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 Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:48 am
All around him was new, his home far behind and forgotten for the time being. He was working hard to keep it that way, locked at the back of his mind. Winter was loosening its hold on the world and, when it finally released that icy grasp, he would have to go back.
The stallion snorted to himself and swooped earthwards. What did it matter that he had to return soon? He had a good life there with his father's herd, an easy life. Other males envied and or respected him, mares adored him and both fought for his attention. Why should he want to remain out in some barren waste where the grass was not so good, where there was not always shelter, where he wasn't ever sure of finding the next stream when he happened to want a drink let alone people willing to jump to his wims?
Dark hooves struck the ground a little harder than was strictly necessary and the golden creature twitched his short tail in annoyance. What had got into him? Coming all the way out here had been pointless, every Nequus he had met had disappointed him, just as every Nequus he knew back home did.
He wasn't going to find a mare that he wanted to be his mate for life here or anywhere else and that rankled. If the plain, the stupid and the boring could find love, why was it barred to him?
The blue-eyed Jala snorted at himself and bent to nibble at the chilly grass. Perhaps his experiences this winter would teach him that it was better just to look for a pretty thing that bored him to death after all. A good lesson to learn, it was probably what he was going to end up partnered with by his will or no.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:11 am
Long elagent legs touched down beside a small spring as a brown and white Ichsa touched down. Not the largest of her breed, by far, the mare was rather small in stature tho seelingly tall. She looked around, her mane falling over her eyes before she flicked it away. SLowly her head lowered and she drank from the spring, body relaxing.
Lifting her head once more she observed somone unknown to her aproch and touch down. A jala if she knew correctly, which up until recently she didn't. She moved backward, against some trees, and stayed silent. She was not only curious as to what this jala was doing her, for she had never seen one around, but also too shy to question him herself. So, she waited.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:53 am
The sleekly built Nequus sighed deeply and clopped over to the little stream that babbled nearby. The water, when he tasted it, was fresh and cold against his lips; most refreshing after several hours of travelling steadily away from the places that were familiar to him.
The golden creature raised his head from the brook and looked down. His reflection looked back at him. Distorted though it was by the flowing water, he couldn't find fault with it. Yet, somehow, the sight was deeply dissatisfying and left a deep yawning feeling in his stomach.
The feather-winged Nequus scowled and gave the surface of the water a kick before prancing backwards restlessly.
As he turned away from the icy flow, a shape caught his eye and he spun to face it with a snort of surprise.
The shape was another Nequus; an Ichsa, a mare. She was slender and coloured a rich brown, save for white speckling on her hindquarters and a hint of the same on her tendril wings. Quite a lovely creature.
The golden stallion smiled at her. "You startled me, fair lady. Have I wandered into your territory? If I have then I give you my most sincere apologies." The Jala stepped forward with one foreleg and bent the other under him whilst dipping his head. He seldom used this elaborate bow but, for one as pretty as the she before him, he felt that the gesture was not wasted. "My name is Diego, my lady, might I enquire yours?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:59 am
THe mare moved backward when she realized she was spotted. her head a tad low she nodded to the other. "These are not my lands but whoever is in charge has never given me any trouble so i assume they are free..." she said softly, eyes downcast. "My name is Eira..." and then she was silent. She did not look back up at the other, nor did she move say to move backward, farther against the trees, inching into the cover they gave.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:20 am
The golden stallion tilted his head on one side, bemused by the mare's behaviour. "Eira," he smiled faintly, pushing his confusion aside. She was probably just nervous of him or something. "I beautiful name, it suits you very well," the Jala said, his blue eyes flicking over the horned-creature's elegant body, appreciative but still respectful.
If the brown-coated mare abandoned her apparent wariness of him and proved to be intelligent she would make a fine mate, if she wasn't already with a stallion or pledged to one. But, even if she were willing and unpromised, the most he could ever hope for with her was a brief fling.
Partnership with him was far too precious a bargaining tool both to his father and to his elder brother to throw away on a silly thing like personal preference. He'd probably end up with someone like the staid, garishly-coated, Aeri mare who's herd occupied the area south of his own herd's lands. Diego shuddered internally at the thought.
Still, that future didn't stop him from at least talking to this little beauty in the present, perhaps even more if things went well.
