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 Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:08 pm
 Ecliptic was excited, she had been deemed old enough to wander (at least a little ways) out of her mothers sight without everyone throwing a caniption. She'd still had to sit through a huge lecture about 'being safe' and 'staying away from strangers' and the like but whatever...it was worth it if it meant she'd be allowed to explore a little bit.
And she really did mean to take the lecture to heart, if she got hurt there was no way she would be allowed to do something like this again anytime soon - so of course she was going to be safe. It was in her own best interest to do so! Trotting through the woods she hummed a little song as she tried to decide just what it was she was going to do, maybe she'd try and trap a squirrel, one of the other mares in the herd had one as a familiar and she really wanted one for herself. She'd tried a couple of times before but the beasts were quick, she'd swiftly come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to run one down. Maybe if she built a trap! Yes a trap would be perfect.
But how to go about doing that? Glancing around the area she found a likely looking tree..first she was going to need bait..she'd worry about the logistics of the rest of the trap afterwards. "Nut's buts heres..gotta find some nuts!" She sang to herself as she poked around in the bushes under the tree.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:53 am
 Today was a none traveling day for Kadira and the band of females she lived with. The leader had proclaimed that since they were nearing the herds area they would take a full day of rest so that they would be ready, especially her, for the last few days push to get there. It was tiring to constantly be on the move and while Kadira appreciated the mares taking care of her since her parents were no where to be seen she just wanted to rest sometimes. She had learned quickly not to complain about being tired, because that somehow led to training exercises after a full day of walking. Today she had taken an extra long nap in the morning and now she was ready to play. Only problem was that her adult traveling companions seemed more interesting in discussing their plans for their return, or in Yakut's case talking with a rock, than playing with her.
It was quite easy to wander off and Kadira knew that if anything bad happened all she had to do was yell out and five very angry female warriors would descend upon whoever dared to touch her. It was really the main thing about traveling with the ground that she was, there was no real threat of danger with them around. The downside was she was expected to fulfill the role of warrior as well even at her young age. Well she supposed it could be much worse, like having no one at all to take care of her, so Kadira couldn't complain too much...especially not out loud. With freedom to explore and play for a bit Kadira trotted happily down a deer trail wondering what wonderful things she would find today before returning to the drudgery of travel.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:00 am
"Found some!" Ecliptic exclaimed in an excited tone as her rustling through the bushes finally managed to uncover a suitable cluster of nuts that she could use for bait. Now of course she had to consider how she planned on actually building a trap. Stick seemed like a good start, she was sure she would need them too so after depositing the nuts in a safe place she started to range around the area in search of nice straight sticks that she could use to build her Squirrel trap.
Not that she had seen a Squirrel in the area or anything - but she was sure they would come now that she had found the nuts. Trotting in a wide circles she managed to gather a fairly good size pile of sticks before she heard the sound of approaching hooves. "Whose out there?" She called out after a few moments of listening..if it was one of her siblings trying to scare her she was going to give them a nice yelling at..on the other hand it might well be one of the herd members coming to check on her so she didn't want to start yelling right off the bat and get herself in trouble.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:41 pm
So far there wasn't much happening. It was just a forest, like many of the other forests she had traveled through recently. It was beginning to look like she may not have much fun out here after all. But she was not going back unless absolutely needed, because chances were if she was standing around idle then training would happen and while she could appreciate the values that the Sisters were trying to pass down to her she just didn't like it all that much. At least one of the Sisters, Aleu, was similar to her, while she trained with the others she was no warrior and never really would be. She did greatly enjoy the stories that the mare told her both about the herds history and about other grand adventures that had happened out there in the lands. It was a great thing to listen to after a long day of traveling but more often than not it was what kept her walking when her legs just didn't want to go anymore.
