His trek from the crystal lands to the shore had taken a bit longer then the beaked stallion had prefered, but there had been no horrible incident like he suspected would happen. All in all, he had managed to avoid most contact with other nequus, save a chance encounter then hardly weilded any danger to his being. He had been a bit worried going through the fruit lands, for he had heard rumors of a sort of baby boom; and that meant over protective parents. It was best he hadn't a curious eye about him, for his desire would have most assuredly gotten him into a 'situation'.
With feathered neck nearly parallel to his back and his beaked muzzle hanging towards the ground below, Sanue tried to keep as a low of a profile as he could, out of sight and out of 'situations' or one's interest. He was rather hungry, which was to be expected, for he had eaten little on his journey. Who could ever love the crunch of bones? And ugh were rodents filled with them! With an unconcious quickening to his step, the hippogriff's tempted hunger mounted his mind and apparently took to the driving seat of his being. When he got back to the ocean, and felt that salty upon his tongue and nostrils once more, he would assuredly treat himself to a fish dinner with haste and without interruption. Hopefully anyway.
Soon enough his taloned forelegs felt the soft crunching of sand beneathe them, and the sensitive pads told him he was indeed on different ground. Home! He was home, and with little need to sneak about any more, his demeanor changed almost instantly. A fierce head raised itself upon an eager outstretched, feathery neck, as both talons and hooves allowed the sands to sink about them and soften their footfalls. Olive-green eyes had little chance to survey the land about him, for the beaked, feathered, and taloned stallion had one thing on his mind. His prey. His kill. His hunger that would soon be quenched by the raw and writhling flesh of the sea.
Up on the cliffs, a scaled shape dozed in the sun. There weren't many warm days like this anymore, and the stallion was making the most of it. Soon, winter would come and everything would grow cold. How he hated the cold. Ignatius scowled to himself and opened his amber eyes to look up accusingly at the sky. Whoever had invented the cold season, he decided, was a sadistic b*****d.
Just as his lids were about to slide closed however, a flicker of movement caught his attention and the sharp-toothed Reya's head snapped about. Something was on the beach; a Jala by the look of it but... Ignatius squinted. Something was strange about it, and strangeness was always best investigated. Yawing to himself, the spike-tailed stallion clambered to his hooves and stepped off the edge of the cliff to spiral lazily beachwards.
A few moments later, his hooves found sand with a series of thuds and the scaled Reya trotted to a halt, taking in the details of the creature before him. He could not yet see the other stallion's face but that mattered little; currently he was focusing on the oddness of those forefeet and the odd distribution of feathers.
"Well," the fierce-eyed Nequus began, "aren't you an odd one."
Oh how he had dared scatter the sands between his clawed toes, to feel it grit and grind against the togue pads and skin was more then enough to welcome him back home. Certainly, it had been rather disturbing and an annoyance during his first treks here, but now it was little more than a tickle to his temptation and desire. Those seas, he knew, held the scaled flesh he would feast upon, but what might he catch today? Something small? Normal and bland? Unique? Colorful? It mattered not to the trained olive-green eyes, for they caught most everything under that shallow reflection from the water. And certainly, his talons would be sure to grasp what flesh they could, or perhabs his beak this time around? It rather depended on whether or not he should suspect a shark about at the time, for it would be a dreadful thing to have his head snapped off by such a monsterous greed as that creature.
As good as his eyes were at catching movement below him, it should have been the skies he had been paying attention too. For not but 20 yards away from the shoreline had a thud caught his attention. That alone halted the hippogriff in his path, quickly surveying the lands before him. Try as he might, his eyes were stationary, and would only catch what they did if he turned his head about to move their gaze. However, it was a voice from behind that got his attention, a voice that to him seemed male. Not at all appreciating being snuck up on, the feathers about his head and neck crested and raised slightly as his head tucked under and to the left; allowing a single round, aware olive eye to look behind him. What was this? A creature nearly as horrendous as himself in appearance.
"You'll do good to look upon yourself before addressing me so", retorted the low and quiet voice of the hippogriff.
