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 Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:53 pm
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:55 pm
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=Svartaf=
Svartaf chooses tonight when the moon is full and the beach brightly lit in it's subtle silver rays. He never liked the dark, and taking Thurga to see the "ghost" he thinks he found wasn't something he was looking forward to. What the heck are ghosts, anyway? Undefinable. Something from somewhere else. Something that shouldn't be here. That's what ghosts are to Svartaf, and that's what make them scary. At least with the moon shining down, the beach wasn't so creepy. He could see the cheerful silvery waves lazily roll in and out. He could see the long white emptiness of the beach. Best of all, he could see how close they were to the forest. And the light gives him the added bonus that if he had to turn tail (all nine of them) and run, he could see and wouldn't be tripping over driftwood.
"It was out here, by where the cliffs slope down," he explains nervously. "I know I saw something, here. I swear... it looked like a face. Like a... dead face!!" He can't help but halt for a moment and shiver. "And it looked right at me! I'm not so sure it was such a great idea to come out here without the twins. At least they have magic, and could... I dunno, banish it? Can they do that???" He gives a huff in frustration at Thurga's slow pace. "Can't we go a little faster? I don't want to be out here any longer than we have to."
[253]
=Thurga=
Thurga yawns and trots slowly ahead of Svartaf. It's far too late to be out for him. He's definitely a morning person, and staying up all night on a ghost hunt was never something he thought he'd found himself doing. He thinks about his morning meditation he won't be able to do now that he's here instead, chasing a damn ghost with a scared man-boy. His whole day tomorrow, thrown out of whack. He sighs.
"We don't want to cause a kerfuffle," Thurga says groggily. "Besides, it's probably not a ghost. Even if it was, where are your manners? I taught you better than this. It was probably a traveler that was just lookin' around."
Thurga begins to feel irritated. Sleep deprived, he vents his frustration. "You know we've had many new visitors to the beach. Did you ever think of introducin' yourself? Seein' if they needed help? Or even just directions? Honestly, Taf... You could even have scared them. It's the middle of the night, for goodness sake. You probably woke them up with your... your late night gallivantin'! How many times have I told you to mind the sun? If you did, you wouldn't be racin’ back home in the dark like a scared little foal. We wouldn't be here in the dead of night lookin' for spooks. And I'd be sleepin' under the trees back home. As would you, boy."
He sighs deeply, using his breath to calm himself in a miniature meditation. "In any case, if we do find something, we'll figure out what's goin' on, and that'll be the end of it. Then we're going home."
[271]
=Cancu=
Cancu bobs in the water with only her eyes and ears above the water, beneath the notice of the soquili traveling along the edge of the water. She follows them quietly, like a wraith on the waves. She suppresses a chuckle as she eavesdrops on heir conversation. The many-tails think she’s a ghost, does he? She should ought to set him straight.... ought to.
But will she? Maybe in a moment. Or a few moments. Her face crinkles in annoyance as she overhears the words “dead face.” Wow. She’s been called many things, but dead face? That’s a new one. “Chh, rude,” she murmurs to herself bitterly. She decides she will have to reveal herself eventually, seeing as they are the natives on this beach, but definitely not before having a little fun with them first. She drops under the gentle waves and wheels in a somersault, whipping her long wide tail up over the waves before slamming it broadside into the water, sending a small geyser of salty ocean spray up. She imagines the spray turns to mist, shimmering in the moonlight, a thrill passes through her heart. She smiles and hopes it looked ghostly. The splash crashes through the rhythm of the gentle rolling waves, like a brass symbol crashing over a low constant jingle of bells.
“That ought to draw their attention,” she thinks to herself. Pleased with the small display, she darts soundlessly under the waves and shoots north like a stealth missile. She pops her head above calm water so she can hear and watch from another vantage point.
[264]
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 9:37 am
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=Svartaf=
Sufficiently spooked, Taf fails to suppress a high pitched (and rather girlish) frightened whinny as he dances sideways in surprise. His tails roll in a chaotic display behind him. He looks frantically along the water, seeing mist settle from the disturbance. "What the heck was THAT!?"