Anothers voice calling out, one that she didn't recognize but knew it was female made her freeze for a moment. She wasn't aware of any other Sisters in the area, surely Penthesilea would have mentioned something important like that. Well the voice didn't sound threatening. In fact it sounded a bit young like herself. "It's me." Kadira called out towards the direction of the voice came from, though she realized that answer may not be perfect it was a start. Moving forward again towards the owner of the voice until her eyes fell upon a blue filly. "Oh, hello. I'm Kadira Nym. Who are you?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:39 am
"Me who?" Ecliptic answered almost automatically, ears flicking slightly in confusion as she failed to recognize the voice. Of course almost as soon as she uttered the question the other filly came into view and Ecliptic relaxed. It was just another foal - one she didn't recognize sure but hardly what she would consider dangerous. "I'm Ecliptic." She responded after the other filly had introduced herself. "I've never seen you before, are you new around here? Want to play? I'm going to trap a squirrel and keep it as a pet." She boasted, clearly quite certain that she would be able to pull off this feat.
Ecliptic didn't much care where this filly had come from - it wasn't all that unusual for families to pass by from time to time and she would take advantage of any other playmate she could find as long as it didn't include her siblings - who could be annoying. In fact it was often more fun to play with those outside her herd, the outsiders didn't know the rules and so they didn't raise a fuss when Ecliptic decided to break them.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:10 am
Kadira went to say something about where she was from but then mention of trapping a squirrel and keeping it as a pet made her pause. Was that kind of thing even possible? And if so, how exactly did one trap a squirrel much less keep it as a pet? Woudl it stay once out of the trap or would it need to live in the trap the whole time? With a slight shake of her head Kadira focused her thoughts. "I'm kind of new. My herd is just passing through on their way home and I was given the day to play while the others talked about their plans once they get back." Kadira let her shoulders lift in a shrug. She didn't see why they needed to make any plans for their arrival, Penthesilea had said the herd had dispersed so it's not like anyone would be there to welcome them. It wasn't something she wanted to think about at the moment, for now there was a filly here and this may be her last opportunity to play for a long time so it was best to take advantage of it.
"I'd love to play, the Sister aren't much on playing, just traveling and training." She could go without either really but she owed it to Penthesilea and the group for raising her when she wasn't any of their daughter so she would put up with the training for now. "How exactly do you trap a squirrel?" She asked while glancing up at the trees. Squirrels were fast, noisy and not to mention generally in trees so how exactly did one trap it while on the ground. Even if it was a complicated thing to do surely it was better than returning to the Sisters early, for they would insist upon more training before returning to traveling tomorrow. "I can help you trap one...once we figure out how to do it!" Wouldn't the Sisters be impressed if she came back and told them that she had caught a squirrel while out playing, Yakut would probably read it as a sign of something, crazy mare was strange but at least she tended to keep her distance.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:17 am
Ecliptic nodded slightly as the other filly stated that she was just passing through with her family - just as Ecliptic had expected. Oh well - while it would be nice to learn about a playmate who lived close by she would make due with whatever she was offered and for the moment that was Kadira. "Well I found some nuts and then I'm going to use these sticks to make a cage..or something to trap it when it goes to eat the nuts." She told the other filly. Of course she hadn't quite worked out how exactly she was going to build the cage but surely it couldn't be that hard.
"I'm sure it can be done , one of the mares in my herd has a pet Squirrel, so she must had trapped it somehow and she's not a very bright mare if you know what I mean so it can't be all that hard." She stated in a matter of fact voice. Of course the easy thing to do would be to go back to the herd and ask theo ther mare how she had managed to do it - but really there was no fun in that and if she went back to the herd there was no guaranteeing that she would be allowed to go back out into the woods again today. Besides now Kadira was here and with two heads working on the problem Ecliptic was sure it would be a problem easily solved.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:38 am
Kadira listened to the plan..well it was a start of a plan at least. Squirrels did like nuts so surely one or more would come if nuts were used in the trap. "Nuts is a good place to start." Her eyes drifted to the sticks and her head tipped to the side as she thought about a trap being made with them. "How are you going to make the sticks into a trap? They would need to be held together with something" Her eyes lifted to the trees again where the squirrels lived. Would they need to put the trap up there or would they come down for the nuts? Then her eyes settled upon some vines hanging on the lower branches of the trees. "What about those vines? They could help tie the sticks together into a trap." She paused for a moment and then her eyes lit up. "Or they could be tied together to make a net that you could throw onto the squirrel." Maybe it was possible to catch a squirrel, one just had to think about it for a while.
