[PRP] Bugs in the Forest {Aiko & Allarian}

[Pijrrh]

Aiko walked quietly through the forest, listening to the sounds of birds singing and insects buzzing around. Her attention was mainly focused near the ground as she studied the plants that grew abundantly. She'd come out to the forest with the intent of finding plants to learn about, but realized there wasn't much point without someone who knew what they were and what they could do. So she did her best to remember where the most interesting ones were, in case she found someone who could teach her about them. She didn't mind that the original purpose of the trip was lost, because she enjoyed testing the sharpness of her eyes by picking out varying leaf shapes, bark textures, and plant heights.

She stopped at a plant that she didn't remember seeing before, and nudged it with her nose. Suddenly, a flurry of bugs came flying out from the plant and a nearby shrub, filling the air in alarm. She took a few steps backward, surprised by their sudden presence, but watched intently as they flew by. Some of them were too small to see much of, but others were a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. She looked back at the plant once most of the bugs had dissipated from the air, and noticed one single insect sitting on top of a leaf. Aiko walked forward again quietly and peered closely at the bug. She knew nothing at all about bugs, but it didn't stop her from thinking of questions about it, or from trying to guess what it was.

She stared at the bug, trying to notice as much about it as she was able. It seemed to have some sort of hard, shiny shell, although she wasn't going to try to crunch it and find out. It was mostly bright green, the color of new spring leaves, with a thick brownish-black stripe going straight down its middle, from its head to its rear. On each side of the stripe, asymmetrical splotches patterned its body. The legs and antennae were a bright amber.

She looked down at her own legs, and twisted to look at her rump. I don't have any markings at all, she thought. This crunchy bug has a much more interesting coloring than I do. I wonder why it's got so many colors? And as if to answer her question, a cloud passed overhead and caused the sunlight to shift. Suddenly, the bug was sitting in a small patch of spotty light, and it became very hard to see it. Its dark patches looked like extensions of the shadows, and its green parts looked like they belonged to the leaf it was sitting on. Oh! she thought. It blends in! She considered her coloring and her normal home, and decided that her colors would help her blend in with dirt and rocks if she ever needed to hide. Not that she would have any reason to; she was confident her parents and brothers would protect her from anything bad.

Completely lost in thought, Aiko failed to notice the sound of hooves nearby.

Cajmera

(If you are still interested, here is my start!)  

[Cajmera]

Allarian was a stallion on a mission. He walked along the forest path, head down, nose only a few inches off the ground and his complete and utter focus on the line of ants marching along the ground, each carrying a large leaf. He considered himself extremely fortunate that he'd come across them; the whole colony, as far as he could tell, had been engaged in cutting and carrying off the leaves. He knew that ants were gatherers, of course; anyone who spent any time in the forest knew that. But he'd always assumed they were creatures of opportunity, taking what ever happened to be handy and readily available. These ants had been ants with a purpose, cutting the leaves with their large jaws and carrying them off in solemn procession. But to what purpose?

He'd been on his way in search of a beehive he'd noticed in the area on his last pass-through, but the bees would have to wait until later. After all, it wasn't often that such a rare opportunity to research and observe something new came his way! So he'd abandoned the bees to follow the ants, walking carefully alongside the column with his head down low to better observe exactly how they were carrying the leaves.

So intent was he on his ant observations that he wasn't really watching where he was going. In fact, he didn't notice the mare until he had, quite literally, run into her. "Oof!"

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

Cajmera

Aiko yelped in surprise and flapped her wings to jump more quickly out of the stallion's way. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the bright green bug flying off. For an instant, she was sad that the bug was no longer around to be observed, but she shrugged. She would have had to move along eventually. Plus, there was something much bigger and more interesting to study -- another Soquili! And, one she hadn't met before. Even better, she thought.

