The Terminus Sea had quickly become one of her favorite places in the realm. It was as though her thoughts drifted away, out into the open waters and disappeared; her troubles and cares sinking like stones beneath the foamy waves until they were nothing but darkness amidst darkness. The salt would eat at them over time, grinding away until the there was nothing left at all. The breeze ruffled the feathers of her feet, brushing her hair against her shoulder like a lover's gentle caress as she lifted her head into the brine filled air.
It was a scent that she had never known before finding her way to the Dusk Court, sharp and distinct enough that it did not allow the creeping thoughts of home to climb across her consciousness like ivy vines. Her movement was slow among the rocks, careful to lift her feet so as not to trip on the various rocks scattering the sand in this particular area of the beach. Most of it was clear, making an easy path for one to run if they so wished, but Inara ventured closer to the tide pools and more secluded areas. It was here that she felt, perhaps, a deity might hide his precious relic.
The two others that she had arrived with, a stallion and a mare, were somewhere out there. They had been her guide and guardian, a trusted pair of friends from the old nation -- her mother's final parting gift to a daughter she had set free at last. She was not sure that they would stay with her forever, because even after many months of travel together they both held wariness towards her. Perhaps for her resemblance to her sire, or her lack of conversation with them. She simply was not sure what to say.
A lifetime of silence and seclusion had suddenly burst into absolute freedom, with no one or nothing to direct her path. She felt as though she had walked circles her entire life, only to be told to run in a single direction in a split second. And she supposed that she could have chosen to go back to her father, to follow through on his marriage arrangement to some unknown son of an unknown ally...but she found that she had not wanted it at all.
She relished in the freedom...even if she had no idea what do with it. Perhaps that was what drove her to search out the relic, a whisper among the courts. She needed something to give her an edge, to help her keep that precarious freedom she had found. Somewhere in her head, she knew it was entirely possible that her father was still looking for her -- and he would not hesitate to bring her back under his power. She had to find a way to make herself strong.
As the sun began it's descent below the sea, a slight movement caught her eye causing her to pause in her slow meander across the beach. Her ears twisted forward, attentive and alert as she lowered her heavy crown to investigate a seashell nestled between a pair of rocks. The shell was brilliantly colored, a combination of cream and swirling orange stripes, that twisted to a point and...it was moving. Once...twice, the shell rocked itself despite the lack of breeze this close to the ground. Inara regarded it with curiosity, slowly extending her muzzle to give the shell a small bump so that it rolled from it's wedged position and onto the sand before her. The shell, as if utterly shocked by the experience, froze...until something small and foreign to her began to crawl out and right itself.
Utterly fascinated by the tiny orange creature, the mare moved closer still, her auburn hair falling forward to brush along the sand and entangling the gritty pieces into the ends. The hermit crab froze again once it noticed the woefully large creature staring back at it, the pair locked in a stalemate of fear and curiosity.
ooc: first post with Inara! Feel free to join, and I'm sorry if it's a little rusty -- I haven't written horses in years it seems. also pls ignore lack of coding, i'll find some eventually.
He had been delighted to find the trail that led from the cliffs to this hidden sort of beach, immediately having thrown himself down it with such little care for his own safety that the steller’s jay could only swoop fretfully along behind him. It was exhilarating, the steep decline allowing him to run faster than he had before, blindly trusting each foothold would be there when he needed them. And so they were; much to his bonded’s relief, Po made it safely to the bottom, hooves sinking deep into the soft sand lining the beach. The scent of the ocean was even stronger down here; he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the sweet tanginess that was so foreign and exhilarating.
'I’ll only stay for a little bit…’ he told himself, an attempt to be stern but failing at it. But the open beach was so inviting, drawing him in until he was knees deep in the water, feeling it push and pull at his frame. His coat quickly accumulated drops of saltwater that peppered his hide with dark spots. His head bowed, breath causing a short lived ripple in the water, quickly replaced with the next wave submerging his head in the bay.
