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 Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 8:54 pm
 It had been awhile since Meeki had come to the clearing to play. It seemed every time she visited it, she embarassed herself in some grand way. Was she that much of a clutz? Shouldn't she have grown out of such a thing by now?
Of course, fate being the way it was, Meeki spotted a flutter stallion she had run into once before... and made a total fool of herself with. That was the one that didn't like his wings, she reminded herself.
Meeki trotted over cautiously before tossing out a greeting. She meant for it to sound friendly but it seemed more on the verge of hysteria. She tried to smile to make up for the awkwardness.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:07 pm
 Surprised, the cheetah-patterned stallion raised his head, looking blankly at the mare who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Granted, it made sense that she'd be here...now that he remembered it, this was where he'd run into her originally. But that didn't do anything to dim the shock.
"Well, if it isn't Meeki! You seem...just like you were before." He smiled slightly, a little surprised at her tone as well as what seemed to be timidity on her part. Still, he had to be mistaken about that at least.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:19 pm
"Yes, and you.. Indawo, yes? It's good to see you're still around." Meeki tried to keep from glancing at his wings but the more she tried to pull herself away, the more her eyes became fixated upon them. They really were quite beautiful, always were.
Before making the same mistake as last time, she willed her eyes to focus on something else and started looking over the spots along his body. They really were quite noticeable due to the lightness of his coat. She noticed what appeared to be some kind of animal on his rump though she couldn't quite place the creature. Perhaps it was just her eyes playing tricks on her.
"How are you doing, Indawo?", she asked in a more stable and friendly voice.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:35 pm
"Yup, I'm still Indawo, thanks for remembering." Smiling, Indawo rose to a standing position, disliking to be looking up while talking. It was so strange to be talking to Meeki again, in a way...yet at the same time, it was refreshing. Or rather, it had the potential to be refreshing, if she was still as eccentric as she'd been before.
"Things are going pretty decently for me, albeit a little dull these days. Surprising as this must be...there really isn't much to do around here." Perhaps that was why he had wound up back here again; there was simply nothing anywhere to hold his attention.
Not that that seemed to be a problem for Meeki; once again, she seemed to be staring at him. Oh well. "But how about you?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:49 pm
"Oh, I've been good. Well, most of the time. I realized water is not good for my socks. I shall never go jumping into the river again! I almost lost one of them.. the socks that is. I still think that turtle was trying to steal it. But look at me, I'm rambling. Hahaha!"
Meeki had no idea why she was nervous. Perhaps it was simply because she wanted to make a better impression with him than the first time they had met. "I do agree that it can get a little boring around here... but I suppose it could be worse, we could have the wrong kind of excitement in our lives, like facing down a soquili eating Kalona." Meeki lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned closer to Indawo as if letting him in on a big secret, "I hear they like to eat foals when there's a full moon."
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:07 pm
...Well, there was that randomness that he'd almost come to expect, and it caused him to break into a slight smile. Though he'd encountered many Soquilis now in his wanderings, there were none that had Meeki's knack for spontenaity. "Well, it's a good thing that you managed to prevent the turtle from stealing your sock; firstly, you'd look off-balance with only three socks, and secondly the turtle would no doubt look ridiculous."
Indawo managed to keep a straight face as he spoke, a trick he must have picked up in dealing with Safi. But he was aware of a tension, one that bothered him slightly. It would be very depressing if Meeki had become like everyone else...
..Or maybe not. The comment about Kalonas {and the seriousness it was told with} caused him to smile a little bit more, and he shook his head. "While I agree that cannibalistic Kalonas would be bad, I can't say that I've ever heard anything about them other than that they tend to be unnaturally vicious. But then, I've never seen one, have you?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:04 am
Meeki couldn't help but laugh at Indawo's comment about the turtle looking ridiculous. It most certainly would be true! She would be picturing that for days to come now!