He dances in place, waiting for something to happen. The foam fades to nothing and there is silence. He immediately decides he doesn't want to wait around for the next surprise. He speaks quickly, almost stammering. "Y-Y-You know what? This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. We should go back. Even better, we should move! Let's move. To the mountains. All the water is in lakes there. Nothing shows up that isn't already there. So let's get going, yeah?"
Fright becomes anger at what he doesn’t understand. The beach is everything to him: a safe place, full of friends and family, watched over by a kawani girl who’s mere presence seemed to keep threats from both weather and enemy at bay. The beach is home. He had journeyed as a foal through hostile and unforgiving mountain and forest, and this beach was the end of all that. The end of predators, of struggling, and of nights when he couldn’t find shelter from the rain. This beach was the promised land, where even the rain was warm and delightful. And now, he feels it betrayed him, allowing something unknown and foreign to taint the very water. “We came here because there was nothing wrong here, nothing dangerous, nothing creepy,” he huffs angrily. “If this place doesn’t want us anymore, we should leave.”
[269]
=Thruga=
Thurga shakes his mane in annoyance. “Gods, Taf, will you just relax for a second? You’re blowin’ this all outa proportion. Now shut up, I’m trying to listen,” he growls. He scans the water for further disturbance but finds none. He listens carefully, hearing nothing but the gentle dissipating fizz of the foam ripples left behind by the stranger.
“Hmmm,” he hums to himself, analyzing the situation. “Well, whatever it is, it’s good at hidin’ and it can be very quiet when it wants to be.”
He keeps his ears on a swivel as he responds to Svartaf’s nervous yammering. “You can leave if ya want to, but I know you don’t. And I’m not abandoning my home because someone else might have took a wrong turn and is too bashful to ask for proper help or somethin’. Heck even if it was a ghost, maybe the spirit is confused or hurt? Maybe we can help it find what it needs to carry on? You hid behind me as a foal, for goodness sake. Did you learn nothing from me that whole time?”
He dials back, realizing he’s being extremely harsh. He had to admit Taf did have very few fears, and normally did do him proud when he was gentle and kind to strangers, or stepped up to protect others. But Taf never did seem to outgrow the fear of ghosts and the idea of rogue spirits. He sighs heavily. “Sorry, Taf, I’m just... not my best when I don’t get my sleep. You’re a good kid... and you’ve grown up into a fine stallion. But this ghost thing... You gotta relax! I’m here with you, and we’re gonna figure out what’s going on. Together. Okay?”
[287]
=Cancu=
Cancu listens thoughtfully to the land dwellers. Well, they aren’t both idiots, she thinks to herself. She wonders if the black usdia is a leader of some kind. He iscalm and collected, assessing the situation with a cool she found herself envying. If only all creatures we’re not so quick to judge. She believes she feels caring and kindness radiating off him. If he is their leader, she can easily imagine why.
How deceiving looks can be, she thinks with relish. She had been a pariah all her life because of how she looked, and now this small dark stranger is shaming his companion for making those assumptions. She had made several assumptions of her own. When the many-tails had first seen her, quite by accident, he had reared up, his tails blazing behind him like an angry foreign deity. So loud was his reaction she had initially worried he might come back with a hunting party, seeking divine retribution for trespassing. Yet here he was, the coward of the two. And the dark one... She figured he’d be a wimp when he strolled out on the beach, small and easily frightened. Not so. His spirit is much greater than his stature. There he is, taking the time to understand and before drawing any conclusions. She decides she feels a little ashamed of her own assumptions about them.
But that’s exactly what this test is for. Separating the losers from the genuine people. The many-tails may still be a loser, but the other was wise. She’s happy at least one of them is passing. Assumptions aside though, she was fond of practical jokes and messing with people. She had heard the dark one speak a name to the other. In her best ghostly beckoning whisper, she calls to the many-tails. “Taaaaaf,” she sighs and sinks beneath the water.
[309]
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:09 am
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=Svartaf=
The sound of his nickname sends a splash of cold fear down his spine and makes him shiver hard. “I can’t do this,” he chokes. “I’m so out of here.” He turns, ready to bolt back toward home but is met with another shock. He rears wildly as another apparition seems suddenly to appear on the beach between them and the teepee. “There’s another!” He shouts. He rapidly backs down as he realizes the figure ahead is not on four legs but two.
