[Solo] Tales from the Hinterlands

[Nisshou H]

This is a collection of random short stories for my soquili as I come up with them.

It's mainly a way to try to get my writing juices going again while still collecting stats and without clogging the rp forum with threads.

Each time I start a new story I'll post (a) picture/s of the soquili involved. If I don't have the brain power to finish a story right when I post it I'll link to the first part of it when I find the will to continue. This will all make sense to people once it's in action.  

[Nisshou H]

"Wrong Turn"

 

[Nisshou H]

Directions weren’t something Kittredge ever truly bothered with. Sky was up. Mushrooms were down. This Way went that way and That Way went this way. If she needed to find something all she had to do was follow her nose. She needn’t know how to explain the way to other people. Yet somehow every time she came across a traveler in their winding, wandering wood someone would ask her how to get to a specific place. It was the strangest thing. They knew what they were looking for but lacked the skill to find it themselves so they asked a complete stranger for help. Why? It wasn’t as though Kit knew what it was they really sought.  

[Nisshou H]

“Where is the water?” One person asked her once. Water was found in many places including the little pot Creampuff carried with him in case she found fire for tea.

“It is That Way.” Kit had replied before wandering off. He had been very grateful to receive directions though she knew not where that path would take him. It would lead to water eventually, any path would. Either it would be in front of him or it would fall out of the sky on top of him, it was only a matter of when this happened.

Several days later the same stallion crossed her path again. She grinned recognizing him.

“Did you find the water?” She questioned with a curl of her corkscrew tail.

“No thanks to you!” He snapped furiously. “You sent me the wrong way!”

“Oh?” Kit tilted her head to one side and laughed. “Then you didn’t go far enough down the way I picked.”  

[Nisshou H]

"Fish"

 

[Nisshou H]

Cleto stared into the depth of rock pool he lay beside. His golden eyes focused on something moving just below the surface. He had been watching it for nearly an hour now but every time he dipped a claw in it darted back down to the bottom. It was as though it could sense Cleto’s desire to take a large bite out of it. He had heard of these creatures. Fish they were called. They lived only in water and died if they came up on land. He had never seen one before living in the crags as he did. The water he usually found was in tiny puddles left behind from rain storms or rushing down the gully in a flash flood. There one moment and gone the next. These slippery critters seemed to prefer still water, or mostly still water, over rapids.  

[Nisshou H]

With a wide, hungry grin Cleto lowered his head to the water and slowly slipped his muzzle in thinking the fish might not notice it as readily as his claws. He was mistaken. He opened his mouth to snap at the fish but nothing was there and likely hadn’t been for some time now. He grumbled pulling away from the water. This was such a rare treat but he was no closer to catching it then he had been an hour ago.

“Don’t you want to come play with me?” He cooed dragging his claws idly across the surface of the water. “You’ll like it, I promise.” He had said similar things to the multitude of desert dwelling creatures that had made a new home in his belly. A stallion had to eat after all, but no matter how he cooed the fish didn’t swim back up again. Cleto could have cried. His only chance to sample such a rare delicacy had slipped away from him and he hadn’t even seen where it went. He would have to come back to this pool again to try and fish up some dinner but for now, he would have to hunt like normal.  

[Nisshou H]

"Swan"

 

[Nisshou H]

The moon was full as Ultima prowled around the edges of his home. The air was still, not ideal conditions for hunting. It would be hard for his pray to catch his scent but just as hard for him to catch there’s. He snarled, hunting in the forest would be somewhat more difficult with him needing to rely on sight more than scent. He needed a clean field of vision for that. Changing course he set out for a nearby spring. Many animals gathered there for easy access to water and the shelter of the trees around it. All he needed to do was pick a mark and then keep to the shadows until he was close enough to strike.

He spotted his victim easily enough. A huge bird sitting in the water with its long neck tucked gracefully beneath its wing. It had blinding white plumage made brighter still by the light of the moon. A swan. He sneered. Something about it irritated him and while he didn’t usually go for birds -they were too hard to catch- he was willing to waste the energy to at least ruin this one’s slumber.  

[Nisshou H]

Moving silently he got into position just a few short steps away from the swan. He made certain that it was truly asleep before he lunged. His sharp teeth closed around its pretty white neck and he crunched down hard. It was strange how quickly it went limp. He dropped it onto the ground at stared at its broken neck. It hadn’t even had the time to let out a panicked honk or batter him with its wings. How strange. He picked it back up and carried it into the trees ignoring the calamity of wildlife running away from him. He would be dining on this pretty bird tonight, he hoped it tasted as lovely as it looked.  

[Nisshou H]

"Fire"

 

[Nisshou H]

It was hot. Even on the mountain it was hot. Tadaaki whined and shuffled about to try and find a cooler place beneath the shade of the trees. He had come to despise summer. It was always so uncomfortably hot. His little sister Chiyo had insisted he was just weak to the heat since no one else seemed to be having much trouble with it. He grumbled thinking of how casually Chiyo dismissed his plight. Even if he was alone in his suffering the fact still stood that he was suffering.

He wondered if he could send Mokutan off to fetch him some cool water. There must be some on the mountain somewhere. If there wasn’t, he could always give the dragon some cloth and ask her to fan him. Looking every bit as miserable as he felt Tadaaki wandered out of his shaded paradise and into the small, sunbaked clearing that made up the normal living spaces for his family. Immediately his eyes locked on his black dragon tending to something he’d hoped never to see this time of year.  

[Nisshou H]

“A fire?” Tadaaki asked in disbelief. His dragon turned to him and nodded politely.

“For tea,” she replied. Tadaaki had heard from his older sister Uwasa that traders had passed through the area and had brought green tea leaves with them. Or as their father Hisoka had called it: matcha. Evidently it was quite rare in these parts and he was over joyed to have it. Their dad Torao had parted with more than was fair to obtain all of the traders’ stores of it. A present.

“It is too hot for tea.” Tadaaki maintained staring at the fire. “Put that out.” His attendant shook her head and a strangely polite manner for a dismissal.

“The tea is nearly ready. Then I will put it out. Not before.”

Tadaaki grumbled before muttering a quick fine and retreating back to the shade forgetting what he’d gone out to ask for in the first place. Once the fire went out it would surely cool off anyway, right?  

[Nisshou H]

"Candle"

 

[Nisshou H]

It was a strange thing to see humans on her mountain: strange and unwelcome. Nashira had been quick to bare her teeth at the humans and they had fled at the sight of her. They were no fools and recognized the threat even a wingless kalona posed. In their haste it seemed as though they had left several of their personal belongings behind. Not above scavenging, Nashira approached to see if she could find anything edible. Food was scarce in the high altitudes of her home. Few plants grew there and the harsh weather conditions made survival difficult for most species. Were she not such a capable hunter she would like have withered away from starvation herself in her youth. These days she had assistance in finding and catching food. It meant she often had to share the spoils of her own kills but the growth in successful hunts made that trade worthwhile.

Scrounging around the human camp she found little worth eating. A few scraps of dried meat that she quickly devoured and some nuts that she could give to Abigail. There was not enough to bother alerting Venta to the presence of any food at all. The white wolf would likely have found better prey by herself anyway, keen was her nose.