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 Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:28 am
The ground rolled in a steady rumble beneath his hooves. The wind of his passage whipped his mane back into the face of his rider. He could feel her own thrill at their joined movement, communicated in her leaning forrward, the subtle tightening of her knees, and the fast pant of her breathing as she leaned close to his neck. Just for the joy of it he put on a fresh burst of speed, his hooves flashing through the waving grasses. Her startled and exhilerated shout made it worth it.
But he was starting to blow and labor to keep up the speed. Just as he flicked one ear back at her, she felt his strain and lovingly eased back, settling onto his back in a silent signal for him to slow. Obligingly, the red bay let his muscles relax and settled into a canter, then a trot. Before long they were strolling along lazily as he blew away the last of his exertion. He loved it when she stroked his neck that way! Her voice murmured affectionate words of praise, and he knew just how much she cared for him, knew she understood he returned the love.
They had been walking alongside a stream when it joined another, widening and growing swifter. It was here that she slipped a leg over and slid down off his back. He snorted inquiringly at her, turning to gaze at the human woman with soft brown eyes. She stroked his nose and gave him a light kiss on his muzzle before heading for a shade tree, unslinging her pack from her back. Ah, it was time for her to eat.
He himself wasn't hungry, but he was a bit warm. Thirsty besides, it made his choice easy. He waded into the stream, not stopping when the water cooled his fetlocks, but moving further into the current until it touched his belly. Giving a contented sigh, he then dipped his muzzle into the moving water and drank deeply. Raising his dripping lips, he looked about him. It was a perfect warm autumn day, with bright sunshine, cool treeshade, and the small noises all about them of the forest being alive.
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Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:41 am
As was her usual custom, the beautiful mixbreed horse found her way through the lands known to the Soquili. There was hardly an inch left that she did not have some knowledge about, and there were few places that did not please her in some fashion. Though, as winter blew strong upon the newborn winds of winter, she knew that her travelling would once again come to a hault.
It was a dangerous game to play against mother nature at a time like this, when her harshness was lingering just beyond the change of seasons. Though, the harshness of earth was always her favorite - that gentle switching of time that displayed the ferocity with which any mare or woman could rule.
The gold kissed leaves, falling and twirling in a dance of age, swirled around her as she made her way towards the gentle sound of rushing water. It was with luck that she stumbled upon the pair before they had been there too long at all. She stopped, at first, as all wild Soquili would - but then, after a moment of assessment, she sauntered her way from the woods. Raised around humans, she knew which ones posed threats and which didn't.
It was her grace that set her apart from many mares, a gentle elegance to her steps, though her posture was forever rigid and tense - much like one would expect to find upon a royal, be there such things as royal Soquili at all. It was pride and respect that filled her veins, and an amazing sense of self worth. She cradled information in her mind, fed upon knowledge, and loved others that would love her for it alone.
Slowly, she made her way to the stream, lowering a chestnut muzzle and taking her fill of the cool water - quenching a thirst she had not known to have grown so strongly. In the moments that followed, her cool icy eyes found the other - a gentle male by the looks of him, and no doubt belonging to the human that ate beneath the shadows of the great oak not so far away.
"Do you come out this way often?" came the gentle question, and though her voice was calm, it too carried an eloquence that fit hand in hand with her amazing amount of grace and elegance. It was much like a song, that voice of hers, the syllables each a note befitting the most gentle ears.
Though she may have been a more serious mare, it could never be said that she was not one of beauty, at least of some fashion.
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Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:22 pm
Eloran shifted his gaze from the blue sky upon hearing hoofbeats nearby. He focused on a mare coming for a drink, her hooves stirring up the leaves of myriad colors along the bank. He swished his tail amiably, flicking water droplets like diamonds into the air.
"Greetings," he quietly spoke. This was someone he hadn't met, so he watched her with mild curiousity. While graceful, she seemed... he mulled for a moment on the right word. Coiled, he decided was it. Like she was tensed against something. He flicked an ear back at his human friend, whom he was sure had noticed the visitor. Perhapse she was what was distressing the mare? Ever concerned about the welfare of others, he returned both ears to being pricked forward. "Is all well with you?"