Ipomoea pulled back with a start, lifting his forelegs out of the spray and pointing them back at the beach. In an instant he was back on the beach, dodging the inches of water as they swept in and receded, hooves making a satisfying squelching sound with every strike.
But the open beach only lasted for so long; not far down the expanse was replaced with a maze of rocks, forming shallows and tide pools that forced him back into a careful walk lest he cut up his hooves on their slippery surfaces. His muzzle dropped back down to the earth, water rolling down his face and formed small beads on his whiskers. The red lining of his nostrils was showing, sides heaving more so from his excitement than his run. There was so many scents flooded his senses, so many sights to look at, he was overjoyed with the scene he found himself in. Back and forth he went from tide pool to tide pool, observing the differences and similarities in the small creatures he found within. It wasn't until the next time he lifted his head to look back at the ocean that he realized he was not the only equine on the beach.
She seemed just as enthralled with the place as he was, head bowed down in a similar fashion, locked in place like a statue. He recognized the pose, the concentration, not needing to think about approaching her before he already was, a desire to join in despite not knowing what it was she studied. But she was studying something, and it was this unknown that siren called him towards her. His ears bobbed back and forth with his stride before they pivoted sharply forward towards the decapod at her hooves, and he stopped with the shellfish between them.
There was no need for words to be spoken; he quickly became as entranced as the stranger across from him was, joining in her stalemate with the tiny creature. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and he was far too busy with counting its stripes, it legs, tracking any possible movement it might make to break his concentration now.
She thought—maybe—she had been the one spotted. Cloaked with the growing darkness she had stumbled across the sandy sides of the shoreline, lapping waves playing games with her hooves as she cautiously moved around. Everything was new, everything was unfamiliar and she didn't know what direction was safest; she was caught in a trap of being both cat and mouse, unsure which role she wished to take. So long as she was alone she could let her guard down in the solitude, but she had miscalculated. There were others there, then, making their own sorts of sounds that carried over to her. They were strangers, and she knew before she had a chance to see them; it was but days since she ended up in the arms of Novus, a name she wasn't even aware of yet. The exhaustion still wore itself upon her body like a light garment, days of running refusing to let its mark off of her. When she had collapsed she slept a long time, undisturbed, thankful for the chance to rest in a place that held no memories for her. Paris was finally behind her, though he hung around in her thoughts and tugged at her heart. She wondered how long it would be before his scent finally stopped sitting in the spaces of her nose.
The splashing brought her attention around the rock she had hidden behind, certain she was unseen before then. First it was only the girl, then another approached seemingly looking only at a particular point on the ground. As Akhlys peered around the solid mass she could see that both of them were enthralled with something, blissfully unaware of her altogether. Without the encouragement from Vitor she was likely to turn around and leave without causing any attention; however, as she backed out toward the nearest exit a rock tumbled away from her, the hoof that hit it frozen in mid air as her heart clutched in her chest. She was surely noticed then.
Her red-marked head lifted slowly in their direction, burning eyes hesitant to look their way. She pawed the beach sand once in preparation to turn and flee, but she remained stuck in place with tentacles splayed out around her.
.
The crab was not quite…flailing, but it was trying to determine how to right itself with each leg carefully stretching and turning, carefully scraping around. Inara tipped her crown, her breathing slowing considerably as she considered the creature before her. In her homelands there had been no beaches, and certainly no creatures like this one. Every single day brought a new revelation, a new discovery and she relished in that feeling. She wanted to know more about the world around her, and all of its inhabitants.
Her ears flickered forward as her gaze registered another face, lowered in a similar fashion to her own, jerking her head back so quickly that she had to shuffle a few paces back in the sand. A flustered feeling rose in her chest, and she cleared her throat a few times as she realized that there was yet another equine here as well. So much for seclusion, she thought as she looked between the two of them. The one that had joined her little staring match with the hermit crab was a stallion – his bay coat splashed with white and a pair of enchanting shade of red. Perhaps the most notable thing about him was his feminine appearance, and the assortment of gold adorning his face.