"Well, hello there, I'm Aiko!" she said brightly. "Whatcha doin'?" Aiko grinned up at the stallion. She studied his markings, too, and decided that he'd blend nicely in mountainous and rocky places. This made her a bit envious, as it probably made it easier to hide from any dangers that would be found when visiting all the high-up places, like the cliffs. Not that she'd been up very high before. She hadn't quite gotten used to her wings yet and was still a bit clumsy. She'd be very glad when the day came that she was completely confident all on her own, so she could go and explore, making friends and learning everywhere she went.


 

[Cajmera]

Needless to say, Allarian did not share Aiko's sentiments when it came to Soquili interaction being superior to insect observation. Thanks for the mare's quick movements, he'd avoided a full-body collision; however, he'd stumbled over his own hooves in the process and bashed his snoot into the ground. Fortunately, the ants had been spared any ill-effects of his bumbling, and a bruised nose was small potatoes compared to the safety and well-being of his insect companions!

But he was given no opportunity to resume his ant-watching, the mare's sudden, merry introduction of herself reminding Allarian that, having met up with this mare, he had a duty to at least try and be polite. Unfortunate, that; not because he had anything against the mare, but because the ants were so very fascinating.

At least there were a great many of them, still marching on their way. Perhaps he could do the polite thing and still pick up with the ants later!

Consoling himself with that thought, he straightened himself up, rubbing his nose with a wing. "I'm Allarian, and I've been ant-watching. I'm sorry, I didn't see you earlier or I would have tried not to run into you." Not the most graceful of introductions, but he was hardly the most graceful of stallions! "Well, not exactly run into you, since you moved, but almost run into you. Run into near you."

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

Aiko smiled brightly. "Oh that's okay, I'm quick on my feet! No harm done. It's very nice to meet you!" She looked around for the aunts that he was watching but didn't see anyone besides herself and him. Perhaps the aunt was standing behind the full-grown stallion? She walked up to him and peered around him but still didn't see anyone. "Um...I don't see your aunt. Did you lose her? Mom says I have an aunt Harlequin, but I've never met her. What's your aunt like?" She scuffed her hoof along the ground as she stood, confused.

The foal had never heard of an insect called an ant and assumed that Allarian was talking about his relative. If she knew there was a tiny, interesting colony of bugs to learn about, she'd be content to follow them around all day, provided they kept doing interesting things.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Allarian was not good at understanding social niceties at the best of times, but he had to admit that this foal was beyond anything he'd ever experienced before. She was so rapid-fire in her speech that his more ponderous, methodical mind was hard-pressed to keep up, and then she was off on a tangent that he had a difficult time following. Who had said anything about relations?

But after a moment, he realized where she had to have gotten 'aunt' from, though how anyone could not know what an ant was baffling to a him. With careful, clear enunciation, he repeated, "Ant, not aunt. These are ants," He said, gently nodding to the marching line of bugs. "I watched them cut these leaves, and I've been following them to see where they're going. I still don't know where they're going, but there are quite a lot of them," He added, nodding back down to the path at the marching multitude. "I like watching bugs. They're interesting little things."

It wasn't his way to venture into personal conversation, not even with his own family, so it was no great shock that he didn't go into any family conversation with the filly. It was much easier and safer to talk of bugs.

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

She peered closely at the area that the stallion had nodded toward and noticed a faint black line on the ground. As she looked, Aiko realized that the line was moving. "Oh!" she exclaimed. Her head lowered toward the ground and she took a closer look. The black line appeared to be made up of tiny bugs, some of which were carrying proportionally gigantic pieces of leaf. The bugs seemed to know exactly where they all were headed, and they walked in a single-file line. How they knew to organize in an orderly fashion was beyond her. She found it fascinating.

