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Gads, this region was dull, Bastian thought as he plodded along through a seemingly endless meadow. He wasn't sure if it was his idea to come here, or if it had been his familiar Myrtle's, but since Myrtle wasn't here, he was going to blame it on her. Surely he had more sense than to think a grassy wasteland was a good place to look for a new and interesting body of water. Yes, this bit of foolishness was clearly the brainchild of his sea turtle friend. Never mind that Myrtle was obviously the brains of their operation, and had a better understanding of the natural world than Bastian; on top of that, as a sea turtle, she was even more dependant on water than he was. So, logically, she wouldn't have chosen this place, either.

But whoever had picked it out, here he was, walking for what seemed like an eternity without seeing so much as a pond. It was a good thing he'd left Myrtle back at the lake; otherwise she'd be in a rough spot. Bastian himself was already starting to feel the effects of too much time spent on dry land. Surely it was only a matter of time before he found a pond...

"No," he said suddenly, coming to an abrupt stop. "No, I am not going to keep up this nonsense." Because really, who knew if there was a pond over the next hill? Or the next? He could very easily dry out and die without ever coming to a proper body of water, and he was far too fond of himself to allow that to happen. He'd waited as long as he dared.

So, having made up his mind, Bastian narrowed his eyes at the grassy hollow in front of him. This would do...

And magically, the hollow began to fill with water. Before the space was ankle deep, he was down, rolling happily in the rapidly increasing pool. Being half Kelpi could be annoying in dry places like this, but at least he had an ace: the ability to summon a small pool of water, once per day. Thank goodness his other half was Water Suti!

Bastian had known he was an oddity since he was a small foal, so being stared at was nothing new to him. However, he tended to forget how rare Suti were in this region, and how rare their powers were by association. He'd been flopping around in the water quite happily for several minutes before he realized he was being watched, and even then he thought it was his weird physical appearance that was attracting the attention, not his pool. Not too many Kelpi/Sutis roamed these parts; he'd certainly never seen another, and he liked to think he was the very observant type.

Still, he wasn't going to abandon his pool until he felt thoroughly, completely hydrated. Given how dry the day was and how long he'd been walking, that was going to take a while; ignoring his new companion that long would be highly rude. So he stopping his rolling, settling down deep in the center of the pool so that his entire body was underwater, with the exception of his mouth and eyes. A bit of a weird way to have a conversation, but hopefully the other Soquili, the other stallion, rather, would be the accommodating sort.

"Hello yourself! And I haven't decided the answer to that yet. The original answer would probably be 'curiousity,' but at this point in the day I think the real answer is stupidity. I was expecting to run into a lake or river miles ago; if I'd been a pure Kelpi, I'd probably be a dried out husk by now. Or else I'd have had the sense to stay closer to water." Chuckling, he ducked under the water for a moment, then popped out again to ask the other stallion, "What about you? Are you a native, a traveler, a holiday-weekender?"

Native; well, that probably gave the other stallion more than justification to give Bastian weird looks, he thought with amusement. After all, with it being so dry here, who knew how many chances the flutter stallion had had to see a water stallion in all his glory, blowing bubbles and bobbing around like an oversized cork? "Well, you and the butterflies alike can call me Bastian, seeing as how that's my name, and you're both very welcome. This place needed a pond, though I'll tell you all now that this is purely temporary."

That had been a disappointment for Bastian, back when he was a foal; he'd thought that the pools he summoned would be there forever, a testament to his powers and talent. But in order for a pond to be permanent, if had to be somewhat waterproofed; putting a puddle over grass meant that eventually, the puddle would return to the grass. But not before he'd gotten what he wanted from it!

He briefly ducked under the water again, feeling the welcome moisture seeping into his scales. There really was nothing like a cold water submersion to really rejuvenate the system, he thought with a self-satisfied smile as he listened to the stallion. "Fluttercorn, either? Nice mash-up, Shadow; using that logic, I guess I'm a..." He paused, cocking his head to one side as he considered what he'd be. "A Kelsuti? Something like that. My dad's a Kelpi and my mum's a Water Ulun'Suti, making me 100% mongrel and 100% me."

Well, that was a nice piece of logic the stallion had just used; Bastian heartily approved! Grinning, Bastian bobbed his head at Shadow, declaring in his boisterous way “I like that, Shadow, indeed I do; I hope you don’t mind if I poach that from you to use in the future. And me being me, I further thank you for being so nice to a stranger like me, emphasis on ‘strange.’” As if to emphasize the point, Bastian proceeded to do a lazy roll in the pools, the action showing off his spikes as well as the star pendant he wore around his neck.

