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 Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:28 am
 It was somewhat of a dull day as far as Ipswich was concerned ... which was kind of nice actually, once in a while it was a bit of a relief to not have anything pressing to do and she was determined to enjoy this dull day for a s long as she could. With that thought in mind she had made her way over to the tide pools and, there, basking in the warm spring sun she was giggling slightly as she used the lures in her hair to tease the fish trapped within.
It was a harmless game, later perhaps she would bring them some seaweed to nibble on or something to make up for her teasing them ... but for now she was having fun getting them to swim from one side of the pool to another in the hopes of finally getting her tasty looking lure. Not that it looked particularly tasty to her of course, she thought her lures were rather pretty but fish and other creatures had always been attracted to them. That was how she had gotten her snake at first, she had lured him over and then surprisingly ... he had decided to stay. She had been somewhat proud of the beast as a foal, her father had spiders and she had tamed a snake .. but now he was just a lovely companion.
Thinking of him she raised her head to look about, satisfied when she spotted him sunning himself on a beach rock before going back to her game with the fish.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:50 am
 Eadric had just returned from a quick journey down the beach to the edge of the families territory. He enjoyed the way the dry sand crunched and moved under his hooves. Some Soquili had trouble moving on the ever shifting surface, but having been on it since he was but a small foal Eadric was right at home here. It was solid land that he didn't like. It didn't flow with him, it resisted him movements. He just didn't like it at all. So he spend the majority of his time on the beach. Yes, he would venture out, to help his mother collect herbs, or do a patrol with his father or to just wander about with his siblings. But if Eadric had his say, he would never leave the beach.
Returning to the main area his family called him he spotted Ipswich among the rocks. By the way she was moving he guessed she was teasing the fish again. With a smile on his lips he trotted over to where his sister stood. "You are such a cruel beast." He teased his sister. "Making those poor fish swim this way and that just for your entertainment. Why you might as well feed them to your snake!" He let out a bit of a laugh. Stepping forward he gave her a quick nuzzle before glancing down at the tide pool. "You would think they would leave to swim out with the tide, so that they didn't get stranded like this each time." When they were trapped in these small inland pools they were more easily preyed upon, so in a way in sisters teasing saved them from that fate. Helping them or not, Eadric just couldn't help teasing his sister, in a loving brotherly way, whenever he caught her doing this.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:05 am
Ipswich jerked her head around as soon as she heard her brother's voice, giving him a quick nuzzle in return, she hadn't seen him in a day or so as he journeys to the far reaches of the family territory, a territory which included both their parents as well as grandparents. "Eadric! Your back!" She exclaimed happily ... really you'd think he had been gone for some great amount of time by the way she was acting then the relatively small amount he really had been - but they were a close family and even small journeys gave cause for celebration upon return.
Tossing her head she spattered some water from her wet mane in her brothers direction. "And I am not cruel..clearly they enjoy the game as much as I do else they would leave...and I was going to feed them some seaweed later anyways." She added near the end - which was probably the true reason the little fish didn't leave, they had a pretty easy life with her feeding them all the time. She all but snorted at the idea of feeding the fish to her snake. "Snakes don't eat fish...or at least Ebony doesn't, Just turns his nose up at them, he prefers the mice that try to rob mothers stores."
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:21 am
He couldn't help but chuckle. "I am indeed back. The territory is looking good. There's some driftwood up near grandfathers area that will need to be cleared at some point, but he didn't seem in too much of a rush to do it, so I came back." Probably in another few days they would move the wood, but grandfather had told him that a storm would likely blow in during the next few days and with that more wood was likely to find it's way onto the beach. Eadric trusted his grandfathers storm prediction so they would wait until it passed before doing the work. "There may be a storm in a few days." He told his sister. "Grandfather wants to wait until it passed. Then we will move the wood." And perhaps he would bring some home with him. What he would do with it he wasn't sure yet, but looking upon the pile of wood he just couldn't help but thing he could do something with it.
