Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Now, you remember the rules, right?" Lessia stood on the edge of the ledge, peering down at the sheer drop below with unbridled enthusiasm and interest. Her long red hair hung about her head, obstructing the view of the casual observer of her face, but not even close to hiding the long pointed tail, leathery wings, or rear-pointing horns of a kalona.

Yet her companion hardly looked concerned. At Lessia's side, Seyx looked almost foal-like, the top of his head not even reaching the kalona mare's chin. His feathered wings and iridescent purple horn must have looked odd, next to the mare, yet there was no sign of concern or fear.

Well, maybe a little incredulity, but that was it. Standing at his friend's side, Seyx too peered over the edge of the ledge, surveying the drop with a bit less enthusiasm. "Of course I know the rules; first one to the bottom, landing on your hooves, wins. But you know Less, it looks like the bottom isn't level."

"So? Who care's about levelness, it's not like we need to balance anything on it-" Lifting her head, Lessia turned her pale eyes to view her friend, but unexpectedly caught sight of the mare as she did so. It was a bit of a surprise, as a matter of fact; one of the reasons that the two of them liked this place for this game was the lack of people around. Less people around meant fewer people to be shocked and appalled by what they were doing, after all!

Though that didn't mean that meeting someone was bad, just unexpected. Consequently, after a moment Lessia was waving a wing cheerily at the white mare, beaming toothily in her direction. "Hello!"

At Lessia's conversation break, Seyx too had looked up, surprised, but as it took a lot to ruffle the placid ali's metaphorical feathers, he was giving the mare a nod of greeting before Lessia had even opened her mouth. Just as well; Lessia on her own was good at freaking strangers out!

Well, obviously the mare wasn't the jumpy-twitchy sort, thank goodness. Far be it for Lessia to judge or fault others for their concern (after all, kalonas WERE vicious for the most part; the whole reason her father allowed his children to learn to fight was to defend themselves against their own kind, should the situation arise), but it was really annoying. If it wasn't for having Seyx around, she'd likely be a complete hermit; on top of the fact that he was her best friend, he was also a good 'notice of gentle intent' to strangers. If Seyx, a little alicorn, wasn't afraid of her, then why should they?

Though that wasn't entirely true. A small smile escaped Lessia's lips as she amended that, remembering the few occasions where the strangers had seen Seyx and promptly assumed that he had been captured/kidnapped/threatened and was in dire need of rescue. Tough to say who had been more amused after the fact, she or Seyx!

But it was nice to not have to worry about false impressions of any sort, and from the mare's warm smile and quick, easy pace she might have been approaching two regulars, not a kalona. Good show, strange mare!

For his part, Seyx was nonplussed, aside of being relieved not to have to fend off a would-be rescuer. He'd teased Lessia about that before, what an emasculating effect it could have on a guy when strangers assumed that he was kidnapped or about to be eaten. Just because he was small didn't mean he was weak, thank you very much!

Luckily for him he wasn't threatened by being short, because otherwise this would be awkward, given that both mares were taller than him. But such was life, right?

At the mare's inquiry, he exchanged glances with Lessia, then looked around at the mountain, then smiled and shrugged. "Honestly? The best I can say is that you're on a mountain, somewhat to the northeast of the big lake. Anything more specific, you're on your own."

Lessia was nodding in agreement with her friend, but for good measure added her own wisdom. "Yep what he said in a nutshell. We're not locals, and we don't usually stop to ask the names of places. What matters at the moment is that it's a mountain and a cliff face, but I don't think that will help you much. But maybe a local could tell you. We haven't seen any, but that doesn't mean they're not there!" This, with a self-deprecating smile and a laugh. "But you're welcome to join us, if you want to hang out for a bit. Why be lost and not enjoy it, right?"

Well, at least the stranger had spunk! The fact that she didn't seem put out by Lessia's appearance and was willing to join them for what must be odd pursuits (after all, they were peering over the edge of a cliff!) raised the other mare another notch in Lessia's estimation, and the kalona mare was grinning as she nodded to the edge of the cliff. "We're going cliff diving. You ever tried it? It's pretty fun, and a wickedly awesome adrenaline rush!"

