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 Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:34 pm
Near the mountain side, there was silence, but only briefly. A sharp snap of something filled the air quickly before the sound disappeared a few seconds later. Silence once again filled the air until something emerged from a brush near the base of the mountain. A dark-brown colores Aeri had just emerged from the nearby forest and he gazed around, as if looking for something. Not seeing anything interesting, the aeri decided to move on, his head held down close to the ground. Not many knew that this Nequus was blind and that he relied on the vibrations on the ground to tell him whether or not anyone was coming near him.
After climbing the mountain for a few moments, the nequus stopped in his tracks and lifted his head up. An unfamiliar scent had caught his attention and he pricked his ears up. The unusual bones that were adorned on his body clanked together softly as he pawed the ground nervously. Was this new scent from another Nequus or perhaps something else. He flicked an ear slightly as his blind eyes gazed around the open area nervously, his hooves firmly planted on the ground to help him tell if something was coming towards him.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:48 pm
 Reiha gave a small sigh of pleasure, the wind traveling over her spine like a smooth caress. The dull ache in her wings told her it was time to stop, but she wanted to go just a bit further... her right wing let out a spasm of protest as she moved to a higher wind, her body clearly telling her that if she did not land of her own accord soon she would be going down anyway. She scopped the land below her, her gaze scanning the rocky terrain for somewhere she could land. Her eyes looked ahead, and she saw that she was nearing the other side of the mountain range. She went increasingly lower, her wings working hard (and protesting the action) to keep her balanced. Her hooves touched ground, and she heaved a sigh of relief.
Her instincts warned her of another's presence just as the air was leaving her lungs. She looked about, her tired muscles tensing. Reiha's amber gaze fell upon one of her own; an Aeri. And yet, this one was different. Bones covered his head and back much as an exoskeleton might, and his mane and tail shone a bright blue. She stared for a moment, then rose her head and took a few steps nearer. "Hello... My name is Reiha." She said the words cautiously, unsure of the other's intent.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:58 pm
Gwydion swung his head around when he heard a voice from nearby. He had felt the vibrations of something landing next to him, but he didn't think that the creature was going to stay until he heard the words being spoken towards him. He slowly turned his body around to face the other Nequus. "Reiha?" he said, as if questioning it.
Canting his head to one side, he tried to picture the Nequus in front of him, but no image came to mind. Shaking his wings slightly, as if warning the other nequus to keep her distance, he pawed at the ground for a few moments before lifting his head up. "Gwydion," was all he said to the femme.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:09 pm
Reiha paused, her hoof still raised, as the other's wings shook. She lowered the hoof gently, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Gwydion." Her neck muscles had already started to lower when she noted something odd about the stallion. She had not seen his eyes trace her, had spoted none of the tell-tail signs of judgement; he had not categorized her, as far as she could tell. "Has this day been well for you?"
She kept her words to the polite minimum, attempting to engage Gwydion in conversation without providing no escape if he would rather not talk to the likes of her.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:19 pm
Gwydion stood still as he folded his wings against his body when he felt safe enough for him to be near this unknown Nequus. He flicked an ear slightly at her comment and he nodded his head. "Pleasure to meed you, too," he said, the first full-length sentence he had said to the femme. He closed his useless eyes as he heard a question being asked to him. "Today has been....interesting. Not much has happened that didn't surprise me until right now. I had no idea many of our kin traveled around here."
He took a few steps forward after confirming the location of the femme. He didn't want to feel like he was a thread to the other Aeri, yet at the same time he wanted to get to know her scent better and maybe know her better at the same time. It had been a while since he had taken an interest in a Nequus that was the opposite gender of himself.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:26 pm
She stood still as he moved forward, surprised at how easily her body accepted this. She normally had to at least stretch... the exhaustion had worn deeper than she had expected. Reiha fetched her mind back from it's wanderings, knowing how vacant her stare could become if she let her thoughts wander. "I have not met many on my travels." She paused, thinking of the many times she had flown for long periods of time without seeing another living soul. "In truth, you are the first Aeri I have met outside of the valley."
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:32 pm
Gwydion nodded his head slightly and took a few more steps closer to her until he was less than 50 yards away from the femme. He wasn't surprised that the femme hadn't seen any other Aeri before. He hadn't seen one yet, either, but he had seen another Nequus before. The injured Tahmores was the first Nequus he had seen since his arrival to the lands, yet Tahmores didn't really interest the Aeri at all.