She stood in silence, watching the procession for several minutes, before remembering that she was in the company of another. "These things are cool," she said. "I can't believe they can carry such large pieces of leaf! I think we should follow them and see where they are going," she suggested. It didn't even cross her mind that the stallion might want to travel with the bugs on his own; she was too focused on the opportunity to gain new knowledge, especially from someone who seemed like he might have important knowledge of insects. Perhaps he would have even known the identity of the pretty green bug.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

For his part, Allarian was in no way offended at the interest Aiko gave to the ants. Indeed, it was quite the opposite situation for him; he found the ants to be much more fascinating than Soquili could ever be, and took it for granted that any other Soquili would feel the same. It was baffling to him how often he was proven wrong; most Soquili couldn't care less about insects, and many of them even found them objects of fear! No matter how small and non-toxic the bug, there could apparently be found someone who would run screaming away from it.

It was very depressing.

So he was quite pleased as he observed the rapt attention Aiko gave the ants, and was content to resume his own ant-watching. Perhaps the filly was one of the rare few who wasn't afraid.

Her sudden proposal seemed to confirm that opinion, and he gave the filly a smile. It was true that he would prefer to follow the column alone; there was no expectation of conversation or companionability when he was by himself. But it was a nice change of pace to have someone interested in bugs, and he wasn't about to squelch that interest by being dismissive or terse. So he smiled, nodding his head in agreement. "That's what I was doing when I ran into you; you're welcome to join me." And so saying, he started off down the path again, following along with the ants.

Nikkichomp

 

[Pijrrh]

Aiko grinned, ecstatic. He would follow the ants with her! She kicked up her heels, careful to do so in a way that did not disturb the line of marching insects. Then, she pranced along a few paces behind the stallion, head lowered so she could see the procession. It seemed the ants all knew exactly where they were going. They all walked the exact same path, and ants returning from wherever they'd gone pushed against the flow of traffic. For the most part, they stayed organized, weaving around one another, but on occasion they bumped heads, causing peals of giggles. Couldn't they see each other?!

As they traveled, small circular holes appeared in the earth. At first they appeared occasionally, but grew more and more frequent. Finally, the trail of ants led them to a small lump protruding from the earth, with an even larger hole in the center of it. The ants poured in and out of this hole, heading in several different directions. Aiko's mouth fell open in awe. "Wow!" she breathed. "There are so many of them!" She looked up at Allarian. "What are they all doing?" she wondered aloud.

Cajmera

Aaah, it's my turn, I'm so sorry for the delay!!

Also, do you know if these two are related by blood or just by mate/marriage/whatever? I see they are both in the humongous family tree, but I couldn't figure out how they are connected.

 

[Cajmera]

Allarian followed along with the filly, pleased with the companionable silence. From time to time, it was broken by Aiko's giggles, but they were quiet and unobtrusive enough not to bother the stallion. Besides, giggling meant interest!

He had been expecting something impressive in terms of the home ant hill; given how long the column of ants was and how long he'd been following it, it had to be quiet sizeable. When the hill finally came into view, he was not disappointed, and a wide grin crossed his face as he surveyed a mound that came halfway up to his knee. The ants scurried in without a thought for their two observers, effortlessly avoiding or else climbing right over their fellow ants on the way out. What a simple, effective, pleasantly oblivious mode of interaction!

There would be plenty of time for him to settle down and study the hill later, though; for now, he was content with having found it. "I imagine most of them are off to find and bring back food; that's what the line we've been following has been doing," he added as he nudged a hoof towards the line of leaf-carriers. "With a colony this large, I suppose food gathering is a full time job."

Nikkichomp

No worries, things come up ^^

And nope, they're no relation to each other at all by blood, and only connected extremely distantly via matings

 

[Pijrrh]

Aiko nodded. He was right; with so many mouths to feed, most of them would have to go gather all day long! It was hard to imagine what it would be like if there were that many Soquili all in one herd. It was hard enough taking time to help with food gathering, but they'd have to go such long distances to find enough food for a large group. Her admiration for the ants' stamina grew. She smiled and lay down near the ant trail. She lifted and hovered a leg over the line. The ants scurried out of the way of her shadow. Cool! she thought. She laid her leg down in the space they'd cleared and in a few moments, the ants began crawling across her leg as if it were just another obstacle to cross on the way to the food source. And to them, that's exactly what it was - no different than a log or rock.

