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 Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:07 pm
The red-creme mare cantered towards the cliffs that she knew overlooked the ocean, determined to go there to see the ocean at least once. Maurice was there, too, she knew, and wondered when he was going to come visit. He had said he would in summer, but it was in the dead of the season and she had seen neither hide nor hair of the blue Ichsa stallion. It would be good to see him again, she figured, and perhaps he would have regained some of his confidence in the meantime.
She slowed to a walk as she approached the cliffs; it would be idiotic to canter straight over them, she knew. She came to a halt and surveyed the long stretch of beach below her, and the vast ocean beyond that, her eyes wide in awe. It seemed to stretch on forever! No wonder Maurice wanted to come see this place!
She pondered for a few moments, wondering whether she should go onto the beach or not. After a quick scan of the beach, she saw nothing but sand and waves. No Maurice in sight. Hmm...
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:13 pm
Oh well, he could imagine it and...
Oh.
He knew he shouldn't have waited around this long. She'd got tired of waiting for him to come to her. Well this had the potential to be awkward. Taking a breath, the Ichsa stallion swooped down towards the crème mare. She wasn't standing too close to the edge of the cliff; startling her wouldn't be too disastrous.
"Hey! Niz!" the stallion called as he reached out for the ground with her forelegs, landing at the canter which he slowed to a trot and then a walk over to where the other Ichsa stood. "Err... I didn' expect t' see you 'ere..." Yep, awkward. " 'm glad t' see y' though," he added with a rueful grin. "Wasn' meanin' t' leave comin' t' find y' so late..."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:38 pm
The innocent mare wouldn't know awkwardness if it bit her on the behind. She twirled around at his voice, ears perked, and began to prance about him in a circle. "Oh Maurice, I was looking for you! It's so good to see you again!" She studied him as she pranced, and stopped to stand in front of him, bobbing her head. "You look marvelous! It seems the ocean has done wonders for you," she said, beaming.
"Oh, don't worry about it," she said with a toss of her head, flicking her curly tail. "I wanted to come and see the ocean, anyway! It's good that you're here, too!" And it certainly was. She didn't need to tell him that it was really he she had come to find, and not just to see the ocean. Either way, it was magnificent to be able to see both at the same time.
She turned to the ocean, looking at the stretch of beach, the vast ocean, and tossed her head with a grin. "It's so beautiful!" She exclaimed, turning her emerald eyes on the stallion beside her. "Have you met many friends here? Is it lots of fun? How is it?" So many questions she had!
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:22 am
Maurice gave a soft nicker of amusement and trotted over to stand beside the green-eyed mare. Thank all Gods for Niz; how had he ever been afraid of her? "Yea," he replied with a bob of his head, "it 'as. I feel like me again rather than... eh, whatever I felt like before." The stallion gave a shrug, stating his indifference for his former paranoia and skittishness in the gesture.
"I'm glad y' did come," the blue stallion went on, "I was gonna leave t' come find you in a few days, good thing we didn' miss each other on the way an' this is better in a way too. Means I can show y' about the place, right?" Blue eyes swept the endless scene once more and their owner gave a satisfied nod. "It's great fun 'ere," he went on, "even better than I imagined an' I've met a few other people, none of 'em 'ave been nasty exactly but I 'ave got on better with some than with others."
Like hells he had; much though his conversation with the strange-tailed Ichsa had ended amicably he was in no hurry to run into the girl again... He was still doing it; 'girl' for all he knew she was older than he... Well she hadn't come off as such so until further notice he could think of her as a slightly daft filly and no harm done.
"I got on best with these two Reya I met," Maurice went on, twitching his tail idly. "They're mother an' daughter 'parrently but ain' seen each other in ages; they got split up by some Ichsa guy when the daughter was still young. Still, she ain' 'ere right now, I was ‘oping she’d turn up before I left which was why I ‘ung about ‘ere, but I can introduce y' to 'er mother, Rhea. Dead lovely she is," the silver-marked Nequus went on with a smile. "All white with these lovely blue eyes. Daughter's jus' as pretty; white an' gold, green eyes, got the gold from ‘er father ‘parrently. Oh an' the daughter's called Cressida, but I call 'er Cressie."
Well, so far as long and convoluted explanations went that had been a fairly impressive one, the curly-maned stallion considered with an internal snort and an external smile.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:01 pm
She grinned, continuing her prancing about him. "Oh, good! I'm so glad!" She truly was; he had seemed so nervous and skittish before. It was good that the ocean had helped him regain his confidence. "I'm glad I came, too. I'd love to see it!" She said, beaming. To look at it was nice, but to have a guide to take her all over it, it seemed like a most wonderful thing.
She bobbed her head to show she was listening, after ceasing her prancing fit. "Oh, that's awful they got separated!" She said with a frown, wondering how an Ichsa stallion could separate a parent and child. She suddenly studied him closely when he had finished his explanation, then burst into a grin and pranced around him. "Oooh, I think you like her!" She teased, prancing about him in a circle.
