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 Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:23 pm
 Tossing back his mane, Indawo walked through the trees, streams of light piercing the canopy and causing dapples of brightness to accent his black spotted coat. It was a lovely day, he imagined, because otherwise there'd be a lot less light. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed. "Bleh..."
Maybe it was just the fact that he felt bored. Not the productive sort of bored that inspires one to do something, merely the dull, blah sort of bored that makes one instead wish to curl up in a ball...and sleep forever.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:33 pm
This sunny day he had found himself a merry stream that had run deep and clear. He was currently heading back to the teepee, but his thoughts were not on the water or exactly where hew as going. With his teeth clutching the handle of the full water bucket, his ears were turned back in fierce concentration as his hooves moved in unusual ways, almost a sort of dancing step that took all his focus to achieve. He also was trying to do it without sloshing the water out of it's container, and this was much easier said than done.
Thus it was, he came down a path towards the other stallion, not seeing him at all while executing some rather complicated steps as he traveled along. His eyes were nearly closed as he concntrated on where to pleace each of his hooves as he practised.
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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:55 pm
His thoughts dwelling on nothing in particular, Indawo plodded down the path, his gaze flickering absently from the trees to the lights to his own plodding hooves. This particular piece of woodlands was unfamiliar to him, but he couldn't dredge up anything but the mildest interest in his surroundings.
Still, he found himself perking up his ears slightly when the sound of footfalls came wafting the trees. Raising his head, he glanced down the path in the direction of the footsteps...then frowned slightly. Strange footsteps, at that; almost like the walker was dancing?
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:44 pm
Eloran was at that moment attempting to cross his hooves in a complicated diagonal step. He sidestepped around a bend in the path and continued concentrating on his steps. Mentally he kept time for his steps.... one - two - one - two. He had to pause between with a knee high in the air, his body moving diagonally still, and then bring it down to touch the earth at the mark of the beat.
But suddenly several things happened. Firstly, his flared nostrils, wide from the extra breath it took to exert himself, caught the strong scent of another soquili immediately in front of him, not far at all. Startled out of his concentration of the beat, he brought his hoof down on the half beat intsead of the whole. This resulted in his hoof coming down too close across his other hoof, making his legs tangle.
Losing his balance almost entirely, a wide-eyed Eloran plunged face-forward towards the dusty earth of the trail. He was too surprised to let go of the bucket as his forelegs buckled, despite his attempt to use them to catch himself. Well, the end result was a rather amusing picture of the red bay stallion on his foreknees, legs crossed at the fetlock, rump still high in the air, and his nose plunged directly into the bucket of water he'd been carrying.
For a moment all he could do was blink in total astonishment.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:18 pm
"...." Though Indawo wasn't really one to see humor in everything, or even in most things, he wasn't so dull that he couldn't tell that what was happening was wildly funny. Like a scene from a movie unfolding before his eyes, he watched as the walker/dancer moved into view, then proceded to trip in a manner that would make any klutz proud. For a moment, he just stared...then a slight chuckle emerged from his lips, a chuckle that grew into total laughter. Deep, hearty laughter that in a way was at odds with the small size of the flutter stallion, actually.
Tossing his head back, Indawo continued to laugh, his sides shaking with the effort; but at the same time, he managed to move himself down towards the other stallion. "Are you alright?" Was all that he was able to choke out between gasps of laughter, and even though he knew his behavior had to be very insulting, he just couldn't seem to stop!
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:49 pm
Thankfully Eloran was not a proud individual. Athough it was a total shock to end up in this bizarre position, that unto itself did not dent his ego. However, discovering an audience was a bit embarassing. He blinked a moment longer at the other stallion and then carefully removed his muzzle from the bucket. Water sloshed out with his nose, and he blew in a snort through his nostrils to clear them.
Still on his knees, he gave the flutter a mildly embarassed look and answered his question truthfully. "Despite having just made a complete fool of myself, I think I'm alright." He gave the other soquili a wry smile and then focused on untangling his forelegs. To his mild exasperation, it turned out easier to lower his hind end and roll to the side to free both his front legs. With an irritated grunt he lunged up onto his hooves again and only then really studied his "rescuer".
He was highly curious, due to never having met any of the flutter soquili before, though he had heard of them. He lowered his head slightly, so as not to tower over the smaller stallion. His natural height was sometimes a drawback. "Hello friend," he spoke with another smile. "Now that you've seen me at my most hilarious, let me introduce myself. I am Eloran."