However, he would rather look upon this spiked... aeri? Was he Aeri? He couldn't tell from here for feathers destorted part of his line of vision, and as such he placed his right talon over his left, allowing his hind hooves to nearly slide in the sands to the side. Standing noramlly once more, at least partically facing the stranger with shoulder towards him, he turned his hawk-like face in its direction. Beak and all. Upon gazing at him for a brief moment, he concluded the creature was not Aeri, but rather Reya. However, it was difficult to tell, for the spikes about the wings may have well has been adornments such as the others, and the tail was not that of his breed.
"Reya?" he inquired of the demon before him. Demon, for all nequus were, and would forever be, in the eyes of the outcast Jala. This one just so happened to look the part.
Ignacious gave a snoft snort of amusement and nodded his head. "More or less," he replied, "and the fact that I'm a freak myself doesn't make you any less of one either... Nice beak by the way," he added as his amber eyes took in the sharp-looking thing; a useful tool that must be. It was oddly reassuring, he considered as he looked the Jala over once more, to know that he wasn't the only wierd Nequus wandering the world and yet, at the same time, it was good that this stallion's oddness was different to his own; he liked being unique.
"Not seen you around here before," the scaled Rerya commented after a moment, slapping his muscular tail hard against his flank to crush a fly which had landed there. "What's your name then, stranger," he went on, wiping the remains of the insect from his tail onto the sand, "and how long are you planning to stay in my territory?"
The other's logic was biting to the hippogriff, but no less true. He had come to the conclusion long ago that he was different from his fellow nequus, a stain upon his sire's bloodline he had been told, and a dishonor to his dam's name. He hadn't the demeanor to call such being 'mother' or 'father' for they hadn't even bothered to give him their names. However, back to the present as he ordered his mind to do so. The other's hesitation in insulting or attacking him was rather disturbing to the feathered Jala, but did little to settle his nerves or opinions about this so-called demon he would for sure turn out to be. However, Sanue would not egg it on either, for what little hope there was in his deminished desire for 'company'. Though convinced to keep his ground.
Unwilling to comment about his own looks his hawk-like eyes happened to travel in the direction of the other's tail as it seemed to slap the creatures side, and with a sound it made! The other neither flinched nor shook by such a blow, and one he could only guess to cause a fathomable injury if so desired. Such an tail, but no doubt useful if proven to be effective in that manner. Content to study its movements for the time being, it was only the further questions that kept him from absorbing himself into watching it.
There was a soft blow of breath from the nostrils of his beak, making a sort of 'pfft' sound as it passed. "Not a surprise, though I suspect us to be neighbors if you've been here as long as I. For I happen to inhabit the stretch of this beach just south a few miles or so from here", he ventured out to say, though such a conclusion was baffling. He had thought himself in near solitude in his sandy get-away, but if it was true and he had a neighbor to the north, it might be best to find a more adorning place further south. "As for territory I was unaware such a thing existed in these parts, however I had been planning on catching my dinner before I treked back down to my inhabital stretch. Stranger, for you as much one to me as I am to you, my name is Sanue", had he been on less suspicious terms he would have been implored to dip his beak in a low bow, for such a creature was certainly deserving of such respect. Such an interesting tail, to the point he still studied it.
The Reya gave a satisfied nod of his head at the other stallion's words. "Good, there's a cave hereabouts that I like to sleep in; I'm glad to hear I don't have to fight for the right to stay there." He didn't fancy going up against those talons even with the protection his tough scales gave him; best to be civil with the grey feathery stallion then, it was no cost to him. "My name is Ignacious," the powerfully built stallion went on, "and you're welcome to catch fish or seabirds here before you set off; there's easily enough for two."
Enough for two... it wasn't until he'd spoken the words that the Reya realised their implication, the implication in fact of what the Jala had said himself. "I've never met anyone else who eats flesh," the amber-eyed stallion commented after a moment, a smile tugging briefly at his lips and partially exopsing his pointed teeth. "Suppose it would be a bit hard for you to graze with that beak though, now I think on it," he mused, peering once more at the vicious looking structure on the other stallion's face.