Coming back to his base floating position, he gave another nod. “Oh, I definitely like to be around water; need to be, in fact, or I’ll dry out. Believe me, there is nothing nice or good about a dried-out water Soquili,” he said with a wry twist of his face. He’d started that process before, and it was NOT pleasant! “But I get bored with the same stuff all the time, so I like to wander around, see what’s out there. You’d be surprised what an amazing variety of water there is in the world, everything from lakes and streams to ponds and oceans,” Bastian said with a grin. “I’ve seen so much, and I know there’s so much out there to see. Like you, and your butterflies,” he laughed as the butterfly came to rest on the end of one of his horns. “Would you believe I’ve never seen a guy like you before? You’re pretty new and different!”

Bastian had always considered himself a gregarious fellow; good social skills were an integral part of living a traveling lifestyle in harmony. It wasn't that getting along with others was required to handle the literal travelling, but one could get into all sorts of sticky situations when blundering into unknown territory. You never knew who called a place home until you were actually there, and if they weren't inclined to share their space...well, in those situations, you wanted to be able to talk your way out of a fight. One of the weirdest encounters of Bastian's life had involved a territorial Mer who didn't believe in backing down; it was fortunate for Bastian in that situation that Myrtle was a turtle of great diplomatic ability. But Bastian himself had tried to talk his way out of the mess before it got too bad; it wasn't his fault he'd failed!

But that failure had been a great lesson in the importance of cultivating a properly friendly demeanor. It helped that he was naturally chatty and good natured, but there was more to getting along with others than a simple good nature. You also needed to like people, and to find them interesting. Fortunately, Shadow was making it easy to be interested! They might not have the exact same life experiences to draw on, which was making their respective attempts at metaphors a little awkward, but at least they were both trying! "Well, since I've always been the same size my whole life and only really ever met other Soquili who stay the same size, I guess I'm not sure what you're talking about either. But if a fluttercorn can die from not shrinking, then I'm sure they're really very similar things!"

A serious topic, of course, but trust Bastian to approach it lightly. That was a danger of being a water-based Soquili; you had to be aware of the risks if you wanted to move too far away from the safety of a pond or river. But Bastian had always been a risk taker, and, as previously mentioned, he had a major advantage! Just like Shadow had a major advantage when it came to tending plants, apparently. It was Bastian's turn to listen as Shadow enthusiastically spoke of the fun he took out of size-shifting and tending to plants; to Bastian, the gardening thing sounded downright dull, but no doubt his fascination with water was equally dull in the eyes of another. That was the beauty of living in a world inhabited by so many different creatures; there was always someone to find something fascinating!

"It's a fabulous, crazy world we live in, isn't it Shadow? Whether we're travellers or homebodies, there's always something new to see and do! Though some things are obviously better than others," he said with an undisguised shudder at the mention of walkers. He'd never met one, and spirits willing, he never would! "It's wonderful that you have your sister and that you're both able to enjoy your home so deeply."

The quote from Shadow's sister was simple, but profound. If Bastian hadn't already been smiling, the truism no doubt would have made him break into a large grin all by itself! It was certainly true that wherever you felt happy was 'home', even if that home was mobile. Bastian himself had certainly never felt deprived by his lack of a stable 'base;' indeed, the idea of being restricted to one area made him feel downright depressed! So while his 'home' might not be the most traditional, it was his; his, and Myrtle's, and whoever else's they happened to meet in the course of their journeying!

"Your sister seems like a very sensible girl with a good head on her shoulders, Shadow; I rather like the sound of my home being everywhere, because I like to think that's true. Wherever there's water, that's where I've been, or where I plan to be. Heck, sometimes even where there isn't water," he said with a splashing gesture at his little self-made pond. "Clearly, I'm the sort of guy who can make himself comfortable in every situation!"

And he was happy with that. It was an atypical lifestyle, but he was an atypical guy.

Though Shadow was making some interesting, atypical points of his own. "You know, that's an intriguing thought, Shadow! I wonder if it's true that rovers like myself see more of a place as we pass through than the Soquili who live there full time, simply because of the novelty factor. I mean, I'm used to scrutinizing everything, but if a fellow was to stay in one place day in and day out...well, it seems like that could get old quickly, and he'd stop looking, wouldn't you think?"