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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:36 pm
 
Her emerald eyes scanned the trees and their visitors, looking for the blood bay. She had no idea where he was, but Shrilal was easy enough to check, and it had been close to the valley she had so recently left. Perhaps he was here? She shook out her mane and pawed the ground before jumping into a canter. Perhaps she'd visit her tree afterwards.
The little white bundle of fur with rainbow spots clung to her tendril wings as Nizhoni cantered along, trying his best not to fall off. Why did she have to canter or gallop or trot everywhere? Why couldn't she just settle for a nice, gentle walk? Then he wouldn't have to feel like he was about to bounce or fall off every other minute.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:09 pm
 Not too far off from his usual grounds of occupation, a figure of blood bay made its way twisting through the trees. He was making his way towards the outskirts now, on one of his usual walks for fresh air only after being persuaded to do so. Though nowadays, he hadn't a clue exactly where he was going, or even what was going on around him for the most part; as hollow dark eyes kept their gaze on everything and nothing at once. For a moment it seemed like he had heard hoof beats in the distance, but his ear merely twitched in recognision. The blood bay had way too much on his mind to care about idle threats.
He probably shouldn't be worrying himself over something like this, but it felt as though the Jala didn't know himself anymore. He use to think himself a decent individual, a fellow with morals; but after what he was told of his past, he couldn't quite think that anymore. Not without massive guilt anyway.
Unfortunatly, the only thing that would solve such emotions was the miracle of getting his memory back. Which he highly doubted that would happen any time soon, not after all the headaches he had gotten hence forth from trying. With a flick of his lengthy midnight tail, the blood bay continued on his walk to nowhere, mildly aware of the approaching hoofbeats.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:15 pm
"Can you see him anywhere, Skittles?" Niz asked her companion with a flick of her tail. Her little friend had been instructed to watch her back in case he came out of Shrilal behind them.
"Nope, no sign of him yet," the little bundle of fur said after glancing behind his shoulders, but almost fell over sideways when Niz stopped abruptly.
"There he is!" And with that she bolted towards Aitumn at a gallop, and poor Skittles only managed to stay on by clinging to the mare's wings. "Aitumn!" She called, ears perked, forgetting the little Rit was on her back. She had hoped she would find him soon, but she didn't think she would have found him this soon. She slowed to a halt near him, ears perked, and Skittles slid off and landed with a plop and a groan on the ground, but Niz didn't seem to notice. "I've been looking all over for you, Aitumn!" She said with a grin and a flick of her curly tail. "How have you been doing? You look a little stressed out, are you okay?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:56 pm
What was that? Slightly startled at the sudden shout of his name, the stallion's head jerked up to peer at what was around him. At first it was mere blur, compliments of his splitting headache, and finally two figures came to rest in his vision. An Ichsa mare, bright in color, and a rit at her side and on the ground. Oddly, there was a curious tilt of his head before a name stuck with him. Nizhoni? Yes, that was it, though he was afraid he hadn't seen the rit before, so no name came to him.
"Nice to see ya Nizhoni, and I've been... fine. For the most part anyways", best to keep things to himself, he thought. They were his demons, and he would deal with them. "Oh, well a bit, but best not to worry about it." Despite himself, it was good to see an old friend. That is, he did turn his hollow dark gaze down to the little creature at her hooves, perking his ears slightly. "Though I don't think I've met you before", he inquired subtly, curious as to how they had come about each other, but not about to ask and be rude about it. They'd tell him if they wanted too.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:13 pm
"It's good to see you again!" She said with a grin on her muzzle, ears perked. She listened, grin descending to a smile, and she tossed her curly mane. "This is Skittles," she said, looking behind her, but was confused when he wasn't there. She looked down, then turned her head to look down at her other side. "Oh! How did you get down there?" She lowered her head to nudge him with her muzzle.
"I fell," he said curtly, managing to sit up. "Why do you have to run everywhere, huh?"
"Oh, sorry," she said with a grin, then looked back up at Aitumn. "I met him back in the spring, after we met," said the red-creme mare with a nod. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. I met a green Aeri in D'ob that said he was looking for you, and said you were an old friend of his," with a nod. There, her short quest done.