"You are far from cruel Ipswich." Of course he only ever called her cruel in a joking manner and always when it had to do with the fish in the tide pools. He loved his sister too much to ever truly call her names. Glancing down at the fish he nodded. "Yes, they do seem to enjoy it, though I can't say why." He looked over at Ebony laying on the rocks. The snake certainly did have it's purposes, the two mains ones being keeping Ipswich company and helping protect their mothers herb stores. "I'm sure some snakes eat fish. There are sea snakes after all, and they I would think, would eat fish. Probably for the best he doesn't eat them, then he would take away all your fun here." He laughed and gave his sister a light bump with his shoulder.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:57 am
Ipswich flicked her tail slightly at the news of a possible storm - like her brother she put a good bit of stock in her families predictions on such things, living as close as they did to the sea meant that they had grown accustomed to it's sometimes fickle nature. "I hope it's not a bad one - the last one nearly blew down our grove, the poor trees were so bent over I thought for sure they would snap right in half." She stated.
Sometimes she wondered if it would be wiser for her family to move further inland, somewhere more protected but the beach had been home to her family for so long now that she doubted the older members would adjust. Potential dangers or not it seemed they were on the beach to stay - for now.
"That's true, you can see them sometimes when the water is calm and clear.I have heard that they are poisonous." She agreed. Sea snakes were not nearly as lovely as her Ebony as far as she was concerned and the rumors that they had a nasty and dangerous bite had been enough to make her steer clear of them. "Likely for the easy food the get." She commented with a slight laugh as her brother bumped her. "They are much like you I expect...always happy to eat food others have collected." She teased him. Her brother did his share of the work she knew..but he was large and he ate like..well like a draft horse really.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:07 am
"Grandfather didn't seem too concerned about it coming so my guess is that it will be a small storm." He informed his sister. But one could never full predict storms, his grandfather was good at knowing when they would come and could often guess their intensity, but storms had a mind of their own and one could turn from a small storm to a large destructive one in no time. They would have to keep their eye on the weather for the next few days to see if there were any sudden shifts that may indicate a stronger storm. "We'll just have to make sure we are ready for a big one just in case." The last storm had been quite bad, but luckily they had been warned ahead of time. Most of the trees had recovered but a few remained bent over and would likely stay that way the rest of their lives.
Eadric's eyes wandered back to where the groves sat. If they could improve the shelter then perhaps they wouldn't need to worry so much when the next large storm came in. It took him a moment to sort out his thoughts but when the idea came to him he flashed his sister a triumphant smile. "We could build a barrier! All that driftwood that comes up onto the beach would be perfect for it. If we could stack it up and make sure it was held together well it would make a stronger wind break and then the groves wouldn't get so damaged in a bad storm." See, he knew the wood could be used for something, he just needed inspiration. Perhaps he could start dragging the logs here tomorrow and get some of it done before the next storm.
"Best stick clear of them then." At least Ebony wasn't poisonous. Or at least if he was he hadn't shown it to any of them. He scoffed at his sister's teasing. "I collect my share of food you know! I just happen to have a much bigger appetite than my scrawny little sister!" He laughed. Really she wasn't that much smaller than him, but this back and forth teasing in fun was what they did best.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:15 am
Well that was a somewhat soothing thought - sure it could still be a bad storm but generally when a bad one was coming there was a fair amount of forewarning if you knew where to look - which their grandfather did. In any case Ipswich decided she wouldn't worry about it to much, she'd just do as her brother suggested and keep an eye on things.
Her eyes brightened slightly at his next suggestion - why had no one thought of such a thing before. "That's an excellent idea! It will be just like how the coves are protected from the rough water by the way their shorelines curve! we could gather some vines to help lash them down and I'm sure that father will have some ideas on how to better secure it." Ipswich didn't say so out-loud but they were both aware of their father's somewhat dubious past and she was certain that in such past he had built defensive perimeters before - surely he would see the wisdom of building one now..and for a good reason.
