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 Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:36 pm
Tendril wings beat rapidly as the muscular form swooped towards the ground. Black hooves skittered as they struck the icy ground but the dark-coated Nequus just about managed to regain his balance and come to a halt, chest heaving. A glance up and over his shoulder seemed to satisfy him of something and his breathing eased immediately.
Giving himself a shake, the Ichsa bent to scoop up a mouthful of snow. "Phew," he muttered to himself before setting off across the snow at a steady walk, his breath clouding before him in the chill air.
There was a very slight limp to his gait and, after a few paces, a drop of ruby blood stained the snow in his wake.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:03 pm
Dark hooves pounded the cold ground as her slender legs held the mare at a quick canter. The snow flew up as she continued, the soft powder kissing her muzzle, and she extended her thin wings to help her on her way up the hill. She slowed to a walk once reaching the peak, and she perked her ears forward as her eyes scanned the area. Exploring was so much fun!
She paused in mid-step as her eyes fell onto the other ichsa, and they ran over every line and curve of his body. He was just like her! Male, perhaps, but the same breed. Nearly dancing from excitement, she jumped into a canter towards the blue-coated nequus. "Hello there!" She called to the walking ichsa, completely missing his slight limp and the drop of blood that fell into the silent snow.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:19 pm
The voice cut through his consciousness like a knife and the stallion felt his heart rate rise again. He spun about, his brilliant blue eyes wild. An Ichsa mare... Oh, oh good she was smiling. He relaxed, ears that had been flattened to his skull pricked up, attentively. The blend of anger and fear that the initial sound of her voice and sight of her long horn had provoked dissipated like a morning mist.
"Hi," he said, giving her a slight smile. "Y' startled me there; come outa nowhere." Ears swivelling all about for any sign of another unnoticed being, the blue-bodied Ichsa walked towards the mare, trying his best to hide the limp. He didn’t want her to note any weakness on his part but it had been too long since he’d had friendly company for him to give her the cold shoulder.
Another traitor ruby fell to strike the snow.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:26 pm
She slowed to a trot as she approached him, before descending to a walk, then stopped altogether. She watched him walk closer, and her head tilted slightly as her eyes affixed themselves to his legs. "You're limping!" She gasped, finally able to catch it; she also noticed the two spots of bright red that stood out like a glowing beacon in the snow. "And.. bleeding? What happened?" She inquired, eyes moving from the snow to his face, concerned. "And I'm sorry, I didn't intend to startle you. Why were you so nervous?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:54 pm
"Oh." Bugger. "it's alright," he assured her, allowing himself to lift his left foreleg a little now that she'd spotted it. "The limp is jus' a limp, 'appens t' me on an' off an’ it in't a big cut." The blue muzzle lowered a little and the Ichsa licked at a long shallow scratch that ran down the injured leg. "Bleh, yuck. The cut's jus' aggravated it, tha’s all," he muttered, munching more snow to erase the copper taste of blood.
"As t' what 'appened," he went on a little uncomfortably - rather blunt, aren't y' missy - "I jus' pissed off a rather larger stallion was all. Reya ‘e was an’ 'e seemed t' think I were tryin' t' steal 'is mate, git; we were jus’ talkin’. Oh, name’s Maurice by the way," the stallion went on with another slight smile, hoping the question of his nervousness would be forgotten.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:09 pm
She frowned, her ears twitching back a little as she listened to his reasons, and she walked forward a few steps towards him, then stopped and simply stood there. "Are you sure you're all right? You seemed really nervous.." She tilted her head to the side a little again, her gaze moving from his eyes to his injured foreleg then back again. "Why does your limp come back every once in a while?"
It was true; she was blunt a lot, but at the moment she was simply concerned about the well-being of this other ichsa. She frowned again; she'd never met an ill-tempered nequus before. "Wow, he must've been mean. I've never met a mean nequus before, I hope he didn't hurt you too badly." She looked at his foreleg again, but quickly shifted her gaze back to his face when he stated his name. "Oh, oh I'm sorry, forgive my lack of manners. My name is Nizhoni; it's a pleasure to meet you, Maurice."
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:30 pm
Hu. No such luck then. "I'm fine," he sighed with a shake of his head. "I'm jus'... a bit suspicious of people at first, 'specially Ichsa but y' seem a'right t' me. Not like most of 'em... most of us." How much about the incident that had given him the limp was he prepared to tell a stranger? Not that much but he'd give her a bit of the truth. "M' leg got kicked in pretty bad once,” he told the other Ichsa, trying to sound casual, “couldn't walk that well f' a good while. It got better but sometimes it flares up an 'urts again, don' bother me, 's jus' annoyin', y' know?"
Well, hopefully that would be it for the questions now. Maurice dipped his head briefly as a faint memory of how one greeted other Nequus properly surfaced. "Glad t' make y' 'quaintance, Nizhoni... Thas' on 'ell of a name, in' it? D' y' mind if I call y' Niz or somethin'? Save me fallin' over pronunciation every three seconds."
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:16 pm
She nodded, ears perked forward again. "Yes, you seem very nice so far," she stated, trying to compliment him somehow. "Why--" Well, maybe that wasn't the best question to ask him; he seemed uncomfortable answering her questions, so she shut her mouth. That question would have to wait for another time. "Oh, I'm sorry about your leg.. Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered, concern in her emerald eyes.
She dipped her head as well; she didn't know why, but since he did, she figured she should, too. "I don't mind at all, you can call me Niz or Nizzy if it's easier for you, Maurice." She nodded, dipping her muzzle slightly as she did so. Now.. She felt she shouldn't ask anymore questions, lest he should become too uncomfortable, so she made an offer instead. "Would you like to ask me any questions? I've asked you a lot so far, and they seem to have made you a little uncomfortable."
