Below Zero
my frost philosophy will put no curse on me
The mare had spunk that could be at odds with her typical calm nature when in the face of a challenge - whether it be a challenge to her abilities, or a challenge to her nature, or a challenge from the environment. It had less to do with her abilities - her reactions - and far more to do with the nature in which she was raised, to be stubborn and capable of handling in situation. When living in a bleak world such as the Arctic it tended to be your only option - take the world on by storm, and harden your heart so it was like ice too. Thankfully, her heart never did harden properly. The little ice that had formed had been violently ripped away by the pain her heart had felt when her beloved little sister had been abandoned on that ice cap, blood still dripping from the wound, unable to move due to the pain, fear and cold; and her father expecting to just walk away with her. She will NEVER forget the look in her sibling's, her ears will NEVER unhear her cries and pleas for help and protection. She had been unwilling to look away even as she was practically herded away, her eyes meeting her sister's in apology, despair, self-loathing as her limbs carried her from the small body shivering in the cold. Her sister likely hadn't survived the night. Bel blamed herself for not leaving the Pod earlier and going to her, helping her, protecting her, and coming to a safer land with her.
Still, despite the more playful, calm and gentle Bel being the lady most often viewed, there were definitely moments when she could be as stubborn as a bull shark, and as determined as a nurse shark. She'd face danger with fins flared and head held high. And she'd keep up that confidence even when she felt like it was lacking, because if you make believe long enough, you may just trick yourself as well. She tilted her head when the male spoke, admitting confidence not being his strong suit. Her expression was one of startled disbelief as she glanced at him momentarily, "You're like . . . . as big as a shark. How can YOU not be confident." She shrugged though, adding calmly, her tone less shocked and more reassuring, "Even make-believing you are confidence can definitely evolve into confidence. My . . . mother often liked to say that make-believe something and you'll trick yourself into believing it too. Whether it's monsters in the shallows before bed, or emotions you're wanting to feel but can't. As a fry, I'd often tell her I was seeing scary things in the shallows before bed, and she told me it was my imagination playing tricks that I was falling for, but it could work two ways. I can make-believe I'm confident and unafraid as well; and eventually I will be because I'll convince even myself." She offered with a warm smile, a touch of sadness at the words of her mother. It still tortured her heart to think about her, but she'd grieved enough to be comfortable talking about her now. Her sister tended to remain a taboo topic.
They did make quiet the unique pair of explorers, both glowing in their own way - he with his flame-producing hooves, she with her natural luminescence. She couldn't not ask about the extra set of wings, and her eyes widened at an expected thought on it being proven true - YOU COULD TANGLE THEM UP. She could only image the net of knots it could produce trying to flap them together. He'd explained he had to learn to lift them in a proper sequence, and even explaining the different uses of the the two sets. She had felt she owed him for the explanation, and grinned as she spoke of her own balancing act and issues with it, "I can definitely understanding crashing and difficult with balancing. Having come from the sea, I'm still struggling to relearn walking on land. I can glide through the water like an otter, keep up with dolphins, out maneuver a shark, and laze about with the nicer seals, but walking on land is so difficult. Even the little bit of walking I did do was on hard ice and only long enough to get myself fully out of the water. Beyond that, my people lived fully underwater, and it's a different world, a different feel to moving underwater than on land. I'm constantly stumbling over odd terrain. Grass is my weakness, the dirt beneath it changing so frequently. In the water you have to propel yourself forward, pushing off of ground and sand to push through the water . . . pushing off while walking on land just sends you lurking forward - it can be horribly embarrassing." She admitted with a smile, "But I'm slowly getting to it. Sand and rock offers no difficulties usually now. It's just the softer, malable grounds I have issues with." Grass lands were the bane of her existence.
She glanced at him when he spoke of them both being able to scare away anything that came upon them and she grinned, "It's not so bad traveling in smaller numbers, enough to defend and watch out for each other, but not so many individuals as to make up a large 'come and get us' sign." She agreed, before glancing when she spoke of her own reasons for exploring and seeing everything. She nodded her agreement when he spoke of the different world beneath the oceans, though her eyes were sad, "It's beautiful beneath the waves, but it's a dangerous fish-eat-fish world too. One moment you can be admiring a beautiful reef, the next, a barracuda is charging you from out of nowhere. It's one part admiring the world, and another part watching your surroundings at all times."
