[2023 and 2024] Two Year Long RP Prompt Replies | Page 1 | Open/Private Canon IC RP | Guild Forums

Melomar

Wind-up Waffles

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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:52 pm

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.

I hope you enjoy!

Table of Contents

01. January 22: Something New, with Thananthos and Strawberry.
02. January 29: A New World, with Thananthos
03. May 28 A Soq went to sea, sea, sea
04. Title

Links to RP Prompts

01. January 22: Happy New Year!
02. January 29: Wandering Wanderers
03. May 28 To see what they could see, see, see

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:53 pm

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Related Stories

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

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Melomar

Wind-up Waffles

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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.

~*~

Total Word Count: 1567

Melomar

Wind-up Waffles

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Melomar

Wind-up Waffles

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Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 11:28 am

A quick look at 2024, December:

Quote:

What was I just thinking about? Sticky buns? No, maybe it was hot cross buns.....Yeah that's it! CROSS BUNS!

Namely, do you remember that time you saw a cute little bunny with blood on it that happened to be not so cute, but rather a malevolent urban legend that chased you through the woods? It's been a whole year since then. When you come up on a cute bunny stallion and it's cute little bunny friend, you shouldn't worry right? RIGHT?!?!?!

But you do, you know you do. When you come up on this "cute"....thing that's blocking your way out of a canyon, you are highly suspicious. And it acts clueless, as though it really has no clue how to do....anything? It's faking right?

Truth is it's not faking. It's new to the area and really has no clue about life here. But, since you meet Sans Merci, you're just a little paranoid.

Write 750 words per RPer on your encounter with this strange clueless bunny (He's new to the area!) and how you let your paranoia, that this might be another Shifter trap, get in the way. If you want, you can RP the prize as well (who probably has some opinions on how weird your being).

tldr: It's how your preconceived notions about someone gets in the way

Quote:

Special rules for this month--If you want a Beer Shifter (and feral!) write a 750 word minimum PER RPER. If you want a Beer Float you'll need to write 250 words minimum PER RPER. You can choose to go only for the Beer Shifter or the Beer Float, or you can do both for a total of 1,000 words PER RPER.

PROMPT: That drink you had tasted a little strong or maybe that food tasted a little weird. Either way, something fermented way too long or was misidentified. This was not planned, it was an accident. Everything is starting to feel a little funny and look a little funny. In fact, everything is just funny.

Tell me all about it (no fireworks).

REMEMBER: Any prompts must be complete RP's starting when the game begins and ending before the end date. Please use the name of the Beer Shifter/Float that you want as they are not numbered on the preview.

Thananthos had never encountered a vicious bunny, but that did not keep him from second-guessing the tableau before him. He had heard of shifters. They were scary. They preyed on soquili while appearing to be a soq mixed with the features of another animal.

There before them, a reddish stallion with big floppy ears, soft-looking paws, and a short, fluffy tail, was wandering around slowly, as if lost. It was as if the gods had made a big mistake and were trying to hide it by leaving him out in the middle of nowhere to die.

Thananthos was sure of himself: it must be a trap. "He's a shifter."

"No." Blue Mountain Sunset frowned.

"I've heard of them. They look like a soquili and something else mixed together."

"This is true. But they wear a pelt of the animal they look like, for they killed that poor animal. I do not believe he is like that."

Strawberry came to a stop beside Thananthos. The reddish deer watched with wary eyes. He did not see a rabbit before him, did he? He gasped and looked between the creature's forepaws. A pink rabbit. Was it a skinned rabbit? His eyes widened in shock. His lower jaw fell open and bounced several times as he tried to find words to speak. "P-p-paws. Be-between his paws." He spoke quickly and brokenly then tried to turn around back the way they had come.

"Strawberry!" The young stallion called back to him. He knew the buck would not leave without him. But he would turn away. He recalled a cautionary song about turning aside, to avoid something terrible. Frustrated, he turned back to study the pink lump between the monster's paws. It looked like someone had skinned a rabbit. "He's right." Thananthos gawked then balked. "What do we do? The canyon is too narrow. We would have to double back and lose another day to the canyon."

"I know. We'll go forward," his elder said simply.

"No."

"I look part fish. That does not make me a shifter. I believe he is the same way."

"Explain to me why he has a rabbit between his paws."

Blue Mountain Sunset retorted: "And vines on his legs?"

"What-- oh. I... I don't know." Flowering vines seemed to grow up his legs to deposit beautiful flowers in his mane.

