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 Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 8:56 am
  It was yet another hot, humid day. Shikoba was walking along the edge of the forrest. He wanted to see if there was anything going on in the vast field, but also wanted to stay in the cool shade that the trees provided. At times like this, he wished he had shorter hair. With the high humidity, his long mane stuck to sweaty neck, making the heat even harder to bear.
He sighed, trying to toss his mane off his neck, but there were a few strands still sticking to his skin. As he continued to walk along the line of outer trees, he kept his eyes out towards the plains, waiting to catch any small movement that he could see.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 7:19 pm
One hoof in front of the other, Avalokiteshvara carefully worked her way through the patch of tall grass. Her blue eyes studied what ground she could see intently. So many ants. She knew there was an anthill in the area and had to be careful not to crush it. She heaved a sigh that blew tendrils of mane out of her face. She was tired of this field and tired of the ants. She'd never make it anywhere if she had to go at this snail's pace.
A quick scan of the area showed a forest to her left. She'd head for that. Squirrels were easier to watch for than ants and she'd be happy to get out of the blazing sun. "Enough of this." She jumped over the largest patch of grass and began to trot towards the cover of forest. If she spent her life trying to protect the ants she'd go mad. She'd let fortune and mother nature watch over them now.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 6:43 am
Shikoba saw off in the distance what appeared to be a mare....a mare who seemed to be walking very carefully. He stopped in his stroll, and tilted his head to the side a bit, watching the mare. Suddenly, she jumped over a patch of grass, and seemed to be coming towards the edge of the forest where he stood.
As she came closer, Shikoba noticed that she had the strangest markings he had ever seen on a Soquili. It looked as though somebody had painted on her. Her mane and tail had the same colours as his long mane, but that was where their physical similarities ended.
He stood in the spot where he had stopped and watched her, seeing if she would come to the spot where he was.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:46 am
The cool green forest edge was growing closer but Avalokiteshvara felt like she was missing something. What was it? Her blue eyes squinted as she scanned the border between the forest and the field. Ah ha. There it was. She saw the silhouette of another soquili standing in the shade. It was hard to make out much about him while the glare of the sun still blinded her eyes. She could tell, though, that he seemed to be watching her.
Well, if he had taken an interest in her then it would be rude of her to ignore him. 'Vara changed her path to aiming at the watching figure. As she got closer she noticed wings and a long full mane. He was a fancy one, though she had no right to judge based on that.
"If you keep staring like that you're likely to make me embarrassed," she called out bemusedly.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 11:11 am
Shikoba was surprised at the bluntness of the mare. She didn't even say hello.
"I'm sorry to stare. I've just never seen a Soquili with such strange....er....different markings such as yours."
Now that she was closer, it looked even more like sombody had taken a paint brush to her body. Near her hoofs were beautiful purple flowers, with lilly pads winding up her legs. The clouds on her back almost looked real.
"My name is Shikoba."
He bowed his head slightly at the mare.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:04 pm
"Shikoba. Nice name. My name is Avalokiteshvara though I'm generally called something rather shorter. You can abridge it however you like or I'll supply you with one of the more common variations I've heard." Now that her eyes had adjusted and she could properly see him she gave Shikoba a look over. He looked quite dashing all in all. His tail was perhaps his most unique feature. It was feathered like a bird. 'Vara imagined it would serve him better in flight than a more traditional tail would.
"I don't mind you looking, really," she said, summoning her thoughts back to the conversation. "There was no malice in your gaze and it would be cruel of me to deny you something as harmless as that."
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:42 pm
Shikoba did an aural double-take as he heard her name. There was no way he'd ever be able to remember that, let alone pronounce it.
"Uhm....what would you prefer I call you?"
This mare kind of took him off guard. She was very forward, very blunt. He could feel her eyes taking in his appearance as well. He was used to it by now. Most other Soquili he had met looked closely at his short feather-like tail and his long mane.
"There was indeed no malice in my look. You're just a very interesting looking Soquili. May I ask where you're from?"
He assumed that she was from other lands, seeing how different she looked. The more he looked at her painted body, though, the more he found it to be beautiful instead of strange.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:06 pm
"Call me Vara until you feel ready to tackle something longer."
Avalokiteshvara could track his eyes winding their way over her patterns and took a step to the side to give him a better view of the entirety. The sooner he got over his curiosity about her appearance the sooner they might be able to have a real conversation.
"I'm from here and there. From far away and everywhere in between. I tend to travel and this just so happens to be my current destination. The big question is..." She paused and let her blue eyes meet Shikoba's brown ones. "Is there anything I can do for you while I'm here?"