She peered more closely at them as they crawled across her. They were so tiny, and yet they carried bits of food bigger than their heads over such long distances! They truly are amazing creatures. she decided. It amazed her that her interruption of their procession had caused so little disruption; mattered none at all in the long run. The ants continued marching onward, unconcerned. And as ants began to crawl across her carrying food, she tried to note what they were bringing back. Some had what appeared to be bits of dirt or wood. Many of the ants had surprisingly large pieces of leaf. And still others had tiny red specks. Aiko wondered what they could have found that would be red, and decided that perhaps they'd found a fallen berry or two to harvest from. One berry is so much larger than these tiny creatures that it should last them a long time! How wonderful would it be to only need one berry for days or weeks at a time. Her mind wandered, wondering what else they might eat. She began mumbling out loud to herself, not realizing that her thoughts had begun drifting from her brain to her mouth. "Berries...raspberry, blueberry...currants, would they eat currants? Hmm...wonder...eat flowers, too?"

As she mused, she unconsciously noticed that the number of ants carrying leaves was much higher than the rest of types of food. She began to count. One...two...three, four...five. It wasn't always the same, but it seemed that there were around 5 ants carrying leaves for every 1 ant carrying something else. She looked up at the stallion. "Hey, why are there so many ants carrying leaves? Some of them have other stuff besides leaves, so leaves can't be the only thing they eat," she inquired.

Cajmera

Man, I could have sworn I replied to this after your July post sad

 

[Cajmera]

Allarian heartily approved of Aiko’s interest. Since he’d once been an entomologically inclined foal himself, he found nothing weird in her behavior; indeed, with his fondness for the insect world, he always found it bizarre when others weren’t interested in bugs! Though he’d grown up with two brothers, neither of them had been able to make sense of Allarian’s passion for bugs and they had mostly left Allarian to his own devices; as fate would have it, it was Allarian’s own father who found his hobby the weirdest. Even now that Allarian was a grown adult, living out on his own, he would occasionally cross paths with his father who liked to seek him out just to get his goat. Thinking about it was enough to make Allarian sigh; you’d think that years of experience would be enough to thicken Allarian’s skin when it came to his father’s ribbing. Perhaps in another few years, that actually might be the case!

But at any rate, he wasn’t one of those Soquili who was obsessively possessive when it came to his hobbies. As far as he was concerned, the more bug fans, the better; perhaps one day, the whole of Soquili kind would be able to live a more harmonious life alongside their insect friends. It was depressing to contemplate just how cavalier the average Soquili could be to the plights of insects; not only would Soquili (justifiably) strike back against biting flies, but they would careless tromp over anthills, through gnat swarms, and through bee-infested meadows without care for who they might be displacing. In most circumstances, Allarian knew they didn’t mean anything malicious by their actions; it was just that in the eyes of Soquili, bugs did not usually exist. They were too small, too insignificant, too generally beneath notice, unless they were biting, stinging, or otherwise causing pain.

Or unless they were butterflies, Allarian thought with a smile as he made his way around to the other side of the anthill, taking care to avoid disrupting the procession of ants or the intent little filly. Butterflies seemed to capture the imagination of everyone that saw them, whether or not they noticed any other insects. Perhaps it was because butterflies were so comparatively large and relatively slow moving; there was no trick required to properly observe them.

Aiko’s question broke rather abruptly in on his musings, and for a moment he found himself blinking at her as he tried to make sense of the question. “Why? Why so much of one kind of food?” Repeating the question seemed a good opportunity to gather his thoughts, one he wasn't about to sacrifice! “Well, perhaps it’s because leaves are much easier to find than other foodstuffs in this part of the woods? And one leaf could yield a lot of food. I mean, if you look at the ones carrying leaves, they’re more carrying leaf parts, not really a whole leaf.”

Nikkichomp

No worries XD