"No.. I haven't really seen a Kalona but the others sure seem afraid of them for some reason. I don't know why any Soquili has to be mean, I guess it's just one of those things that I'll never understand. But it's hard not knowing what's true or not when you hear things. I'd much rather believe them to be true just so I can avoid them, I suppose." Meeki really hated the Kalona and she felt bad for it since she never met one but there has to be some truth in things she hears, otherwise so many Soquilis wouldn't hate or fear them, right?
Meeki found herself glancing at Indawo's wings again, trying to build up the courage to ask if anything's changed about them, if he knew how to fly or not. Maybe she wouldn't blunder up so much if she actually put thought into what she said BEFORE she spoke.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:42 pm
"Well, some Soquili are just cruel natured, I'm afraid; it's why the rest of us have to keep on our toes to make sure that such cruel Soquilis aren't free to indulge their darker desires." For a moment, Indawo's face clouded over as he remembered the conversation he'd had with...what was his name, Remy? That sounded right. Well, the conversation he'd had with Remy about stallions who took advantage of their larger size to harrass and bully mares and smaller stallions. Kalonas hadn't been specifically mentioned, but it wasn't necessary to look eveil to BE evil.
But at any rate, that wasn't the issue; he was talking to Meeki, so he really wanted to enjoy the absurdity. Damn, that always seemed to work for Safi, and yet he had so much trouble 'lightening up' for even the shortest periods of time.
"I suppose that it's a safe idea to simply avoid those who give off an aura of danger...flutters like us are at a distinct disadvantage in combat simply because of our..." Frowning, the stallion tried to come up with a proper term; he never should have used himself in the example (even if he was technically a flutter) simply because all the flutter adjectives were horrid. "...our diminutive physical stature. Comparatively." Not great, but it could be worse.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:53 pm
"Cruel natured", Meeki repeated, almost as if such a thing couldn't exist. But of course, it had to. She would just have to hope she doesn't come in contact with these cruel natured Soquili.
Her eyes went wide as he acknowledge his race. He called himself a flutter! So he was a flutter! Meeki had suspected all along because of the wings but had been known to make mistakes all along. And his wings were magnificantly unique. "Diminutive.. but you're so much bigger than me. You look positively huge. Besides, the bigger they are, the harder they fall and the longer it takes for them to get back up! Also.. not everyone has...", she paused for a moment before finally adding, "wings. We have an advantage over most. That's not to mention that we are probably able to dart and turn faster on top of that. We are simply underestimated and that works in our favor." A glaze came over the mares eyes. She truly believed everything she said and felt. She loved her race with a passion.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:11 pm
Having spent time with other excitable Soquilis, Indawo knew what it meant when eyes wet wide, and he cringed inwardly. Oh, to think that he had made such an annoying confession; still, anyone who anything about flutters could identify him as one with one eye closed. For one thing, there were his glaringly obvious wings...and then there was the fact that he was rather small for a stallion. Little things, but basically the equivalent of a flashing neon 'FLUTTER' sign.
Heaven help any stallions who tried to belittle him for being a flutter, though! evil
"I'm only large compared to you and other flutter mares, Meeki, which is truly an annoying state of affairs when you're a male. Trust me on this, but on average you females seem to be a little more kind towards each other." Sighing, he glanced back at his wings, which quivered slightly as though they knew they were being addressed. "And there are many Soquilis that have wings that aren't flutters; they have the advantage of size and staying power, at least compared to flutters. As to darting..." He honestly wasn't that fond of flying; he always felt clumsy and overweighted in the air, supported by an unsubstantial pair of wings that just flapped too much. "Meh..."
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:36 am
Meeki sighed and pawed at the ground with one of her socked hooves. He really was a stubborn one. She believed herself to be pretty tolerant and friendly for the most part but there was an inner fire to even she and that fire was slowly beginning to heat up.
"Indawo, if you want to think yourself any less than another stallion, fine, but the only one making you any less is YOURSELF. It's all you. You you you you you. You. YOU! All you see are your faults but we all have them. Even the mightest wind or the noblest unicorn. They have faults too. You will never see your own worth or value because you have already admitted defeat."
The seriousness that came to Meeki left almost as quickly as it had come and a faint blush once again adorned her dark gray cheeks.