Upon hearing her own question, he nickered a laugh. "I go anyplace my heart-friend wishes to go. We wander quite a bit together. Today, we have wandered here." He glanced around at the area htoughtfully. Maybe he was reading her wrong, and that her coiled nature was simply her way. She certainly didn't sound concerned. "Is this by chance a place you frequent? It certainly is lovely enough to draw..." and here he faltered. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but it faded from him. He paused, blinking in a slightly baffled fashion, the attempted to finish his thought. "It was lovely enough to draw us here, to be sure."
It didn't occur to him that instinct had been prodding him to flirt gently with the pretty mare. It just wasn't in him to be smooth and flattering. Oh, he was not beyond giving kindly and honest compliments. But to say something merely to gain favor wasn't something he knew how to do. Having smoothed over his own odd moment, he relaxed again, stretching his neck to snag a mouthful of the lush grasses that grew along the edge of the stream. They were some of the last vestiges of the rich summer the valley had experience this year. Chewing contentedly, he regarded his new companion with interest.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:10 am
It was a small, weak little smile that first spread across Shaitani's maw - but it was a smile none-the-less, which is much more than she reserved for most of the Soquili population. Her head dipped, caused a sudden ruffle of her short, blue mane, letting it topple delicately across the eyes, they eyes of a hue that matched beautifully. The feathers braided into both her mane and tail were enough of a sign to say that she had, at least at one point, been raised among the humans herself.
"I am quite well, in fact, just surprised to run into a Soquili and his rider so far from the village," she said, her gentle voice a thing of certainty, as if she knew and calculated the songs of her sentances. Quite the creature, indeed, to be aware of such simple little things - simple little things that could still make the world of a difference.
"I travel wherever my heart aches to be lead, I'm afraid I've never been one to accustom one place more than a handful of times - but then, one searching for something never really looks in the same place twice, now do they?" her eyes sparkled with her words, lighting them and driving back the silent sorrow they seemed to hold deep within their sapphire pools.
"But it is rude of me, I'm afraid, to carry on such an interesting conversation of such things as intimate as the heart and its desires without first introducing myself," she said with a gentle purr riding the tones of her voice. "My name is Shaitani," she added, soft and gentle, with a bow of her head, "and I'm pleased to make the acquaintance of another that sounds out so readily among his peers." She meant, of course, his attitude - for though he was mighty handsome, he did not own up to the brilliant colors many other Soquili gloated upon. Those gentle colors, in a way, were just as beautiful as any bright one could be anyway.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:28 pm
Eloran regarded the mare with some trepidation. The way she spoke felt so eloquent and formal. His ears flicked to the side in uncertainty and then back forward to her. He bent a knee and lowered his head graciously as she introduced herself. It wasn't that he had lost his equilibrium, but more that he wasn't sure how to handle her formality and deliberate way of communicating. You might say he was just a country boy with gentlemanly manners. Still, his personal uncertainty did not keep him from those manners.
"The pleasure is mine, lady. I am Eloran, and my dear friend over under the tree is Camarin." The name tasted strange on his tongue still. The woman's name change had suited her, and been right for the time. She was still the same inside, after all, as she had been when her name had been Talencia. He mentally rolled her name over again... Camarin. This would definitely take some time to get used to.
His attention turned back to Shaitani, he gently blew out his nostrils. He wasn't sure what her meaning was about his sounding out, but he gathered it was a compliment. "Many of our kind wander with no one place to call home." He looked over his shoulder at the long haired human. "I may roam, but I am proud to say my home is with her, no matter where she goes." And this was entirely true, since when they had gathered up all that was 'home' and gone on the quest for a name, he hadn't been sure they'd come back. Since it wasn't the place but the person that made him feel at home, though, it hadn't troubled him. As long as he was with her, all was well.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:54 pm
"Well, it is a right pleasure to meet you, Eloran, and though I am not truly meeting her - 'tis quite the pleasure to see her here as well," she said politely, her tail flickering and cause the sapphire tips to swirl some of the long dead, oaken leaves up from the ground.
