Below Zero
my frost philosophy will put no curse on me
The rain had started early that day, peppering Bel's pelt with it's cool touch and encouraging her to walk into the storm. It seemed far more welcoming than the bonfires of the markets anyways. There was just too much going on among the market place, too much for the mare who'd come from the sea - who'd been born with a hoof in both worlds. Too much activity, too many voices. And far too much fire. That was another welcoming reason for the clouds that overcast the heavens and showered water from their collective masses. She still wasn't sure why the sky was leaking (or how it was able to hold a body of water to begin with: was that why the sky was blue?) but she didn't ponder on the thought long enough to start questioning it. It was a welcome reprieve from the bonfires that wanted to overheat her lean frame, and a chance to feel the coolness of water all across her pelt even while on land.
Her steps carried her to the prairie, where the sea of long grasses met her hooves and forced her to pause and make sure she was capable of maneuvering through them with out stumbling. It was rare instances that she had to pause at a new type of terrain, but longer grasses always caused her the most difficulty - she could maneuver around kelp beds with the best of them, but walking through a field of tall grass - fogget about it. Still, she wasn't about to let that cause her difficulties and instead choose to carry on, her steps more cautious and testing to be sure she wouldn't be tangled by the grasses whenever she lifted a limb. It hadn't happened often, but the few times it did, it had made her far more cautious.
The rain continued to grow heavier, and her gaze traveled to the ocean that seemed to anger at the opposing water source, the waves crashing together, causing spray to fly into the air. Her eyes were drawn to the way the water moved, like a serenade encouraging the lady to return to the depths. It'd been a few days since she'd taken a dive into the marine world, swam with the dolphins and hunted for oysters. She forced her gaze away - now was not the time, but she silently promised herself she'd go for a swim soon. The hills continued to stretch in front of her, and she carries forward, further from the water that sung to her. She let the rainfall soothe those concerns and desires away. The water, no matter the form, as soon as it touched her seemed to calm her mind.
The vapors that wafted off of her skin, surrounding her dorsal took a subtle shift in pitch in temperature, warming faintly as if to keep her grounded to the world above the waves. Even as it did so, the water itself was falling with greater force, chilling the world beneath it's torrent. Where it met the heated ground, mist and fog was beginning to waft up, but hanging low in the grass, hardly noticeable. Her dorsal fin flattened slightly, less noticeable as she raised her horned head to the heavens, dual sets of eyes closing as she breathed in the water-rich air. Her gills flared for a moment, before her lungs retook control as she let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding.
Did the heavens fill with water on her home planet, she wondered. The place her people had escaped from when her grandmother was but a pup in the original pod? Or was that a phenomenon of this world? She supposed she'd never know. Her planet was gone now, the land her people came from, forced to escape when the virus escaped and took over the planet so quickly. Her tail brushed through the grass, the fluke of it gently pressuring the grass flatter beneath it's mass, a slight trail the aquatic equine had taken to get where she was. The rain grew heavier, soon obscuring the signs of the party she'd left behind, even the sea that sung to her like a temptress.
A shape was emerging in the distance, dark against the soft grays of the sky - another equine out in the weather like this? She couldn't help but wonder why. She moves forward, a figure of blues, navies and white against the green of the grass and the gray of the sky, she approached cautiously, keeping a casual distance - after all, who would be out in weather like this, and why . . . . "It's a little chilly to just be enjoying the scenery, isn't it?" She calls out in a cautious greeting, even as her distance was kept. Her voice carried on the water-riched air, carrying the natural song of her people a bit better than normal, but still not the same as it did beneath the waves (nothing was ever as rich and beautiful as it was beneath the waves); but at least this time she hadn't rambled for five minutes straight to a stranger . . . No, something about the setting, the growing darkness brought on from the increased rainfall that was already starting to bring the faintest of cyan glows to her markings; it sung to her of caution, of waiting and watching. It sung a tale of care needing to be taken. And she always listened to water when it sung.
Thoughts
Speech
Her steps carried her to the prairie, where the sea of long grasses met her hooves and forced her to pause and make sure she was capable of maneuvering through them with out stumbling. It was rare instances that she had to pause at a new type of terrain, but longer grasses always caused her the most difficulty - she could maneuver around kelp beds with the best of them, but walking through a field of tall grass - fogget about it. Still, she wasn't about to let that cause her difficulties and instead choose to carry on, her steps more cautious and testing to be sure she wouldn't be tangled by the grasses whenever she lifted a limb. It hadn't happened often, but the few times it did, it had made her far more cautious.
The rain continued to grow heavier, and her gaze traveled to the ocean that seemed to anger at the opposing water source, the waves crashing together, causing spray to fly into the air. Her eyes were drawn to the way the water moved, like a serenade encouraging the lady to return to the depths. It'd been a few days since she'd taken a dive into the marine world, swam with the dolphins and hunted for oysters. She forced her gaze away - now was not the time, but she silently promised herself she'd go for a swim soon. The hills continued to stretch in front of her, and she carries forward, further from the water that sung to her. She let the rainfall soothe those concerns and desires away. The water, no matter the form, as soon as it touched her seemed to calm her mind.
The vapors that wafted off of her skin, surrounding her dorsal took a subtle shift in pitch in temperature, warming faintly as if to keep her grounded to the world above the waves. Even as it did so, the water itself was falling with greater force, chilling the world beneath it's torrent. Where it met the heated ground, mist and fog was beginning to waft up, but hanging low in the grass, hardly noticeable. Her dorsal fin flattened slightly, less noticeable as she raised her horned head to the heavens, dual sets of eyes closing as she breathed in the water-rich air. Her gills flared for a moment, before her lungs retook control as she let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding.
Did the heavens fill with water on her home planet, she wondered. The place her people had escaped from when her grandmother was but a pup in the original pod? Or was that a phenomenon of this world? She supposed she'd never know. Her planet was gone now, the land her people came from, forced to escape when the virus escaped and took over the planet so quickly. Her tail brushed through the grass, the fluke of it gently pressuring the grass flatter beneath it's mass, a slight trail the aquatic equine had taken to get where she was. The rain grew heavier, soon obscuring the signs of the party she'd left behind, even the sea that sung to her like a temptress.
A shape was emerging in the distance, dark against the soft grays of the sky - another equine out in the weather like this? She couldn't help but wonder why. She moves forward, a figure of blues, navies and white against the green of the grass and the gray of the sky, she approached cautiously, keeping a casual distance - after all, who would be out in weather like this, and why . . . . "It's a little chilly to just be enjoying the scenery, isn't it?" She calls out in a cautious greeting, even as her distance was kept. Her voice carried on the water-riched air, carrying the natural song of her people a bit better than normal, but still not the same as it did beneath the waves (nothing was ever as rich and beautiful as it was beneath the waves); but at least this time she hadn't rambled for five minutes straight to a stranger . . . No, something about the setting, the growing darkness brought on from the increased rainfall that was already starting to bring the faintest of cyan glows to her markings; it sung to her of caution, of waiting and watching. It sung a tale of care needing to be taken. And she always listened to water when it sung.
Thoughts
Speech
@Vercingtorix
Notes: Well at least she's being careful?
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)
