B e l o w Z e r o
the cold never bothered me anyway
There was something calming about being in the dark - to feel the inky blackness soak around you - and to have to rely on other senses than just vision. Or, perhaps that was just Bel. Did living in some of the darkest, and coldest parts of the ocean adapt you to preferring that sort of life style when you needed some place to shelter too? Was it the familiarity of the dangerous hiding in the dark? Was it the cyan glow bouncing off the brush and trees, like biolum bouncing of the trench walls in the oceanic depths? Either way, Bel would be lying if she didn't admit there was something . . . something calming about the swamp. Perhaps that was why she tended to spend time here rather than in some of the other parts of the vast state of Terrastella. The entire area was home, to her and the court she had taken to when she had first decided to beach herself on this island, but it was the swamp that the aquatic-equine tended to habit the most.
Even now, her limbs cut through the water as if she were dancing on air, hooves daintily dredging through the bottom, the natural vapors from her hocks loosening the mud and gunk from her limbs that would otherwise try to entrap her. Adaptations meant to aid in a mostly aquatic lifestyle worked just as well in the swamp's half marsh state. However, the same vapors aiding in her movement were forced on overdrive to keep the mare cool during this wretched heat. Even this late in the evening, with the crickets coming out to chirp a melody and the sun barely a glow over the horizon, the heat was unbearable to a creature from the north. But adaptation assisted in that manner, her vapors almost below zero to aid in keeping her from overheating, or worse, evaporating the water needed to circulate her system in a complex vein work just below her skin. Drying out, especially in this heat, was a touch of a concern for the mare, but it wasn't her first summer above the water's surface, and it wouldn't be her last. After all, she was a creature from an ancient race who had once ruled another planet successfully - one whose temperatures were far more variant than these. Sure, she was a few generations after the quick . . . . exit of their original home, but breeding only inside the population had ensured those traits were kept - a necessity when her people spent winters in the coldest parts of the ocean, and summers in tropics to welcome the newest crop of pups to their herd.
The swamp, however, always seemed to make that heat just a bit more . . . exhausting. Perhaps it was the natural water that hung in the air, trapping that heat and then holding it close to one's hide. Perhaps it was the trees scattered about that would aid in trapping that humidity below that canopy. Either way, the mare both hated and loved that humid aspect of these lands. Great for seasons, worse in others. At least it ensured that drying out in the swamp was as likely as finding a pearl in the first oyster. Well, perhaps that wouldn't be the best analogy - depending on the insider knowledge. For a Treader, finding pearls was as easy as recognizing which areas of the ocean were likely the most nutrient-dense (which meant finding the area with the biggest oysters and most filling fish you could snap up in a bite). But the sentiment remained: The swamp had it's uses.
At least to some. Dual cyan eyes turned their glow onto the annoyed serpent draped around a rock, the creature huffing, icicles clinking in agitation. It is too hot. The serpent sang in a dialect of drake not known to this planet. Dual eyes met the mare's own, each set blinking independently as the sharp-toothed snout turned down in a frown. The creature's tail, much like Bel's own fluke, strummed the water's surface, a rabbit half-eaten resting between its five-toed limbs, Why are we here when the temperature is so displeasing? Let us return to the ocean, I implore of you, Below Zero. This weather is . . . vile. No creature should ever be subjected to it! Particularly not those of us of arctic persuasion - I know you cannot be enjoying it any more than I. Bel had heard this rant from Yukime before. The serpent preferred the waters to the land, not that Bel could blame her either - especially not in the height of summer.
The mare moved towards her companion, laying down in the water below the ledge the bonded serpent relaxed on. "It's not so bad, once you are accustomed to it." The mare mused as she watched the swamp water seem to illuminate a little more around her from the biolum markings now displaced below the water, creating a small glowing bubble between her cyan glow and her companion's deep navy. A slight beacon of light in the growing darkness, "Besides, the sun has set, the night is always far more enjoyable. Perhaps you'll even find another one of those tiny crocodiles to wrestle with - I know how much you enjoy that!" The alien mare suggested with a smile that flashed the sharp teeth of an omnivore with a diet of fishing below the water, sharp and curved back towards her throat. "Just relax with me, Yukime. Enjoy the night. Okay?"