"Let's just approach calmly and confidently and see what he is doing. Maybe he will even step aside without our request."

"Ah." Thananthos felt the wind abandon his sails all at once. He looked back and exchanged a chagrined smile with Strawberry, who shrugged. "All right, let's go."

His face was full of determination this time. Blue Mountain Sunset could trust this kid to do the right thing once he was presented with the truth, as far as it could be taken. He had a good head on his shoulders, he could likewise trust the right people when he didn't know what was going on. "It will be fine," he said softly. His smile was big and self-assured, though.

The trio approached the strange stallion. In some ways he looked normal, a chestnut stallion with dappling along his flank. But his legs and mane were covered in vines and flowers. His ears were very long. His ears and tail made Blue Mountain Sunset think "ceryeni" but the ears were too long. And the feet: he had paws instead of hooves.

"Er, excuse me, I need a little help, if you could spare a moment or three."

Well that was unexpected. The rabbit/deer stallion was the one asking the first question.

Thananthos and Strawberry both looked at Blue Mountain Sunset. He cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"Well, you see, I am new to the area and seem to have gotten lost."

Blue sighed and glanced at Thananthos. "We're only passing through, I'm afraid. But we are working on exiting the canyon as soon as we can."

"Oh, wonderful. Do you mind too terribly if I join you, to the end of the canyon?" He swept a paw upward and the pink rabbit shot up into the air, to land behind his withers. The object made a soft noise as it landed, a bit like a rattlesnake's tail. Was it... a plushie?

This request was not a surprise to Blue, but he looked at Thananthos, allowing him the option of refusal.

"I... suppose you can follow us. From a distance." This was a strange stipulation, and he was aware of that. He did not care to give this guy an inch.

The "strange" stallion fell in behind. Getting the drift, he left a wide berth between the group and himself.

Thananthos glanced back and asked, "What is with your ears? Are you a mutant ceryeni or something?"

Blue blinked heavily and looked at him in surprise. The blunt questions were... he sighed, blunt. Blunt questions were blunt and childlike.

"Yes," the chestnut nodded, his ears flopping up and down. "I am a rabbit spirit," he grinned. "I was guarding the dreams of a little girl. But she passed away suddenly in an accident. I have been rather lost ever since."

"Oh." Thananthos deflated, feeling chagrined once again. But couldn't this be a trick, still? "That's very sad," he said anyway, feeling the truth of that, whether the chestnut was telling the truth or not. "Well... what about... on your shoulders. What is that?"

"It's a rabbit plushie. She left it when she died." The stallion was so matter-of-fact. But his fear and nervousness melted into pain. "It's all I have left of her."

Blue decided that there was no reason for a shifter to lie like this, this late in their "game." Surely they would have been attacked by now? He was behind them!

"A. Plushie." Thananthos' eyes bugged out and he stopped in his tracks. He had to see this.

"Than--" Blue Mountain Sunset tried to stop him. "Wait."

He walked right past the chestnut's face and stopped at his shoulder. Sure enough there were seams and button eyes. The bunny was not bloody at all, it was made of pink fabric and thread. It was worn in places a human child might hold a plushie in their arms as they flitted about like a young foal. "I am sorry. I thought you were--"

"No, you were right to be cautious," the chestnut said, and bumped his shoulder into Thananthos' shoulder. "Travel in groups is good, but it is important to look after your safety. Things are not always as they seem. I could have been a shifter pretending to be a mutant soquili. Never lose your sense of danger."

Thananthos rolled his eyes in a moment of panic, though only their change in shape gave it away, since he had no pupils. He was so ready to bolt.

"That said, I am entirely as I seem. The one thing I lied about is I have been wandering for some time. I'm not new to the area and I do not live here. But I really don't know where I am or where to go." He smirked crookedly in dejection, but nothing else about him seemed crooked. Quirky perhaps but not crooked.

While the colt recovered Blue Mountain Sunset returned to his side while wearing a frown. He was so close to showing the rabbit how sharp hooves could be. "So?"

"Do I have to ask? I would much rather be invited."

He had done nothing wrong, technically.

Thananthos breathed deeply. "Then... why don't you stay with us for a while at least. You can go when you want to."

"Thank you, I would appreciate and enjoy that. You seem like nice people."

"I'm sure," Blue Mountain Sunset said. There was irony in his voice, but some humor as well.

Strawberry, he wasn't so sure. But he and Thananthos would have a little talk about all of this.