Moonlight washes over the kawani girl. Thrivis walks slowly toward them, her hands up in a show of peace. The closer she gets the better he sees her, and the more she looks like a gentle spirit and the mother of the beach. She’ll fix this!! he thinks. Svartaf runs to her and dances anxiously in place before her. He stammers, hoping desperately she’ll understand him. “You have to do something,” he begs. “There’s a ghost, and it knows my name! You have to get rid of it!!” If anyone could turn away an evil spirit from this shore, it had to be her.
She shushes him, reaching out slowly to pet him. He rebels at first. “You don’t understand,” he barks, shaking his head. She continues to shush him. He loses momentum as her quiet energy starts to soothe him. He reluctantly leans his face into her hands and snorts frustration. She says something he doesn’t understand but the words don’t matter. Her voice is calm and warm, reminding him she watches over him. He finally allows himself to feel comforted as she pets his nose and scratches his mane.
“Okay...” he murmurs. “I get it, it’ll be okay... right,” he sighs.
[286]
=Thurga=
Thurga joins them at Svartaf’s side. He drops one hoof and lowers his head briefly in a respectful bow. “I suppose we’ve been making quite the commotion out here, ma’am. We’re sorry if we woke you,” he apologizes. He paws the sand bashfully. “Ya see, we have a bit of mysterious guest off the shore.”
She frowns sympathetically, understanding they are distressed. She gives Thurga a gentle pat on the head. Thurga flicks his ears in minor annoyance. “Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am, but I’m awful tired,” he whimpers. He steps up beside her. “So if I could just direct your attention ta starboard-“ He gives her a gentle bump shoreward with his shoulder. “-maybe you can figure out what the heck is goin’ on so’s we can get what’s left of our forty winks.”
He faces the ocean and bobs his head in the direction they saw the splash. There’s a stillness as Thrivis looks out to sea with him, searching for a disturbance. “Oh,” Thurga breathes. “There. I see something out there in the water... Can you see it too? That shadow," he asks and squints harder at the view. “It looks like a... purple buoy I guess?”
He approaches the water’s edge, waiting for his vision to focus. The water glitters in the moonlight around a distinct dark shape. He thinks it looks vaguely soquili-like, but it’s no soquili he knows. The brightly colored twins would stand out fiercely against the dark. This is definitely someone else. He calls out. “Hello?” his voice rings out over the still waves. “Is someone there?”
[265]
=Cancu=
Cancu bobs floating on the water, watching the interactions on the beach. She frowns to herself as she sees the two-legger approach the group. “Hmph,” she sighs judgmentally. All she ever knew of that breed were poachers, hunters, and the endless disrespect for anyone not of their clan. She had even witnessed their hatred for even their own kind. What could that thing possibly want with soquili?
She gawks openly as the two-legs and the nine-tails nuzzle each other. They know each other. Not only know, they seem to like each other.
Rather than the openly hostile greeting she would have given, they greet each other warmly, and seem to discuss something together. She can’t resist drifting a little closer again to get a better listen. Her eyes narrow in disdain as the child of woman consoles the nine-tails. Disdain gives way to doubt as the dwarf steps up and speaks plainly, unafraid and unassuming. If the reasonable soquili is able to negotiate so well with the two-legged people, perhaps there is something she can learn from this beach and it's unusual people.
The moon shines bright behind Cancu, onto the shore. She can see them plainly even though they have to squint against the glitter of the calm sea. She watches them slowly turn her way. She resolves not to hide beneath the waves, and to let them see her finally. She decides she will challenge the child of woman. If it flees or strikes at her, then the children of men are the cowards and pretenders she had thought them to be. If it does... well, anything else, then perhaps there is more to them than Cancu had already known.
When Thurga calls out, she sinks low to the water and propels forward. She cuts through the water toward them like a stealthy missile, casting a nearly silent wake behind her. She casts herself half-way out of the water and perches proudly on the shore before the two-legger, defiance in her gaze. She says nothing.
[337]
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:11 am
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=Thurga=
Thurga whinnies angrily and surges forward in a rare moment of aggressive instinct, placing himself between the stranger and Thrivis, splashing the low water with firm force. Authority colors his voice as he whips his head to Svartaf. “Taf,” he commands. “If this thing turns out dangerous I’m’a need ya to run down the pier and ring the water bell quick as you can. Lead the waterbourne here.”