And then the mare, with her hoof still raised as though she had been trying to quietly back away from this encounter. Inara was unsure of the clatter that had caused her attention to be drawn to her, but it was her looks that held her attention. The bold red markings and the seemingly translucent tentacles that outstretched along the mare’s body. What a sight! Ashamed by her staring, Inara shook her senses back to her as her eyes flickered between the two of them.
“O-o-oh.” She said softly, as a fresh breeze bellowed down upon them from the sea. The crab that had captured her attention before had managed to turn itself over, spindly legs striking out in the sand as if to try to escape the situation in which it had found itself. Her ears pinned back for a moment in uncertainty, her body held in an awkward lean backwards because she was unsure of the footing behind her. “Ah…” She tried again, finding her attempts at speaking were as fumbling as ever. She had never been an eloquent speaker, had never really needed to be due to the careful seclusion her father had put her in.
“Are y-y-you looking for…uhm…ah…r-r-relics too?” She asked, stammering her way through the sentence. She glanced at the young stallion and then the mare, shuffling her weight uncertainly. It did not seem that they were any more together than she, but she had learned fairly quickly that looks could be deceiving.
“I’m s-s-sorry, was that your uhmmm…w-w-whatever?” She asked of the painted stallion, finding that the crab at their hooves was trying to make a hasty getaway.
For a moment, he was oblivious; blissfully unaware of the sudden distress he had caused the woman across from him, the world narrowing down to a focal point encompassing a brief patch of sand and the creature that struggled across it. His nostrils flared in and out slowly, the red lining vivid against his dark muzzle, taking in the scent of the sand and sea and distinguishing it from the tiny crab. It seemed to hasten its maneuvers, alarmed at the addition of the second equine. Ipomoea tracked it with his eyes, his nose, his head swinging slightly alongside it at a snail-like pace, maintaining his proximity to it. He was lost to the hermit crab, much to the creature’s seeming displeasure.
It was the clattering of rocks that brought him back to reality, breaking his concentration with a start. His gaze crept forward, starting at a pair of mismatched hooves, a bit of silver wrapped around one ankle. It was this leg that he followed upwards, peering up finally at the mare’s alarmed green eyes and registering her confusion for the first time.
“Oh… sorry,” he offered, a bit sheepishly, pulling his crown away from the sand as a shy smile played along the corners of his lips. He followed her sight sideways, taking in the second mare with a concentration almost as intense as he had shown the crab a moment earlier: from her red-dipped muzzle, golden eyes and, of course, to the wavering blue tentacles. He took a step towards her, whickering an excited "Hello!", as if to more evenly place himself between both mares and make them appear as if they were meant to be a group, to be included together. It was now that the steller's jay--previously fluttering anxiously overtop--chose to settle upon his crest, huddling between his ears and observing the three equines interact silently. Used to this behavior, Po seemed to pay no mind to the bird.
The other mare was talking now, stammering out a “No?” Uncertain as to what either a relic or “whatever” referred to, he went with the safest response. He struggled to grasp what she was asking about, raking his brain for an explanation as to her uncertain demeanor until it clicked—or so he thought. “Oh, did you lose something? I’m not sure what a relic looks like but I can help you look for it if you want? Where did you last see it?” The questions poured somewhat excitedly and haphazardly from his mouth, pausing to turn on one hind leg to cast a quick glance across the rest of the beach. ”I’m Po,” he told his new friends, not stopping to consider whether they also thought of him as one or not. As ever, his attention was being quickly shifted, bouncing from the crab to the women to various places amongst the beach.
@Inara @Akhlys
forgive me while i slowly remember how to write ;u;
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The world felt as if it narrowed in upon her, holding her still as the sole object in a snowglobe; all the swirling flakes floating around caused confusion and chaos within her, and all she wanted to do was be alone. She tried hard to find places of solitude, but it wasn't always foolproof simply given the nature of animals. They would move as they pleased, after all, much like she and there was nothing she could do but learn to face the unintended consequences.