“Are you well, Eira?” he asked politely in the hopes of sparking further conversation.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:28 am
Eira lifted her head and looked at the stallion before nodding and lowering her gaze. "Yes, i am." she said simply. She rested her head against the tree she stood by, lightly rubbing her horn against it. She looked back up at him and tilted her head.
"May i asked you a question, sir?" she asked simply, politly. After her long time wandering alone and lost she had become vary inverted, often speaking little, yet she slowly was reaturning to her old self...the more she was back..."home"
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:54 am
Diego smiled and nodded his head. "But of course Eira, ask away." She seemed less nervous now, that was good. Perhaps she'd been as startled by his presence as he had been by her's. That was a nice thing to think, because that implied that she hadn't seen his display at the water's edge. The thought that somebody might have seen him strike out at his own reflection was deeply unsettling. What would any who witnessed that make of him? Not what he wanted them to, for sure.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:03 am
"Where are you from?" The question was simple and seemingly pointless. Yet she was curious. However she stayed back. Not since she had met Dark Moon, the Ichsa stallion and the only other one she really had ever know before she had become lost, had she ever tryly opened up or been talkative with another. and it seemed she wasn't about to start now.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:20 am
Well, that hadn't been quite what he'd been expecting. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting but a question about his homeland wasn't it. Still, odd though it was there was nothing wrong with the question and so Diego smiled.
"I hail from the just north of D'ob, close to Ryuten," he informed the Ichsa mare. "I live with my father's herd most of the time but the harsh winter forced the herd to move further south and split up. I'll be returning home when spring comes."
She hadn't asked for the additional information but the golden Jala doubted that she would mind being given it.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:46 am
"Oh..." she said simply. "I have no family..." she stated. "I lost my memory long ago and have no family of my own." She looked towards the sky. "All i remeber is waking up one day...and there i was, all alone...And then i met somone and he was the only othe ri had ever met...and then i got lost one day...and its seems to have been forever since i was last here..." she said lightly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:46 am
"Wow," Diego blinked, his usual eloquence temporarily abandoning him. "Sounds like you've had a run of bad luck, Eira," he said eventually with a sympathetic smile. Perhaps he could persuade her to come back and live in his father's lands when he had to return there. It would be quite a coup to have an Ichsa as one of their number and even if she turned out to be dull or stupid she would be pretty to look at.
"Do you mind living alone here?" Diego asked of the tendril-winged mare. "I don't think I would be able to do it myself; I like to be around other Nequus." And yet he hated how they all failed, all fell from what he hoped they might be. It would be easier, the feather-winged being considered, if he could either lower his standards or increase his tolerance of being alone for extended periods of time.
Sadly however, neither of these things seemed very likely.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:57 am
The brown mare blinked and thought for a moment. "I don't know...I've been looking for my old friend...we were going to live together...he was special..." her voice grew quiet as she looked down. "But for all i know he moved on and has forgotten about me...at least i hope he hasn't..." she sighed and shook her head. "But i do not really like to be alone...yet i have been for so long..." she didn't look back up.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:05 pm
An old friend who was special. Damn. That was a bit of a maggot in the apple. Ah well, there was still a chance he could talk her around and if he couldn't, there were plenty more pretty things in the world. True there weren’t all that many Ichsa mares but he’d seen one or two before and would again no doubt and hopefully these hypothetical horned ladies wouldn’t have ‘old friends’ for him to contend with.
"Have you any idea where he might be?" Diego asked of the brown mare. "Forgive me if that's a silly question, I just wondered if you knew the place but not how to get there or some-such." She looked discouraged, which was promising. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to make her forget this special stallion of her's after all.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:15 pm
Eira blinked for a moment, thinking before she shook her head. "No, i don't know where he is...there was a cave...where we went when we first met, but other wise i have no idea of where he might be..." she said, sighing lightly. She looked back up at him and tilted her head lightly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:45 pm
Diego frowned thoughtfully and nodded. "A cave eh? ...Well I don't know this area well so it's possible that there's caves around here somewhere but I don't think it likely. Mountains most likely I think; there isn't really anywhere else that I know of which has large enough rock structures to have caves..." He needed to stop talking, he didn't want to help her find this stallion of her's did he? No, he didn't. Still, she might not give up until she knew if this friend of her's had abandoned her or not so giving her ideas about where to look wasn't all that much of a terrible idea.
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