|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:46 am
In his wake, foals and parents alike drew out of the shadows to watch the morbid creature vanish out of sight before returning to their activities. Either the tall Aeri was unaware of the effect he was having or he didn't much care; he walked on through the young trees as though nothing abnormal was happening. Eventually however he slowed again and this time not to scratch.
Lucius frowned at his surrounding and said, "mmph," around the basket. What had possessed him to go in search of Aitumn? He didn't really have any idea where the bay's tree was; neither of them had been very explicate on where they could find one another if they desired to travel to the two-legs together.
This, the orange-eyed stallion decided as he set off once more, might have been a slight oversight. He was probably never going to find the story-weaving Jala at this rate.
"Oh ugger," he muttered to a whitish crossbreed fruit that dangled from a nearby tree.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:55 am
She hesitated; last time she saw an Aeri it wasn't exactly a good encounter, but this one seemed rather nice. Wasn't going after the fruit, at any rate. He probably had a tree of his own, judging from the basket he carried. Aitumn was gone, off taking a break or getting more food from the humans, and good company while tree-watching was hard to come by. Not that she would be picky about company otherwise, but it was valued higher at such a point. She couldn't go anywhere to seek it out, she was required to stay put and if it happened by, she wasn't one to pass it up. Perhaps he merely wanted to continue on his way and not talk? Oh well, she wouldn't know until she tried.
She took a few steps forward, flicking the tips of her tails. She inwardly hoped that the blood on her horn had gone by itself, but she couldn't very well know for sure, as she couldn't see it herself without a pool of water to look at. "Good evening," she said softly, watching the stallion curiously. "What brings you to this part of Shrilal at this hour?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:34 am
Lucius started slightly, caught off guard by somebody actually greeting him. A moment later however he had collected himself once more and was scanning for the owner of the voice. Ah, there she was; a white and gold Reya mare. By the looks of it, she was the mother of the fruit he had just cussed indistinctly to. The black stallion trotted forward a little way and set his basket down.
"Good evening," he greeted the horned female with a bob of his head. "I was looking for somebody, sort of, on my way to Ryuten. He doesn't seem to be about though, that or I'm looking in utterly the wrong place." Was that... Hum, well it wasn't always easy protecting a fruit, especially one that was, like his own, not of pure blood. If she had the strength to defend the fruit herself, which she clearly had, she might well be worth his time. A little break from travelling wouldn't hurt.
"My name is Lucius," the red-maned stallion added with a slight smile. "Forgive me if I sound a little presumptuous but... have you been having trouble of late?" Though the blood on her horn looked well dried he supposed whoever had done it could still be about. If so, perhaps he’d give them a bit of a pounding of his own. A Nequus that troubled one mother might well trouble another and Lydia was far less well equipped to deal with such a threat then this mare was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:43 am
Good, her assumption had been correct, and he wasn't telling her off nor going on a blind rampage towards her fruit. He might pose more problems than the brute of an idiot the other day had. "Looking for someone? Well, I've been here for a while, maybe I could point you in the right direction," she offered with a bob of her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lucius. My name is Cressida, and this is my fruit, though you probably already assumed as much yourself," she said, motioning towards it with her muzzle. "Mine and Aitumn's, if you know him. Blood bay Jala."
"Trouble? Oh." It took a moment to register the question, but figured that the blood still showed on her horn, and she resisted the temptation to try to look up at it, knowing she couldn't if she tried. The question left a grin on her face and she chuckled lightly. "Yes, we had trouble just the other day. Big brute of an Aeri, green he was with a hard name to pronounce, and he seemed to have it out for Aitumn, though I've no idea why. Took him a while to make the connection that the fruit is Aitumn's too, but once he did he decided that was more worthwhile to mutilate than the Jala," she explained with a snort, flicking her ears back. "So he pushed Aitumn aside like he was nothing and came after it. He apparently didn't think I'd do anything to him, the moron," which elicited another chuckle from the gilded mare. "Taught him, though, left him a nick on the shoulder and a snap on the flank. Hopefully those will be enough of a warning not to come back."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:17 am
"Oh, you're Cressida are you?" Somehow he'd pictured another Jala when the blood bay had said the name; that was social norms for you. "Actually it was Aitumn I was looking for," Lucius said with a bob of his head. "Not for the same reasons as that green bugger I can assure you, Zed somebody I think he was? I don't have the best memory for things I can't pronounce well." It was really good to heaar that git had got it in the teeth so thoroughly. Selfishly he was also more than a little glad that it wasn't somebody who held a grudge against mixed bloods who Cressida.
