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 Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:56 am
 The wind blew strong across the beach, throwing large waves up onto the sand. It was a day to avoid the water, for one could be easily swept away in the current and never seen again. Aquitaine wasn't planning on swimming until the waters were calmer, but the majority of the beach was still good to travel on. Occasionally a wave would try to sneak further onto the beach, the mist from those waves was beginning to collect on her hide, leaving her hair a damp mess, which of course only proved to upset her dragon. He hated water so days like this made him absolutely miserable. But she could not spend her entire life avoiding water, and he was somewhat tolerant of it in times such as this, where even hidden among the trees the mist had a chance of reaching them. Might as well embrace the day for what it was and perhaps the weather would change for the better soon.
Damp sand clung to her hooves and the lower portions of her legs as Aquitaine made her way along the beach up towards where it gave way to grass and eventually trees. The roar of the ocean as it come into the beach filled her ears, and even with these wind powered waves she found it to be a calming sound. It had always been a part of her life and even spending a single day away from the beach made her realize how much she missed it and how this would always be her home. Coming to a stop Aquitaine turned and looked out across the ocean. Grey blue waves crested high and rolled up onto the sand, reaching out with watery fingers before retreating to try anew. Above the waves a lone bird fought with with wind, attempting to remain above the waves while looking for food below the water. She wondered if the bird would be able to feed in this weather or if it would have to wait until the waves had lessened.
Turning away Aquitaine began to wander along the grassy edge of the beach. With the wind as strong as it was she wondered if there would be a storm blowing in, if so she would stick close to home, postponing her trip to gather more herbs until tomorrow.
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Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:18 pm
 Bernard, for his part, played the worried father to a T, and then some. While the stallion had been ecstatic about the children having turned out pretty normal (if a bit strange in the case of his feather-tailed and fin-tailed daughters), the time for glee had since passed. Now that the foals were able to walk and talk, Bernard had slipped back into a constant state of anxiety, only now it was spent on where they were at all times, what they were doing, what they were planning on doing, and so on and so forth until he was sure his smothering would one day force them to leave and never return. But he couldn't help it, honest!
Take his son, for instance. Bernard was on the crest of the grassy hill at the time, but Marlowe had wanted to try a little swimming. It wasn't his first time in the water, but the minute the older stallion saw grey on the horizon, he began to fret anew. "Marlowe, out now!" he ordered as he began to descend the hill and into the sand.
Marlowe didn't hear his father at first since his head was ducked down beneath the water. He remained in the shallow end and had the mind to dig his hooves into the sand to try and steady himself, but the tide's pulls and pushes were beginning to overpower him. Still, he was a little proud of himself for how long he was able to stay under the water - long enough that when he finally broke the surface, Bernard's shouting had taken on an even more panicked tone.
"I thought you'd drowned! Come out this instance before the tide gets you!" he demanded.
 The colt's initial response was to snort softly and dive back down (the water felt nice against him), but Marlowe was nothing if not obedient. "Yes, Father," he intoned, pulling his hooves out from the sand and making his way out at an angle to the beach; even at a young age he knew instinctually the best method of avoiding rip tides. As he was getting just out of reach of the turmoil of waves, however, Marlowe noticed a figure approaching and paused to watch it. Bernard turned his head as well.
He recognized the mare's distinct form and sucked in a breath. Oh spirits . . . "Hail!" he called to Aquitaine. "Trying to avoid the weather as well?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:50 am
Before she heard the familiar voice Aquitaine's eyes settled upon a small foal making it's way out of the water. Immediately she started to head that way, those waves could easily pull the foal away from the shore. There was a reason why she wasn't swimming today, and in fact was staying out of the reach of the waves. "You had best come out of the water little one." She called out, hoping the foal would listen. But the foal was already moving out of the water, only pausing when the voice rang out. Her gaze lifted to see Bernard just up the beach from where the foal was. A smile played across her lips, Aquitaine was glad he had come back to talk with her again. Their initial meeting had not started off perfect but by the end she was happy to have met him and even considered him a friend. And clearly he had gotten over his fear of her for he had not only shown some respect for her life in their prior meeting but had come back.