"True..you eat as much as the goats sometimes and that's saying something!" Silly little goats had an appetite much larger then their smaller bodies would indicate.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:28 am
Eadric couldn't help but smile at his sister's reaction to his idea. "Well clearly no one before me had my obvious wealth of intelligence and hence they never thought to build a drift wood barrier around the groves." He puffed his chest out in triumph for a moment before starting to laugh. He could be serious at times but now was not one of them, he had just said the most ridiculous thing and it was hard not to laugh after that. But in all seriousness it was a great idea and he really did wonder why it hadn't been done before. Driftwood could be found along the beaches nearly all year long and often times the family would push it to the side to keep the beach clean and remove any tripping hazards for night time. Why not put all that wood to work if they were already putting the effort into moving it.
He nodded. "Yes vines could work well to tie them together. And we can use whatever father says as well, but vines will probably work well as long as they are thick enough and tied well." Father could also help to bring the logs to the home, between father, Eadric and grandfather they could get them all moved in no time. And while they did that Ispwich, mother and gransmother could gather the smaller materials. It's not that he didn't think the females in his family could help with the log pulling, he just didn't want to see them get hurt doing it since he knew how heavy they were and they could be dangerous when they got piled up and moving one meant others falling.
"You are wrong my dear sister." He said with a shake of his head. "I eat much more than the goats do. After all I have two mouths and therefore must eat twice as much to keep myself going." He said, referring to the monster head attached to the end of his tail as the second mouth.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:34 am
Ipswich couldn't help but roll her eyes at her brothers mock posturing. " Better not let father hear you say that or you'll end up getting a lecture." She told him with a slight laugh, she loved her father she really did but sometimes she thought he spent more time and effort then was needed to make sure they grew up respectful and kind, really she wished there was a way she could reassure him that he need not worry about such things, she and her siblings were not going to lapse into ill manners and cruel ways. Oh well, some things just couldn't be changed and her fathers nature seemed to be one of them.
"Typical..using that tail of yours as an excuse for extra shares." She told him with a slight toss of her head and drawn out sigh. "...stallions." She exclaimed as though that explained all of his weirdness. Turning her attention back to the more serious matter at hand she thought for a moment "The vines should shrink a bit as they dry out in the sun too - so that should help them hold the logs steady, and we can prop up some of the heaviest for extra support if we need to." She added with a flick of her ears - it would be bad if some nasty wind blew the fence down right on top of them some night. Best to make sure the fence was nice and sturdy right from the start.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 9:21 am
"Perhaps I would enjoy his lecture." He told her with a serious look on his face. "One should not squander any opportunity to grow and learn more, especially from our parents and grandparents." He finished with a wide smile. He was half joking, but at the same time their parents and grandparents did provide them with a wealth of knowledge in many different areas, herbs from their mother, strategy from their father, cloud and ocean reading from their grandfather and dancing and grace from their grandmother. It was really something special to have such a diverse family to pull information and talents from.
"Mares." He retorted with a snort of a laugh. When she turned their conversation back to the idea of building a fence with the driftwood he nodded. "Yes, that's true. We would just need to check the vines now and then, since eventually they may become too brittle and snap." It would be a fairly simple thing to replace old vines with new ones and could be wrapped into the daily rounds of checking their borders. "We could make a practice one first, to test how well it will stand up to the wind and to see if there is anything else that we need to use to properly strengthen it...like perhaps some rocks along the bottom." The more he talked about it the more he liked this whole idea. It would be a great thing to do with the family as a whole. "And we will have to determine how high we want it. But it might loose stability with height..." He fell silent thinking this through more.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:49 am
"No one enjoys lectures." Ipswich replied with a laugh "At least not for long." sure it was great to learn new things but there was a difference learning and being lectured in her opinion. Ah well, that was hardly something worth debating at the moment, not with this far more intriguing and potentially helpful driftwood barrier idea to talk about.
