Welcome to my year-long RP prompts thread. This will probably involve several unrelated characters so I will do my best to keep them organized, here, in the introductory post.
Then, each prompt will be represented, followed by the response. If any other storyline is connected to that post, I will link it for viewer sanity.
Cursed Child?: (Oct 2022 RP prompt) with mother, auntie, an oracle. Tananthos pops his basket during a rare total solar eclipse, oblivious to the chaos around him. Prequel to this story.
Autumn Baby: (Sep 2022 RP prompt) with mother, familiar, and auntie. Marganita comes home from the mixer that resulted in two baskets. Prequel to Cursed Child?.
Brother Bear -- (related) with Marganita and Marguerite. The story of an uncle who will never be as his mother remembers him. Nice to know.
Quote:
The moon has once again continued its journey around the world and you can feel the chill of winter slowly starting to ease. It's time for new life to emerge, new beginnings and new experiences.
Submit an RP with your soquili experiencing something new! Maybe they made a new friend or went outside their comfort zone!
The eclipse came and went. A son of Wight and Marganita popped his basket and learned to stand in the darkness of the day. He was believed to be cursed by misfortune and evil from the start. The reality was that he was a normal foal with a normal upbringing. Time and again, Marganita proved herself a worthy mother. The family grew stronger, together. The rest of the herd, well, it took time to heal their hearts.
The weather moved from the seeping bone chill of Late Autumn into the harsh, dry Winter. For a long time, it seemed like the cold would pervade everything until it all shattered. There would be no snow, and rain would never fall again. And the chilly blue sky overhead would be feathered with numerous insubstantial high clouds, never storm clouds. But even Winter moved along and the temperature warmed just enough for the white stuff to fall.
Thananthos witnessed his first snowfall one day while his mother and aunt and all of their familiars were walking through the woods. The sky above was a strange, dingy gray. Silvery tree trunks with their brown shed leaves below forced them to swish about in broken lines. Weaving in and out between the trunks with little or no underbrush was fun for the little guy to "hide" and pounce at one of the dappled mares as they passed. His tiny hoots and bellows echoed thinly along with the tittering of laughter from all. After a while, he felt a rush of spunk and dashed off, his familiar, Strawberry the reindeer, tore off after him with a flurry of leaves.
The foal's giggles popped free of his lungs as he frolicked, having a close call with a tree before slowing down to avoid future collisions.
"Ohhh," Strawberry exclaimed. He had seen what had happened, and glanced back at the mares. They did not seem to have noticed. "Lucky, lucky," he whispered to the colt.
Thananthos laughed and reared up to switch directions to run parallel with his mother. He broke gait consistently along their new path as he pounced, investigated and chased interesting things along the way.
Then he saw it. Something fuzzy out of the corner of his eye floated past and disappeared. He realized he had seen it for some unknown time before noticing. He knew what it was, but he did not remember the word.
"It's snowing," Strawberry observed.
"Yeah." Thananthos found that frolicking made chasing snowflakes difficult. He stopped and looked around, then up, chasing the snowflakes with his eyes. The ground was damp, so each flake disappeared after landing on the ground. It was as if they were hiding beneath the leaves. "Snoooowwww," he moaned like a wolf and watched in wide-eyed wonder as a snowflake landed on his nose. His eyes crossed, and when he realized what it did to his vision, quickly straightened them.
That day the snow didn't accumulate like it could have. It was only the first snow of the season, so it was not like anybody expected it to. But what adventures they could have had if it had been another time! Thananthos had no idea that he would soon discover the subject of snow and its extensive library of fun games, strategies, and sensations.
What did snow mean for him? Did it change anything?
He kicked his heels and trotted over toward his mother, Strawberry right behind him. Right now it didn't mean anything. It was just something that happened, like the rain. He still did not understand how devastating snow could be. He was just too young, and too well-timed. But he would learn the harshness of snow someday soon.
~*~
Total Word Count: 615 Number Actually Dealing with Snow: 255
Melomar
Wind-up Waffles
Online
Melomar
Wind-up Waffles
Online
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:03 pm
Quote:
The world is a vast and endless place. Some Soquili leave their homes one day to find a new one. Others are endless wanderers, roaming to their hearts content. Spring is all about new beginnings, after all.
Submit an RP with your Soquili traveling to a new place or recalling a time they traveled.
A child of the valley, Thananthos had never ventured outside. He was content to pretend that his world had no "outside." The reason was not that he lacked inquisitiveness, he simply had so much to take in at home. At least, that was what he told himself.
But there came a day when that changed. His mother and Strawberry wanted to show him something.
"I don't suppose you realize that you are nearly grown, Anthy." Marganita gave her son a side eye wearing a faint smirk.
The colt exchanged a glance with Strawberry, his reindeer familiar. "I am? I mean, I suppose I should be after so much time." Thananthos had never thought about it. He really was close minded, wasn't he? What else had he suppressed during his life?
