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 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2022 12:00 pm
The Journey Homeward: Traveling with BasketsPlayers: Alinea, FerianAlinea was having a hard time logitisizing exactly how she and Ferian were going to arrive back at the Primrose herd's lands. Navigation with her trio of baskets was going to be difficult and possibly impossible. she didn't want to wait until they all popped to move forward with them, but she was having a hard time seeing exactly how they'd manage. If it had been one basket, they could simply swap back and forth carrying it, even two wouldn't have been too overly difficult for Ferian and her to swap on carrying, but three? That meant that neither of them would get a real break from carrying the baskets, and to top it all off she was still worn out from having given birth. "How the hell are we going to get this taken care of?" She grumbled while staring at the trio of wicked little creatures. Her spawn.
Pregnancy hadn't been the easiest thing, and traveling while pregnant had done nothing but make her feel like she was weak and inexplicably unable to continue onward by herself. She'd nearly given in to trying to get the stallion that she'd flung herself at to help. But that would have flown over like an earthbound soquili leaping from a cliff. She'd lucked out when Ferian had appeared, helping her along, gathering food, making himself useful while they traveled together. But now...Now it was a question of how were they going to get this trio to home. Back to Shilo where she could yell at him finally, soothe her broken heart and move forward with her life, raising her little ones to be good souls and moving away from the unhappiness of not only her childhood but also her adulthood.
"This is not going to be easy." She snorted to herself as she continued to try and plan, her thoughts wandering as she looked over her baskets. "ALI!!!" The shout from outside the cave that was their temporary residence startled her from her thoughts, "WHAT?" She yelled back as she moved to the entrance, "What foolproof plan have you come up with now....?" Her eyes narrowed as she stepped into the midday sun, trying not to be blinded by the brightness but also the reflection of light off her half-brother. Ferian stood in the small clearing, displaying his newly retrieved conquest. Well, he was trying to think of it as a conquest. He'd had a bit of a misadventure that morning, searching for something to help them travel with the little baskets. Mainly he'd been on a search for a harness of some sort, but this was much better than just a harness. He grinned, "This should help with hauling about the little ones!!" He'd tugged along a cart from one of the nearby villages. It was roomy, and seemingly would be easy to pull, even with the baskets loaded into it."Did you just steal this from a local village?" Alinea's eyes narrowed at her half-brother.He looked taken aback for a moment, "NO! Of course not!" Ferian disentangled himself from the cart and trotted over to her, "I'd done some serious gathering and fishing, and went to trade with one of the more soquili inhabited villages, they had a spare cart, I traded some of my time, and a lot of apples for this cart." He grinned, "The two leggers were a little uneasy, but their head and his stallion came to an understanding of what I was seeking out!" His tone was sincere, "After all, I would be a terrible uncle if I stole this just for my sister's baskets, right?" His smile was a bit cheeky, but he was sure she'd believe him. Alinea snorted, "Alright. I won't ask, I'm glad it was trading and not you pulling a full hoof discount on it." She rolled her eyes, but she wasn't displeased. It was nice to have some support, and it to be family she didn't know she had until now. Honestly, she wasn't sure she would have made it this far without his help. She and her foals might have been in real trouble if he hadn't been the one to show up that day. She might have been easy pickings for a skinwalker, or worse, food for a pure walker and their ilk. She shuddered internally for a moment at the idea of herself and her foals being devoured so easily. That hadn't happened and wasn't something to dwell upon, "So this should help with getting back to the primrose herd's lands."Ferian's grin broadened even farther at his sister's words, "Absolutely, this is what we really needed to get things rolling, and get headed back to your lovely heartwarming reunion with your beloved beau." Alinea glowered at him, "It's not a reunion. It's just me heading back to see how my friends are doing.""Yes, with the stallion that broke your heart that you ran from for how many years?" He teased."I didn't plan to be gone this long..." She flustered and hissed, "I just...had to get over things." Alinea tried to reason and deny that part of her desire to head back to the primrose herd lands was because she desperately needed to see Shilo. To hear his goofy laugh, to weep about how much she'd missed him in the years she'd been gone, and how much she'd only wanted to be by his side.Ferian knew better than to listen to that, "Yes, and has my sweet elder sister, gotten over those things?" He snorted, "Or did the fling with that kalona dude really resolve that for you?" Her jaw dropped for a moment as she was caught speechless by his words. She then sheepishly looked down, "No, it did nothing