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 Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:34 am
 Hoof print. Paw print. Hoof print. Paw print. The pattern in the slightly soggy sand along the beach showed the ocean that the cream colored stallion walking on its shores did not travel alone. A small black lion walked between his legs keeping herself sheltered from the sun. Xantir looked down at the childish feline and smiled at her. He didn't know how she had come here but he was glad to have an old friend back even if she did cling to him like berry stains.
He chuckled lifting his head to release the slight tension in his back. There walks had always been pleasant and silent but a quite mew accompanied by the scuffle of sand brought his attention back between his legs. The sand where she had been standing was scattered and a trail of prints led off the beach and up to the lake nearby. He sighed and shook his head continuing on. The cat had probably seen some bird and would come back in a bit a stinking mess of blood. While she was gone, however, he took the time to walk into the cool water, something he couldn't do with his friend around. "Ahhhh, this is the life..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:50 am
Everything had happened to quickly, the battle that had left his wings in tatters had also left a lasting impression. Now, he knew that there were more important things in life than the pursuit of another individual. In attempting to defend others h had very lost his own life and yet, this act of honour would never be recognised by his herd - he had another duty that they deemed more important.
Life was a complicated thing, one that left him at a loss.
Nevertheless, with the help of his two-legger he had slowly managed to drift down the slopes to the Clearing where the sun's warmth would help his healing. With his wings strapped and bound through injury, he was for all intent and purpose, grounded until further notice - one might say he was nothing but a cripple for the time being given the frailty of winds upon the ground.
Alas, as he drifted across the beach and marvelled at the tiny shells that lined the shore he couldn't help but savour everything. While he missed his herd, the Kawani lands had provided quite a number of unexpected treats and a time to relax...
"Ah, this is the life!"
He looked up at this, the male voice capturing his attention and while it was a distance away, he had no doubt of its existence. He refrained from quickening his pace, due to the pulp and bandage over his blinded eye (he had no balance) but opted not to pause at this spot in particular - it was better to be sociable after all.
Thus, it wasn't long until he had drifted up the slopes and had placed his right eye on the stallion near by...a new face.
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:32 am
He took a few more steps out into the water along the waves to sweep up and cool his neck. It felt good but if he went any further in he feared the tides would carry him away. He sighed, closed his eyes and took a step backwards from his cool sanctuary. "I guess I could find Amal..." He said turning about to see where the feline had gotten off to. Perhaps she was by the lake? He smiled at the thought, it was a perfect excuse for a swim.
At the first touch of dry sand Xantir stiffened his legs and shook send droplets of salted water everywhere. Electric green eyes flashed open and suddenly he realized he was being watched.
There, not quite in front of him but it was close. He felt the hairs running down his spine prickle but he fought of the anger he felt at being snuck up on. "Hello..." He called sounding a bit less then thrilled. "Is there something you want?" He studied the stallion wondering what on earth he would want to do down here? He looked rather elegant with the feathery tail and wings. But, what were those bandages? Was he hurt or did he simply like they way they looked? The seemed awfully real if he was just using them as decorations.
Xantir's mouth opened to ask before he promptly shut it with a snap. It seemed rude to ask what someones wound wrappings were for. It was the others business, if he wanted to share he would. If not it would just be a curiosity.
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:54 am
And there was that look, the one he was beginning to grow used to... Each time he appeared, people would gawk and wonder how he had gained such 'decorative' pieces. It had gotten to the point where he accepted the stares and stated bluntly that aerial combat was a rather dangerous form of combat, significantly more dangerous than land based combat (unless you knocked someone off a cliff).
"Good morning." The stallion replied dutifully, flicking his tail as he carefully picked his way down the slope towards the stallion. With only one eye available, his footsteps were erratic and uncertain, clearly focusing with one eye was somewhat difficult and the stumbling may have been somewhat amusing to others but again...it was something the stallion had opted to ignore - he was injured, there was nothing he could do other than get better.
"Rather pleasant day, is it not?" He did take note of the stallions spikes, but other than that, he didn't seem overly concerned with his appearance - his composure though, was an entirely different matter.
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:28 am
Watching the firey orange stallion descend the question of fake bandages was settled. The were as real as real could get. The way he stumbled showed he wasn't used to only having one eye and showed that it wasn't just a thin layer of cloth for effect. He didn't need to ask now, unless he was a spectacular faker it was real, but what had happened? That was a bit more healing work then he'd ever seen one need.
"Morning." He said approaching a bit cautiously, not to shorten the others walk but to get a better look and size him up. From where he was standing he could already tell that the other was a bit larger then him though Xantir had always been rather short thanks to the spikes. "It is, perfect weather for swimming."
The closer he got the more he noticed. Like how his eye had an odd spark to them and how his wings were tipped in all colors of the rainbows. He had seen winds before, he used to live with one after all, but none of them had those strange things on their foreheads, were they feathers and he was pretty sure none of them had glittered like that. It was almost as if the sun itself was buried inside him. What was he?
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:54 pm
Grencia was quiet for a few moments as the stallion seemed to stare at him. He knew his injuries were bad but there appeared to be more than met the eye when it came to the gaze - there were questions, ones the male craved to ask and yet refused to through pride or manners. Grencia wasn't entirely certain which it was, but he afforded a small smile as the stallion did attempt to make reasonable conversation with him.
"As tempting as a swim would be, I'm not entirely certain I would be up for it." He mused at last, although he did crave the delicate touch of the water...the cool liquid upon his flesh would certain be delightful in the growing heat but the risk of dampening and damaging his bandages was a little too much. Thus, he opted instead to push the thought from his mind and turned his gaze back to the stallion.
