Perhaps he was a little too innocent for the world, bearing silvery marks under rose gold and pink, but that didn't stop Rigel from wandering in to open areas as he usually would. Didn't stop him from leaving the borders of Delumine to make his way through the Eluetheria Plain and feel the long grasses tickle at his belly from such a short stature that he stood at.
He wandered with long legs, and came to a pause, tilting his horned head as he saw the figures in the distance, the motions of others that were too far to make details out of the face. Part of him wanted to join, but part of him remained a little wary at least, some sort of little self preservation. It wasn't long that the group moved, kicking up soft clouds of dust behind them in the heat of the day, and Rigel drew in a breath before letting it out, small shoulders slumping and his body even giving a small slump.
He felt alone, very much so, even as his head leaned back and his pale eyes caught the sight of the birds above. Those that he used to share a connection with, no longer since he had left his homeland behind. He had lost all of his ability, and it felt like some piece of him was missing and gone, a chunk that he could no longer find, or fill. A void, an ache.
The Delumine caretaker sighed, and instead dropped his head to nibble at the grasses gently, plucking at them and blinking as he did, finding that he was losing himself in his thoughts.
It’s unusual to see such spring-time colors as pink and cream amid the monochrome browns of fall, the first few breaths of winter already wilting and killing off plant life all across the hemisphere as a reminder to begin preparing for freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. It draws the eye then, when something bright and peachy slips between the tufts of grass, a waning sun glinting faintly across the creatures brow and sides where some unknown, reflective surface lays against his skin, little flickers of light winking on and off as he moves.
Nearby, an especially plain stallion, in comparison, watches neutrally from where he lays folded on the ground. He’s content to merely watch the creature from where he is, having finally filled the hollow in his belly carved by time and travel and finding almost equal comfort sprawling among the Eluetheria smorgasbord as he did consuming it.
In retrospect, he probably should have found a better place to sleep than in the middle of what might be the last available storehouse of decent forage in the area, a feature sure to attract other hungry and less-than-filled-out figures, but he’s not an anxious man and has never found it in his nature to be overly cautious. On the contrary, this is exactly the sort of thing that could be expected of him. Some would call it thoughtless, careless. He chooses more flattering words himself; self-assured, maybe sanguine.
It’s not until the creature sighs very softly and seems to deflate somewhat that his attention starts to peak. He watches the contrast of whimsical illustration to cheerless motion only a moment before calling gently, "Whats wrong little one?”
Stretching his neck up to its full height, he peers over the tops of the scrub and across the distance between them with ears cocked forward amid a mess of half braided mane and forelock, appearing all eyes and nostrils and hair from afar. "Why do you look so sad?”
The words were surprising, enough to cause the kirin to lift his head, blinking several times as his head came up. Rigel shifted himself a little, and he curled his shoulders just slightly, allowing his pale gaze to flicker and move. Finally, he caught sight of something, someone rather, and he made a soft sound under his breath, a little shocked at the sudden sight of the head and neck. Eyes went wide as he lifted himself up, standing at his whole height of thirteen some odd hands. It wasn't impressive, really, but it was still something.
"I can't talk to the animals anymore. They don't hear me. Ever... ever since I came here, there's no one to listen, and the animals run in fear." His ears went down, feeling the pang of icy sadness. Growing up, he'd talked to animals, cared for them, and grew flowers and plants. He could still do the latter, but the animals still caused his heart to ache now that he couldn't hear their little voices anymore.
Slowly, he inched himself toward the other, wary, pausing again and lifting a hoof, simply holding it there in the air. "Are you... are you a horse?" He looked strange, whoever he was, with his head stretching up over a bunch of shrubs and brush, their colors fading with the change of the seasons.
He says nothing else at first, one ear turning away as he processes what he’s heard. Another refugee? Another soul with something lost. The mud-colored stallion begins to wonder if everyone here is displaced or incomplete in some way, glancing briefly at his crippled leg in self-affirmation. Is Novus just some type of universal drain-catch for the deserters and exiles of other worlds?
A near-foreign expression of pensiveness begins to take over his usually jovial features, drawing his brows together until the peachy colored creature asks an unexpected question, catching him off guard and returning the humor to his outward demeanor.
"Last I checked!” He grins, unfolding his front legs and hauling himself to all fours with a grunt, careful to keep his weight on the three good legs until he’s standing square. “But you know…" His tone softens, trying to convey gentleness and encouragement without coming across as overly personal. "There’s more than one way to communicate. Maybe the animals can’t understand your words, and that scares them, but you could speak to them in other ways.”
He tries to gauge the creatures reaction as best he can, shifting a little uncomfortably as he speaks and only making intermittent eye contact as a way to afford an 'out' to the conversation, should the other want it.