Nodding his head slightly, he opened his milky-white eyes as he pawed the ground lightly. "You are the first of the opposite gender I have seen. I have met only one Nequus and he had been a Jala. Not much of a talker, though. He was also getting over a recent injury." Nodding his head again, he stretched his head out and sniffed the air delicately, as if taking in the scent of the femme in front of him.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:45 pm
Reiha watched his antics, interested. Never had one sniffed her before. Her mind went to the dirt she had rolled in shortly before her long flight. Had it been another brown substance, and simply powdered with age? She sniffed the air about herself once, only to bring attention to the fact that she did not stink. She returned to being still, one eyebrow arching curiously at his revelation. "I do hope the injury was not bad?" She did not care for this Jala, as she had never met him. He could be a Nequus of less than perfect reputation. For all she knew, he could have started the fight. Even so, she did not like to see (or hear of) others being hurt.
Laughter welled in her throat, though she was able to supress it. She had more in common with this Gwydion than she had first thought. "I have met only one Nequus as well. His name is Gwydion." Her amber eyes twinkled. Perhaps her initial opinion about Nequus in general had been wrong. Perhaps they could prove to be more interesting companions than trees and rocks and the air.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:03 pm
After memorizing her scent, he pulled his head against his neck and stood still for a few moments before taking a few steps more towards the femme. He didn't want to be too close to her nor too far away. At this distance, he wanted to show the femme that he was interested in her, yet at the same time was being cautious in case she lashed out at him. Hearing her question, he shrugged slightly. "I don't know how bad his injury was. All I know was that he hurt it flying," he told her in a soft tone of voice, unsure of what to think of the Jala's injury.
Flicking an ear after hearing laughter coming from the maw of the femme, he fluttered his wings slightly, interested even more in her. He flicked an ear as Reiha mentioned his name and he nodded his head. "Reiha is the second Nequus I have met," he said to her, his voice holding a hint of huskiness in it. He didn't want to openly show the femme that he was interested in her until she showed it herself.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:15 pm
She nodded, thinking of her own wings and how sore they were. She knew how easy it was to hurt a wing while flying, especially if one was caught in a particularly strong wind and dashed upon rocks... if the Jala had in fact been flying. She noted the other's twitchiness, as well as the throaty undertone to his voice. Her head turned to the side slightly, her eyes fixated on his. She was now close enough to see the milky whiteness of his eye, and pondered that as she spoke. "I hope I do not dissapoint." Her tail flicked once, sending a small cloud of dust crawling away.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:28 pm
He heard her comment clearly, yet he took his time replying to it. Slowly, he lowered his head down slightly and began to circle her, as if he was studying her, yet he was really trying to get his bearing straight with the mountain area. After a few tense moments of silence, he finally spoke up. "Not at all. You are, in fact, the most facinating Nequus I have seen so far." He closed his eyes slightly and he stopped after cirling Reiha only once. Shifting his weight to one side of his body, he let one of his hindlegs rest on the tip of his hoove as he lowered his head down near the ground, his muzzle a mere five inches from the stone ground.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:36 pm
She had been momentarily worried by the silence, so his words came as a great relief. She followed him with her eyes as he circled her, the amber orbs watching until he stoped in what she thought to be a fairly nice pose. She shifted slightly, stretching her wings thoughtfully. The tendons had begun to loose their ache. "It pleases me to know that I am more interesting than a wounded male..." She smiled, a trickle of laughter barely escaping. "I must say that you are the most interesting Nequus I have met as well." Although she really didn't have anyone else to compare him to and it therefore was both a true and misleading statement, he truly did interest her. She most of all wanted to know why he carried about bones.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:47 pm
Gwydion lifted his head up a few inches at her words. Indeed, she was more interesting than the injured Jala. In fact, Gwydion often wondered if he had scared the poor Jala with his mysterious ways of talking. Shuddering at the old memory, he pushed the old memory aside and tried to concentrate on the femme in front of him, not able to see that Reiha was wondering why he was wearing bones on his body.
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:51 pm
Reiha noted the brief shudder. "Is something wrong? ..." she asked, finally breaking her fairly still posture. She lowered her head slightly, her ears perked. She took a small step forward, though still remained at a distance. If he had only been reacting to a cold wind, she did not want to seem too flighty... or too interested in what he was thinking.
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:44 pm
Gwydion shook his head slightly at her question. "Nothing is wrong, my dear. I was just...remembering something," he said to her in a reassuring voice, smile slightly. He took a few steps over to her and reached her muzzle out towards her, as if he wanted to nuzzle her gently.
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