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 6:22 pm
As Shikoba finished studying 'Vara's painted body, he turned his eyes towards hers. As he listened to her description of where she was from, he tilted his head to the side a bit. She was indeed a strange mare, and not only in appearance.
He could understand one being a traveller. He might have been one himself, but he couldn't remember a single thing from his life before coming to these lands, so he really didn't know. These were the only lands he knew.
"Is there anything you can do for me? What do you mean?"
This was a very strange question. He hadn't asked her for anything. Well, unless you count asking her name, but he hadn't even asked for that directly. What could she possibly be able to do for him?
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 7:50 pm
Avalokiteshvara wasn't going to take her eyes of Shikoba until he answered. It was important to properly judge his emotional state for his answer. If he had a genuine need then she'd do what she could to help him. If he was just acting selfish... then it'd be in the best interest of his personality to refuse him. She couldn't do any of that yet, though, because he seemed a little confused on the idea in general.
"I mean exactly that. Is there anything I can do for you? When I meet a new soquili I don't like leaving them unhappy. If you're perfectly happy on your own then I'm very happy for you. It's always a relief to meet someone who can find their own enjoyment in life."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:01 am
What was all this nonsense about? Who was she to assume that every Soquili she met had some unhappiness that she could magically fix?
"I'm not unhappy," he said with a bit of histility in his voice. "And even if I was, I highly doubt there would be anything you could to to magically make me happy. And I also find it very rude of you to assume that every Soquili you meet is unhappy."
Why was it that Shikoba met so many rude Soquili. And usually they were mares. There must be something about females that made them think they were amazing beyond anything he could imagine. 'Vara's high opinion of herself reminded him angrily of that lacey mare he had met before.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 10:01 am
'Vara's eyebrows both raised at the defensiveness she heard in the stallion's tone. He was an interesting one. Was he trying to hide something or simply belligerent? Sometimes that line was too blurry to be able to tell for certain one way or another. She was leaning towards belligerence but would hold off on a decision quite yet.
"Shikoba," she said, hoping that by invoking his name she could get him to listen. "I'd rather assume that every soquili is unhappy and irritate the happy ones instead of assuming that every soquili is happy and missing the ones truly in need of assistance. The world is full of pain. If you can truly say that you are without any then you are one of the luckiest soquili I have ever met." She softened her features into a smile. "I'm sorry if you find me arrogant or rude. That was not my intention. If you find my company unpleasant and there is nothing I can do for you then we need not ever meet each other again."
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 12:03 pm
Shikoba did pay more attention to her when she said his name, but he wished he hadn't. She spoke as if it was her purpose and responsibility to ensure the happiness of all other Soquili. Who did she think she was?
"Well, 'Vara, I still see your approach as fairly rude. You think that its your job to go around making sure that all Soquili are happy? And say, if I was unhappy, what makes you think that I'd just open up to you and you could make it go away?"
He turned away from her, facing the deep forrest. His brow was furrowed in anger and frustration. Who was this mare, coming along and thinking she could fix everybody's problems?
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 3:27 pm
Well. Wasn't he being difficult. Some soquili wouldn't understand good intention if it hit them upside the head with a stick... not that Avalokiteshvara was planning to. But, Shikoba seemed very angry. Why was he hostile at the idea of help? The poor thing... Maybe he had a bad experience that made him lose his trust. Maybe he just never had any experiences good enough to endow him with trust to begin with. If only she could...
No. She would only help those willing to be helped. That was her rule, now. She couldn't risk pushing an unwilling soquili to far. Getting hurt in a land full of strangers could be dangerous, or even fatal.
"My job to make soquili happy," she mused aloud. "I don't know that I'd call it a job. But it's something I try to do. And if you find my desire to help others offensive then I think it's better that I move along now." She made sure not to let any blame creep into her intonation. There would be no use in angering the stallion further before parting ways.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 10:01 am
Shikoba scoffed again as she said it was her job. Shikoba could understand wanting to help others, but to say it was your job? That was just arrogant.
"I don't have a problem with your wanting to help others. Its just the way you go about it. You go seeking out unhappy Soquili and try to force your happiness on them, or at least that's how it sounds. And to me, that's not really the best way to go about helping others."
He was so taken aback at her attitude, and it was somewhat offensive to him. As he said, he didn't mind one wanting to help others, but to go and seek them out was a lot different than letting them come to you when they know you're willing to offer help.
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