"You really are a carefree child." Marganita was glad her son had had the opportunity to grow in his own way at his own pace. But now was a time he needed to go on a journey. "Your uncle disappeared about a year ago and no one has heard from him since. I have considered looking for him myself but I do not want to leave Marguerite. I have a feeling that bad things will happen to her if I go." She could not explain it any clearer than that. Her gut was telling her to stay. And the bones foretold the same. Though it seemed like what she had to do was choose between her brother and her sister, as twins, she really had no choice to make at all. Of course she would choose her twin.
"Are you... saying that I am to go in your stead?"
His mother tsked as she strained a little to get to the peak of this trail. At the very summit she would end their clipped pace. "I want you to see something, nothing more."
Puzzled, Thananthos followed her in silence. What could possibly be at the top of this hill?
Then, he saw it. Marganita turned back toward the places they had been. The view of their valley was breathtaking.
The young soquili expended a sigh of wonder. "Ohh..."
Marganita said softly, "What you see before you is all the places you have been in your entire life." Excluding the mixer and her journey back home with his basket. That was irrelevant to his lesson of the day. "It is vast, it is wild, it is beautiful. But it is limited..." She turned and began to climb again.
How far did this trail go? Thananthos groaned but followed like a trained puppy.
Their journey together was almost over. When Marganita finally stopped, she turned the way they had been headed. "What you will see now represents all of your possible futures. You will go down another path, alone. What you decide to do is up to you and no one else."
Thananthos came to a stop and looked out at the world beyond their little valley. A vast plain stretched out before him. Rolling hills rose up from those plains and gave way eventually to foothills and mountains. Everything looked so green in one place, tan in others. What was the tan? Why were the mountains blue-purple? Was all the green actually grass? And was the thick, moss-like carpet of dark green the trees? He wanted to ask so many questions! But he did not. He waited for his mother to speak.
"Thananthos, I mentioned your uncle because that is one possible future for you to strive for. Will you look for him until he is found? It may give you a direction in your life that you find necessary. He is a wonderful stallion, I wish you had been able to learn from him as you've grown. I think you would think outside the box more readily with a teacher like him. But you can choose to wander in your own direction at your own pace. What will you do?"
Thananthos was stricken. "Am I being kicked out of the herd?"
"No! I would never allow it. But you need to think for yourself and decide what's right for you. I've taken you up here so you could see what awaits you."
"Can I say good-by to the family before deciding?"
"Of course."
Strawberry shoulder-bumped then leaned against him. He would stick by Thananthos's side no matter what.
In the end, he had no idea how to find his uncle, so he just picked a trail at random. Eventually he emerged from the mountains and followed a fork of the road that would take him to the plains. The world was so wild and varied! New smells were everywhere. The air felt thick and energizing in his lungs. "This is great!" He laughed, turning to Strawberry. "Thanks for coming. I don't know what will happen, but I have a feeling I'm going to need all the help I can get."
~*~
Total Word Count: 821
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 5:44 pm
Quote:
Write an RP about one or more of your soquili travelling to or in a body of water! It could be the ocean, a lake, underwater caves or just going to the beach!
Thananthos stood on high ground whenever possible to gauge his location where his valley should be. But ahead of them there was something new. Something bigger than the land. It was visible every now and then through the trees. It was a different color blue from the distant hills and mountains. He wanted to see what it was with his own eyes.
"It's probably the ocean," Strawberry commented when Thananthos described it. On this journey, Strawberry traveled alongside him, whenever possible. So, in the woods they traveled in close proximity, but shoulder to shoulder in the open air.
"Is that why I cannot see land on the other side?"
"Yes, the ocean is vast and no one can see to the other side." The caribou navigated through the trees with a little difficulty because his antlers caught on every low-hanging branch. The thickets were especially dense, indicating perhaps that the woods were about to end. So he bore the burden with that hope alive.
Then, suddenly, the woods disappeared. One moment they were pushing through the underbrush, and the next the thicket seemed to throw them out. On the other side was grassland almost as far as the eye could see, then the forest on the other side began again and climbed those mountains. But off to one side, the grassland disappeared and the ocean began.
"There! Let's go there."
Strawberry had known that Thananthos would want to head that way. So the caribou nodded and followed along at Thananthos' pace. Several days passed. The land was more vast than the young stallion could have fathomed before traversing it.
"Have you noticed?" Strawberry asked, turning to his soquili with a smile.
"Noticed what?" Thananthos tilted his head and realized he was using different muscles than he had used to walk the plains.
"The slope." At one point, the land had begun to slope up. There were hills, smaller than the foothills below the mountains, but they slowed the pair's progress.
"Yes! Is this it? The end of our journey?"
"For now," Strawberry grinned toothily.
Thananthos gave a little whoop! and charged up one last sandy hill. The sea grass whipped at his legs and chest as he climbed. Then all at once, like when they had left the woods, the hills stopped and there was nothing but sand.
Down the hill he flew on eager hooves. Strawberry followed and it became a race to the water's edge. Then they were splashing and laughing like small children, a foal and a calf.
Soon enough, they were exhausted. Laying in the sand where they fell. The ebb and flow of the water tickled through their fur and against their hot skin. The sun was beating down, and Strawberry began to worry about water. The ocean was great but there was not a drop of water fit to drink. There must be a trickle of water leading to the waterside. They just had to find it.
