn? "I can assure you sir that I am from the blood of two unicorns. If it were not for my parents encountering some strange love tunnel contraption that ended up twisting the blood of myself and by brothers then I might not look the way that I do today." She told him a bit harshly. Though had her father not mentioned seeing a similar looking device at the beach festival? She shuddered at the thought. She didn't like showing anger but the Kalona comment cut her to the core and she wouldn't let this stallion go away from this thinking he had won. "And what I want from you, what I want from everyone, is to not be judged by my looks but by who I am inside."
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:23 pm
The stallion snorted as if skeptical of her story, but the way the whites of his eyes could be seen for a flash of a moment belied how it had also struck him. She could assure him all she wanted about her sires, but . . . They had found some sort of apparatus, Aquitaine said?
Bernard peered at her, trying to hide his mounting uneasiness; the mare's harsher tone had created a crack in what was the armor he was trying to don against his own skittish nature. "What sort of machine?" he asked, ears flicking back. "What did it look like? What tunnel? What . . ." This was just turning bizarre and just a tad uncanny.
It couldn't be related to . . . oh gods, please no.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:50 pm
Of course he still wouldn't believe her. That was his choice. She knew the truth, that was what mattered. She almost expected him to continue arguing her heritage yet it seemed he was willing to drop the subject...actually now he was quite intent on finding out about the tunnel his parents had encountered. That was unexpected. Plus honestly she had never seen the contraption, only heard her parents speak of it, mentioning it that it had to be the reason why she and her brothers looked the way they did. There was really no other explanation for it. Her maternal grandparents were pure unicorns and her paternal grandparents were a mix of pure unicorn and alicorn. Nothing out of the norm there.
"I don't know for certain." She told him with a shrug. "I haven't actually seen it. I just know what my parents told me. All I know was that there was a sort of tunnel, a ride I suppose from what they said. Afterwards they found out that they were expecting...and my brothers and I were the result." Aquitaine gave her shoulders another shrug. It wasn't something her parents talked about all that much, she just knew they had encountered the strange device not long before the arrival of their three baskets. If that didn't explain things then Aquitaine wasn't sure what would.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:29 pm
Her lack of knowledge frustrated him, and it showed. He pawed at the ground idly as if he might locate the answer hidden between the flowers, then issued a sigh through his nose. "There was a weird device at the party on the beach," Bernard explained. "Locals said they'd repainted it from some carnival a while back, gave it flowers and all that stuff. They had it there to try and invite some sort of tiki spirit or something to the tunnel there . . ."
A ride, a tunnel, and a strange artifact. These were coincidences between their stories that Bernard did not get good vibes from. He didn't know why he was questioning her, though - it wasn't as if knowing the truth would make him feel better about a situation he already felt rather negative towards.
"N-Not that I was participating!" he hastily added. "My knight's code wouldn't let me impinge on my honor for a romp in the dark! I was just . . . watching the ones who went in." Very smooth.
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:41 pm
"It could have been the same one." She said and then because he so far hadn't believed a word she had said added. "My father went down to the festival not long as it started. He was curious to see what had brought so many Soquili down to the beach. When he returned I overheard him talking to my mother that the ride they had been on before I can along and the one he saw at the beach festival were very similar looking. Though he couldn't say for certain if it was the same one or not." Aquitaine gave her shoulders a shrug. Perhaps with the locals painting the contraption and decorating it with flowers and others items made it had to recognize. Or it could have been a different device but simply looked similar to the one her parents had encountered a little over a year ago.
"I wonder why they would want to summon a tiki spirit to the tunnel." Aquitaine mused.
A hint of a smile cross her lips as the stallion quickly explained that he had not participated in the tunnel, but merely watched those who entered it. "That is a good thing, especially if there is a chance the tunnel is the same one from before." Had she known his statement had in fact been a lie and that he had been a participant in the tunnel then she might not have said such a thing. But that was the problem with lying now wasn't it, they always came back to haunt you in the end.
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