"Hello again Bernard." She said, half yelling over the wind, and cast a quick glance in the direction of the foal. She couldn't bare to think what would happen if a wave came up and pulled him deeper into the water. "Trying as best I can." Now that she was closer she not longer had to yell in order for her voice to reach him. "It is good to see you again. How is your friend?" At this distance she could not yet see the resemblance between Bernard and the foal. Her dragon rumbled his disapproval of visitors but Aquitaine ignored him, honestly most of his anger today was directed at the storm anyways since the mist off of the ocean was getting him wet.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:21 am
Bernard inched a little between them and put on a hasty smile. "Yes, ah, hello hello," he greeted with a nod, still clearly a bit antsy by the sight of her anomaly but at least not freaking out like he had the first time. "I'm just getting by, same old same old. Er, my friend is fine, thank you for asking."
Hell, he couldn't recall if said "friend" was male or female at this point. Spirits, but he had hoped he wouldn't have to encounter Aquitaine under these circumstances, much less expose himself. There was the option of lying still, but what sort of example would that be for Marlowe? "How have you been?"
Marlowe's fins pressed against his head in response to the strange mare, little eyes widening at the hairy serpent in equal parts apprehension and awe. And he had thought Guen's feather tail was odd! He longed to ask after it, but his father was taking charge and was already looking a bit fidgety, so the colt kept his mouth shut and merely observed.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:20 pm
She could see the nervous twitch in Bernard as he spoke. Clearly he was still a bit antsy over the way she looked but at least he wasn't completely freaking out over it like he did last time they met. It was a slow and steady process that she had gotten used to when meeting and re-meeting new faces. They would think one thing of her and she would need to make them realize that wasn't necessarily true. Aquitaine was glad to hear his friend was doing fine and that brought a smile to her lips. "I have been doing well, thank you." Her eyes roamed out over the waves for a moment before returning to Bernard. "Life is usually fairly quiet and peaceful here so I can't say I have done much since I saw you last." She had done a few things here and there but nothing of such importance that she had felt it needed to be shared.
Her gaze shifted to the colt and her smile grew. She loved foals, even if they tended not to stick around too long after seeing her and for a moment she wondered if she would ever have foals of her own. But that would involve finding a stallion who would accept the way she looked. That was not something to think on at this very moment. "Hello little one. I'm Aquitaine, who might you be?" Her eyes trailed over his hide, taking in the splash of colors, the head fins but what stood out most to her were those tiny heart markings. She knew those markings, and her gaze shifted to Bernard, the owner of said markings. Aquitaine wasn't one to judge others, what they did was generally their choice but she did wonder about the foal and his resemblance to Bernard. A family member of some sort perhaps? But whose? Bernard's or possibly a sibling of his?
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:34 pm
Ah here we go; he felt those searching gazes and swallowed. This might be a bit painful depending on how kindly the mare truly was. "Yes, ah . . . This is Marlowe, my . . . my son," Bernard eventually introduced, the word still foreign on his tongue despite having spent quite a bit of time with the foals already. He couldn't go through with the lie in the end, not when it was petty and small and stupid in the first place. His parents would have been ashamed of him. "Marlowe, this is Aquitaine, a, er - well, someone I met not too long before you were born." Could he say "friend"? Bernard wasn't terribly sure.
If Marlowe had known the sort of soquili his father kept the company of, his obedience would have been more genuine and less mechanical. Rather than afraid, the colt was absolutely fascinated by the anomaly this Aquitaine presented, and he longed to move forward and investigate her hair himself. But no, duty and respect first as his father taught; he stood at attention and tossed his head so that his mane wouldn't fall before his eyes. "Miss," he said by way of introduction before inclining his head respectfully, trying not to look as though his father's apparent nervousness at stating the facts didn't bother him.
"We were just about to head in before the stormy truly hit, though our home isn't exactly weather proof," Bernard admitted sheepishly. "I was hoping we wouldn't have a strong storm, but the tides tell a different story . . ." He hoped his daughters were safe with Sunako or that they hadn't wandered off too far. Spirits, what if Catori was in the water as well? No no, the filly had more sense than that, he was sure of it since he had tried to teach her himself . . .
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:44 pm
Now Aquitaine wasn't one to judge others. After all she knew what that felt like first hand, but hearing Bernard's admission that the colt was his son she couldn't help but feel just a bit shocked. He hadn't mentioned having a family or soon to be family when she had first met him not all that long ago. Her mind suddenly went back to that conversation, to them talking about the tunnel that had been at the beach festival and how he had said he had not participated. Could that have been how this foal came to be? If so then he had lied to her. Not that she would hold that against them considering he was probably worried his children would end up looking like her after she had told him about the horrors that tunnel had created last fall. After a short pause to sort out these thoughts Aquitaine smiled at Bernard and then her gaze swung to Marlowe. "It's nice to meet you Marlowe. I can certainly see some of your fathers markings on you." Namely those heart markings, surely the other colors came from whoever the colts mother was.
