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 Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:29 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:48 pm
Selene snorted as she moved through the forest. She was supposed to be meeting Calamity today. The plan was to go for a nice walk in the woods, maybe chat. And she was going to try to get a little more information on the skinwalker happenings and the kalona herd from him.
She moved under the trees, humming, waiting for her companion to arrive. That was when she noticed a small lump on the forest floor and her earsperked up. What was that? She moved closer, hesitantly.
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:53 pm
Cal spotted Selene a ways off, near a clearing. As he approached and opened his mouth to call out in greeting to the fluttercorn, her attention suddenly turned away and over in a different direction. Curious, his quickened his stride to catch up to her.
She seemed focused on something on the ground. As he sidled up beside her, his attention turned from her in the direction she was staring. "What are you looking for? Did you drop someth-"
He narrowed his gaze to a small dark bulge on the ground. "What is it?"
He sniffed the air curiously, trying to discern the the foreign object from the other smells of the woods.
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:04 pm
Selene crept closer. "I think it's a basket." she whispered in wonderment. It was so tiny next to her, much less Calamity. She got closer, in time to hear a quiet thump from inside the basket. "Oh, Calamity, there is a baby in there!"
The fluttercorn fell to her knees, nuzzling the basket. "There there my baby." she soothed. "We'll get you someplace a little warmer as soon as we can. Poor thing." She looked up at Calamity, sadness in her golden eyes. "Will you help me, please?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:12 pm
Calamity's brow furrowed and he whimpered slightly as Selene suddenly fell upon the basket, claiming it as her own. "What? What are you talking about? It's not..."
He cleared his throat, regaining his stern composure. "Selene, it's not your basket. I will not help you. What if it's mother comes back and finds it missing?"
He rolled his eyes and stared disdainfully at the dark basket that lurched slightly with movement. "Don't touch it! You might catch something. You don't know where it's been."
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:18 pm
Selene glared. "If his mother wanted him, he wouldn't have been left alone in the cold like this. A spot like this is almost begging for the baby to be eaten. Calamity, I can't leave him here! And it's only a baby, it can't harm us yet. I highly doubt he is a kalona, or a shark, or any other form of meat-eater." she looked accusing.
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:27 pm
"Granted," he conceded, "it's mother should be punished for endangering it so. But who's to say it wasn't meant to happen. If it dies out here, obviously it wasn't meant to live. We shouldn't interfere with the circle of life."
He leaned his head a little closer to the basket, and heard an odd sound like a sneeze emitted from it's depths. "See? It's already close to death. You don't want it now. If we go back and leave it here, I promise I'll get you a nice tow-leeger baby from the village for you to play 'mommy' with, okay?"
Despite his words to the contrary, the more he watched the basket, the more he curiousity urged him to allow Selene to take the basket. "Well..." he began slowly, "it might not be a bad idea to watch it...for a little while at least."
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:39 pm
Selene was already shaking her head when Calamity changed his mind. "I couldn't leave a baby to die alone." she whispered. "That wouldn't be right." she looked sad. "So yes, we can take him back. I have a place- the waterfall. We can hide him up there, until he's getting closer to hatching. We don't even know if he has wings, so if we take him back down... And the waterfall is good. It is warm, with plenty of water, and grass nearby to feed him."
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:43 pm
"Okay...but hey! Don't just assume he'll be a wussy little vegetarian like you! He might be a kalona! The little guy's going to need lots of fresh meat to make him strong like his fath- er...like me."
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, taking the excitement and pitch out of his voice. "Okay then. It's settled. He stays with you until he's ready to leave his basket. After that...well, we'll just have to see when the time comes."
He peered down at Selene haphazardly, afraid of the look on the mare's face after his little verbal slip.
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:55 pm
Selene giggled. "If he's a kalona, I'll let you teach him everything he needs to know. Until we know for sure though..." she poked her nose into the basket, only to be chased out by a growl and a pair of teeth. Her eyes widened. "He might be a kalona... in heart at least. What should we name him?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:02 pm
Calamity roared happy with laughter at the little colt's brazeness. "Well he may not be the devil, but it seems like he's already working on a deal with him..." Cal paused. "...now there's an idea!"
He leaned in towars the basket and snorted it softly. "How about it, little guy? Have you made your own little Faustian bargain? We ought to call you just that. Faust. It's a good name for you, isn't it?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:08 pm
There was a short laugh from Selene's direction. "I think it's an appropriate name. He may be weak, but he's a feisty little man, isn't he?" the look she have Calamity was amused. The basket wriggled, then sneezed again. Her amusement turned to worry. "Let's go get him warmed up. I can steal some blankets from my two-legger, and we can place him in a warm spot in the sun, and I can stay with him." she nodded.
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