To put it mildly. Lessia and Seyx had been indulging in the sport since they were very young, their daredevilry increasing with each new attempt. As things currently stood, Lessia would dive to within feet of the ground before fanning out her wings and slowing herself just enough to land without breaking her legs. Seyx was a bit more cautious, but he was the one with the horn. If HE got hurt, there was no one to fix him, so he allowed Lessia the most thrills and contented himself with the knowledge that he was prepared in case of accident.

Though accidents were pretty few and far between, at this stage of the game!

And the world had just gotten a bit more interesting! Lessia's own grin mirrored Caoimhe's by now, and a glint of challenge lit up the mare's otherwise pale eyes. "Glad to see you have some spunk! Now, to answer your question, we don't have a point system. It's somewhat on the honor system, as we are honorable people here..." This was accompanied by a pointed look at the stranger, daring the mare to make even a hint of disagreement. Not that she expected her to, but one could never be sure!

Taking advantage of Lessia's pause, Seyx cut in calmly with a bit more clarification. "Basically, the point is to get as close as you can to the ground without opening your wings or otherwise trying to catch yourself. You have to gauge your fall speed and direction correctly, and it's best not to overestimate your abilities on your first attempts, unless you like broken bones."

Trust Seyx to get straight to the point; Lessia both loved and hated that fact about her friends, and her half amused, half-chagrined expression indicated that fact. "And now that Seyx has provided the specifics, you game for a go? Right now, even?"

As Lessia had cut in, Seyx had moved closer to the edge of the cliff and now stood with his front hooves half over as he looked down at the rocky ground below. His expression was stoic, his countenance thoughtful, as he replied briefly to Caoihme's query with a "Yes, of course." Like most things in his life, Seyx approached cliff diving with a methodical sense of order. He might be about to jump off of a cliff, but he wasn't going to do it cold.

Lessia, on the other hand, was all about the thrill. She never 'jumped blind', but she didn't like to spend too much time analyzing things. "Alright, friend, then let's do this. I'm Lessia, by the way." With that and a cheeky wave of her wing, Lessia suddenly took a dive over the edge, vanishing from sight in an instant. Seyx glanced sideways at Caoihme, then followed suit a moment later, rapidly becoming a spot in the distance himself.

This is what life was all about! Laughing manically, Lessia pulled her wings in tightly to her body and dove downward like a white streak, her long, unkempt braids whipping about her neck and back and her tail a spear pointing straight behind her. Ever since she'd first discovered the sport, she'd loved it for the adrenaline rush, loved the speed, the feeling of the wind, the thrill of seeing the ground rushing at her at heart-wrenching speeds, the wonder at the back of her mind if this was going to be the time that she was wrong in her estimates and actually plummet into the ground...

Seyx, though much more restrained in his behavior and certainly not one given to yelling, was likewise enjoying himself. His face was set and his lips together, but that was because he was rather particular about not swallowing any bugs while he dropped. One time choking on a gnat was more than enough for him, thanks very much; but though his expression was set, there was a gleam in his eyes as he drew himself into as aerodynamic a shape as he could possibly manage, coming up to Lessia...and passing her.

When having cliff diving races, there were usually a few factors that played into the results in terms of who reached the ground first. Lessia undeniably had more mass; when standing side by side, Seyx's head only came up to Lessia's chin. But Seyx had the advantage when it came to aerodynamics, so the two would usually have a bit of a back and forth on the speed, especially if Lessia wasn't really concentrating on her form.

Cao appeared to have both massed and speed to her advantage, though; the mare, bigger than Seyx but more streamlined than Lessia, surprised both Seyx and Lessia when she passed the mare and started to catch Seyx. It was more than either would have credited a novice; Lessia, the understanding of the sport, and Seyx, the nerve to be willing to reach the bottom first without having a chance to observe an experienced diver first.

Still, both had to give credit where credit was due, though diving down through the air with the wind roaring at one's ears was a bad place to do it. Still, Lessia flashed the mare a smile, then tucked her own wings in tighter, angled her head more, and started to catch up herself.

Meanwhile, the ground was approaching with great rapidity. Seyx, as the Soq in the lead, was watching it grow with a calculating calmness, waiting, waiting, waiting...