His nostrils flared as his curiousity about the unusual wings the other possessed grew. "Please forgive my interest in your wings. I have never met one of your kind before. They certainly look rather delicate, though I imagine they are quite useful." He was trying to be honest but diplomatic, but wasn't entirely sure he was succeeding.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:33 am
After a few final snorts of laughter, Indawo managed to supress any further vocalizations of amusement and settled himself to helping the other stallion out. Once Eloran had removed his head from the bucket, he helpfully picked it up and moved it aside a bit as the stranger went about untangling himself and rising.
He had to let out a mental sigh when Eloran stood up, though. While he'd always been shorter and smaller than other stallions, it didn't help matters to be reminded of that fact constantly by standing around beside his taller bretheren...but then, it wasn't like they could do anything about it. And if any said anything...well, just because he was small didn't mean he wasn't tough and couldn't fight!
At any rate, that was neither here or now. "Well, it's good that you're alright. A tumble onto the knees like that could be serious, to say nothing of inhaling water from your little..." Here he trailed off, uncertain as to what the best phrasing would be. "Bucketing. And it's nice to meet you, Eloran; my name's Indawo, and I'm sorry again for laughing at you."
It was that slight feeling of guilt at how he'd laughed at Eloran's plight that made him keep his composure at the comment about his wings, which he very much disliked and was actually quite sensitive about. "Er...you're not the first one to be interested in the wings...so don't worry about them. My wings are of a very rare type, and I've never seen another with them, so..." He winced slightly at the use of the word 'delicate', which once more brought to mind past issues he'd rather forget. "They're there, I guess."
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:24 pm
Eloran realized that although he may have misplaced his hoof earlier, he had REALLY put his hoof in it this time. Clearly the smaller stallion was not happy with his wings and felt rather defensive about them. Feeling more foolish about this than he had about his comedy routine ala bucket, he swiveled his ears apologetically. "Oh... I'm sorry for bringing it up."
He paused thoughtfully. "Though if you ever have foals... you won't be the only one with them anymore. Surely one of your foals would inherit them." Now what had made him say THAT? Dismayed, he hurried on. "But it must be amazing to be able to fly. I've wondered about it a few times, when I see one of our kind soar overhead." He tipped his chin upwards as if seeing one now, but his expression was wistful.
Giving himself a heavy nose-to-tail shake, he snorted and did his best to move away from the subject. "But clearly, while I am not fated to fly, neigher am I fated to dance." He gave the other stallion a sheepish look. "At least not with buckets of water."
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:54 am
If it wasn't for the obvious fact that Eloran hadn't meant to be offensive, Indawo might have found himself getting violent...or at the very least upset. But then, he had been guilty once or twice himself of a vocal faux pass, so his only reaction the wing comments was a slight flattening of his ears.
Otherwise, he managed to keep a relatively calm face. "Well, I can't say that I'd wish these particular wings on anyone else...but perhaps if they were more common, I wouldn't dislike them so much. It's difficult to say." He tilted his head to one side, considering the idea of multiple Soqs bearing the bubble wings...and almost instantly canceled it out. No thanks. Better just move on.
"Flight is alright, but to be honest I prefer walking. Winds are better suited to sustained flight than flutters as a rule, and in my case doubly so. These wings aren't very good at holding me up for an exceptionally long time, so...walking is much less of a hassle. And as for your dancing..." At that, he gave the other stallion a bit of a smile; that had really been funny. "Well, it had it's merits."
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:19 am
Eloran wisely left the topic of wings and flight enitrely alone now. He did feel sad that his new friend felt so strongly and bitterly about a part of himself, though. It wasn't exactly a sentiment he could relate to. Even so, his heart ached for the other stallion's unhappiness. He certainly refused to add to it now that he knew it existed, though. At Indawo's amusement and comment, he sorta smiled and blushed a bit at the same time, and hurried to try and redeem himself.
"I was trying a certain step that takes you sideways and forwards at the same time... watch." He left Indawo beside the bucket and traced the path back a bit before moving as far to the right, facing the other stallion, as he could go. Then actually sticking his tongue out as he grimaced in concentration, he began to try the step again. Left forehoof forward, shift weight to the left, right hoof over left, lean forward more, place right hoof and lean onto it...... then carefully lift left hoof and bring it forward and to the left as he continued moving his weight that direction.