"Bel"
Yukime
@Sparrow
Notes:: I forget how naturally Bel comes to me.
Even now, her limbs cut through the water as if she were dancing on air, hooves daintily dredging through the bottom, the natural vapors from her hocks loosening the mud and gunk from her limbs that would otherwise try to entrap her. Adaptations meant to aid in a mostly aquatic lifestyle worked just as well in the swamp's half marsh state. However, the same vapors aiding in her movement were forced on overdrive to keep the mare cool during this wretched heat. Even this late in the evening, with the crickets coming out to chirp a melody and the sun barely a glow over the horizon, the heat was unbearable to a creature from the north. But adaptation assisted in that manner, her vapors almost below zero to aid in keeping her from overheating, or worse, evaporating the water needed to circulate her system in a complex vein work just below her skin. Drying out, especially in this heat, was a touch of a concern for the mare, but it wasn't her first summer above the water's surface, and it wouldn't be her last. After all, she was a creature from an ancient race who had once ruled another planet successfully - one whose temperatures were far more variant than these. Sure, she was a few generations after the quick . . . . exit of their original home, but breeding only inside the population had ensured those traits were kept - a necessity when her people spent winters in the coldest parts of the ocean, and summers in tropics to welcome the newest crop of pups to their herd.
The swamp, however, always seemed to make that heat just a bit more . . . exhausting. Perhaps it was the natural water that hung in the air, trapping that heat and then holding it close to one's hide. Perhaps it was the trees scattered about that would aid in trapping that humidity below that canopy. Either way, the mare both hated and loved that humid aspect of these lands. Great for seasons, worse in others. At least it ensured that drying out in the swamp was as likely as finding a pearl in the first oyster. Well, perhaps that wouldn't be the best analogy - depending on the insider knowledge. For a Treader, finding pearls was as easy as recognizing which areas of the ocean were likely the most nutrient-dense (which meant finding the area with the biggest oysters and most filling fish you could snap up in a bite). But the sentiment remained: The swamp had it's uses.
At least to some. Dual cyan eyes turned their glow onto the annoyed serpent draped around a rock, the creature huffing, icicles clinking in agitation. It is too hot. The serpent sang in a dialect of drake not known to this planet. Dual eyes met the mare's own, each set blinking independently as the sharp-toothed snout turned down in a frown. The creature's tail, much like Bel's own fluke, strummed the water's surface, a rabbit half-eaten resting between its five-toed limbs, Why are we here when the temperature is so displeasing? Let us return to the ocean, I implore of you, Below Zero. This weather is . . . vile. No creature should ever be subjected to it! Particularly not those of us of arctic persuasion - I know you cannot be enjoying it any more than I. Bel had heard this rant from Yukime before. The serpent preferred the waters to the land, not that Bel could blame her either - especially not in the height of summer.
The mare moved towards her companion, laying down in the water below the ledge the bonded serpent relaxed on. "It's not so bad, once you are accustomed to it." The mare mused as she watched the swamp water seem to illuminate a little more around her from the biolum markings now displaced below the water, creating a small glowing bubble between her cyan glow and her companion's deep navy. A slight beacon of light in the growing darkness, "Besides, the sun has set, the night is always far more enjoyable. Perhaps you'll even find another one of those tiny crocodiles to wrestle with - I know how much you enjoy that!" The alien mare suggested with a smile that flashed the sharp teeth of an omnivore with a diet of fishing below the water, sharp and curved back towards her throat. "Just relax with me, Yukime. Enjoy the night. Okay?"
"Bel"
Yukime
@Sparrow
Notes:: I forget how naturally Bel comes to me.
![[Image: i-jTNwWx8.png]](https://photos.smugmug.com/BelowZeroNovus/n-X9d9fZ/i-jTNwWx8/1/e09fb6c3/O/i-jTNwWx8.png)
