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 Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:56 pm
It had been another long day of treasure hunting, and Illy was worn out. She and Orlando had scoured a single shipwreck so many times, Illy felt like she knew the thing inside and out, but they'd kept finding shiny bits. Small and slow as her tail tended to make her - she could never quite swim as fast as Orlando would like - Illy had tired quickly. Leaving her friend to finish up his hunt, she found a clump of seaweed to hang out in, tangling her tail in it until she was certain she wouldn't float away while she was sleeping. She and Orlando had been up at dawn to find a new wreck to search, and though it was barely midday, Ilyrana felt that it was high time for a nap.
Before beginning to doze gently, Illy took a look around. The sea was a bright, lively blue today, and unusually warm for the dark months of winter. It was a bit strange, if she was to be honest with herself, but Illy wasn't about to complain when the rays of softly heated sunlight began to soak into her dark skin. Smiling, Illy closed her eyes and let herself nod off, mane floating above her face in its characteristic mohawk style. She was quite confident that her coloring would keep her safe, especially in the depths of the seaweed, rainbows aside. Humming a quiet tune, Illy let herself find the place between sleep and awakening, where she could get enough rest to feel refreshed, but not actually sleep.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:20 pm
Apatite wasn't entirely sure why he was out. In fact, Apatite wasn't entirely sure why he did most of the things he did. Life, and all that it entailed, seemed pretty moot to him. Well, to a degree. There was a checklist of things he wanted to achieve before he died, namely to leave behind some heirs who would carry his genes and then find a nice dark cave where he could skulk out the rest of his days, preferable alone. But things to do before you die are hardly things that influence what you do on your typical day, so for now he was swimming around aimlessly, trying to enjoy the better-than-average day. It wasn't the best of plans.
The water felt warm against his skin, lacking that bone-freezing chill he had become accustomed to over the past month. He wasn't entirely sure he liked the change, it felt too warm, but it was probably better than ending up with frostbite. His eyes were narrowed against the sunlight, his retina extra-sensitive to brightness. He preferred swimming around during the hours of dusk and dawn, when there was just enough light to perceive everything clearly but not enough to hurt his strange eye structure. He grumbled slightly under his breath, though he had no one to blame but himself for this outing.
Reaching a clump of seaweed, he quickly darted inside it. It was easier to swim here, where the plants would protect him from the stronger currents of the ocean. He was about to anchor himself to one of the many seaweed fronds when something caught his eye. "What, exactly, is that?" It appeared to be a rainbow streak, bright and alluring in the clear waters. Curiosity momentarily gaining the better of him, he was closer to take a look. Was that... a seathi? Yes, it was. Female by the looks of it, with a bizarre mop of hair upon her head. He couldn't quite place why, but she seemed like an attractive individual. Maybe he should start a conversation? He was a usually isolated individual, but seeing as he was out anyway, he might as well do something radical. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "Well hello there."
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Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 10:49 pm
Illy's eyes shot open when she heard a masculine voice, and she would have darted away, had her spiky fins not anchored her firmly in place. This knee-jerk reaction instead resulted in an almost comic effect: propelled forward through the water by her reacting muscles, Illy found the seaweed that she was attached to reaching its limit and sending her backward through the water like a pendulum. Through all this, she could feel her eyes reach the width of clam shells. When Illy finally came to a halt, her eyes found the stallion that had startled her. He blended in so well to his surroundings that she might not have seen him if it hadn't been for his lighter coloring.
"Hey there," she replied through gritted teeth as she swayed, giving him a good look-over. He was certainly handsome - and even though Illy loved beautiful things, she was cautious. Her mother had taught her that pretty stallions might not always mean well. Though Illy had once scorned this advice, she had begrudgingly found it to be true; there were some smooth talkers out there. "How are you today?" Illy asked, feeling weird about the question right off the bat. He seemed almost too intense for such trivialities - perhaps it was his highly contrasted hide or grumpy-seeming demeanor. Whatever it was, Illy knew it was too late to retract her simple question, settling for filling the silence with an introduction instead. "I'm Ilyrana, but most people call me Illy. It's nice to meet you, mister...?" Letting her question trail off, Illy silently hoped he'd answer it. It'd certainly be awkward if he didn't.I think Illy just defied the laws of physics... And I'm sorry for the wait. >.< But you know how slow I can be. v.v
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:57 am
The stallion's hide prickled uncomfortably at first, unused to having any contact with others for a while. Ever since the... incident he'd kept mostly to himself. But then the female leapt into action, his greeting seemingly terrifying her. His expression changed to one of amused confusion, some of the tension leaving his muscles as she was thrown from one side to another by her anchor.