She'd probably be a bit paranoid after such an encounter; better elaborate. "Yes, still; I was looking for Aitumn hoping he might want to come back to Ryuten with me. I saw him there a little while ago and introduced him to the two-legs but we’ve run into one another on and off since the winter now." Goodness; had it really been that little time since he’d met the Jala? So much had happened since then that it seemed a lifetime ago.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:37 am
She smiled, bobbing her head. "Yes, I'm Cressida, and it's good to know I helped you a bit. I'm not sure when he'll be back, he only left a little while ago. I'll bet if you head to Ryuten you'll see him there or on his way back." She had to think hard on the name, Aitumn had only said it once, and she hadn't paid much attention to it at the time. "Zak, it started with. I don't remember the rest, though. Just wish I could've gotten him a couple more times than I did, the brainless git. It's just lucky for him he missed me, he's got horrible aim."
Oddly enough, she wasn't paranoid at all. She knew whether Aitumn was there or not she would be able to handle the big brute, he was more into bullying than any physical fighting from the way he'd reacted. If he was a fighter, her first blow would have sent him into over-drive. "As I said, you'd probably see him if you went now, though I'm not entirely sure." She allowed her eyes to travel all over him, noting his orange markings and morbid adornments, though she thought them interesting and intriguing. And such lovely eyes. "Do you have a tree around here, Lucius? I can't think of another reason for you to be carrying a basket around. The two-legs make those, and Aitumn came back with one a few weeks back, full of fruits and such. The humans are such intelligent creatures," she mused, thinking of them. She hadn't seen one in a long while, she'd have to go back there at some point to see them, maybe she'd recognize one or two from her youth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:48 am
Lucius smiled at the question and nodded. "Yes I do; it isn't all that close to here though. It’s Lydia and my first tree, we've got just the one fruit too, but I've no doubt one will be plenty to keep us busy before long." For a moment he was tempted to tell the golden mare that he'd been the one to get the humans to give Aitumn the basket of food but, after a moment of thought, he decided against the impulse. He wasn't sure of the relationship between Cressida and Aitumn and, if the Jala was courting her, he had no desire to diminish the bay's success in her eyes.
"I'm glad to hear you gave him something to think about, the green bugger that is," Lucius went on. "I've met him myself; thoroughly nasty character from what I've been able to tell, one I'd like to give a whack or two myself given the chance." If the bully knew better than to approach the tree now he might try to catch Aitumn away from Shrilal. The Jala had probably thought of this already but, next he saw the story-teller, he would pass on the thought nevertheless. Always better to be prepared for a possible danger than to have it bite you in the backside when you least expect it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:36 pm
"Oh, how lovely," she said with a smile. Foals were wonderful, in her opinion, and though she would've liked more than one, she agreed with Lucius. Just one foal for first-time parents was probably a good thing. She half-wondered if Lydia and Lucius had planned to have fruit or if it just sort of happened, as it did for her and Aitumn.
"Oh, after what he did I hope those reminders never go away. Well, actually," she said after a thoughtful pause, "I hope they do. Then I'll have reason to give him more." She grinned, chuckling lightly. That would be her side-quest. Main quests, raise foal and find mother. Side quest, get back at Zak and give him as many reminders as possible so he learns not to mess with her or her child, and now Aitumn.