The situation then was much like that; she had drawn attention to herself by trying to get away (perhaps if she'd only stayed still she wouldn't have been noticed at all). She was not prepared to face others yet, hadn't mentally managed to remain calm enough for thoughts to be picked apart before saying them aloud. The sound of the ocean waves brushed in her ears and filled her head with a sort of fear she was quite familiar with; either direction she went, whatever decision she chose, she was losing the upper hand. It was rare for her to be caught so off guard, yet still reeling from the loss of Paris and missing Vitor she had no choice than to start from the bottom again. The question would be, though, if she could keep herself together enough to make certain her words were as harmless as possible.
Perhaps strangely Akhlys was the least concerned by the gaze of the other mare upon her form, clearly one not seen by her kind before since her sight was full of wonder. Akhlys merely held her eyes and looked back, burning oranges and yellows swirling as her mind tumbled over and over itself. What went next, of course, was what she had feared. It was the introduction of words, sounds of language hitting against the air partially aimed at her. The boy neared (his bird reopening the wound in her heart at the thought of not having Vitor beside her) and she stood still as stone praying that he would not go any closer. It was with luck that the girl put her questions toward him instead, for he had seemed so engrossed in the object at their hooves that even she had to wonder what they were looking at. But she didn't dare inch any further toward them, instead letting ears stretch forward to catch their exchange and tentacles floating gently around her.
The mention of 'relics' piqued her interest more than either of them had; she had lived much longer than she appeared and once found solace in a land of deities. She knew the general idea behind the word, the meaning they held, but nothing of their structure or location. Was what they found one of those 'relics'? It didn't seem to be, though, for the roaned boy didn't conceal his confusion. Curiosity was the strongest thing of all, clutching at her legs and straining her neck forward to see as much as she could from her position half obscured by the rock. A glimpse of orange, a small flash of movement, and she realized it was a living thing they had found so fascinating. Despite the tension in the air that cloaked her more than the salty air did, a slight chuckle made its way through her lips at the silliness of the situation. She didn't relax, nor did she let any words follow, but her tentacles stilled at her sides and her eyes held a softness akin to the ignorance of the two youths.
To the seaside he had flown, and with next to no intention of touching any ground until it was stained with seafoam and sank beneath each hoof. It was a short flight from where he had begun nesting each night in the dusk court - just a few minutes of air-time and under his feet stretched beaches and rocks, the swell of an entire ocean and galaxy of unkown creatures. Perhaps it was the mystery that surrounded such places tht drew the lad in, but truthfully it was just the wind and swell that Damascus truly loved.
As he landed softly upon the sand, careful to weave his footing around the rocks, he was quick to spy a trio of other equines not far ahead up the coast.
One he recognised instantly - Po, the flower-finding fellow from the dawn court who had crossed his path after his fall from the heavens. A friendly chap, one who Damascus wished to know more about. The others were women he had never met, and as he crossed the sand to meet them he felt a strange sense that he wasn't welcome. The party of three surely had no room for a fourth, though he had overheard something about a relic - did they intend to seek it out too? "Relic searching help I can" Damascus spoke with a kind smile, puffing his chest with confidence. "Hallo to Po" he would speak, fearing it rude were he not to greet him.
It took the other equine a moment to register her, the male as fascinated by the tiny shelled creature as she had been. When his cranberry-colored gaze finally met her own, she was surprised by the shy smile that her offered her. Promptly embarrassed by her fluster, she flatted her ears out to the sides for a moment and ducked her head. She could not help the light flinch as the stallion turned his attention to the third party, his excited whickering abrasive to her unaccustomed ears. He was joyfully loud, and it went against everything she had ever known.