"I told you before, Niz, I dun think he looks very nice! You didn't see those looks on his face when you weren't looking!" The little rit piped up, looking up at the mare and wondering how he'd get back up onto her back without help.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:29 pm
"Like wise," the stallion spoke with a nod, his long forelock slipping past his perked ear and onto his forehead. What a bother that was. Though shifting his gaze down to the Rit once more, he bobbed his head at the mention of his name.
It was curious thing though, how the two interacted with each other, kinda funny even as he mentioned he had fallen from the mare's back. "I'd imagine falling wouldn't be quite pleasant", he chuckled slightly, flicking a lengthy tail in the midst of his own thoughts. He had seen little creatures before, but he didn't think he had formerly met a Rit before. So this was quit interesting to the blood bay Jala.
That all changed though, at the mention of that green brute. A visual frown came across the stallion's features, for his hip was still fairly sore from his last encounter with the Aeri. Still, Niz was a friend, if not quite 'innocent' in his opinion, so he would skip out on most details of the encounter. The only thing he wanted to communicate, is that he wasn't a good nequus to be around... as far as he knew. Perhaps the Aeri was nicer to other Nequus? Ah, nope. Didn't sound like it from what Skittles had said. With a deep, inwards breath, Aitumn prepared himself to speak, though delicately despite his feelings on the subject, and the furrowed brow on his face.
"I agree with Skittles. Except I know he's not very nice. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but he is the reason I'm stressed", he spoke, flicking an ear. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, and he didn't want to sound like a jack-arse either. But the one thing he didn't want most, was that brute getting his hooves on one of his friends. "Just... be careful, is all I'm trying to say."
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:43 pm
"No, it isn't very pleasant at all, especially when little miss bouncy here won't stop running everywhere!" He huffed, getting onto all fours to give himself a thorough shake, but Niz merely giggled at him.
"Aww, you know you like getting rides everywhere, Skittles." She peered over at Aitumn as he spoke, getting a bit confused. Zak had sounded so nice when she met him, how could he not be nice to anyone? "Why did he make you stressed, Aitumn? And how do you know for sure he isn't nice?"
"You didn't see those looks on his face when you weren't looking, Nizzie, I told you before!" He exclaimed with a sigh, looking up at her. "He was really scary! I think if you weren't there he woulda up 'n squashed me like a little Rit pancake!!" Why couldn't she understand that? He wasn't nice at all!
"I don't think he would have, Skittles, you're just being silly." Wasn't he? She didn't see the faces Zak made when she wasn't looking because... Well, because she wasn't looking, so she wouldn't know.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:57 pm
At that Aitumn gave a small grunt, this might be more difficult then he thought. "I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but I met him a few days ago. Its... kinda hard to explain", he spoke, hollow eyes going to meet her gaze so he could try and make himself as clear as possible. "He has me stressed because he told me something very disturbing, and I can't... well I can't remember if it really happened or not", this has probably been the first time he mentioned his memory loss to anyone, but he had to make sure he explained himself very well. He didn't even bother to out right tell her about his injury, but he did turn to the side slightly, exposing a slightly bruised area near his hip. Though with his coat color, she wasn't sure if she'd be able distinguish between hair and bruise. "He's not the softest of Nequus either, or at least his shoulder isn't", he spoke, still quite flustered that the brute was in contact with such a sweet mare.
Still, Aitumn wasn't convinced that he had gotten his point across very well, and so, he allowed his furrowed brow to droop once more. "I still owe you a story, don't I? Would you like to hear one now?" His stories though, usually had a moral, but she didn't need to know that right now. He just had to tell her in a way he could get his point across without hurting feelings.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:03 pm
Certainly Nizhoni's memory loss and her innocence because of it could be expected to cause problems for many, though she was ignorant of the fact. She merely bobbed her head, listening, and Skittles stayed quiet. When Aitumn finished, she bobbed her head again, trying to sort her thoughts. "You can't remember what happened to you?" Finally, someone who shared the same problem as she! "You mean, you can't remember anything that happened when you were little? I thought I was the only one! I'm sorry it's happened to you too, but it's good to know I'm not the only one with memory problems," she explained with another nod.