Mention of the herd mate with a squirrel made Kadira think on her own traveling companions. "One of the mares I'm traveling with has a raven pet, but I don't think she gets along with him very well. She always seems to be arguing with him." At least when she wasn't talking to sticks of course. "And another one of them, Penthesilea, she's the one that's raising me even though she's not my mom, she has a bobcat pet but I haven't seen it yet. I'll get to see it when we reach the herds land." Kadira paused wondering what kind of pet she would have one day. Would it be a bird like Yakut, or a bobcat like Penthesilea or maybe a squirrel like Ecliptic was trying to catch. And just how hard would they be to catch and make into her pets? Well she supposed if Ecliptic could catch a squirrel then there was a chance of catching just about anything if one worked hard enough at it.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:53 am
A Net.
That was a brilliant idea! Why hadn't she thought about it, a net would probably do much better then the vague stick trap she had been trying to imagine in her head. Plus it would a lot more fun then just waiting endless for a Squirrel to enter a trap. "Perfect!" She told the other filly, trotting over to cran her head up and look at the vines in the trees before rearing up to grab an end and pull. "Come on..help me get them down!" She stated, her voice just a little bit muffled as she spoke around the vine in her mouth.
She was so focused on trying to pull the vine down that she almost missed the other fillies words about her family. Almost. Spitting out the vine she tipped her head at the other foal. "Why isn't your mother raising you?" Perhaps it was an insensitive question, certainly no adult would have asked such a thing but that was the way of foals and Ecliptic meant no offense with it. She was just curious, it was strange to hear that someone was raising a foal but was not part of the foals family..well maybe she was, that would make more sense she supposed. "Is she your Aunt? Or an older sister?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:40 am
Kadira's ears perked up as Ecliptic took her random suggestion about making a net and thought it to be perfect. It had been something to just randomly come to mind and should be quite easy to make. The forest had plenty of vines hanging from various trees, the biggest thing would be actually weaving it all together, but with the two of them working as a team it should be no big deal. She had made it about halfway to the tree where Ecliptic was tugging on a vine when the blue filly turned and asked the question. Kadira stopped and thought for a moment before answering.
"No, she's not my aunt or my bigger sister." She said with a shake of her head. "I guess she found me, when I was still in my basket. My mother and father weren't anywhere around, so when I popped out she took me under her wing to raise me." Kadira knew not every mare would do such a thing and Penthesilea had made in clear that she was doing it because she was female, nothing else. It didn't matter to Kadira, not at this point at least, though the hours of endless walking were killing her hooves she was just happy to have someone there to take care of her when needed. "She even named me, with the help of her sister." It had been Yakut's suggestion to give her the second name of Nym, insisting that the filly needed it. It didn't matter how many times she had asked the strange mare about why that was Yakut would never give her an answer, or on occasion say something so cryptic Kadira was left with more questions and no answers given.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:13 am
"Oh" Ecliptic stated as the other filly explained things "Well it was really good she found you!" She went on, although that didn't explain where Kadira's real parents were, she was pretty sure that she herself would wonder about it if she didn't know her own parents. Glancing back to the vines she gave them another tug with the intention of trying to pull them down again..but the burning question in her mind just wouldn't go away and so it was only a few seconds later that she was spitting them back out again and whirling to face Kadira once more.
"Do you ever wonder about them? Your parents I mean? What if your like a noble princess or heir to some ancient tradition or something?" Why Kadira could be almost anyone! The possibilities were endless! "I'd go and look for them when I got older...or something." She stated with a decisive nod of her head. "Find out where they went...who they were..what happened to them."