"Yes, it would eventually need to be replaced, but thankfully vines are pretty easily replenished, there are a great many of them growing in the tree's not too far from the beach, so I don't think we would have a hard time keeping up with it." She agreed. She wasn't sure on the height thing - that would be something to ask their father most likely. "I'm sure father will have some insight about that." She stated."The rocks are a good idea though, it would keep the top layers from kicking the lower layers out due to weight."
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:07 am
"True." He said with a bob of head. But nevertheless that subject was now past them and they could focus on the real point, and that was this driftwood barrier that he had come up with.
"Exactly, we would just need to make sure that any in need of changing were done before winter since the vines are less abundant during the colder months and are likely too weak from the cold to be used." He gave his head a nod, yes he would need to have a good talk with father about how high they could make it. Really it didn't need to be too tall, perhaps up to his chest or so, as that would provide good shelter from the wind and would also help to deflect a lot of the winds power away from their home. "Yes, that's exactly it. It would also help it from being knocked down if something rubbed or bumped into it." This driftwood barrier would be a very big undertaking but Eadric was certainly willing to put in the work, though he wasn't sure if they could get the whole thing done before winter set in, but if they could at least get in around their sleep groves then that would make a huge different. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us." He told his sister with a smile. Honestly now that they had talked about it he couldn't wait to go talk to father and start working on it. "I bet Ebony would be a good help getting some of the vines from further up the tree down for us." He suggested, wanting to include his sister, and her snake, as much as possible in this process.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:40 am
Ipswitch perked up slightly at the mention of Ebony being able to help. "Oh I bet he would - he's very good at climbing trees and he's surprisingly strong." She told her brother with a glance towards the sunbathing snake, and they had been working on his ability to follow her instructions - he was a smart animal even if he wasn't blessed with the speech of her mother and fathers goats. Maybe later on she could practive getting him to pull vines out of trees for her, just to test it.
"why don't we go and find mother and father, we can pitch them the idea and see what they think." She suggested, glancing down the beach to see if she caught sight of them anywhere. She didn't catch sight of them right away which meant they would either be really easy to find - holed up in the groves talking maybe..or really difficult if they were out wandering the dunes or further reaches of the family territory.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:53 am
He smiled broadly at seeing his sister perk up. Add her snake into the mix and she was happy. "I'm sure he will be a great help to us. And we will likely need some of the longer vines that grow up higher in the trees, they would be good for making a harness to help pull the logs here." Yes, it was all coming together now. The best part was that it was something they could do as a family, with each member contributing in a different way. With seven of them working on this, since he was certain their grandmother and grandfather would help out, why it would take very little time to build enough of this barrier to protect the groves.
"That sounds like an excellent idea. We'll need fathers expertise on building barriers before we get too far into this idea anyways." He turned and followed his sisters gaze but like her Eadric didn't see their parents either. "That is if we can find them." He let out a chuckle. At this point in the day their parents could be almost anywhere, though all likely hood they were somewhere along the beach. "I don't think they mentioned looking for herbs so they couldn't have gone too far. They might be at the far end of the territory visiting grandmother and grandfather."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:01 am
"Or somewhere in the dunes...or paroling the boarder...or tending to some wanderer that mother found.." Ipswich reminded her brother with a wry expression on her face, sure it was likely they hadn't gone very far but it never failed - when she went looking for them for some important reason, thats when they chose to be hard to find. Any other time she could turn around and trip over them - just not when she actually wanted them for something.
...Life. Ipswich sighed slightly "But I guess we should start looking and if we are lucky we will find them before dark." She told her brother with a slight chuckle. Maybe he was right, perhaps they had gone to visit their grandparents, it was as good a place to start as any she supposed. Trotting towards the sunning snake she nudged him with her hoof until he crawled up and wrapped himself loosely around her neck before turning back to her brother. "Race you!" She challenged him before taking off down the beach.
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