It was only then that he had a good look at the female that swayed before him. Most of her pelt was a dark blue, though it was streaked through with rainbow lines. Her hair was a mess, but it gave her a sort of handsome, roughish charm. His eyes looked her up and down. She looked a fine seathi specimen. His thoughts drifted back to his thoughts about a mate. A dark chuckle rose under his breath. Barely three words to her, and he was already trying to get her into the sack with him. What was wrong with him?
"Fine. My day has been fine." It was an automated response, and a rather gruff one at that, he realised. Every time he had crossed paths with anyone lately, he had quickly shunned their company with snarky comments like that. But no one he'd met seemed to harbour any ill-wishes to him. Cyllene, the pest, hadn't been annoyed any further than because he had accidentally invaded her cave. No one seemed to know. They had no idea about his secret. Good, it was better that way. Maybe he could relax just a little. "Well, it's better after the entertainment you just provided."
He cleared his throat as she asked for his name. What if she would recognise it? Should he lie? Dodge the question? "Apatite." His mouth got ahead of him. Oops.
That certainly made me chuckle! xD No worries about the wait at all ^.^ I'm just as much of a slow-butt.
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:19 am
Illy felt a wave of heat cross her face in a flush of embarrassment and, possibly, bashfulness as she watched him study her. It could have been worse - he could have caught her drooling or something. Of course, in the water, saliva dripping from one's mouth wasn't really detectable... Whatever, she thought, feeling a little haughty about the whole thing. "You just startled me. A lot, actually. I was kind of napping," she snapped, but it was half-hearted. A little bit of shame never hurt anything except one's pride.
Illy's thoughts paused when the male before her cleared his throat - she was halfway to thinking he was being evasive when he finally introduced himself. Strange, she thought, wondering what might have made him hesitate to give his name. Was he an outlaw? Of course not, she told himself. There wasn't exactly a law of the land for seathis to follow, considering they couldn't even step out of the water. Was he infamous? That was more likely. Whatever the case, he seemed like he was acting strange. Rather than draw attention to this fact, however, Illy continued the conversation like everything was normal. "Apatite - that's an interesting name. Does it mean anything?" she asked, genuinely curious. It sounded like a stone, like muscovite or a stalactite.
Taking advantage of the slight lull in the conversation while she waited for his answer, Illy tried to untangle herself from her anchor. This proved more difficult than she thought it would be - somehow, the seaweed had tied itself in a knot around her tail. Worst case scenario, she'd swim up as fast as she could, and suffer the bruises and cuts that would no doubt be inflicted on her delicate fins for the next few weeks. Best case scenario, it'd magically untie itself. Trying not to look distressed, she said, "Do you mind helping me with this? I think I'm stuck." Gesturing to the seaweed around her tail with a nod of the head, Illy gave him an imploring look. She wasn't above asking for help - pride should never get in the way of one's safety. She supposed she could try to flip downward and chew her way through the plant, but it didn't look at all appetizing, and she didn't want to be dragging around a clump of seaweed until it fell off her tail. XD I'm glad you thought it was funny, I was trying to come up with something to entertain them. :3
Maybe he could help free her and they could continue the casual conversation until they get to what they want for their future?
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:01 am
Well, if the mare did recognise his name, she did a very good job of disguising the fact. He snorted at her question, giving a brisk nod as his muscles relaxed. It was probably safe to be a little more open. He was far from where he'd been at the start of his journey, after all. "It's the name of a mineral. It's this sort of greeny-blue stone." He gestured with his muzzle towards one of the bracers on his forelegs. "The blue gems on the starfish legs are little pieces of Apatite, if you'd like a closer look."
His muzzle twitched in further amusement as he watched her struggle with the seaweed some more. A laugh choked up through his throat, but he swallowed it down, trying to disguise it as a cough. "A-allow me to help." With a snort, he dove down towards the seafloor, his powerful tail fins letting him reach speeds that most seathies could not achieve. His eyes sought out the object he was looking for. That one was too dull, that one too small. Finally, he found a rather large shell. Its inhabitant seemed to have left it a long time ago. Grasping it firmly between his teeth, he hit it as hard as he could against a nearby rock. A splinter flew off, leaving a sharp edge on the piece he still held.
Swimming back up, he tried to mumble around the object, "Mshake shhure ooo shtay shtill." He bent down very carefully, looking for the loosest bit of the knot that he could get at. Using the broken shell, he gently sawed through the strand, letting the rest fall off from around Illy's tail. He dropped the shell after that, letting it fall down to the sea floor. "My pleasure." He paused, almost as though to make sure she wouldn't suddenly swim off after he'd freed her. "Uhm... Ilyrana, right? Does that mean anything?" It wasn't a name he'd heard before, that was for sure.
xD Sounds like a plan!