Tentative steps had been taken, they were closer now and still the stallion stared.
"Is there something wrong?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:05 am
"Oh...I'm sorry...I wasn't thinking." Truthfully he was but he hadn't really expected the stallion to take that as an invitation. He had merely been explaining what he was doing out there but he supposed he was unclear with his statement. He continued to think keeping his gaze on the stallion until his thoughts were interrupted once again and he realized now was not the time to be staring.
"No, nothing." He said wondering how to phrase the thought in his mind. It seemed rude to just ask someone what they were. There had to be some way to go about it but it seemed horrible to ask it. That was it! His mind clicked into action and he stepped a bit closer so that he was sure to be understood. "It's just that I've never seen a Winged one quite like yourself."
Inside he nodded deciding it don't sound terribly rude. It was still a bit of a risk, he could easily take offense to it but it wasn't as likely. At least, he hoped it wasn't. It didn't seem like a good way to start the day off, running for your life. That didn't strike him as fun right now.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:30 am
Even if Grencia had desired to kill the stallion it was unlikely he would be able to catch him. His lack of balance and lack of speed on land would ultimately be his down fall but today the stallion was in luck. It appeared Grencia was all too familiar which such peculiar questions, perhaps more than just a little accustomed to being stared at as well. It was for this reason that he was not against asking exactly what the matter was - he would rather people just asked him instead of contemplated.
"Most would assume that I had stuck the wings on using the bandages." He teased, the twinkle in his eyes growing as he tentatively glanced round at his unharmed wing. It was strapped but not to the extent as the other so it was easy enough to see the rather peculiar colour of the feathers and the ethereal glow.
"But thank you all the same, if it was a compliment." Grencia smiled appreciatively, although he was somewhat suspicious, there were bound to be more questions.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:28 am
Xantir furrowed his brow not quite happy with the answer. Yes he knew the wings were real and they were stunning but what about the tail and the feathery things sprouting from his forehead? He hadn't really helped at all but again, trying not to offend people while asking about them was always a bit like walking on a fallen log to cross a pit. Tricky.
"What about the feathers in your tail? Are they decorations?" There really didn't seem to be an eloquent way to ask him. It was too late to take his question back but surprisingly it seemed okay. While it may not always turn out well sometimes direct questions were best. He just hoped that this was one of those times.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:01 am
There it was! Grencia's smile grew as the stallion at last cast his manners aside and asked the question directly. In turn, the stallion had actually been more polite and it was with a slight bob of his head that the wind chose to respond. He was often much more at ease when they were direct, he preferred honesty over subtle white lies.
"Alas, both are very real." He drew his tail round slightly to reveal the heavy feathers lining it, while they appeared delicate they appeared to be significantly stronger than people gave them credit for. Biscuit, his nephew, could agree to that given that he had permanently latched onto them as a foal and been dragged from point A to point B in the process.
"Even the feathers on my head are real, rather strange looking additions, don't you think?" He enquired wistfully.
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:49 am
Well that was strange. So the feathers were really his, and they were really growing out of him. It was quite fascinating. He'd never heard of anything of the sort and now he was seeing it with his own eyes. Now that it was there, he couldn't seem to stop staring no matter what he told himself. He had always been curious about these lands and this feathered stallion was only increasing his wonder.
"They are and rather wonderful at the same time..."He said finally managing to look away from the feathered tail. "One of a kind, really." This, he felt, was truth. There may be another like him somewhere but so far Xantir had never encountered one. Did that bother him knowing he was alone in a sense or maybe he knew of another? There was only on way to be sure and that was to ask and there was no way he would be so bold, or rude for that matter.
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:47 pm
"Not quite, my mother has even more feathers in her tail than I do," Grencia smiled politely, indirectly answering the stallion's mental question without knowing. He was no mind reader, but responding in terms of 'unique' allowed him to make reference to his parents and thus, it pointed out that he had seen others like him (well maybe not exactly like him) but he was at least able to inform the stallion that everything was inherited.
"And my father has many whiskers on his cheeks and forehead." He explained, flicking his gaze upwards towards the feathers that threatened to brush against his lashes on occasion. Nevertheless, the mention of 'wonderful' still seemed to make him pull a face, while he was slowly beginning to recover his love for his plumage, the events that had transgressed on his visit to these lands had resulted in a very different outlook.
"I will say, they are certainly a talking point."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:27 am
"Oh I see." Xantir said beating himself up on the inside. Of course there were others, he had to have come from somewhere. There would be no thinkable way for him to just appear from nothing. He was very glad that ones mind was a fortress for themselves. He didn't want the feathered one to know what he had been wondering so foolishly.
"It's good to have somewhere to start." he said glad to have the distractions from his own thoughts. "It gets old just going up saying 'My name is Xantir, nice to meet you'. There's no where to go from that but you can have good conversations with something so wonderful about you I'm sure." Slowly he began to realize he was babbling like the fool he felt like. He sighed and bowed his head apologetically. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away."
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:25 pm
"You could always talk about the weather, make interesting observations about the world around you?" Grencia suggested, although as Xantir mentioned his name he released a small snort. Apparently, he had lost his manners on the way up the slope and afforded a somewhat sheepish smile, "They know me as Grencia, in case you were wondering." He added, his tone soft.
"That being said, it is not always fun to have individuals continually point out interesting features. Flattering though it may be at first, sometimes it causes pain." He canted his head to the side to get a better look at the bandages through his good eye - so far they seemed to be secure enough. "For example, I'm fairly certain that you are wondering how in the name of the gods I received these..."
"In short, I fell from the sky." He confessed somewhat bluntly.
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