She was not expecting, or prepared for his story, and she glanced at him when he spoke of awful things he had done as a colt, and . . . attacking a filly. She was silent when he explained butting of heads, that this filly had laughted at him, turned down his offer, and he'd reacted in temper. She was still silent when explained the outcome, her nearly dead beneath his hooves - he being cast out and punished for the act of temper. For a moment she was quiet, even as he asked her not to think ill, send him on his way, write him off. She remained quiet as she processed for a long moment, their steps being the only sound, and her lack of flinching away or turning from him indicating she wasn't just going to haul tail out of there. When she did speak her words were soft as light waves touching the beach, as gentle as a calm sea, "I don't think a life-time ban from your home was right. You said yourself, you'd been raised believing you could have anything you wanted. In large-part, that culture you grew up in, the way your parents taught you to have anything you pleased led to your reaction when denied - especially paired with her laughing at you. Did you over-react, certainly; but did your raising have a heavy hand to play in the outcomes; absolutely. Any horse, be they of the sea or land, are shaped by the family they keep. Your parents play a large role in who you are as a foal, and who you will be as an adult. Whether by positive effect, or negative. To merely cast you out after such actions was deplorable. Instead they should have sought to right the wrongs they had caused. Similar situations could have led to you believing it was all the filly's fault for the cast away. She had denied you and laughed at you - and had deserved the punishment. And then you had been kicked out because she'd denied and laughed at you - you could have put all blame on her and grown into a stallion who despised females. Instead you showed your true colors in remorse and regret. You outgrew the teachings of your parents to make a better version of yourself - a very lucky thing for you, and typically what would have only happened had you been 'retaught' under your parents guidance after such actions." No, she wouldn't walk away from his story, because in the sort time that they had met and travelled, he'd been nothing but kind and considerate.
She would continue to trust him. But she did file away the knowledge that at least some herds seemed so quick to abandoned and black mark their foals. Her people only did that when certain glows were produced in the foals, and namely as superstition. Thankfully quick introductions followed soon, and it allowed an easing of the atmosphere between them that had been produced by his tale . . . and she still refused to give up the story of her sister. Few on Novus knew it, few on novus ever would, and instead she focused on those introductions. She smiled, nodding her head back lightly to his greeting, "The pleasure is mine. Now then, lets' see what this forest holds, shall we. I imagine there must be something exciting with in it, don't you think. We probably don't want to venture to far in, but still we can at least explore the outer edges a fair bit."
Thoughts
Speech
@Sol Bestiam
Notes: Don't let her fool you, despite her dis-pleasure at his birth-herd she will still admit it was his actions, but she won't fault him for it.
Still, despite the more playful, calm and gentle Bel being the lady most often viewed, there were definitely moments when she could be as stubborn as a bull shark, and as determined as a nurse shark. She'd face danger with fins flared and head held high. And she'd keep up that confidence even when she felt like it was lacking, because if you make believe long enough, you may just trick yourself as well. She tilted her head when the male spoke, admitting confidence not being his strong suit. Her expression was one of startled disbelief as she glanced at him momentarily, "You're like . . . . as big as a shark. How can YOU not be confident." She shrugged though, adding calmly, her tone less shocked and more reassuring, "Even make-believing you are confidence can definitely evolve into confidence. My . . . mother often liked to say that make-believe something and you'll trick yourself into believing it too. Whether it's monsters in the shallows before bed, or emotions you're wanting to feel but can't. As a fry, I'd often tell her I was seeing scary things in the shallows before bed, and she told me it was my imagination playing tricks that I was falling for, but it could work two ways. I can make-believe I'm confident and unafraid as well; and eventually I will be because I'll convince even myself." She offered with a warm smile, a touch of sadness at the words of her mother. It still tortured her heart to think about her, but she'd grieved enough to be comfortable talking about her now. Her sister tended to remain a taboo topic.