She did notice the flicker of his here, often a tell-tale sign of nervousness when there were no flies in the vacinity. She brushed her front hoove against the ground, scraping away the leaves from that area as she watched the glistening sapphire hoove there. IT was a common thing, really, when there was anothe rin her presence - she either made them nervous, uncomfortable, or she was just downright unpleasant to them. Sometimes, it was a rather rough combination of all three. She did try to be more tolerant, these days, but it seemed the harder she tried - the more likely she was to fail.
"I had a home," she said quietly, eyes wandering back up to his eyes as she found a subject she could more readily talk about. "At least, when I was younger I did. My family has been scattered to the four winds, and it has been many a month since I've been back to our Tipi. I'm not sure it is even there any longer," she murmured, eyes glancing away and narrowing upon the horizon.
How she ached to see her mother, or even Makya.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 2:18 pm
The tall stallion's heart softened immediately upon seeing the sadness that crossed her lovely face. He knew he could not shield even one soquili from all pain, but he felt stirred to try anyway. He waded out of the stream, ignoring the dripping water that turned the warm earth to mud beneath his hooves as he moved beside her to nuzzle her gently in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry to hear that. Family is important, even more so when you have lost it." All indications of his previous discomfort melted before this deeper matter.
"I know the village well. If you would like to go search out your old home, be it empty or occupied, I would be honored to accompany you." He nickered softly. "Sometimes shared pain makes the burden easier, and thus a companion on a difficult journey can offer unforseen comfort." He had learned that when he and Delphia had gone with Talencia on her quest. They had turned out to be her bulwark in the midst of her internal chaos. He had been glad to have been there. Perhaps there were others, like this beautiful mare, that he could offer similar comfort to.
He met her gaze steadily and huffed gently, touching his muzzle to hers in a quiet gesture of support. "Consider also, it isn't blood that makes a family. It is love, unselfishness, and genuine concern for each other. Even if your prevoius family has scattered, it is possible to draw to yourself a new family." His voice was quiet and low, a sincere rumble in his chest. His great heart could not bear to see her mourn so for something lost to her. Surely there was something he could do?
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Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:23 am
She couldn't lie and say that the sudden contact was something she was too used to - but as odd as it was, it was a form of comfort she found to work against the sudden sadness in her heart. A stranger, of all Soquili, could make the mare feel more in place than anything else in the world. Anthing else, perhaps, other than her very own family - but there had been no sign of them for many moons.
"I would like that, very much, Eloran," she murmured, her eyes closing as she felt the gentle nuzzle, the brush of maw to maw. He certainly earned points for calming an aching heart, but his words of a family were lost upon her. In her own opinion, it would be rather hard for an unkind and often cruel Soquili to start a family of her own.
Who would ever have her?
"I don't mean to rush you, however, I'll go whenever you and your human have the time," she murmured, eyes once again spreading to reveal all of the deep blue pools.
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Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:53 am
Eloran chuckled warmly at her. "No worries there, miss Shaitani. The reason my two-legged friend brought her lunch is because she intends on spending the day here." He nickered pleasantly at her in reassurance. "She won't be needing me all day. Just let me go let her know I am going and we can head off to search." He blew gently on her and then turned and trotted over to Camarin. He shook his head hard for a moment, again having difficulty thinking of her by that name. It certainly suited her, but it was a difficult transition for him to make. Names were important, and to change it was significant and unusual.
He nuzzled his warm nose against the woman's cheek, huffing lightly. The woman laughed and stroked his jaw. "Alright, I see you have a friend to frolick with. Go on, I'll be fine." She reached up and slapped his shoulder as an affectionate dismissal, and he snorted and mock-squealed, pivoting and lunging away as if to charge off.
Instead, he slowed to an easy walk to Shai. "Ready?" His voice held a deeper question than the off-hand word implied. The depth of his tone imparted a concern if she was ready to face her past and search out her family right this minute, or if she needed more time. He didn't want to be a reason for her to feel more pain and loss. Uncertainly he shifted his weight, cocking first one hind hoof, then the other. He would go with her when she felt prepared for it.