but prove my heart was elsewhere and that I need closure in the least." She glowered for a few moments. Silently debated kicking his shin for being so insistent."Of course, it didn't." He spoke knowingly though he had little to no experience in the field of love, "After all if you've not gotten direct denial from the stallion you got all heartsick over, you can't move forward and will always be thinking the what-ifs." He looked very satisfied with how he'd extrapolated on how his sister felt, "Now, we need to work out if we need blankets for the baskets, or if they'll be good with just the hay in the cart." His mind was moving forward with the plan of getting himself, her, and the baskets back to the primrose herd lands, as soon as possible. He wanted to have a few words with the stallion who'd so easily misread his sister's heart, but also find out if it was really just her hiding her feelings so deeply, or if the stallion had realized her feelings and ignored them instead of giving her a clean break.Alinea nodded a little relieved that he'd gotten sidetracked back to their current situation. She could deal with only so much of his nagging when it came to how she'd gotten here in the first place, "I think a couple of blankets with the hay already there would work out best to keep the baskets warm and a little extra padded. Plus we can pack up extra food as well. That way we won't have to stop as often for hunting or foraging while we're traveling." She thought of the nearby stream where she could catch a few fish, "Did they maybe have a fish basket? That way we could keep some fish for a few days, and not have them go rotten in the first two."He nodded, "Right. So back to the village to grab a few things. Blankets, and a basket for foraging, and fish." He made the mental note and chuckled, "You head to figure where we should fish and I'll be back in less than half an hour...Hopefully. You should also get the baskets ready to move, because once I get back we should pack and get headed out." He trotted off to go and aquire the rest of what they would His red mane flouncing just a bit with the spring in his step.Heading back to the cave, her long braids dragging behind her, she nosed the baskets warmly, knowing full well the travel would be a bit easier with the provisions, and the cart so kindly traded to Ferian. She couldn't help feeling a bit more excitement as she gently began moving the baskets out to the cart. She was finally after all this time heading to the place that was her home. No more burying herself in seclusion, no more hiding from her emotions, Only moving forward, towards the future for herself and her foals. No matter what the future held she was ready to face everything that would come her way. Be it Shilo, Shoshana, Shilo's mate, or anything else. With her brother at her side, Alinea felt like she could take on anything.WC: 1502
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:50 pm
A Family TripPlayers: Haven Keary Seren Rakshi. Haven trotted downward towards her favorite spot, curls wafting in the wind, her fair form still belying the abilities she'd trained up over the many years she'd lived, her somewhat impish nature showing in her smirk as she passed the tree line and was greeted by the form of three stallions. "And what's brought the trio of you out here?" she chortled as she bounded outward towards them. Standing there the trio of stallions gave a very intimidating sort of impression though anyone who knew them, wouldn't even think they could be intimidating. There stood Haven't father, younger brother, and her eldest son, "Has someone gotten lost?"Seren's petaled eyes fluttered at his sister's approach, his ears wiggling excitedly, "Oh I felt like taking a bit of a wander, and found a new breed of brush berries. I figured I'd need some help to bring them back for my garden to plant for the herd." He preened happily at his sister, blue mane shimmering brightly in the sunlight, "I've never smelled anything like them, nor felt such a cheerful emotion. They're simply so happy and delighted, and their color is so vibrant but very edible!" Seren's excitement simply exuded from him as he nearly danced in place expressing himself with every inch of his large form. The pale-haired stallion blinked at Haven, then nosed and greeted his mother, "Yes, Uncle Seren could not leave the plants on their own, so he decided we needed to help him with moving a few of the new plants before they root too deeply during the summer months." The bells on his rose jangled a little as he gently shook out his mane, "And I of course need to document this since I've been working to document all the plants that Uncle Seren finds. He's found an amazing number, and we've gotten some very interesting crossbreeds too. Though I think...great gran gets a little perturbed when her roses end up with a few...strange mutations?" He chuckled and glanced over to his grandpa, "We've not made anything that tried to eat anyone, so it's not too bad yet, right pop-pop?"Rakshi happily grinned at his eldest daughter's arrival, he'd been trying to keep his son and grandson out of trouble...well that was what he was supposed to be doing per Briallan's admonishments that Seren and Keary were often up to strange experiments in the gardens, and it wouldn't do to have his mother in law end up with an awful surprise because of these two. His vibrantly blue mane and tail stood