She froze suddenly, ears perked, the last name suddenly sinking in. "Cressida?" Now where had she heard that name again...? She frowned, thinking, and paced back and forth. She remembered hearing that name sometime a little while ago, but where? Where? Suddenly she gasped, eyes wide, and nearly jumped in excitement. "I know where she is!" She said, prancing about in a circle. "I met Aitumn just a week or so ago, he's a handsome bay Jala, and he said he and Cressida had a fruit tree together and he said I can see it when it hatches and I think they're still there now!" She said all in one breath, gasping again when she was done, but grinned anyway. She felt very helpful now. Hopefully Cressida and, what was her name? Rhea? Hopefully she would help them get together again with the information she happened upon.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:22 am
The Ichsa stallion snorted and pranced back a place. "Do not... least I don’ think I do." He hadn't really thought about it like that before. They were both very pretty mares and he'd got on with them well too but he hadn't thought of anything greater than friendship cropping up. Perhaps it was time he thought about things like that... but with a Reya? He wasn't sure he wanted crossbreed children. Much though he usually laughed at stereotypes, the two mix-breeds he'd had the misfortune to come across had fulfilled all the rumours. Angry, violent and unpredictable.
Niz had still been talking when he'd started thinking but his ears had taken it in nonetheless and were now passing it on to his brain. "Oh that's great!" the silver-marked Nequus exclaimed with a grin. "I'll 'ave t' find Rhea later on, per'aps I can introduce the two of y', an' tell 'er that. We been wonderin' why she hadn' showed up yet." Cressida with foals. Mix-blood foals. He'd have to be careful not to let his mistrust of such creatures show if he was introduced to the eventual foal/foals. Somehow he didn't think that the discovery of such opinions would do his relationship with the gilded mare and her white mother any good at all.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:01 am
Important information conveyed, the innocent mare resumed her prancing about him in a circle. "I think you doooo!" She teased, flicking her curly tail. In her mind, if he had talked about how lovely Rhea was, then he must like her, at least a little bit. And that was worth the teasing. No harm was meant, of course, but she didn't think he would be offended by her teases.
She finally decided that she had teased him enough, and stopped her prancing fit to listen, instead. She flicked an ear, beaming at him. Oooh! I'd love to meet her! She sounds really nice," she said with a grin, twirling around in a circle. "Yes, she hasn't shown up yet because she's busy in Shrilal," said the creme mare matter-of-factly. "Aitumn said they have one fruit, and I get to see it when it hatches! He's going to tell it lots of stories, too. He told me a story!" She said suddenly, twirling around again.
She paused, looking at Maurice, and grinned. "Can you show me the ocean, Maurice?" True, she could see it from there, but it would be nice to walk on the beach with a friend. Besides, she hadn't walked on sand before. At least, she didn't think she had.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:07 pm
The deeply-hued Ichsa gave a soft chuckle at the continued teasing and tossed his head in exaggerated mock affront. "I do not," he reiterated. "So far as I'm aware," he added with a crooked smile as he watched the crème mare dance about.
"If y' wanna see the ocea best we go down t' the beach," Maurice said with a nod. "There ain' too much wind t'day or I'd've felt it when I was up there so we should jus' be able t' glide down." Gliding off the cliffs had in fact become one of his favourite games. "What y' do is, when it's low-tide with the sea way out like now, is y' step off the cliff with y' wings out t' catch the air an' then y' see how far y' go before y' land. Without flappin' that is." Sometimes, if the wind was stiff and off-shore, he'd find himself landing out of his depth.
"I only do it when the sea's far out like it is now though," the stallion added so as to be sure his own mistakes were passed on to the other Ichsa to save her re-enacting them. "If the sea's right close up t' the cliffs an' y' glide off y'll end up with a long way t' swim back an' if tide's goin' out y'd end up going with it, if y' follow." He'd been lucky; the only time he had been daft enough to glide off when waters were high the pull of the sea had been towards the beach rather than towards... Beyond.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:48 pm
She giggled at him; teasing was so much fun. She peered over the edges of the cliffs at the beach, then out at the endless ocean before them, eyes wide in awe. Her emerald eyes returned to the beach, then she looked at Maurice, then down at the beach again. "We can glide down there?" She inquired, still staring at the sands below them. "I've never glided before!" She said, twirling around to look at him with a grin, before it was replaced with a more confused look. "Well, at least I don't think I've ever glided before..." It was hard to tell what she had done before or not when she couldn't remember much. Oh well.
"Can we try and glide down, Maurice?" She asked, looking over at him again. It seemed like a wonderful idea, such fun, too! Swimming? She hadn't swam before either, she didn't think, but then again, it was hard to tell.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:32 am
The blue stallion smiled softly and bobbed his head in confirmation. "Sure we can, any time y' ready jus' step off. If y' get in trouble y' can fly proper an' we can try again later 'till y' get the 'ang of it." He hadn't remembered quite how alive this mare was; last he'd met her he'd been a little to focused on himself and his problems to take all that much in. Another thing he didn't remember was whether or not she'd mentioned something about problems with her memory. Perhaps it was best not asked; she'd tell if she felt like it and if she didn't and he kept wondering he could always ask her at a later date.
