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This felt weird, Coralia reflected with a frown. No, not weird; wrong. It was wrong, because she wasn't supposed to be on her own. Corwin wasn't supposed to be on his own, and she wasn't supposed to be on her own. They were twins; they were inseperable, they had been together through the worst of life. She had come so close to losing Corwin in the Kalona War; for a few brief, terrifying moments, she was sure she had. It had been wonderful and amazing when Corwin had pulled through, and she had resolved at that time to treat him with the care he deserved.

The time that followed had been unsettling and uncomfortable, but at the same time it had been the best time of Cora's life. They had been on the move, looking for a fresh place to call home that was far, far away from any negative memories. It had been just the two of them, and Coralia had loved it that way.

It wasn't that she had any unhealthy sentiments towards her brother. No, she was sure that one day, Corwin would find the perfect mare and settle down in mated bliss, from whence would spring multiple perfect little neices and nephews for Coralia herself. She would, of course, put any girlfriend of Corwin's through an appropriate vetting process; her brother could sometimes be too kindly for his own good. But the important fact was that one day, she would let him go.

But honestly, it seemed far too early for them to be wandering about alone. It was less than a year since the Kalona attack that had left Corwin permanently scarred, even less time since they'd come to the Kawani lands. They'd taken up residence with a kindly stallion high in the mountains, and that had been perfect, as far as Coralia was concerned. They had been isolated, and that was just what they needed to heal.

So Coralia had thought. But today, Corwin had decided he wanted to prowl down the mountain on his own. And Coralia?

Well, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She had promised Corwin she wouldn't follow him, but there were a lot of things to see down the mountain. Like...lilypads! Which was why Coralia, in her tiny flutter form, was currently curled up on a large lilypad, musing about the changing world.

She didn't like it.

Coralia had never been the sort of mare to coo and smile, to be a damsel in distress. While it was true she was small, slender, and graceful, those were more gifts of biology than anything affected or striven for by Coralia herself. When she and Corwin had been foals, she had been every bit as rough and tumble as Corwin; as they had grown, she had worked hard to be just as tough as any of the colts. When they had lived with the flutter herd, Coralia had been one of the 'fighters', and had been willing to prove her prowess against anyone...especially those who might be inclined to laugh.

She had been proud of her tomboy nature, and never aspired to anything more. But along the way as she had worked to excel according to the 'male model', she may have overdone a few things. There weren't many who would accuse her brother of being feminine, but he was the one with all the social graces.

As for Coralia herself...

She had been deep in thought, with only a minimal awareness of her surroundings. Consequently, she was taken completely by surprise when the stallion and goose landed with (as it seemed to her) the force of a depth charge. Her lilypad, among others, was set to trembling and bumping on the waves, and she was nearly thrown off into the water before regaining her balance. But once she had, Coralia was indignant; obviously the rogue divers hadn't thought to look before they crash landed!

Without giving so much as a thought to her tiny size, Coralia fluttered up and off of her lilypad, zeroing in on the stallion. "Hey! Hey yeeh thehre! Dinna yeh thenk yeh moight want tae look befehre yeh go divin' intae poonds? Yeh moight hae' toossed meh intae the wahter!" It was probably a bit ludicious, the tiny fluttering mare, currently no bigger than a hummingbird, lecturing the large stallion; however, even at her tiny size her indignation was obvious!

Are you real, he asked; are you real? Are you real???

Coralia had always been the high spirited twin, the one who would flare up, who would ride the wave of righteous indignation. She was the defensive one, the protective one, the one who had pushed herself to be the toughest member of the herd, in spite of her petite frame and female gender. She had never lacked confidence in herself, not for a moment, and she had never been one to let a slight slide.

Needless to say, being asked if she was for real was not a balm to her already raised hackles, and she was about to lay into the stallion even more aggressively when his follow-up questions caught her short. When he had asked 'are you for real', she had thought he was using a figure of speech, asking if she was serious in her words. It wasn't until he asked about her size and parentage that it clicked for her; he was being SERIOUS.

Spirits save them, he'd never seen a flutter before!

Giving the goose only the briefest of glances (she had no intention of being dinner), she gave the stallion a look of mixed disgust and pity. "Really? Are yeh sayin' yeh've neyver seyn a flooter before, is tha' wha' yeh're sayin'? Because fehr yehr sake, mon, I dinna want yeh tae be castin' aspersions on meh seriousness." So saying, she flittered away from the stallion, alighting on the bank of the pool and giving him a cool look...

Before shifting back into her 'normal' size; a slightly smaller than normal, very petite mare with large butterfly wings. "A' course theyre are many oof us; loikely as many flooters as theyre are o' yeh birdy-winged toypes."

Coralia's ruffled feathers were slightly soothed by the stallion's apologetic tone and words, but she was still entirely on the offensive. Ignorance was never an excuse for rudeness, and as far as she was concerned him almost tipping her into the water was the height of rudeness. Sure, he hadn't known she was a Soquili, but what if she'd been something else? He sounded very careless in his approach to swimming, if you were to ask her.

Which, of course, he hadn't, so obviously she'd need to offer that information herself! Tossing back her windblown mane, she gave the stallion a firm shake of her head and a slight snort. "Well, whoile I appreciate yehr 'oonesty an' yehr confessin' o' yehr reckless habits, dinna be thenkin' I am findin' rakelessness tae be a fittin' reason to tep someone intae the water." She was about to continue on that vein when when the stallion's epic foot-in-mouth shot her eyebrows so high they disappeared into her mane. "Are yeh seriously goin' tae be takin' tha' route, mon? Because I hev joost as much roiyght as yeh tae enjoy the water, maybe more because I dinna go blastin' intae ponds wi'out lookin' who moiyght be there fehrst!"

Once again, her hackles were raised, though she gave the goose an approving look at the peck. "Yehr birdy friend has the roight idea; obviously she oonderstands tha' yeh're bein' a bloody idiot!" Huffing, Coralia returned her wings back to her sides and gave the stallion another glare. "Pehrhaps yeh moight be tellin' meh why yeh be thinkin' I shouldna be on the water."