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 Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:18 pm
Fortune was stumped. The basket she had found a mile or so outside of her own little 'home' (the term was used loosely sine she was rarely ever there) was sitting in front of her, and she looked quite quizzical staring at it like she was.
She'd never seen anything like it before and she would have completely ignored it if it weren't for the fact that it was rainbow-like. And shiny. It intrigued the mare (who did, indeed, have a penchant for anything shiny or colorful) and thus...she stayed there.
Staring. And it wasn't moving.
Perhaps she should break it open and see what was inside? It could be some kind of food that the twoleggers dropped...
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:28 pm
 Sighing, Zaphiro made his way along through the countryside. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten roped into this particular task, but for some unfathomable reason he'd been sent off pell-mell into the wilderness to find Safi.
It had been two weeks since Safi's daughter Saiena had hatched, and yesterday was the first time since that Safi had left her side; it pained Zaphiro to have to be the one to bring him back from his little break, but what could you do? Elizabeth had to leave, and Safi was losing his baby-sitter.
Which was why Zaphiro was out hunting for his herdmate. Only problem was he wasn't having any luck FINDING him...
Meh. Glancing about, Zaphiro caught no trace of the familiar blue and white. However, this time he saw something else...another Soquili. Perhaps this other Soquili had seen Safi?
It only took a moment for him to change his direction, and then he was walking purposefully towards the mare. "Ma'am?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:33 pm
Fortune's head lifted at the unfamiliar voice, "Hmm?" Oh. He was shinier than the basket! It was lucky for him, really, since the mare wouldn't have looked at him otherwise when distracted by something as shiny as the rainbow basket.
Well, she would have listened and acknowledged him but...
"Hello!" She took a few steps forward, eyes casting down to the basket slowly to make sure nobody was going to take it. She WAS rather hungry and the basket could contain food.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:41 pm
Well, that was encouraging; one thing that Zaphiro had come to realize in the course of his wanderings was that some Soquili didn't like to be bothered by strangers; this was completely understandable in most cases, but that didn't change the fact that it could be damned annoying when you needed something.
Obviously this mare didn't have that issue.
Smiling pleasantly, Zaphiro bowed his head at the mare. "Good afternoon to you, Ma'am; sorry to bother you, but have you seen-"
As he raised his head, a glint of white had caught his eye; glancing to the source, he spied the basket that sat behind the mare, and his eyes widened. Breaking off, he hastily took a step backwards; he hadn't meant to disturb a new mother!
"I'm so sorry to intrude!" A bit blunt, but definitely sincere. "That is, forgive me for the rudeness. I'll just find someone else..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:44 pm
The mare simply looked confused. What happened to switch from asking a question to apologizing? "You're not intruding on anything," Fortune answered, tilting her head to the side.
"Have I see who, now?" She had no qualms answering his question and helping him out - after all, he was being polite and was oh-so-pretty. Perhaps she could manage to get a closer look...Eventually.
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you did that was rude."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:55 pm
Now Zaphiro was blinking in confusion as well. Every experience he'd had with mares in his life had told him that new mothers hated to have strangers around their foals, especially strange stallions. This mare must not be that type...
Of course she wasn't; why would she have approached him otherwise? Shaking his head at his own follishness, Zaphiro offered the mare an apologetic smile. "I hadn't realized that you had a basket, Ma'am. In my experience, new mothers tend to frown on letting strangers around their offpring, and that was what I was worried about. It appears I was making assumptions, though, and for that I apologize."
But now that THAT was dealt with... "And as I was saying, have you seen a white wind stallion in these parts recently? He has sandy-colored wings tipped in blue, ice blue snowflake markings, and two-tone hair?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:59 pm
"New....mothers? I'm not a mother!" Her eyes went wide and she stood up straight, looking around, "Really, I, uh..." She blinked and looked down at the basket.
That was a foal? But...it was in a basket. Food was kept in baskets. When had foals become food? Oh, food would be a good thing right now. Maybe the foal...Wait.
Weird train of thought.