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:38 am
"Yeah." She said with a nod of her head. There was no telling what might have happened if Penthesilea hadn't stumbled upon her when she did. She might have been alone for a very long time, or perhaps another would have happened upon her and offered to raise her. It was such a great unknown and one she would never know the answer to. She was about to step closer to the tree when Ecliptic turned around again, it surprised Kadira so much that she took a couple of quick steps back.
"Of course I do." Kadira admitted with a nod of her head. "I wonder what they look like, what they are like, what their names are." The questions that remained unanswered about her had been an almost constant thought on the young filly. She let out a giggle at Ecliptics wonderings about whether she might be an heir to something. "That'd be kinda neat! I guess I won't know unless I find my parents one day. I'd like to find them, I've asked Penthesilea a couple of times if she knew anything about my parents and she insisted that I need to not let my past stop me from looking to the future. She wants me to be a warrior like all the mares from her herd are, but I'm not sure if I want to. I do the training because she is taking care of me. But if I'm a Princess or heir to something then I don't need that kind of training!" She let out another giggle. "I'd have my own warriors to command if I was." That would be a pretty awesome thing to grow up and find out she was some lost Princess. All this talk about the possibilities of who she was had distracted from what they had planned to do with the vines.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:37 am
Ecliptic considered the other fillies words for a few moments. "Maybe she's just afraid if you found your real parents you wouldn't want to stay with her anymore." She stated. It made a bit of sense - she was sure that this Penthesilea mare had to be attached to Kadira if she was taking care of her and would be sad if she left...but still...Ecliptic thought Kadira had a right to know where she really came from.
"But I guess thats something you'll have to figure out when your older..I mean its not like you could run away now to look for your parents." As exciting as something like that sounded in theory Ecliptic wasn't stupid she knew that a foal wandering around on her own wouldn't stand a chance. The herd was annoyingly protective but she had seen enough scars and heard enough stories to realize that there was some justification for it. "I'll help you if you want... someday." She promised the other filly.
"Me and the Squirrel." She went on to add, recalling suddenly what they had been working on before this conversation. The vines..right, the vines. Turning back she gave another tug on one of them and almost fell on her butt when they suddenly gave way and came falling down in a big pile all over her.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:25 am
"Maybe." Kadira lifted her shoulders in a shrug. Even though Penthesilea pushed her hard throughout the day to keep up with the group while traveling and then to train before calling it a night Kadira knew that the mare cared for her, why else would she make sure she got enough to eat and made sure she was comfortable at night to sleep. "It would be nice if she knew something about my parents though." She said is a slightly wistful voice. But Ecliptic was right, that was something she could look into when she was older. Once she no longer had to travel with the mares or rely on their protection and loves then she could go off and look for her parents and ask them why they weren't around for her.
Her ears perked up at Ecliptic's offer. "Oh that'd be great if you could come and help me look for them. I bet they'd love to meet you too." There was no doubt in Kadira's mind that when she did find her parents they would not only be overjoyed to see her but would be happy to see whatever friends she had as well.
"Yes, the squirrel can come along too." Kadira went to step closer to Ecliptic to help her with the vines when they suddenly gave and came showering down on the blue filly. Kadira instantly burst out into laughter. As she began to recover she stepped forward and pulled one of the vines off of Ecliptic. "See, I told you vines would work. Now we just need to find a squirrel."
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:43 am
"Arg!" Ecliptic grunted as the vines piled up on top of her, threatening to trip her as she found her balance and tried to shake them off. She frown for a few moments when her efforts just seemed to make them wind tighter around her but Kadira's laughter was infectious and she was right...at least they knew now that they would make an effective net and she cracked a haphazard smile before carefully trying to extract herself.
"Yeah they are definitely hard to get out of." She agreed "And it will probably be even harder once we tie them together some." She went on before the question of finding a squirrel was brought up and she paused in her attempts to free herself to look up into the surrounding tree. "I don't think it will be too hard to find - I see them running around in the trees all the time. They probably just ran away because of the noise...my father tells me you have to be quiet when your hunting something..so we'll just make the net and set up our trap and then stay really quiet until they came back." Ecliptic didn't really question how her father knew about hunting. He was her father of course he knew..he would know everything.
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