Her eyes shifted to the ocean and the waves crashing up on the beach. The storm would be here soon enough but she had a feeling that most of it would blow past leaving only a bit of rain and a large amount of wind for them to contend with. Still with a foal in tow Bernard might not make it to his home in time if the storm blew in too quickly. "Do you need to go far? I can offer you both shelter while the storm passes over, you don't want to be caught without some kind of shelter when it hits, though I think it won't be as bad as it looks now." Having grown up on this beach Aquitaine had a fairly good understanding of the storms that blew up from the ocean and which ones would be worse than others. A strong gust of wind blew up along the water casting another cloud of mist onto the beach. Irritated by the water Aquitaine's dragon let out another growl and snapped his jaws at the air in frustration. "Why don't we head in more inland so we are not so exposed to the wind and water." It would do them all good to get out of the open but it would also help to keep her dragon from getting too angry.
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:41 pm
Bernard stood stiffly, waiting for the backlash of his pitiful lie to the mare to come back and bite him. He could not, therefore, hide the surprise on his face when she took the news in stride. Perhaps it was silly to be so worried about her opinion, but fatherhood had opened the stallion up to the world of fatherly doubts – and he had already been an obsessive worrier to begin with. Issuing a small sigh of relief that he hoped was masked by the wind, Bernard bobbed his head and gave a small smile in return.
Aquitaine’s offer was met with mixed feelings: on the one hoof, immediate shelter was safest as far as his son was concerned – on the other, Bernard was concerned that there would be more . . . interesting Soquili like her nearby, which he was unsure of exposing Marlowe to at such an impressionable age. ”We would love to join you,” he answered in a voice that said there was a “but” coming along, yet when he glanced at the colt and saw how focused he was on her strange hair’s angry snapping – not afraid but outright fascinated of all things – Bernard felt himself swallowing down the condition and nodding his head again. ”Yes, we’d love to. Thank you, Aquitaine. Marlowe?”
”Thank you, miss.” Marlowe dipped his head in a small bow, though his eyes were trained on the hair-dragon’s even as he did so. But Bernard could see that his normally withdrawn son had that glint in his eyes and felt some hope blossom in his heart: maybe there was a way to reach past his strange emotional barriers through this new experience.
Both left the water in full, the colt teetering with a sudden and strong gust of wind; Bernard bent to balance him with a leg. ”Please, lead the way. If there’s any way I can repay you for the shelter, let me know.” And as they walked, Marlowe strayed closer and closer to the mare, not close enough to reach out and touch but certainly enough to better examine her unnatural mane.
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Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:00 pm
With a smile Aquitaine motioned towards the trees at the edge of the beach. Her home wasn't too far away from here and once they were within the trees they would be sheltered from most of the wind until they reached the small grove she called home. "You are both welcome, I'm just glad I came by when I did or else you would be stuck out here when the storm hit." Wind buffeted her back as she led the way up the width of the beach. Though the trees weren't too far the urgency of this and the sound of thunder chasing after them made it feel like they were making no progress at all. Aquitaine kept looked over her shoulder to make sure both Marlowe and Bernard were still with her. Storms had a nasty habit of blowing up large amounts of sand making it impossible to see.
As Marlowe moved in closer Aquitaine's hair dragon turned to face the small foal. His glowing red eyes glued to the colts movement and he let out an unhappy growl at the colt's closeness. The incoming rain and spray from the ocean didn't help either, it only made her dragon far more irritable than normal. When they finally reached the shelter of the trees Aquitaine gave her body a shake to free herself from the water clinging to her pelt. Turning she looked at Bernard. "There is no need to repay me for the shelter, I would offer it to anyone caught in a storm. The fact that you befriended me that first time we met and now that I have met your son as well, that is payment enough. Come, my home is not far from here, the trees will protect us from most of what's blowing in." She started off again, occasionally glancing through the gaps in the trees to see the storm, ti was getting closer but they would likely make it to the grove before it made landfall.
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