The description that was given brought only one Soquili to mind, though, and she smiled. "That sounds like Safi...I haven't seen him, though, no. I wish I had, though. He helped me figure out the conspiracy with the evil snow people."
Now she just sounded crazy.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:12 pm
Again with the surprise. She wasn't the basket's mother, then? Apparently he'd gotten into the detestable habit of jumping to conclusions like so many others...though if that wasn't her basket, then what was she doing with it?
He was so unprepared for that answer that he almost missed her reply to his question, kicking off a whole new feeling of surprise. "Wait, you've met Safi?" How many acquaintences did that stallion have? Well, it was a pity that she hadn't seen him, but maybe she could help look?
"Actually, that IS Safi. I'm trying to find him, and theoretically he was heading this way. I don't suppose that you would mind..."
Trailing off, he realized the improbabilty of what he was saying. "Whose basket is that, if it's not yours?" He couldn't ask her to abandon the basket, after all!
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:17 pm
Fortune grinned, "Yeah, he helped me figure out the conspiracy of snow people who poke people with sharp sticks, as I said. Had a lovely snowball fight, too. Well, rather, a snow swoop fight..." The mare trailed off and blinked at the question.
"Huh. I don't know. I thought it was some kind of food." Fortune bent down and nosed the basket lightly, "You sure it's a baby? It's not moving or anything. I just came across it...."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:23 pm
...Wow.
Zaphiro was supposed to be finding Safi as soon as he could, but there was such a thing as prioritizing. Elizabeth could wait; this situation needed to be helped NOW.
Looking curiously at the mare, Zaphiro walked over to the basket and studied it. He wasn't sure if he believed the mare's ignorance or not...but then, what was there about a basket to suggest foals to those that hadn't seen them before?
Glancing from basket to mare, Zaphiro nodded his head. "Yes, there's a baby in there; this is a foal basket. I can't think of why it's sitting out here on it's own, though; that's not a good thing. How long has it been since you found it?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:31 pm
"Oh. Darn, I was kind of hungry." She laughed softly and then looked hard at the basket. A foal basket, huh? Well, what kind of mother would leave a foal out on it's own?
"An hour or so, give or take," Fortune answered, "I was debating trying to open it earlier. I'm glad I didn't. I mean, wait...Wouldn't a foal get kind of cramped in there?"
The mare obviously had no experience with baskets. Foals, yes, baskets? Not so much.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:45 pm
Zaphiro's frown deepened. An hour was an awfully long time for a basket to be unattended by the parents, and that was only how long this mare had been there. Why was it out here in its own?
Attention still focused on the basket, he shook his head at the mare. "Foals stay in the baskets until they're ready to come out; they won't get cramped, because they get out before then."
Walking around the basket, he glanced at the mare again. "So you've spent an hour trying to figure out what it is?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:47 pm
"Well, I figured it was a basket of food dropped by the twoleggers but if it was then I didn't want to get in trouble for eating at it. So I spent the last hour or so debating whether or not to open it and see what was inside and risk it."
Fortune blinked and nosed at the basket, "What kind of parents would leave a baby alone like that?" A frown, "Maybe something happened to them?"
The mare simply didn't want to think parents abandoned a baby.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:53 pm
Huh...what WOULD happen if you opened a baby basket early? Was that even possible?
Well, it was probably a good thing that the mare hadn't tried. Zaphiro wasn't sure what might have happened, but for the sake of the foal involved...
Sighing, he shook his head at the mare. "To be honest, I have no idea. It's not typical for parents to just leave baskets lying around, though."
He didn't mention the possibility of something happening to them, though; that was too unpleasant an idea to bear. "I'm afraid that I can't say what happened here."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:55 pm
"What should we do about it?" Ah, the elusive 'we' word. Perfect stranger indeed but he had been the one who had informed her that it was a foal. And he knew Safi.
That automatically put him in the 'we' section of Fortune's brain. Lucky him! The crazy mare approved of him.
"I'm certainly not mother material. I wander around too much." She frowned and tapped it gently with her hoof, "Besides, a foal should have a mother AND a fa...Oh! Maybe I can bug Safi!"
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