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:34 pm
Hum... was there anything he desperately this minute wanted to ask her? "Oh... I dunno," the blue stallion cast around for a question. "Ha!" his smile broadened a little. "How come y’ been lucky enough never t' meet an unpleasant Nequus?... Young are y'? Not t’ be rude but I couldn’ think of anythin’ else t’ ask." Well, she certainly looked it and seemed it but appearances could be deceptive. A traitor thought reminded him that he was hardly an experienced adult himself but he ignored it.
"An' don't worry 'bout the leg, really," bright eyes squinted down at it and the pendant that the Ichsa wore about his neck swung gently. "Yea, looks clean," he said after a moment, raising his head again. "It's nearly stopped bleeding already, ought t' 'eal up quite quick and the sore knee clams down after a few days in general s' thas' alrigh' too, 'specially since there seems t' be a decent bit of grass 'ereabouts still."
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:44 pm
She shook out her mane and fluttered her wings while he thought, and brought her wings back close to her sides. Snow was wonderful and pretty, but it was so cold here! "Oh, I don't really know. I've only really fully met two other nequus besides you, and they were very nice. I don't know why I haven't met any other ill-tempered ones," she said thoughtfully, ears twitching as she frowned a bit, thinking on this. However, it was too boring to think about, so she looked back at him as he explained his leg. "If you're sure it'll be all right, then I--ooh!" Her eyes locked onto the pendant that hung from his neck, and she trotted forward a few paces to get a closer look. "Oooh! What's that thing?" She asked, eyes moving back up to his curiously. "It's so pretty!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:10 pm
Well... she was rather close now but it wasn't a problem, right? …Yes, right. Calm settled about the stallion like a warm fog and the rest of the tension his body had held ebbed away. This Nizhoni seemed utterly harmless and still very friendly with the endearing curiosity of a foal. Nothing to fear from her at all.
"It's a glass pendant on a silver chain," the stallion said, twisted his head to the side to give the other Ichsa a better view of it. "One of the two legs gave it t' me a little while back f' findin' her foal what had wandered off. It's got water inside it from the sea, which is where I'm going with any luck. I've 'eard stories about it, sounds... glorious."
Pupiless blue eyes smiled calmly at the creamy mare. "Y' ever seen the sea, Niz?" he asked softly.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:21 pm
She was rather close now, within a yard or two; she craned her neck closer to see the pendant better, while being very careful of where her horn was. She didn't want to hurt her new friend; she would feel absolutely awful if she did. "Ooh... It's so pretty," she said, eyes fixed on it. She pulled her head back to where it was supposed to be after a few moments, hopefully before she made the stallion uncomfortable again. "It's very pretty, Maurice. It was nice of you to find the foal for her," she said, ears perked forward. She became ten times more intrigued once he stated the sea, however, and slowly shook her head at his question. "No, I've never seen it, but I wish I could.. Ooh.. I haven't heard much of the sea.. A little, but not much. Have you seen it?" She asked, watching him closely. Hopefully this question wouldn't make him uncomfortable like the others had.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:43 pm
The blue stallion shook his head slightly. "Na, not yet, 's where I'm headed now. Well, it'll prob'ly be a few days before I set off again given m' leg's playin' silly buggers with me, I don' want t' be travellin' intensively on it like this."
Maurice glanced down at his leg again and nodded to himself. "I've waited years, I can put off the end leg of the journey a few days n' trouble." He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to find in the great expanse of water to the south but he was sure that it was important.
The Ichsa stallion's face had gone still and quiet with the tiniest hint of a smile as he spoke. He had been wanting this for such a long time and he was close now, he was sure of it. "It'll be worth the wait, 'm sure," he said after a while, his bright eyes focusing on Nizhoni once more, their unshakable calm utterly different to the wild fear that they had displayed only short minutes ago.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:08 pm
"I'm sorry that you're leg is bothering you when you're so close to your destination," she said, ears going back a little. They flicked forward again as she refocused her eyes on him quickly, giving him a bright smile. "Oh, you could stay in the valley with me and Nyx and her herd until your leg is feeling better! That is, if you don't already have somewhere to stay," she offered shyly, adding the last part quickly.
"Every good thing is worth waiting for, I think," she said with a nod, moving quickly from her offer to anything else, "and I think the sea must be a glorious thing. It must be worth waiting for, then. Plus, it'd be better to rest now and see the sea later than to force yourself all the way there now, and injure yourself further," she nodded again, more thinking out loud than to him. She felt all weird all of a sudden, but why? She didn't feel like this around Nyx or Aitumn... "Where is the sea, Maurice? I'd like to go see it sometime, I think."
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:17 am
"South," the stallion replied with a soft smile. "Jus' as far as y' can go they say then y'll reach the cliffs. Far, far below y' there's the beach, miles and miles of sand in either direction and the smell that's like nothin' else. More 'n that though, there'sthe sea itself. Water. Jus' water going further away than y' can see on the clearest day an' foamin' white at the edge, rushin' up an' down the sand all day an' night."
Maurice shook himself and his smile became more focused on now than on dreams of the future. "I don' got anywhere else t' stay t' be honest, Niz, so I'd be 'appy t' come stay with y' an y' friend. Assumin' this Nyx is as nice as you are anyways, sure I don' want t' be where I'm not wanted, tends t' get y' speared, yea?" he said, nodding at his leg again.
The Ichsa stallion twisted his head around, searching for any other sign of life. "Where is this valley where this Nyx lives then? Bein' honest I never been s' much as this far south before so I don' really know me way around. At all." Hopefully there wouldn't be too many other Nequus around, and hopefully those that there were wouldn't take exception to his presence.
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