The mare had only given Inara a passing glance, to which she did not mind as it gave her another moment to study her exotic appearance. She was beautiful, otherworldly in a way, and Inara felt a strange twinge of something. Jealousy? No, how unkind was that, to be jealous of an utter stranger? Inara had never stopped to consider beautiful things before, and wondered for a moment if anyone had ever thought of her as beautiful? A swooping rustle of feathers drew her attention back to the boy who was now standing quite happily between them, and Inara could not help with shocked laughter which left her lips as a bird settled just between his ears. "T-t-there is a bird there." She said quickly, using her muzzle to indicate the space between his ears. Her own were pricked forward in interest, wondering just how he had made such a friend! She thought that perhaps she would do well with a friend, it would be nice to have one…at any rate. Po His name registered in her mind, and she tucked it away like a precious gem. She would want to remember that, she was sure. "Inara…uhm..t-that is m-my name."She offered, and then swung her head expectantly to the other mare. She did not offer a name, just yet, it seemed. It did not seem that Po knew of the relic that she was searching for, nor did it seem that the little shelled crab was his companion either. And the red-marked mare had yet to offer a true word. Inara straightened her posture, feeling her spine lengthen as she unclenched her hind. The red roan was just about to open her mouth once more, to explain the relics to Po, when another equine appeared on the beach with great wings like a bird. The dark stallion was as much of a surprise to her as the tentacaled mare had been – an odd delight to see so many strange and beautiful things. Oddly enough, Inara gave way to Po – which this newcomer seemed to know, at least formally. Or perhaps he had merely heard the other stag speak. With his appearance, it seemed as though they had quite the search party for the relics of which she had originally been searching. She could not stop the soft smile that had curled on to her lips. "O-oh, w-well I was just-t looking h-here around these…uhm…tide pools." She stammered, feeling a little embarrassed at the uncontrollable stammer. She did not stammer nearly as much when she was not nervous, but meeting three strangers all at once had thrown her off of the deep end. "Won’t y-you come j-join us?" She called out to the mare, who seemed unsure about them. "I p-promise that I do not…b-bite." She offered lightly, though she could hardly speak for the present company.
It wouldn’t dawn on him that the other two in his company might be uncomfortable; joy had blossomed in his breast at the realization of not being alone, uplifting and seemingly magnifying each of his emotions and actions in volume. This giddiness that filled him boiled and bubbled over in a messy wave: he wanted to be helpful, but in doing so he could very well end up annoying everyone around him without realizing it, so great was his excitement.
Another quick smile was passed to the roan mare, the one who had found the hermit crab on the ground—who was by now well on its way out of sight, fleeing from the equines—”He does that sometimes. His name is Alorus, though he doesn’t particularly say much.” To the contrary, Po had yet to hear the stellar jay’s voice; he wasn’t even sure if he had one. But he had remained a faithful companion anyway, staying near to his side and seeming to listen when Po explained various species of plants to him. ”Inara…” he said slowly, as though testing how the syllables sounded coming off of his tongue. ”That’s a pretty name.” Plenty of questions found their way to the forefront of his mind, but he held his tongue for once, back to his haphazard search of the beach. He had no idea how big this relic might be, nor what it looked like—for all he knew it could just be another rock, but if it was a special rock who was he to judge?
However, his search was cut short; a flurry of wings had interrupted him, distracting yet again, and he turned his body in time to see a familiar dark face.
”Hello to Damascus,” he chirped happily in return, extending his muzzle to him in greeting. ”And to Dohv,” as he took a minute to look for the small creature, assuming he would be somewhere along his crest as he was the last time he had met the pegasus. It seemed as though Inara was not the only one searching today; were relics common? Or were they all looking for the same thing? Perhaps it wasn’t something the mare had lost, after all; nonetheless, he had already started searching, and he was not one to give up on a friend. ”Do you know what this relic is?” he directed to Damascus curiously, although his attention was already redirected to the tide pools, lowering his head in a fashion similarly to his stance before with the hermit crab, the better to inspect the beach for any irregularities. He could hear Inara talking again, this time to the mare whose name had not yet been offered; she had been strangely silent this whole time, and he would be lying if he said he knew how to handle that. Her chuckle had been encouraging, as though letting him know he was not quite unwelcome, but her reluctance to join in continued to puzzle him.
@Inara @Akhlys @Damascus
ahh neve, I just assumed Po would have met Dohv too, if you’d prefer otherwise just lmk and i’ll change it!
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