"His shoulder?" She couldn't see why he was showing his hip to her. Maybe something happened to it? She didn't think she could see it if she tried, as his coloring was so dark. "Oh, a story! Yes, you do, I'd love to hear one!" She looked to Skittles quickly to explain. "Aitumn likes to tell stories, and last time I saw him he promised me he'd tell me one!" She grinned, and Skittles nodded, and both of them looked at the bay stallion expectantly. "We'd love to hear one now!"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:15 pm
He was quite surprised to hear, that in fact she too had suffered from the same fate as himself. She too had lost her memory? The odds of that happening was very slim to none, in his mind, and slimmer that he would even meet someone else like him. Yup that's what I mean, can't remember a darned thing beyond becoming an adult." He did clear his mind slightly, resting one of his hind legs up one of his hind legs up on the tip of its hoof to rest it and his bruised hip.
Though he had to come up with characters. No doubt there would be an Aeri, but exactly how obvious should he make this story? Hmm, that was sorta difficult to come up with, but he figured he'd just go with the flow. "Alright, get comfortable and prepare yourselves for an awesome Aitumn story. Though, I need to know a few things first. One, what is your favorite color? And two what color do you think represents meanness, or betrayal?" He figured that should help him out quite a bit.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:30 pm
"Me too!" She said with a grin, giggling. "I can't either. Actually, can't remember anything until a few days before I met Nyx," she explained, nodding.
At his suggestion, she dropped down onto the ground. It wasn't a fall or anything, just a very quick way of laying down into a comfortable position. Skittles jumped, alarmed, not quite used to it, but took the chance to clamber onto her back and laid there instead of on the grass.
"Oh! My favorite color is purple!" That was easily supplied, even though she changed her favorite color just about every day. The next question was a bit more challenging though. "Hmm... That's a tough one.."
"What about red or black? Or dark red?" He piped up, flicking his rainbow-tufted tail.
"Oh, dark red! Let's go with that one," she said with a nod, adjusting her wings a bit to become more comfortable.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:09 pm
The sleek stallion gave a bob of his head, completely at ease with his audience as they got themselves situated, and taking in the suggestions as they came to him. It took a few moments of preparation on his part to get his story situated for the most part, but the blood bay finally flicked his ears forward while stretching his wings a bit, signaling that he would start now.
"A long while ago, when Nequus roamed the vast amounts of Urin without the proper knowledge of what was out there, they traveled alone and never with each other; for their was simply too few to do so. If one tried to visit a place in one direction the other might not get enough time to visit their own destination. And so, they decided that it was best to put their own wants as top priority.
Now, this practice had gone on for many years, and still few nequus had come to wander the lands, but there was a single filly who was born in that time. Her coat was the purest and brightest of purples, with a soft pink half moon under each of her eyes. Her parents had taught her about the world, they loved her, and when she was old enough they allowed her to go off on her own," he stated, taking a breather before continueing on with the story.
"The filly, who was now a young and beutiful mare, had come to believe that she wanted to visit the ocean in her lifetime. The only problem was she did not know the way, nor did she remember which way to get home; so she couldn't ask her parents either. Instead, the purple mare decided that she would try to find someone else who could help her, someone who had maybe seen the ocean before she had. During her travels, she had seen neither hide nor tail of anyone else, and soon began to worry that she might never find anyone at all. Was she lost? Would she stay lost forever? "Oh dear", she had cried out to the skies above, hoping that someone, anyone might be able to hear her. Though for the longest time, as she stood still under the dark of the night, no one had shown up. Soon, the purple mare began to lose hope that she'd ever find her way again, and nearly broke down into tears, before...
"Why are you crying, my dear?" A voice soft as velvet drifted out from the night. It was a nice voice, even and smooth as if spoken by the heaven's themselves. The purple mare looked up into the night around her, but was only able to see a dark shadow close by. His form however, was slightly bigger then her own, but he didn't very harmful at all. "I-I can't find my way. Do you know the way to the ocean?" She whispered to him in wonder, eyes bright like the stars above them.
"Don't worry, I know the way to the ocean. Please follow me, I'll help you get there." That voice of his was ever so sweet, and the young mare had never met someone so helpful before. Eagerly she followed after the dark shadow as he led her further into the darkness." He paused once more, hollow dark eyes carefully taking in the demeanors of his audience to make sure they were still paying attention. Just to make sure, he snorted to get their attention if they weren't.