They did make quiet the unique pair of explorers, both glowing in their own way - he with his flame-producing hooves, she with her natural luminescence. She couldn't not ask about the extra set of wings, and her eyes widened at an expected thought on it being proven true - YOU COULD TANGLE THEM UP. She could only image the net of knots it could produce trying to flap them together. He'd explained he had to learn to lift them in a proper sequence, and even explaining the different uses of the the two sets. She had felt she owed him for the explanation, and grinned as she spoke of her own balancing act and issues with it, "I can definitely understanding crashing and difficult with balancing. Having come from the sea, I'm still struggling to relearn walking on land. I can glide through the water like an otter, keep up with dolphins, out maneuver a shark, and laze about with the nicer seals, but walking on land is so difficult. Even the little bit of walking I did do was on hard ice and only long enough to get myself fully out of the water. Beyond that, my people lived fully underwater, and it's a different world, a different feel to moving underwater than on land. I'm constantly stumbling over odd terrain. Grass is my weakness, the dirt beneath it changing so frequently. In the water you have to propel yourself forward, pushing off of ground and sand to push through the water . . . pushing off while walking on land just sends you lurking forward - it can be horribly embarrassing." She admitted with a smile, "But I'm slowly getting to it. Sand and rock offers no difficulties usually now. It's just the softer, malable grounds I have issues with." Grass lands were the bane of her existence.
She glanced at him when he spoke of them both being able to scare away anything that came upon them and she grinned, "It's not so bad traveling in smaller numbers, enough to defend and watch out for each other, but not so many individuals as to make up a large 'come and get us' sign." She agreed, before glancing when she spoke of her own reasons for exploring and seeing everything. She nodded her agreement when he spoke of the different world beneath the oceans, though her eyes were sad, "It's beautiful beneath the waves, but it's a dangerous fish-eat-fish world too. One moment you can be admiring a beautiful reef, the next, a barracuda is charging you from out of nowhere. It's one part admiring the world, and another part watching your surroundings at all times."
She was not expecting, or prepared for his story, and she glanced at him when he spoke of awful things he had done as a colt, and . . . attacking a filly. She was silent when he explained butting of heads, that this filly had laughted at him, turned down his offer, and he'd reacted in temper. She was still silent when explained the outcome, her nearly dead beneath his hooves - he being cast out and punished for the act of temper. For a moment she was quiet, even as he asked her not to think ill, send him on his way, write him off. She remained quiet as she processed for a long moment, their steps being the only sound, and her lack of flinching away or turning from him indicating she wasn't just going to haul tail out of there. When she did speak her words were soft as light waves touching the beach, as gentle as a calm sea, "I don't think a life-time ban from your home was right. You said yourself, you'd been raised believing you could have anything you wanted. In large-part, that culture you grew up in, the way your parents taught you to have anything you pleased led to your reaction when denied - especially paired with her laughing at you. Did you over-react, certainly; but did your raising have a heavy hand to play in the outcomes; absolutely. Any horse, be they of the sea or land, are shaped by the family they keep. Your parents play a large role in who you are as a foal, and who you will be as an adult. Whether by positive effect, or negative. To merely cast you out after such actions was deplorable. Instead they should have sought to right the wrongs they had caused. Similar situations could have led to you believing it was all the filly's fault for the cast away. She had denied you and laughed at you - and had deserved the punishment. And then you had been kicked out because she'd denied and laughed at you - you could have put all blame on her and grown into a stallion who despised females. Instead you showed your true colors in remorse and regret. You outgrew the teachings of your parents to make a better version of yourself - a very lucky thing for you, and typically what would have only happened had you been 'retaught' under your parents guidance after such actions." No, she wouldn't walk away from his story, because in the sort time that they had met and travelled, he'd been nothing but kind and considerate.
She would continue to trust him. But she did file away the knowledge that at least some herds seemed so quick to abandoned and black mark their foals. Her people only did that when certain glows were produced in the foals, and namely as superstition. Thankfully quick introductions followed soon, and it allowed an easing of the atmosphere between them that had been produced by his tale . . . and she still refused to give up the story of her sister. Few on Novus knew it, few on novus ever would, and instead she focused on those introductions. She smiled, nodding her head back lightly to his greeting, "The pleasure is mine. Now then, lets' see what this forest holds, shall we. I imagine there must be something exciting with in it, don't you think. We probably don't want to venture to far in, but still we can at least explore the outer edges a fair bit."
Thoughts
Speech
@Sol Bestiam
Notes: Don't let her fool you, despite her dis-pleasure at his birth-herd she will still admit it was his actions, but she won't fault him for it.
i feel no cold, i feel no fear inside my mind
Now I'm full of energy
![[Image: i-jTNwWx8.png]](https://photos.smugmug.com/BelowZeroNovus/n-X9d9fZ/i-jTNwWx8/1/e09fb6c3/O/i-jTNwWx8.png)