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:49 am
Shaitani smiled as she watched the little skit between he and his human, her tail flickering in a manner that would say she was nervous - but only if she had been some other, not quite to sure of herself, Soquili. In fact, Shai could most certainly make it look like nothing more than a silly, idle little motion.
As he came trotting back over to her, she moved slowly away from the stream, her slightly dampened hooves finding their place among the crisp, fresh grass that gathered around the river banks. She tossed her head, gently, in an attempt to rid her vision of the blue tressels of mane - mane that always and forever lingered in front of her matching eyes, no matter how many times she tried to dismiss them.
"I'm ready," she said quietly, seeming to answer two questions all at once. There was no reason to hesitate. Hesitating only ever made things harder, made the suspense drag itself out to straining proportions, so that once the task was actually set about to be completed - everything seemed to be a hundrer times worse.
"Lead the way," she said again, almost a whisper, though she did step up beside him - her shoulder brushing against his in a manner that suggested she was perhaps trying to soothe herself. She felt fairly close to the stallion, though they had admittedly just met, but she attributed it solely to his ability to calm her.
No one ever really calmed her, over anything.
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 11:08 am
He didn't question her resolve and readiness to go on. He could sense that she was a strong lady who was used to bearing up under difficulty,an he admired that. He bobbed his head amiably at her decision and took a step forward to the path that would lead them back towards the village, when she moved close and touched her shoulder to his. He caught his breath at that slight touch and turned to regard her as they moved together across the meadow.
He woncdered how it was that she could look both brave and calm while also looking vulnerable. As he considered her, he felt a surge of protectiveness. He got the feeling that she needed him, and it opened up a place that had been waiting for just such a key. The word "love" did not enter his mind, but he knew that he would do all in his power to help her and protect her. He wanted her to feel safe and happy. The way she had touched him like that told him he was on the right road.
Just then their hooves touched the packed dirt of the trail, and he swung his head towards the village and broke into a trot, slowly at first to be sure she was still with him. He didn't prnce and preen, as he'd seen flirtatious stallions do around mares they liked. He frowned at the thought faintly. This lady was not worth of such ridiculous and empty offerings. He swiveled an ear her direction in thought. He wasn't entirely sure she'd accept that kind of false devotion anyway.
So he merely tossed his head, flipping his mane from one side to the other and flinging his forelock out of his eyes, and picked up his pace as she kept beside him. Who knew where this would take them?
It wasn't long before the smell of cookfires and the sounds of children playing and work being done signaled they were drawing close. He slowed and glanced at her again, to be sure she was feeling strong.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:14 pm
For as little time as she had known this stallion, there was something about his personality and the way he was that made him easy to talk to. He was the sort of Soquili she could feel safe and comfortable around, and that was saying a lot for the sort of creatures that lingered around these parts. She just felt like she had known him forever already, albeit the fact that they had only just met. That, in her book, went a long way.
"I remember this place," she said, almost as much to herself as she had said it to him. Slowly, she sauntered along at his side, her nostrils filled with the smells of cooking fires and slowly heated meat. Her tail flickered, the elegant braids suprisingly intact for how very long it had been since they'd been plaited.
She kept close to him, ignoring the humans for the most part, and began to walk down a path that seemed to have only been known to her in her dreams. As long ago as it had been that she had last walked these trodden paths, she still knew the way to her birth place, that modest tipi on the other side of the village. She glanced to him, her smile weak, but she kept walking never-the-less.
It was a few minues before she finally located what tipi had been her own - moving up slowly to n** aside the entrance flap. Her eyes peered into the darkness within, a frown on the maw of the pretty mare. "My family hasn't been here for a long time," she managed, finally, glancing back to him, "at least, I can't find the scent of my mother or brother. The humans may still live here."