"For a long time they walked, but something seemed very odd. The air around them had gotten cold, and the very shifting of hooves was enough to make loud sounds. After many hours, the sun had begun to come up, but the purple mare still could not see the stallion very clearly. That is, until he suddenly stopped, a chuckle coming from him as he did so. At first, the mare thought it was funny, so she laughed along with him... until something just didn't seem right. Soon the sun had come up enough for her to see the are around them, and she was excited about finally getting to see the ocean... but all she saw were trees. Confused, she looked back to the stallion, only to find he had turned to face her.
Now able to see him clearly, the purple mare found his coat to be the darkest of reds, nearly black in color within the shadows of the forest. "Where are we?" she asked him, unsure about this place. The stallion hadn't said much during their trip, but for some reason there was a smile on his face. Not just any smile, a dark, twisted grin that just didn't look right at all. "We're here. Were I wanted you to be", he told her coldly, that smooth voice of his had disappeared into something rough and harsh.
"But, I thought we were going to the ocean? You said you knew the way!" She protested. Something definatly wasn't right. The stallion spoke up once again, his voice harsher then before. "I did, didn't I? But that wasn't what I wanted. Now you'll have to live here in this haunted forest forever; for it will never let you leave. Unless... you bring someone else to take your place. Like I did", he chuckled once again, his dark red hide shimmering in the shadows of darkness. Before she knew, he blown past her to exit the forest, forever trapping the young purple mare inside.
Even though he had been nice to her, and promised to help her, the stallion had secretly wanted to use her for his own advantage."
That was the tale he had to tell, and to end it he lowered his muzzle to give a slight bow. He just hoped she understood now. That was his last restort in any situation.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:32 pm
They both listened with rapt attention, ears perked forward, hanging off of his every word. Niz enjoyed it more than Skittles did, but he understood the message of the story. "That was a wonderful story!" The mare said, pulling herself up to a standing position with the aid of her tendril wings. "The poor mare being misled by the mean stallion, it's simply dreadful!" Skittles nearly toppled off her back again, but not because he had lost his balance. "She sounds lovely, though. I do hope she's all right in there," she said, a note of concern in her voice.
"I'll try to get it through to her," The little bundle of white fur explained, flicking his tail, and settling himself on her back.
"Get what through to me?" She asked, looking at him for a moment, then smiling at Aitumn. "Do you want me to tell Zak where you are now, or no? He said he was very anxious to see you, but you don't seem too keen to see him. Should I just not talk to him again?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:42 pm
Oh... oh dang. Stories were usually his trump card in situations like this, but with her not getting the moral, he was quite unsure what to do. Still though, he thought that to be one of his greatest works, though failed in sense of urgency, it had been one of his best plots as of yet. His light of hope though was the little Rit, and the stallion gave a bob of his head in return. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to stumble through explanations once again. Communication had never really been his best trait.
"I'm sure she'll be alright, the purple mare is very resourceful, there are creatures in the forest that might help her", Aitumn explained. At her last words though he felt relief, for had Zak done anything, he would make it his personal vandetta to get him back. Zak was his demon, his past it would seem, and Aitumn had every intention on dealing with him. But not now, not while he had a growing, vulnerable fruit. With such desire to harm in the Aeri's crimson eyes, no telling what lengths he would go to. "Actually, I would appreciate it if you didn't. No need too, I'll go talk to him when I can. You said he was in D'ob right?" No need to set her up for harm's way, he'd feel horrible if he did.
The worst part though, he wasn't kidding about going to see the brute again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:56 pm
His reassurances seemed to work, and she bobbed her head. "Good, then at least she'll be okay." Skittles nearly fell again, wondering how she could be so thick sometimes... She flicked her curly tail, studying the blood bay. He didn't want her telling Zak? "Okay, then I won't tell him. And yes, he's in D'ob. He said he doesn't normally like to leave there," she said with another nod. "What are you two going to talk about?"
However, before that question became all that important, another pushed its way to the front, and she seemed to perk up a bit. "What are you doing in Shrilal, Aitumn? Visiting your tree?"
"Ooh, do you have a little tree in there?" The little rit asked, perking up a bit too. That would be awesome, little foals were so cute, especially the ones with feathers.
Niz seemed to take to the idea, too, and she let out an audible gasp. "Oooh, do you? Oh, that would be wonderful!"
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