out so daringly as he greeted Haven, getting into the conversation and answering her questions, "No one's gotten lost. But we are working out a plan for getting these lovely bushes Seren found back to the herd's gardens," He glanced off in the direction they were planning on heading, "And another capable set of hooves would be greatly appreciated." He leaned in a bit and whispered conspiratorially, "Lord knows I'll need someone with a level head to help reign in these two mischief-makers." Haven listened to all the rambling of her brother as well as the chiming in of her son, they were eagerly lost in their own plans once again and she was quite ready to assist with the endeavor before her father even mentioned needing some help. His half plea was entertaining, after all, she was a mischief-maker herself, but nothing like these two. She got into fights and brawled, which was something her father knew how to handle well, it was the hyper-intelligence that often floored him. She nodded to him, "Of course, I'll be glad to be of help, I was planning on fishing for a bit, but working up an appetite sounds great as well." She smiled cheekily, it was a good thing Cadhla was off doing his own experiments and that neither Seren nor Keary had ever taken up the tinkering bug, "So do we have a real plan on how to get everything pulled up and transported, or are we winging it?" She asked brightly, figuring they would have an opportunity to figure things out now, rather than leaving it entirely up to chance.Seren flicked his tail, the tendrils undulating as he did so, "Oh, that's right, we need to have an idea of who is doing what and where we are hauling them to." He frowned for a moment, his ears tilting, "Keary, do you have any ideas? I mean, I can generally get the plants uprooted fairly easily, but how are we going to bring them back with minimal damage? I want them to be as happy and comfortable as possible in the move so they don't end up in shock from being relocated." He spoke a little timidly, knowing full well that he was very in tune with plants and that he might even be overthinking trying to make sure that these new plant friends were as comfortable as possible.Keary tilted his head for a few moments. How were they going to haul the plants to the new place? They could simply drag them, but that wasn't really the best way to get them transported, and Seren would likely be very unhappy with the results. The damage that would be done wouldn't be easily recoverable which is what was needed for Seren to be satisfied and allow for a clean transplant. "There has to be a way for us to get them back...how far did you say it was again?" He genuinely was curious as to the distance because the more he knew about how far they needed to travel, the more likely he was going to be able to narrow down the plan and what would work out best for getting exactly what Seren wanted from the situation. Rakshi nodded along, fully expecting that he would be the one doing most if not all the lugging around, perhaps a bit less because of Haven being there now. The easiest way to haul things was likely a cart or a wagon, but he wasn't sure if they had one in the herd lands. After all, Cad was one who could make just about anything given his level of creativity, and genius, "We may want to ask Cad if he's got spare parts, or if we've got a cart or wagon that we can use to transport them. Barring that I think we may have a large bolt of cloth that we can use as makeshift bags to haul them back." He glanced around, wondering if perhaps they had some vines or ropes that would work as well.At the mention of a cart, Haven bounced excitedly, "OH!! I remember that Aunt Ali brought her baskets back in a cart! We can probably borrow that one! If it's still around." She was trying to remember where it had to be, "I know it has to be around somewhere. I'm sure I can find exactly where it is. If anything I can ask Aunt Ali and see where she might have stashed it, or maybe where Uncle Shilo put it." She bounced from hoof to hoof at her sudden interjection waiting to see if the others agreed with her. "Oh, that would work wonderfully! And if they don't we can of course see about asking Cad!" Seren sounded so overjoyed, "And the distance is about a half day's travel, so the cart would be the best way for us to get everything transported safely!" He was relieved that once again his family was so willing to assist him with his errand and accept that he was so odd about his plant friends. Sometimes he worried that there would be a day that they would refuse to accept his strangeness, but they'd always been so accepting of him, even when he was a sharp-toothed little eye-budded foal. Keary nodded excitedly, "YES, that would be so helpful! Please do mom, and we'll pack up provisions for the trip while you're tracking down that cart!" He couldn't help being excited about traveling with not only his grandfather and uncle, but also his mother. He felt that this trip would be a great bonding experience, though it wasn't like he wasn't close with his family, he only sometimes felt a little out of place. Rakshi blinked for a few moments, then realized that now there was a real plan instead of a makeshift idea that might have succeeded. Sometimes it amazed him how his family managed to pull together and make seemingly random ideas come to fruition, he mentally shrugged, "Right. So, Haven, you go get the cart, and as Keary said we'll gather provisions for the trip and head out tomorrow early morning." He began making a mental list figuring out what would be the most useful to pack. Haven nodded vigorously and then dashed off to find Alinea, leaving the trio of males to get moving on their own assignments before they left the next morning.WC: 1501
