Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rusalka smiled to herself as she walked through the reeds of the swamp. That other kirin, Syri had come back again. He'd brought her wildflowers this time, species that he told her grew only in the open meadows in the forest. He had been trying to coax her outside of the swamp for a couple weeks now, but still she abstained. The swamp was her home and she hadn't been out of it in years... though she had to admit that the flowers he brought her were beautiful.

Absently, she stepped out onto the water. Her kirin powers let her walk over the still surface without so much as disturbing the fish swimming beneath her. The other inhabitants of the swamp had long since learned that she would never mean them any harm. Still smiling and thinking of Syri, she paused as she saw something a little less familar. A blue-maned head was poking out of the water, a head belonging to another soquili. Freezing temporarily, Rusalka stared. She had met one kind stranger... but could she trust that this was another?

Rusalka too prepared to bolt, but something in the way the stallion looked at her and spoke kept her still. He seemed cautious, maybe even a little frightened. What reason did he have to be fearful around her? Was there something else in the area that had threatened him? Nervously, she glanced one way and then the other. She didn't see anything that looked out of place.

"Hello?" she warily responded. "Is there some danger about?" she looked around again but still didn't see anything. If there was something, it was lurking... maybe beneath the water? Suddenly she felt a little less safe from her position atop it...

Rusalka caught some of the kelpi's fear. She found herself looking around in much the same way he was, searching for dangers in the shadows. "I've only ever seen a kalona here once, and it was far distant in the sky." Why did he speak of kalonas?

"Have you seen any kalonas nearby?" She forced herself to calm. She knew that if she kept being nervous like this she could plunge through the surface of the water. Taking deep breaths, she walked herself to a slightly shallower area. Now she would only be damp up to her knees if she fell through. She rarely was fully dry, so this would be little imposition.

"Oh, good... Good." Rusalka breathed a sigh of relief and then started to feel a little foolish. There apparently... had been no danger to begin with. She'd just misread the kelpi's emotions and then made a big deal out of what was nothing. As she sighed, she felt her hooves dip beneath the surface of the water. There it was, now she was losing focus. Choosing to end her meditation gracefully rather than with a sudden plunge, she let her concentration break slowly and drop her to the muddy bottom. The water wasn't even as deep as she'd calculated, only going half-way up her lower legs. The kelpi apparently just swam in a deeper channel in the water.

"I... apologize if I have caused distress." She was not good at speaking with strangers and expected that it showed. "I did not wish to imply there was any sort of danger here."

"I am Rusalka," she replied. She didn't have that many opportunities to introduce herself, but at least with Syri she was growing a little more accustomed to hearing her own name. Caspian was an interesting sort of name for the kelpi to have. Somehow she had imagined that kelpi might be named for the fish which they so closely resembled.

"Ah... what brings you to the swamp, Caspian?" she made an effort at being polite, while still unsure how these sorts of conversations were supposed to go. A wind blew and the branches on her back rattled. Apparently the sound startled some aquatic creature, because she heard a splashing from behind her. It was probably some frog leaping from its seat into the water. It didn't concern her and she paid it no mind. The swamp was full of life, after all.

"Ah," replied Rusalka, not immediately certain of how she should react. She was mostly very alone in the swamp and mostly that was how she liked it. Aside from Syri, she didn't have much in the way of visitors. If she accepted a new neighbor, it would mean much more contact. The kelpi seemed like he meant well, but it would still be a rather large lifestyle change for her.

"And what do you eat?" she asked. It was a question to buy her some time more than anything. "I could tell you whether this land would be hospitable to your requirements or not." Secretly, she hoped that whatever he ate didn't grow here. That would make things simpler.