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:28 pm
Meeki's unexpected response hit Indawo with all the force of a slap in the face, and was only slightly more appreciated. Such seriousness and even condescension from the mare he'd thought of as a child was an unpleasant realization, and it took him a moment to do anything beyond simply stare at her in surprise. But he wasn't cowed for long. "I've never felt myself to be less than any other stallion, nor have I felt myself as a whole to be inferior to anyone else. But that doesn't mean I wholly embrace certain aspects about myself, unchangable as they may be. You might enjoy being what you are, but as for me..."
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed and ears flattened, but not at the mare in front of him. Visions of colts danced before his eyes, colts who taunted and teased and bullied the small 'girly male' with his 'prissy wings' and who managed to render virtually every memory of what should have been an idyllic time into nothing but rage and depression. His days of being a foal had been pure hell in many ways, and even as an adult he couldn't shake or forget the taunts he'd been buried in as a child.
Unaware of his actions, he clenched his jaw and dug one foreleg into the ground, suddenly turning his back on Meeki and staring instead out towards the trees. "Meeki...have you ever been around other Soquilis much? Did you spend time with them as a foal, or do you spend much time with them now?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:35 pm
Meeki took a step back, caught off guard at his question. Of course she had been around others.. there was that one time. A grimace befell her face as she realized that she really had spent most of her life alone or in the company of her two-legger friend.
"I guess I tend to stick to myself mostly. As a foal I was stared at or teased or thought differently because a two-legger gave me these socks. It's not exactly something you see on well.. our kind. There were times I even thought of pulling them off with my teeth just to fit in more but they were a gift and became a part of who I was.. at least it felt like it they are a part of me. I would feel so strange without them. So I guess the answer is no but really, I'm quite okay with it. I love my life, even if it's a little lonely at times!"
The small mare smiled genuinely with her eyes closed. The grin was lopesided and quite silly but it was a heartfelt attemptl. She wondered if Indawo's life was filled with some loneliness and bad memories too and if so, how it would ever be possible to rid him of them. Only time could heal such wounds.
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:05 pm
Indawo had been expecting an answer of that sort, but even if she had responded that she'd been immersed in other Soquilis since her basket days, it was doubtful he'd believe Meeki understood. He'd tried to escape from those days by taking off on his own as soon as he was old enough to survive by himself, totally eschewing the company of other stallions, but the present couldn't change the past, nor did it have much effect on his deeply held bitterness towards the hatefulness of others and his own perceived weakness. And even though Meeki said it could be lonely, he rather would have preferred such loneliness to his own version of 'companions'.
Still, he hadn't really expected to hear that she'd been teased, either. It was a little thing, but perhaps it was possible she knew at least a fraction of the pain he carried about with him everywhere he went. "You were fortunate that you have such a kind two-legger friend, Meeki; I grew up in the teepee of a two-legger, but I don't think that she ever really cared for me that much." Certainly she hadn't seemed overly despondant when he left, that much was certain. "And you at least had the option of getting rid of the source of your troubles with other Soquilis, something I can't say we have in common."
But even though his tone was slightly bitter, he couldn't help but feel jealous at the look on Meeki's face as she talked about her two legger and the pleasure she got from something as simple and silly as a pair of socks. If someone had given him socks, would he be that happy about them? Almost without thinking about it, he looked down at his feet, imagining a pair of socks on them. They would be tan socks...with white spots. And black ones. Perhaps.
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:16 pm
"I am very thankful for my two-legger. If not for her, I probably wouldn't have survived. I don't know why my basket was abandoned or what I had done but whatever it was.. was enough that I wasn't wanted by my parents. Though I cannot understand her, the two-legger is the only family I have."
She couldn't help but agree with the stallion. She could have removed the socks if she wanted. She could have had a more social childhood and wouldn't be the naive creature she is today but still, she had no regrets. "We are different in some ways," she agreed simply, "but I like differences. You're really a nice..." She was going to say something else but the worlds trailed off as she noticed him looking at his feet. Curious she lowered her head to take a closer look at his legs as well, wondering if he had bug on them.
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