"Pardon the question, but," she began, studying the bones on his body carefully before looking back into his bright orange eyes, "I can't help but ask where you received such strange and wondrous decorations. They're perfectly unique, as far as I can tell. I've never seen a nequus with similar adornments, but I would figure the chance for such wouldn't present itself often."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:02 pm
Ah; the story. When he was young he'd always been furious by the time he got to the end to the telling but now that he'd matured the feeling was less intense. Most of the ones responsible were dead in any case. The only one who hadn't been, had got the scare of his life when he'd seen the gangly black colt nobody had talked to coming at him wearing the skeleton and that made up for it a little.
"These bones," Lucius began, "once belonged to a great flame elemental; an Aeri like myself named Pyrus. He had always been wise but when he gained and had honed his powers he felt able to help those Nequus living around him. He had such plans for them, for their future. Peace, plenty and freedom he dreamed for them but the Nequus feared and envied his power and stature for as you can no doubt tell from his remains he was a giant even among Aeri."
"In any case," the orange-winged stallion continued, "a small group of stallion spoke to the people and offered them a way to be rid of the fire taming freak as they liked to name him. A few hesitated but, by and large, blessings were given to them to do whatever they deemed necessary. So it was that the young stallion approached Pyrus as representatives of the Nequus he sought to help. They listened to his ideas, gained his trust, pretended to be his friends and then one night at the top of the tall steep slope they used for meetings, the stallions struck Pyrus from behind and killed him. They returned home heroes and the story of their great victory, changed to place them in favourable light, was told to their children and then their children’s children."
Lucius smirked at Cressida. "As you may have guessed, I heard the tale when I was a colt and was less than impressed by it. I'd never been on good terms with the people about me and so I climbed up to the top of the summit and claimed these bones so that in some small way Pyrus and his values could live on through me. Of course," he added with a slightly evil chuckle, "the look the last of 'brave' stallions who had slain the elemental wore when he saw me coming through the night with the glowing skeleton of the one he murdered in cold blood on my back was a bonus." He was a little surprised the git hadn't had a heart attack and died, a little disappointed, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:36 pm
She bobbed her head in a nod, listening intently to his story. It certainly seemed the embodiment of betrayal and close-mindedness for those in the herd to kill off the elemental that was trying to help them. Morons. "I wouldn't be impressed by it much, either, truth be told," she said dryly, flicking an ear. "They must've been prideful little idiots."
"It was a noble thing to do," she said, not sure if she had found the right word to describe his actions. After a moment, she grinned, chuckling along with him. "Yes, I can imagine that would freak just about anyone out. Deja vu for certain. Certainly got at least part of what was coming to him, though, which is always nice."
She nodded again, more to herself than to Lucius, thinking on brainless gits. "I've had enough experiences with morons to last me the rest of my life. First a prideful git Ichsa stallion, then that idiot of an Aeri just the other day. Sad to say I didn't get the Ichsa, but I certainly gave what's-his-face a little warning." She snorted, hoping never to see his green hide nor his crimson eyes ever again, though she doubted that would happen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:46 pm
Lucius snorted and bobbed his head. "Yes, the world does seem to contain a significant number of arseholes, doesn't it? Still; they're good for kicking I suppose and once kicked they’re a good lesson to foals." The red-maned stallion smirked to himself as he recalled what he'd done to the old Jala who had spoken so proudly of his role in killing Pyrus.
"That one of the killers that was left when I was a colt is probably still twitching, if he's even alive," the orange-eyed stallion told Cressida with a chuckle. "I told him I'd come back for him when he least expected it. He doesn't need to know that I've no intention of wandering back to that bit of the world any time soon, hum? Kicks fade and slashes heal but if you can get inside somebody's head... Well," Lucius grinned, "they pay for as long as they live, or until you choose to release them. Rather neat I feel. Not something I like to do to people in general but that one earned it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:09 pm
"Unfortunately, yes, but at least they have their uses. They do tend to cause trouble now and again, though, which is also unfortunate." Again she recalled the Ichsa stallion from her youth and the brute from a few days prior. She hoped that the next time she saw him he wouldn't notice her again and she could sneak a few hits on him, the dolt.
