[PRP]Long Lost (Nituna x Eshana)

[Nori Ishida]

The afternoon sunlight pushed through the gaps in the leaves overhead, dappling the purple mare's coat with golden light. Her pale mane and tail were a stark contrast to the earthen tones of the forest as she moved silently along the worn path. Her childhood home was near here, but it had been many years since she had returned. Her family had been torn apart in the chaos that had visited the Kawani lands, the fires putting great distances between them. Nituna had found herself lost in the changed landscape and had had a difficult time finding her way back home. Though time had changed this place as well, she recognized familiar scents and knew she must be close.

She wondered how the rest of her family had fared. She felt fairly confident that her father had survived, even if purely out of stubbornness. He had always been a vey caring and protective father, and she knew his soft side well, but he was also very rough around the edges and surely would have put up a good fight. And he was a flyer, which would have given him an advantage and a better chance at escape. Her sister Nivriti was a flyer as well, but she and their mother had always been soft and gentle. Would they have had the strength to fight, to carry on, to find their way back?

Her brow furrowed at the though of losing half, if not all, of her family. She longed to see them again, to play with her sister and laugh at their father's haughtiness. To nuzzle into her mother's long, flowing mane. She lifted her muzzle to sniff the air, catching the scent on the wind. She was getting closer, but did not pick up on her family's particular scent. She tried to keep her heart light as she continued along the path, hoping for the best, for the reunion she so desperately craved.  

[Uta]

An ebony mare picked her way quietly through the unfamiliar territory, pausing now and then to stop and n** at a few patches of grass, or to swivel her ears and check signs of another imminent approach. it was entirely possible that the golden eyed mare was being too cautious, but she'd never been this far from home. The mountains she had grown up in were similar, certainly, but the scents were less-so. She knew from her beloved grandmother that she once had family from similar peeks, but she was oblivious to the realization she had made it to ancestral grounds.

It hadn't entirely been intended. Originally, the mare had simply flown with the winds. She had wanted to stay in the mountains, more familiar with the currents, slopes, and wildlife that lived in the demanding, and sometimes cruel, peaks. She had taken to bouts of flying, with periods where she traversed by hoof, and allowed her feathers a chance to rest. So it was, Eshana was searching for a new vista when she heard the tell-tale sign of another soquili!

It had been some time since she'd met another that wasn't a sibling or parent, and she tensed, just in case whatever was out there was unfriendly. There were walkers all over the Kawani--but they weren't the only threats! So it was, she paused in her trek -- did she announce that she was there? Did she hide and wait to see who might come through the foliage and underbrush? Honesty wore out, and she cleared her throat, with a flick of her black tail. "Hello? Is someone there?" She tried to keep her words even, calm and collected, but there was the smallest tremble behind them. She was a stranger in a new land, and she could only hope it wasn't a predator roaming about in search of its next meal.

Nori Ishida

 

[Nori Ishida]

Nituna kept her nose, eyes, and ears alert as she continued along her path, hoping for any hint of her family nearby. Rather more quickly than she expected, she picked up the scent of another, and heard what sounded like the footfalls of a soquili. This one's scent was new to her, but there was something underlying the unfamiliar smell that comforted her. She heard a mare speak out as she rounded a curve in the trail and finally laid eyes on the stranger.

"Hello! So sorry if I've startled you. I mean no harm, I swear!" Nituna smiled brightly at the young mare before her, trying to ease the anxiety she heard in her voice. The stranger's coat was dark as night and she was marked with swirling, fire-like symbols along her legs and face. Nituna's heart fluttered as she also noticed the mare's wings, reminding her again of her father and sister. It was not unusual to find winged soquili at these heights, she knew she was the odd one out at such elevations. What would be a several-day hike for grounded soquili like herself was just a quick flight for her winged counterparts, and they were more likely to inhabit these high places.

She bowed her head and shifted her weight on her hind legs, the dappled sunlight glinting off the golden lotus on her hindquarters. "My name's Nituna. Are you from around here?" If the mare lived here, perhaps she may have seen her parents or Nivriti, and may be able to help Nituna find her family!

Uta