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:01 pm
Nodding as her suspicions about his name were proven correct, Illy peered briefly at the starfish on his forelegs before he swam downward. Her instinct was to follow him, but she remembered that that wasn't exactly an option. "They're pretty," she called after him, shaking her head a bit while he was out of sight and trying to get her mane to behave a bit better. The few times she'd laid eyes on her father, Illy'd known she had his hair - hers, however, was much more messy and had less shape to it. It was obnoxious when she got into conflicting currents; it went everywhere and she couldn't see a thing.
Holding stalk-still when he swam up again with a shell-blade in his mouth, Illy closed her eyes as the seaweed wiggled back and forth. It would really, really suck if he cut her with that thing - having been stuck one or two times by Orlando, she knew that saltwater wasn't especially kind to wounds. Illy actually used shell blades on a regular basis. They were handy for cutting away the algae and weeds that grew on the shipwrecks she liked to explore.
Feeling the knot of seaweed drop from her tail, Illy opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she said, turning to face him and answer his question. "My mom said that it means 'opal' in some language... I guess she named me after a stone, too." It was a little strange, having looked at her rainbow streaks and knowing that she, like Apatite, was named for a stone. Maybe it was a seathi thing? They did have a thing for shiny bits. "Anyway, what's up?" she asked, feeling a little more comfortable now that he seemed open to casual conversation. "Why are you out here by yourself? A fellow as handsome as you can't be without a lady." Wow, she thought to herself. That slipped out, didn't it? All the tact in the world... She almost tried to cover up her words with a laugh, but thought that that would just make her sound more weird, since it would certainly come out nervous. Instead, Illy just floated there, standing silently by her words. What was there to be embarrassed about, anyway? He was handsome, and she was certain there must have been some kind of girl in his life. Right? Oh, it's going to be awkward if I'm wrong, she thought, feeling ridiculous. So much for "casual."
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 4:06 pm
"Named after a stone too?" At least conversation seemed to be flowing okay. "Guess it's a seathi thing. The last one of us I met had a massive treasure horde, it was almost scary." Apatite's mind flickered back to Cyllene's bizarre cave. It was like a freak-show in there, statues convoluted in weird shapes hid in random hollows like some sort of demonic spawn, while gold and jewels and broken bits and bobs lay scattered everywhere the eye could see.
Her next words both sent a lightning-like jolt through him, though in very different ways. A cold chill ran up his spine as she asked why he was here, only to be replaced by a warm tingle a second later at the word 'handsome'. He froze for a second, before an almost awkward laugh escaped from his throat. "I... er..." He cleared his throat, "I'm just traveling. Was passing through. Traveling is just what I do. Got nowhere else to be." He eyed her, trying to read her body language. She was certainly... attractive, and was her question an... implication?.
Whilst the idea of a night with her was an appealing one, he had standards that were better than that. He could not deceive a woman into a night of passion with him when he was not around to stay. "Ha, no women yet, not that a few haven't tried." He added the later to try and sooth any awkwardness, though she swam stock-still and didn't seem flustered by the statement at all. "You see, whilst I would pride myself in having some good, strong offspring, I'm not really one for tying down with a mate..." Because I can't afford to get close to anyone, he added mentally afterwards.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 7:44 pm
Illy shifted uncomfortably when Apatite mentioned a scary treasure horde and opted not to mention her own. Or her mother's. Or the fishing line that kept her familiar's secured around his body. "Oh, really?" she asked, wondering if Apatite himself had ever collected anything. Rather than continue the topic, though, she let her question sit in limbo, where it could be meant for either the treasure conversation or the traveler one. "I'm actually a traveler, as well," she supplied. "I like to run up and down the coast and visit the different herds... There's quite a few of them out there. And wanderers like us, too." Giving him a winning smile, she nodded a little. It was nice having conversation with someone aside from Orlando for a change, considering that the dolphin's squeaky voice often made his words difficult to decipher.
"No girls, hm?" Illy said rhetorically, pondering what his next words could mean. For some reason, she didn't feel awkward. He didn't want a mate? That really wasn't a big deal. Sometimes relationships ended badly, and the risk of being heartbroken was depressing enough... Thinking about it that way, Illy felt an inkling of understanding toward her father, who had left her mother with her shell and taken her brother's. Whether he'd been heartbroken or had just decided to leave, however, Illy would never know. "That's sort of how I'm beginning to feel," she replied. "I haven't met a guy who I'd be willing to settle down with, but it'd sure be nice to have some little ones around... or something." Ducking her head sheepishly, Illy wondered if she was sharing too much. Apatite was, after all, almost a complete stranger - But who cares? she thought. There's no one else around, and he doesn't seem like one to judge, considering what he's sharing. Mulling over the conversation in her mind, Illy couldn't help but give him the up-down again - under the cover of her hair, of course.
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