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 Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:47 pm
Careful observation had shown little activity on the beach. Most of the time, it seemed it was almost completely deserted. There were almost never any tracks through the sand, unless they walked along the water allowing it to wash them away. After all, why leave tracks if you're intending to hide from someone?
The purple stallion walked slowly along the water's edge. Letting it wash away his previous tracks. He had never personally encountered another soul on the beach. Not while he was there anyway. So he was certain it was mostly uninhabited, despite being so close to his family's home in the swamp. Either way, he wasn't going to take risks toward being found and hunted down.
All the stallion wanted to do was go for a walk and take his mind off things. It was a bit relaxing when things got too heated back at home with his mate.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:04 pm
After much discussion with his mother and careful planning, the two had began dividing up areas around the swamp and beach to search for Zalashji's missing brother. He was not sure what to expect when they found him, if they found him. All Zalashji had gotten from his mother is that she remembered his brother as purple or perhaps blue like herself. Not really much to go on.
Treading down by the beach and skirting the swamps, the young stallion had decided to give the plains a shot for any clues. He paused at the delta to nibble at some sea grass before continuing along. In the distance seemed to be another Soquili and, hoping for some information, Zalashji plodded toward the other horse.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:18 pm
Naj'entus lowered his head to look down as a large bit of driftwood washed ashore and into his feet. He tilted his head slightly, inspecting the bit of wood carefully. Why had it washed up to him? Did it have a purpose? If so what was it? He gingerly picked up the driftwood and started down the beach again slowly, letting his focus remain on the thoughts of the wood now in this mouth.
He slowly began to become aware of the sound of movement through the sand and looked up quickly. 'Ohno...someone found me!' He began to panic, as the color of the approaching figure became apparent. His father must have found him and now he was going to curse him to die!
The stallion quickly dropped the bit of driftwood and turned to run into the water, stumbling and flailing about a bit in an attempt to get deeper and hide.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:22 pm
Zalashi noticed the other seemed to be.... fleeing? Oh, right. Some Soquili were frightened of the Naga. Perhaps if he showed he was friendly.
"Please, wait!" he called, coming to a stop so as not to continue scaring the other horse. "I do not wish to harm you. I am only looking for some information. I think I may be a bit lost."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:31 pm
The stallion peered out of the water at the one approaching him. No harm? Lies. He was colored just like his father! At least from a distance anyway...
"You're on a beach...now you're not lost?" He said, raising his head just high enough to speak. "But no one ever comes to this beach but me...how come you're here?" He asked, tilting his head?
Naj continued to watch as the other got closer. Eventually he was able to make out an appearance. It wasn't his father after all. At least that came as a relief, but there was still a chance he knew him and would turn him in. Especially being on a beach so close to the home swamp.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:40 pm
"I often use the beach to travel. It is easier for my kind to move in the water at times," Zalashji answered, keeping his voice even and calm. He moved slowly toward the other Soquili, careful lest he frighten him again. He could just make out the purple of the other's hide and some blue there as well. Markings perhaps?
"Do you live close by? You might be able to help me. I am looking for my lost brother," he explained.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:43 pm
"I like this beach....s'quiet...you're the first one I've ever seen around though." He mumbled, sticking most of his head back under the water lest he be recognized. He felt something both calming and frightening from the other stallion. It was strange, really. One should not feel like they should be close to someone, but afraid as well. Yet he had been like that growing up around family that had more or less betrayed him.
"I have a brother. I think. Somewhere anyway, according to....someone."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:51 pm
As Zalashji sidled closer, he began to get a better look at the other stallion. Purple, yes, but the blue was not from markings. He paused, looking at the fins and serpentine tail, though it was much shorter than his own, or of any naga he had known. The other lacked the fin crest as well, having a dark mane instead. Still, Zalashji could see his father in this one and he smiled.
"i think you are right about having a brother. He and his mother probably worry very much what became of you," he told the other stallion, curious at how his brother, and he was sure it was him, had turned out so different from himself.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:56 pm
Naj pricked his ears forward curiously as he studied the other in return. He moved around a bit in the water to get a decent look at Zala from the side. He had fins much like him. A longer tail too. Fascinating.
"I...think I know why I feel so comfortable here. Also why you give off a really comforting aura..." The stallion said, emerging more from the water to return to shore. "You look like me! Well...sort of anyway. I don't have all this." He said, getting close enough to nose at the crest atop Zala's head. "I've never seen another like me anywhere, you're the first."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:03 pm
"The herd I am from, there are many like me. I inherited these traits from my mother, though not her coloring. That seems to have been passed to my brother," Zalashji said softly, watching the other as well. He stood up a bit straighter, deciding to tell him finally, but gently. "I think you should come visit one day. The herd would be accepting of you, and our mother would be happy to know you are well."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:14 pm
Naj'entus curiously circled the other stallion before coming to a stop in front of him again. "You look like my father...except for looking like me too." He said thoughtfully.
"I didn't know you were here though. I was convinced this beach was abandoned except to a few travelers...and I mean a few because like I said, I see no one..." He sighed and looked down nervously. "No one has ever accepted be before, except Ting, so I don't think your herd would accept me either. ...maybe not even mother..." Naj mumbled towards the end, trying to accept that maybe this was the rest of his family.
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:21 pm
"You should know that our mother is one of the few remaining of a dying breed. They would absolutely welcome you as much as they have me and the other offspring," Zalashji told him. "We are not here, but down toward the south, where the island is." He remembered what his father had told him of the swamp herd's treatment of his brother. "No one can get to the island that is not like us and the twins guard it well."
He titled his head, taking in all his brother had said. "Who is Ting?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:33 pm
"But what if someone finds a way to get to the island? You don't know what they're capable of! I've seen...things..." Naj murmured, shaking slightly and letting his fins droop. "They send things after you. Things you can't see until it's too late! And even then...sometimes not at all." Those were dark thoughts. Memories of watching what his grandmother and aunt did to travelers who may have only wanted help. Not something he liked to think of often.
Shaking his head to try and clear his mind, he managed a smile at the thought of the unusual mare named Ting Tang. "My...well mate, I guess. She's strange...sometimes aggressive...but I love every bit of her. All the time."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:42 pm
Zalashji realized his brother's fear ran deep indeed. "I have spoken with our father and he has been to the beach. He has seen for himself that the spirit of the very sea itself protects our herd and is far stronger than his Loa." He nodded solemnly. "Our grandmother has no power in our territory, especially to an island she and her Loa cannot reach."
At the comment of his brother's mate, he smirked. "We have similar tastes in mares, then, I think. My own mare is on the aggressive side and strange for sure, being a pureblood Naga, but I love her. Her name is Lady Saravess. She used to rank high in the original herd before it was all but destroyed. She likes holding onto her title." He chuckled softly at the thought of his mate. "She would be welcome, too, your Ting."
He ducked his head a bit to the side. "My name is Zalashji."
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Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:58 pm
Naj'entus frowned deeply at the thought of their father being in the area. Willingly by the sounds of it. It gave absolutely no comfort to his fears of being attacked, even in his sleep. "No, they'll find a way...they always find a way..."
He prickled his fins up and down a few times, trying to understand the workings of this supposed herd. "So...they're also run by females? ....that might give Ting ideas...make her feel more powerful." He murmured, running the thoughts through his head.
"And I'm...Naj'entus."
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