- - -

Before that could happen, however, they met another strange new friend. They had passed from the ocean's end to the grassy rolling hills and prairie, to the gradual transition into forest. They roamed freely until the curtain of the forest closed around them. Then they were relegated to deer paths for their own safety. Everyone felt a little claustrophobic even though they traveled single file.

Laying prone across the trail was a bear. Its leg was lacerated and it lay in a little dip in the trail that might have been dangerous for the soquili to approach.

"Let's have a look around before approaching him."

Thananthos wished to know what Blue was thinking. "What are we looking for?"

"A trap."

The youth's eyes widened briefly. He nodded and disappeared into the trees and thicket without another word.

"I'll help." The chestnut stallion likewise disappeared.

Then Strawberry and Blue Mountain Sunset slipped into the gloom beneath the forest canopy.

A team of four was better than three, of course, and today they would discover the chestnut's dedication to his new "herd."

In short order they had scoped out a wide area around the bear. They would not be caught unawares. Now all they needed to ready themselves for was a thrashing, feverish bear. Piece of cake.

"Excuse me, friend bear," the chestnut stallion called out. His voice could reach without being loud.

Thananthos wanted to learn how to do that.

The bear stirred. She was brown and deep cream in color, like chocolate and butterscotch. Grunting, she shuffled her body into a leaning position. She balanced her upper half on an elbow that was not lacerated. "Help me, please. I was attacked by a 'walker who left me for dead, thankfully," she said huskily. Her chest heaved a little and she did not look well at all.

"Do any of you know how to treat a wound? I don't know."

"Yes, I can." Blue Mountain Sunset was not afraid of a cub. His size was quite large; he could take her on if she was well. She couldn't fake this. "A shifter, eh? How did you survive?" he asked, expecting no clear answer.

"Yeah, how indeed." She took a deep, calming breath. while he looked for this or that leaf, sent the others on searches. Soon he was done. She sat up and then stood. Slow and wobbly was her speed. "Thank you, friend," she said more softly. "I don't suppose you would consider a new travel companion?"

"That is not up to me to decide. The boy over there is in charge."

"Ah, but you carry the mantle well," she chuckled. "He looks so young."

"He is." He nodded. They watched Thananthos for a few quiet moments. He was a little impatient, but he had a good heart.

"I hope he accepts me."

"He will, but he needs to be the one to say it."

A few moments later, Thananthos approached them. "How is our friend doing?"

"She is doing fine. It wasn't serious."

"Good--"

"She wants to travel with us," Blue Mountain Sunset's voice was laced with humor. Both of the soquili looked toward the rabbit-stallion very briefly. "I think she won't slow us down."

Thananthos hesitated. He personally loved being in the company of others. The herd he had lived with were not this kind and friendly. The rabbit stallion...had he ever offered his name? He had turned out to be gentle and candid in that way. Now, this bear wanted to travel with them despite her damaged leg. Blue Mountain Sunset did not seem wary of this bear.

"Well, I guess we'll have to oblige her." He dipped his head and lifted a hoof, bowing lightly. "Why don't we all share our names?"

This tickled the bear's fancy. She would never admit that the colt's gesture had left her slightly flushed and speechless. "I'll go first. My name is Butterscotch."

"I am without a name, unless you count 'Bunny.'"

"I am Blue Mountain Sunset." He bowed like Thananthos had. "This young lad named me."

Thananthos cleared his throat in embarrassment. "It wasn't--"

"It's a good name," Blue Mountian Sunset insisted.

"Oh-kay. I am Thananthos."

"Will you... give me a name?" the rabbit-stallion asked timidly.

"I can do that." He stopped to think, staring at the other's flowers. "Cosmo... like those flowers. And ... Wendel comes to mind. Cosmo Bunny Wendell." The last name's syllables sounded different than "Wendel." Wendell. He looked up at him and waited for a response.

"Cosmo... Bunny, Wendell. Cosmo Bunny Wendell. I like it. Thank you." The bunny's smile was grateful.

"That is wonderful," the bear smiled, looking at each of the soquili and the reindeer. "This whole group is wonderful. But," she hesitated, "we should get going. I do not know how close that shifter might be."

The group, maybe even herd was appropriate by this time, nodded to each other and disappeared into the dense foliage. The woods were thick with underbrush this close to the definitive clearing, but soon it would thin out and it would be easier to see. To see them, the potential prey, and to their potential predator, the shifter. They could only hope they would not cross paths with such a formidable entity.

~*~

Word count: 2199

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Gaia Guilds

Soquili Era

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