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Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2024 8:34 pm
Lost DapplePlayers: 'Prince' Aubrey Elidan and Ruddy Brambles (the bunny in the prompt). Aubrey had wandered off again, he did this often when exploring the lands of his beloved, and found himself in the company of a very odd creature. He'd heard rumors several of them in fact of some horrible bloody rabbit creature, and gone to inspect the places this particular thing had been roaming, a shapeshifter of all things, which made him look even more terrifying than most creatures. Finding his way to the grove, he began observing something quite rabbit-like, but...something was strange about it. Like the creature just was confused and not actually a danger? Well that's most unusual, isn't it? He thought as he padded closer to the flower-covered...hare? Rabbit? Stallion? This was most confusing to look at, but he supposed that his size being intimidating would assist in him not being seen as easy prey if indeed this was a shapeshifter playing as a simple rabbit. His ears were certainly amusing as he neared the creature. Aubrey examined the rabbit thing from a distance that was quite safe until the thing in question spotted him. And then turned tail and ran. Strange. Usually, a shapeshifter would have been far more brave, but given how fast this rabbit stallion was bolting it, Aubrey was certain that it wasn't a shapeshifter, especially with no blood around any of the areas it had been rummaging around. On closer inspection, there was a very distinct massacre of vegetables that the thing had left behind. Aubrey chuckled to himself and began following the creature. It wouldn't do to have a wild shapeshifter running around, or a completely confused rabbit thing either. While chaos was amusing it was also detrimental to most parties involved. He began to trot to see if he could catch up at an easy pace, but it seemed the rabbit thing had completely bolted and run as fast as possible. Aubrey sighed and decided to follow the very large footprints as well as the somewhat evident dust cloud that seemed to follow the fine fluffy possible friend. Aubrey couldn't help thinking, Perhaps my mate would have been a better choice to follow this particular creature. Sho is after all far less imposing than I am. He mused about his much smaller mate, and how she was just tiny. It was always such a shock to others when his mate appeared and she was maybe half his height. Some even questioned how they did certain things which only caused him to blush, and her to glare on occasion. He shook his head, there was time for that kind of thought later on, for now, his primary objective was seeing if this thing he followed was friend or foe. And in his mind, he was leaning much more toward skittish friend than outright foe. He'd been trotting for maybe an hour as he finally located the creator of the dustcloud and giant rabbit prints. The thing had run himself out of any ounce of energy and looked as though he had collapsed in the dirt. Aubrey watched for a few moments, observing the creature, and from the distance he was at, it was quite obviously out of the question that this stallion was a threat. If anything it looked more like the rabbit thing was quite close to having a heart attack and dying on the spot. Slowly, Aubrey, much larger than the now prone stallion, approached carefully, his voice quite gentle as he spoke, "Are you alright?"The prone rabbit stallion stared up at him, eyes wide in terror and ears pricked up in panic. That was of course until he spotted the ears that twitched on top of this stranger's head. Then he collapsed back down, relief struck him and he felt like liquid, "NO. I am not alright. I've been chased off and insulted and called a horrible monster and other such names, and I don't know what I did wrong, and I can't even get home, and I'm lost, and I haven't eaten, and....it's the worst day ever....!" The rabbit began weeping openly at how much his day had been utterly destroyed. Aubrey simply nodded and allowed the stallion to cry it out. Much like he did with any foals or younglings. And this very much seemed like just a young mutant, who'd lost his herd, and been lost in the wilds for too long, "Well then," He began softly, but firmly, as one does with a yearling or less, "I'd be more than happy to help you find your way, or at least give you a place to stay while you wait for family." Aubrey lifted a paw and gently patted the rabbit stallion's head. His sniffling started to calm as large dark eyes looked up at him, "Really?" Tears still fell down his cheeks, "I'm Ruddy Brambles, who are you?" "Aubrey Elidan, a pleasure to meet you, Ruddy, shall we get you something to eat and a bit of a drink?"Ruddy nodded and stood up wobbly, he was a few hands shorter than Aubrey, but then most soquili, mutant, shifter, or otherwise were smaller than he was. The now less stressed rabbit followed Aubrey, as he led him back to a safe spot for the night. WC: 872
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