"I picked it up pretty quick m'self," the black-horned Ichsa went on, peering over the cliff once more. "S' whether y' have done it before or not shouldn' be all that big an issue," he concluded, turning back to Nizhoni with another gentle smile. "Y' wanna go first or shall I?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:43 am
"Oh, really?" Wow, it sounded really easy! But could she do it? Hmm... She peered over the edge of the cliff again, looking down at the beach and the vast ocean. "Hmm..." Should he go first so she could watch how it's done, and therefore minimize her chances of doing it wrong or injuring herself? ...nah.
"I will!" She said with a grin, stepping closer to the edge. She resumed her thoughtful face, peering over the edge, and unfolded her wings, extending them to either side. Yes, that seemed like a good idea. She peered straight down for another moment or two, then, with a deep breath, took a large step over the edge, sending herself into a slightly unstable glide towards the sea. It felt a bit awkward at first, and it was hard to resist the urge to use her wings for more than simply gliding, but somehow she managed. She grinned, ears perked, and watched the ground as it came towards her fairly quickly. She figured if she had more solid wings she would be able to glide farther and slower, but as it was her tendril wings only seemed to allow for a short, quick glide down the cliffs. She hoped she was doing it right, she thought she was doing all right for now. Was Maurice coming, too? She hoped so, but she didn't want to look back to check for fear she would do something wrong or fall. That thought wasn't very appealing.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:55 am
The blue stallion was indeed following behind her but, after a moment or two's thought, he decided that calling out to the other Ichsa might distract her, which would be bad. Instead, Maurice concentrated on keeping his wings spread wide to catch the air and carry him onward. After a slightly shaky start Nizhoni seemed to be doing rather well and the sight made the white-winged Nequus smile faintly to himself. Teaching people how to do things was definitely something he enjoyed doing; worth recalling for the future.
The beach was drawing close now and, by the looks of it, they would be landing on relatively hard packed sand, which was good. The dry powdery stuff might not be a very easy thing to land on if you weren't used to it and too close to the sea the sodden grains shifted unpredictably as weight pushed water away. Here though, somewhere in between, the blue-eyed Ichsa suspected that the crème mare would manage very well indeed. Smile turning into a very slight frown of concentration, Maurice reached out for the beach with his forehooves to land smoothly and trot to a halt a few paces on.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:41 pm
The beach and its sands were coming up at Niz fairly quickly, but that didn't worry her too much, except -- Maurice hadn't told her how to stop! She peered at the oncoming ground beneath her and hmm'd. It should be like landing when flying, right? Right. She stretched out her forehooves to meet with the sand, stumbling for a step or two before she managed to trot a few paces towards the water, beaming. "Oh, that was lots of fun!" She said tossing her mane to the other side of her neck.
She halted to look at the sea up close, eyes wide. The sights, the sounds, the smell, everything seemed so much better up close. "It's gorgeous!" She exclaimed, breathless, then turned to grin at the blue stallion. She looked back at the water, trotting a few paces closer so the waves could wash over her hooves, eliciting a giggle from the creme mare. "The sand feels so strange! And the water's so cool!" She said, lifting up a forehoof before bringing it crashing down into the seawater, spraying droplets every which way. She grinned, laughing, and pranced about in a circle in the shallows, sending droplets all over. "Oh, it's magnificent!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:17 am
Maurice smiled at his companion's enthusiasm for his home and trotted over to join her. "Glad y' think so," he said with a bob of his head. "Kinda defies description, don' it?" he added, turning his bright blue gaze back over the endless waters. "S' kinda like a big animal," he went on, speaking to the other Ichsa but still looking out at the ocean. "How it washes up and down the beach like breathing, it eats cliff dunno what all the stuff living in it equates to though..."
What was that word? He was sure he'd heard a word that fitted here once before. "Oh! Right, maybe they're symbiotic like; the sea and all the stuff in it like fish and the plants an' that. Kinda means that they live t'gether an' benefit each other I think but I could be wrong." The blue stallion turned his face down to inspect the sand under his hooves and pawed out a groove, which promptly filled with water and made the black-horned Nequus smile. "Anyways," he went on, raising his head and looking back at Nizhoni, "weird analogies aside, it's a great place t' be."
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:24 pm
The creme mare nodded her head vigorously, and continued prancing about in circles in the shallows. She grinned, laughing, but managed to stop herself after a few moments, and trotted over to Maurice. "It does, it's beautiful!" She exclaimed, and studied the water and beach as he spoke. It was entertaining to see how the waves washed up and down the shore, and she loved how it washed over her hooves.
"It seems like a wonderful place to be," she said with a grin and giggle, and resumed her circular-patterned prancing. "Too bad Skittles didn't want to come, he said he doesn't like the ocean. Said it would wash him away or something," she said with a bright laugh before she halted again to explain. Maurice hadn't met Skittles yet, so it was best to tell the blue stallion who she was talking about. "Skittles is my new friend, he's a white Rit with rainbow markings. He sticks with me now, and I promised I wouldn't let anybody step on him," she explained with a nod. She let out a grin though, accompanied by a giggle. "He said he thought the ocean would wash him away because he's so small."
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