Strawberry got to his feet and looked around. He did not see anything helpful. "I'm going to go look for water," he said.
"But we have water right here."
"Have you noticed? The water is salty. You can't drink it."
"Aw," Thananthos whined softly. "No I didn't notice. What are you going to do?"
"Water from the mountains always falls towards the sea. I am going to look for a stream for us to drink at."
"How long will that take?"
"I don't know."
"Well, then let me come with you. I don't want to get lost without you." Thananthos got to his feet and shook off some sand. He was only partially successful as some wet sand would rather cake upon him.
"I feel the same." Strawberry smiled warmly at his charge and waited until he could accompany him.
Then they were off again, this time following the water's edge. Thananthos could not help himself and he went back to splashing in the water. But he kept close to Thananthos, curious to see how to find a stream.
A shrieking, rumbling sound cut through the surf. The seagulls stopped mewling and veered away from the area. "I've heard this sound before," Thananthos managed. It was like when his grandfather had called out to the herd to meet up with him. The sound of his cry could be heard for miles and echoed through the canyons and cubbies that might house wanderers and those who just wanted a little peace and quiet.
So it was a stallion. Thananthos and Strawberry looked around, at a loss, until they could see a large male the color of the distant hills and the setting sun. He was magnificent. Thananthos would have called himself short and scrawny by comparison. He had a long way to go before he could compare.
Thananthos and Strawberry approached the stallion, who stood upon a bluff overlooking this beach and beyond. "Are you the leader of this land?" Thananthos asked, feeling a little timid. But then he stood up straight to introduce himself: "I am Thananthos, and this is my familiar, Strawberry."
Up close, the colt looked very young indeed. And the strange deer he had in tow, whom he never seen the like of, was shorter than many other breeds. "How old are you now?" the stallion addressed the colt.
"This is my second year, sir."
Shocked, the stallion tossed his head. "Are you lost? Where is your family?"
"I am on a journey, sent by my mother, to see what I will find."
So he had been sent on a coming of age journey? But he was so young! "My influence is not great, for it is just me on this land. However, you are welcome to stay for as long as you need."
"Thank you." Thananthos looked at Strawberry with a huge grin.
For the next couple of days, the two "visitors" got to know the land by the sea and the great stallion. They had fresh water to drink, sea grass (not so good) and kelp to eat, along with the sea creatures Thananthos needed for his omnivorous diet.
"Why are you here all alone? Isn't it lonely?"
"I like it."
"Are we intruding on your solitude?"
The colt was surprisingly warmhearted. Gentle. Conscientious. His mother had raised a fine son. "Your presence is not intrusive. I like it, too."
"Do you like me?"
"Yes."
And the next couple of days, Thananthos followed the stallion around. Eventually, even when he was not invited to come. Would the stallion be able to relieve himself even without those young, bright eyes following him around?
"Seriously though, I am not going anywhere. Or do you need to go, too?"
"Nope. I'll just turn around."
Thananthos had become rather strange and ... intrusive. It was not as if he didn't realize he was being strange. He felt strange. Whenever he did not see the stallion, his anxiety would increase. Frantically, he wondered where he had gone. When had he gone? Was he leaving? Was he going to leave Thananthos?
"Thananthos."
"Yes?" He had a feeling that this was going to be The Talk. The one where he would be kicked out of this place. It felt like when his mother had--
"Thananthos, I need you to stop following me around."
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Don't kick me out?"
The stallion looked surprised, then softened. "I see."
Several moments passed. "I will not kick you out. Perhaps you have been too young to travel without your herd."
"I'm not--"
"You are young to be on your own. You are not fully grown, and in my opinion that is too young."
The colt's ears flopped down to either side of his head. He felt chastised.
"You have done remarkably well on your own. Be proud of that. But I will not leave you or kick you out. Do you understand? I told you that you are welcome here and I meant it. I just need a little bit of privacy at times. I am sure you do too."
"Oh." The relief flowed out of Thananthos like a wave of refreshing wind off the sea. "Thank you."
"So…"
"Yes, Thananthos?"
"Well... it's been bugging me since we got here, but what is your name?" They somehow had not really needed to exchange names, they just said, "Hello," and "good morning," and called each other "friend."
"Oh. I don't have one." He did not have a family or a home beyond this long stretch of beach. He did not have need of a name normally.
"Blue Mountain Sunset. That is what you look like to me. Do you like it?"
Blue Mountain Sunset. That certainly got to the point. "I do."
He was as big as a mountain, romantic as a… The younger stallion deflated and looked a little embarrassed. And he had yet to realize that he had said all of that aloud.
Blue Mountain Sunset howled with laughter. "Romantic as a... sunset?"
"Ah!" Thananthos flushed red hot and took off down the surf.
"Perhaps I should not have laughed." The elder stallion murmured to himself. Now what? He had just realized that this young soquili was in puberty when everything became gawky and awkward. Poor kid. He just needed time to cool off. Then Blue Mountain Sunset would hunt him down and do something silly. The kid would be all right.