He lowers his head at the stranger and snorts. He sizes up the purple mer as she proudly regards them. She’s taller than him, but he doesn’t let that intimidate him. He doesn’t like her icy glare and wastes no time telling her so. “I don’t know who you think you are spookin’ everyone on our beach. We are a kind people and take no pleasure in hasslin’ strangers. But if yer here to start somethin’...” He snorts again and stamps a hoof down into the surf. “I’m here ta finish it.”
He flinches as Thrivis gently touches his shoulder. She coos, urging him to back down. He raises his head but maintains his glare at the stranger. “Ma’am here runs a peaceful show. We won’t tolerate any disruptin’ o’ that peace.”
Thrivis approaches the purple stranger. Thurga follows close at her side. He bumps against her gently and snorts as the wade together through the low waters, urging caution. “Do be careful, ma’am.”
Thrivis puts both hands out in a welcoming gesture. Thurga takes the hint. “Seems our lady is invitin’ you to stay. The why of it escapes me but perhaps she knows somethin’ about ya that even you don’t. We don’t start fights. We respect the land and the water. We take what we need and we give thanks. We share and we make this place home. Them’s the rules. If ya don’t find that agreeable, then you’re free ta take your business elsewhere.”
[315]
=Cancu=
Cancu hides her surprise at the little one. The show of righteous aggression is so much more than she expected from his stature. She realizes now that though he is small, his spirit is great and a force not to be taken lightly. She maintains a stoic front as he declares willingness to defend his territory.
She wavers only when the child of woman draws closer, unsure if the creature might bear a weapon against her. She begins to withdraw, but the woman’s hands are empty, palms up. Cancu studies her as the usdia lays down the laws of the beach. She remains silent as she considers all three land dwellers.
Finally, she speaks. “I have traveled far and seen the many acts have of both hatred and apathy this one’s kind have brought against soquili. Against themselves. Against me,” she says bitterly. She stalls a moment, finding it hard to speak her mind to these strangers but she knows she must. She accepts she is the interloper, and must explain. “The truth is, you have all surprised me. I observe from a distance and if I find nothing redeeming, I go. But this place is different. I know what you say is true... that there is truly peace here. You didn’t threaten me, even when standing your ground. You’ve shown me your spirit, and so has this daughter of woman.” She throws a skeptical glance toward Svartaf. “Though my impression of the nine of tails is... mixed,” she says.
Thrivis comes close enough to touch, but doesn’t assume physical contact is welcome. She continues to hold her hands out, gently offering friendship. Cancu flinches. “She still asks my trust,” she scoffs. She realizes she finds it oddly painful to consider allowing friendship.
[293]
=Svartaf=
Svartaf, watching silently until now, slowly approaches and listens carefully to the purple mer. This mare has wandered far through danger, not unlike him. As she speaks, he draws closer, dropping his tails behind him and letting them drag in the surf as he steps into the water with his allies. When she finishes speaking, he watches her hesitate to take the offer of friendship. He lowers his head and shares his own thoughts.
“I kind of know how you feel,” he says, a little saddened. “I think. I mean, I was lucky enough to have a guide and a friend most of the time, but before this nice lady offered us shelter, we were fightin’ uphill both ways just to survive. Sometimes we had to be mean just to hack it. But here... We made a home here, and we have a tribe now. We have each other’s backs. Together, we even find other tribes and herds with ways like ours. Life is a struggle anyway... sure... but that doesn’t have to be every day. And you don’t have to struggle alone.”
He sidles up alongside Thrivis. “I’m sorry I called you names before I even knew what you were about,” he says, ashamed. “I’m sure you heard how I talked about you. So I don’t blame you for keeping your distance. It’s just... you were always doing weird stuff in the dark!” He snorts. “I thought you were a creep. But honestly you’re actually...” He squints at her unusual markings in the moonlight. “...Kinda pretty. Not like a ghost at all. More like a flower!” He grins broadly. “So would ya please consider accepting the lady’s offer? I just know you won’t regret it. I never have, not one day since.”
[293]
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