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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:21 pm
Eloran's posture became downtrodden as he realized that cheering her up was not going to be as easy as a hopefully happy reunion. He stuck his own head in the teepee curiously, then drew it out and glanced around, hoping for a ray of inspiration. A lean dog trotted by, paws stepping high, tail waving in the air excitedly, a piece of rough rawhide in it's mouth. It lit a flame of thought that quickly spread into a bonfire.
"Come... let me show you my world." He gently nibbled on her short mane, tugging on it to encourage her to follow him. He turned and began to walk down the main village road. Soon human voices raised in greeting to the red bay stallion. Children would stop as they ran by to give him a loving pat on the muzzle before scrambling on their way. He spoke softly to the mare that followed him. "These have become my family. Oh, my mother is here somewhere... but it was the village itself that adopted me as its son." He paused to arch his neck and nuzzle a very wizened old woman with clay on her clothes. Her hands, however, were clean and he was rewarded for his affection by a palm of oats from a pocket.
"You see, they think of me even when I'm not here." He turned to look at the lovely brown and blue mare, and the old woman followed his gaze. She murmured soft words, clearly meant to soothe and praise. The thin, wrinkled hand returned to the pocket, then opened flat towards the mare. "And as my family, they love anyone who is with me, knowing I would bring no evil but instead good to them." Eloran smiled a bit at Shaitani in encouragment for her to accept the proferred nibble.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:49 am
Shaitani hesitated behind him, watching the sway of his great red form, not sure exactly how to react as he drug her farther into the depths of the human’s village. You couldn’t say, exactly, that she was scared – after all, it took a lot to upset this beautiful creature – but you could say that she was a little uneasy. She had been raised, to a point, in this village, but she had never had too much interaction with the people. It had always been her mother that they had been most concerned with, being that she was their original mare. Her father, more or less, she figured to be a wild horse – after all, she never saw him more than a couple of times in her life. Once she and her brother were old enough to leave, they had, and she figured her mother strayed from home now as well.
So, all in all, Shaitani wasn’t very familiar with all these humans. While she knew they would bring her no harm, and as such, she trusted Eloran not to bring her into a situation that would either, she was still in a very new scenario. She didn’t know them, they didn’t know her, and when one is unfamiliar with something, one typically tends to act a little nervous. On Shaitani’s part, however, a little nervousness did not show a great deal, and she eventually took up stride beside him, even as the children and adults passed their path. She trusted him.
“Your world,” she said quietly, to him alone, “is amazing.” She watched the fires dance wildly before tipi and home, and the way the humans treated their Soquili as well. It was an interesting place, and she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out why she had never had much interest in it as a foal.
As the old woman offered up her hand, she glanced unsurely to Eloran. It was not common of her to take feed from a human, or to eat this feed at all. She was much more used to the wild grasses of the plains or a shrub here and there in the forest. Still, she would not insult the old woman, seeing as she was so kind, and bent forth to nibble the feed from her palm.
As she erected herself, she glanced back around her with a weak smile, “the village has its own beauty, I can’t believe I never noticed it before now. All the friendly faces, they leave the heart aching for companionship.” She smiled and glanced back to him, “It’s a lucky thing you have a human and all this family, they do seem to love you.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:15 am
The ache in her voice and the sadness in her eyes made his heart squeeze with the need to shelter and nurture this mare. He moved closer to her, coming almost shoulder to shoulder. He rumbled a whicker deep in his chest, a soft and rather intimate sound. "They will love you too, if you let them." He gazed into her eyes with rising hope and an undeniable need to provide this for her. "You can have them as your family too, if you wish." He brought his face close to hers, breathing gently against her.
The old woman went back to assembling materials near her fire. She kept an eye on the two soquili, though, with a faint smile on her face. A young girl, her hair braided down her back in a long thick rope, came to help her grandmother. Softly, the older woman spoke and gestured to the stallion and mare. The girl trned wide eyes on the two, their brown depths, a sparkle in them. One could only guess what she was thinking, but by her clasped hands and rapt expression, it wasn't too difficult to guess. Love was love, no matter what species you were. The kawani tribe were quite enlighted in this. The shape your soul wore did not matter so much as the type of soul you had. And these two souls were clearly begining to merge into a loving whole.
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