This time he did manage to accomplish it reasonably for a few steps. That is, until he caught his left hoof on his right knee. This time he didn't trp, but the contact threw off his rhythm, so that he only came to a semi-confused halt half a step later. "Well, it's supposed to be something like that, anyway." His ears wilted at his basic failure to perform it correctly. Perhaps he wasn't meant to dance after all. Perhaps he should take up jumping instead.
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:33 pm
His usual stoic expression having returned, Indawo managed to watch Eloran's little dance routine without batting an eyelash...although he did think that it might have been complemented by a little straw hat or something similar. "Well...personally, I can't say that being unable to dance would be a bad thing; something about the body structure of Soquilis just makes me think that dancing wasn't a part of our grand design."
As he spoke, he looked down at his own legs, then at Eloran's, thinking as he did so that he seemed rather more...compact than his larger companion. Perhaps it went with being small. "But is there a reason that you're trying to dance? Or is it just something to pass the time?"
His gaze was drawn to the water bucket at the same time, and he nudged it with one hoof as he added on to the end of his statement. "What's up with this thing, by the way?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:04 pm
Eloran looked positively sheepish when asked why he was trying to dance in the first place. "Uh... well..... I just wanted to try it." He now was embarassed, which was unusual, since he hadn't been much after his bucket dunk. This stallion's matter-of-fact view on life sort of made him feel foolish for doing something so very pointless.
But he had forgotten the bucket. Surprising, really, since it had been the crowning glory of his comedy routine for Indawo. "Oh! I was getting water for my human!" He paused to peer at the other stallion. Nothing he did ever indicated the other's smaller stature, for Eloran was one of the rare individuals that really didn't see much of the outside of a soquili, but tended to see the inside more. But right now he was concerned that Indawo thought of doing chores as something soquili didn't do.
"Don't you get your human things that he or she needs?" He wasn't one to stop doing something because of how another felt about it, but after feeling the dismissive attitude towards his dancing, Eloran was left wondering what else he did that others might see as foolish or useless.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:24 am
"...Well, I suppose if you're enjoying it...and it's not a bother to anyone else...it must be alright." Indawo's sentence was rather strung out, and a thoughtful expression was on his face as he spoke. Really, doing things like dancing wasn't his cup of tea, but he knew of others that enjoyed such frivolities. At least Eloran knew his own limits, and didn't try to force others to join him.
At the bucket explanation and question, though, it was his turn to be drawn up short. Getting water for his human? Getting things for his human? What on earth was meant by 'his human', anyway? Did he have a human, even? "I'm sorry, I don't think that I follow you, Eloran...what do you mean by 'my human'?" It wasn't a term he really understood...especially since he didn't know what a human was at all. Or if he did, it must be by a different name.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:17 pm
Eloran paused, bucket in his teeth. He slowly put it down and gazed steadily at the other stallion. Hmmm. "Human is what they call themselves. Two-leggers with no fur except on their head... they live in a forest of hides shaped sort of like trees not far from here... or most of them do anyway." After all, Talencia and Wolfie did not. "They are mostly gentle creatures that feed the soquili sweet treats and treat us as equals, as well they should." He bobbed his head up and down vigorously at that. The Kiwani tribe were enlightened in that much, at least.
"My human takes very good care of me. She uses something wonderful to get all the itchy dirt and sweat from those places I can't reach. And she knows just the things I love to eat." He positively beamed as he spoke of Talencia. He truly and deeply loved her. "I let her sit on my back when we go places together, since I can travel faster than she can. We both enjoy being that close and working together." He paused to eye his companion, realizing he was beginning to ramble.
"Do you have a two-legged friend?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:30 pm
As Eloran finished his explanation, something clicked for Indawo; particularly the use of the phrase 'two-leggers'. "Oh, I understand; you mean a two legger. So, their correct name is human, hrm?" That would take some adjusting too...not that it would really change his perception of anything, but it was one of his quirks that he liked to call things by their proper names.
"I know of the two leggers...I've been among them a lot, and was actually fostered by one when I was a foal. It was alright, I suppose." Pawing at the ground, Indawo thought about the two-legger he called friend, wondering how long it had been since he'd last been to visit her. "Though we don't really have the relationship that you seem to have with yours. I guess you could say I'm a transiant who passes through from time to time."
Pausing, he looked up at Eloran, frowning slightly. "So, do you live with your two-legger full time, then?"
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