"I knew a guy that kept a pair of crows as pets once. He couldn’t speak to them like you and I, but he showed them through kindness and patience that he wasn’t a threat. Most animals are pretty smart and they seem to enjoy companionship as much as we do. After a few years they would even land on his back and he could tell the difference between their ‘happy’ caws and ‘danger’ caws and so on. They were pretty useful for patrols, actually.”
Memory sweeps over him in the wake of retelling, teasing his senses with the smell of dew and early morning air, the rhythmic sound of hoof beats and synchronized breathing that seemed to mark time better than any clock. "So-" He falters, trying to will the episode away and anchor himself to the present. "Maybe you don't have to be so sad."
Honestly he was.. startled. Never before had Rigel seen someone so shaggy coated, more fur and hair than he'd seen on anyone. What was more, was the other wasn't that much taller than him, certainly a rarity for the small kirin. His eyes brightened up somewhat upon seeing how the stranger was a little bit bigger than him, with a more rugged look than his own smooth features.
"Maybe... I've been so.. used to just speaking with them. But when I left my homeland a few years ago, once I got out of the borders, their voices went silent and they fled. I thought perhaps that would change here." It was clearly something that bothered him, the magic of his old home had been an integral part of himself, woven in to his bones and being. Here, there was no magic, at least, not that he possessed.
The story made him smile, and there was an unknown horse in his mind, no clear coat color or features, just there, with two crows. "I suppose.. that would work. I was just so used to talking to them that when I do now and they run off, I don't know what I did wrong. But.. that's because the magic is gone, more than anything. Maybe I should try to make a friend slowly, instead of scaring them off."
The kirin smiled, his eyes closing a moment as he felt the ripple of joy over himself, making him ease his muscles where they had been so tight, and --- "Oh!" Pale eyes opened and shock wrote itself on his face, soon replaced with embarrassment as he looked at his newfound company. "I'm so sorry. I'm Rigel!"
He nods, glad to have lightened the little stallions mood. “Change is hard, but not always a bad thing.” Another encouraging smile. "And it’s nice to meet you. I’m Feliks.” He steps forward, lowering his head and extending his muzzle toward the rosy creature in formal greeting, leaving just enough space between them for the smaller stallion to close the final gap - or not, if he chose.
"Have you been here long then? I just arrived the other day, so I don’t really know the area or herds or politics yet. Do you have any advice for someone new?” So far he’s been lucky with his encounters, finding loners and relatively friendly faces, only disinterested at worst, but it’s probably just a matter of time before he sticks his overly curious nose somewhere it’s not welcome or stumbles oblivious into the midst of some bitter squabble.
He peers down at the little creature with interest, cocking his head slightly to focus only one eye at a time, monocular vision being one of the double edged swords of his species evolution. "Forgive me but,” From so close a distance he can see what the reflective surfaces scattered across the others hide are; scales, breaking through the peach and champagne of his coat without any discernible pattern. "What are you? I’ve seen unicorns and pegasi, but I'm not sure I even know a word to describe you.”
Left to his own devices he might have simplified to unicorn, going with the majority vote of horns, cloven hooves, and a long, flexible tail, but he's never seen one so small before and he's never seen one with iridescent scales like some type of exotic, tropical fish. There's something else off too, something that doesn't quite fit between his outward appearance and the presence he projects for himself, but the larger stallion struggles to pinpoint the source of his confusion and decides to credit it to personal ignorance instead of any abnormality or misdirection. Rigel has given him no reason to feel distrustful, and he prefers to think well of the world around him anyway, for better or for worse.
"speech"
@Rigel Oh my god Feliks you can't just ask people what they are
Feliks. The name would be remembered, because it wasn't often he came across anyone remotely his own size, even if he was still the shorter of the two. Both ears twisted forward in a curious way, and he leaned himself just slightly, stretching out his neck before their muzzles touched and he drew back, a smile on the white marked lips of his. A friend then, it seemed, was made. It eased his sadness away about the animals, at least.
"Not that long, maybe only a season." He smiled a little, the gleam in his eye warm and welcoming, friendly. "I wouldn't know much about the politics myself. I'm in the Dawn Court, and found I fit in there more than any of the others, but each one has its own ideals and culture. I'd say learn about them as much as you can and see which you'd fit in the most."
His lips are still formed in to that smile, but the question takes him off guard. What... what was he? At first he wasn't sure what to say, unsure of what Feliks even meant until he said something about unicorns and pegasi. Only then did a laugh sputter from his lips, and his antlered head lifted up slightly, pale eyes shimmering. "I'm a kirin!" He even did a small twirl, somewhat. He walked a little circle in place to show himself off to the other, hair floating along his back in the wind, soft and plush, before he was grinning once more.
"There's a few of us here, in Novus, so you might see some others. Our scales sort of give us away more than our horns do."