"Oh, that's always fun. I'd try mind tricks on what's-his-face, but I don't think they'd work," she said with a mock sad tone, "so kicks and my horn will have to do instead. He certainly isn't getting away with merely a bite and a scratch after what he's done," said the gilded mare, this time with a sneer. The last time she'd loathed someone so completely as this was when she was just a foal, newly separated from her mother. "Anyway, I don't put it into general practice either, but it does have its uses for some of the idiots. Most of them, though, just need a good swift kick in the rear to get some sense into their heads. Don't know how logical that is, but it seems to work, from my experiences."
Deciding that it was time a topic change, she eyed Lucius curiously. "So, tell me about miss Lydia, I haven't met her. Is she an Aeri like yourself, Lucius?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:23 pm
Lucius chuckled and bobbed his head. "Yes, there's quite a narrow window of people it works on. If they're too clever they’ll see through but if they’re too stupid... Well, there has to be a mind there in the first place if you're to mess with it, hum?" He did dislike people with nothing but air between their ears. He knew that some couldn't help it and those were alright but then there were those that did actually possess a brain but seemed to use it only once a year or so.
"No, she's not," he went on after a moment as he recalled Cressida's question. Usually he would have tried to skirt around that but, seen as the mare had a mixed-blood fruit herself, she probably wouldn't be one of the psychos who would rather kill a half-breed than look at it. "She's a Bae," he elaborated with the little smile he could never hold back when thinking or speaking of his mate. "She's mostly grey but she has deep red accents to her and the most wonderful pair of blue eyes I have ever seen." The red-maned stallion smiled ruefully at the other Nequus. "You may have gathered from the silly look on my face that I'm more than a bit crazy about her." Were Cressida and Aitumn lovers? It seemed a trifle rude to ask somehow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:34 pm
She chuckled, nodding her head in agreement. "Yes, that's very true. Can't mess with a mind that isn't there, indeed. That would be a bit of a challenge, in my opinion." She paused, listening to his description with a smile and an occasional chuckle.
"She sounds lovely, I love the wings on the Bae. Wouldn't want them, but they're still stunning all the same," she said with a bob of her head. Clearly, she didn't care that Lucius' mate wasn't an Aeri. If she did, she'd be a hypocrite herself for mating with a Jala, and she a Reya. She hadn't met a cross-breed before, so their child would be the first. Of course, that wouldn't give her any basis on other cross-breeds and their behaviors, but still, it was a start. She chuckled at him once more, flicking the tips of her tails. "Yes, I gathered as much. Nothing wrong with that of course, it's perfectly wonderful; lets me know how much you care for her when you talk about her so."
After another moment's pause, she figured she should probably tell Lucius about herself and Aitumn, as if answering his unasked question. "He and I aren't exactly mates," she began, figuring it would be a bit awkward anyway, so better have it straight-forward than skirting around the issue. "We didn't exactly plan to have a child either," she said with a rueful smile, "but that doesn't mean we were upset or irritated at the fact we have one now, goodness know. He seems very happy with it and proud, as well. I've wanted foals of my own for a while, and though this isn't exactly how I intended to have one, it's still magnificent to have a child, even if it isn't born yet," said the gilded mare with a contented smile, turning her head to look at the fruit growing on the tree, then back at Lucius. The question of whether they had planned it or not still lingered in her mind, but she figured it would be a touch rude to ask.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:12 am
Well it was good to know and not to wonder; now he wouldn't made an idiot of himself on the subject next he saw Aitumn. "Lydia and I weren't exactly planning this either," the orange-eyed Aeri smiled. "Officially before this we were friends and no more, much to my disgust, but when we got here and found the tree... Well I asked her to stay with me forever and she agreed." That memory still gave him an odd feeling in his stomach; as though it had been filled with something wriggly but pleasant that was trying to lift him off the ground without the aid of his wings.
"I'd been thinking about foals for a while too," Lucius went on, peering up with a smile at the healthy fruit. "Technically speaking I already had a son, I adopted him, but that experience only made me want more." Where was Vox? He hadn't seen the deep green Aeri in an age... Still, the boy was probably fine; he was tough and knew enough to keep himself out of trouble. ...Still, it would be good to see him and confirm what he knew was the case.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