A cave he had mentioned, but Sanue wasn't quite sure where such a place would be hidden on this beach of the 'demon's'. He didn't mean that term in such a way as before, but the word seemed suiting to the other's appearance; spiked and scalely as it was. Momentarily, he shifted his head upwards slightly to study a cliff formation not far off, pondering if that's where the cave was imbedded. It was a curiousity, but nothing more to the hippogriff as he returned his attention to the fellow before him. It seemed now, that perhaps the encounter wouldn't take a turn for the worse, and as such Sanue took the measure to lower the crested and raised feathers that lined his head and neck until they once more became smooth and unruffled.
Had he ears however, they would have pricked at the mention of eating flesh, so it seemed the 'demon' also shared his tastes; for his sharp gaze caught the points of ivory sticking out from the sides of his lips. That made him quite curious indeed. "Difficult beyond measure, though not impossible. Whatever stroke of luck it might have been to receive them, I still retain a set of back teeth. Honestly couldn't imagine swallowing grass whole if such a need arised", he informed, still in the soft voice of before, usually never above a whisper. It was lucky he was in such range of this Reya now, for it would have been difficult to hear had they been far off to a distance. "I'll take your offer of allowing me my meal, but I only ask I have the chance to see your technique as well. For like you, I have not met another who seeks fish for meals, and I am quite curious with that tail and teeth of yours. If it suits you that is, I did not mean to imply demand to my inquiry."
It wasn't only this he was curious about, but the whole backstory to such a creature, this 'demon'. Had he received the same treatment from other nequus as himself? The questions may have burned at his mind, but he did not think himself a rude individual and would dive into another's personal life.
Ignacious gave an amused snort and shrugged his wings. "I don't mind you watching, I must admit to more than a little curiosity about your own method of dealing with such matters." He'd learned how to hunt by trail and error, as presumably had his olive-eyed companion. Would they share some common ideas? Possible, but clearly there would be differences too. Those sharp forefeet looked useful for grabbing fish and the like, the beak too though presumably that worked a little as his teeth did save that such an appendage, as Saune had said, would make eathing plant matter, especially grass, more difficult.
"Are you hungry now?" the fierce-eyed stallion asked, gesturing to the sea with his tail. He was feeling more relaxed around the other odd stallion than he was used to feeling with... well with anyone and that had to be a good thing, right? "The fish are usually quite plentyful around this time." Perhaps it would be alright to have a neighbour, a neighbour as odd as himself at any rate. They could be social outasts and or recluses together or whatever.
This was good, in fact probably the most 'normal', or as close to the feeling as he could get, encounter with another nequus he had had in years. So far his voice hadn't needed to rise to its screaching capacity when it often did when he shouted to retort to insults or threats, and his claws laid laxy in the caress of the warm sands without gripping at its depths. He gave a nod of his hawk-like head to the question. "Quite, I've had to travel from the crystal lands with nothing but rodents to feast upon, and I'm not particular to the taste or the texture", that, he quietly mused to himself, and they tended to bite and claw at the tongue and throat if swallowed whole, so they needed a good hard crunch to stop their squirming... which he wasn't very fond of giving. Fish on the other talon, were slippery and swallowed with ease, and hardly ever able to bite. However, fins could bothersome if not swallowed the right way.
This Reya, this 'demon' he had deamed the other oddity such as himself, didn't seem half bad to the hippogriff once engaged in conversation. And surely a useful neighbor to have if such devils as normal nequus happened to harass the other, and one was in need of assistance. Sanue would surely offer such a gesture if the time came, he was sure of it. As for Ignacious, well it was up to the Reya really, but the conclusion did little to hinder his decision about himself. "I feel the need to ask, but are sharks terribly frequent to this area? Always best to keep one's eye out when risking neck and limb to the open sea." He would wait for Ignacious to take lead down to the beach, for as stated before, it happened to be the Reya's territory, and Sanue a mere guest obliged a meal and curosity to be quenched.
Ignacious shook his head and set off at an easy walk for the shoreline. "Not often, and not very close in," he elaborated. "So long as I've been within my depth I've never spotted one, though I suppose if fish became scarce out in the open ocean they might come here in search of food." Food that he had no intention of becoming; perhaps it would be wise to be a touch warier than he usually was whilst hunting. Unlikely though sharks were, if there ever was one it would be bad to be caught off guard. He'd seen one of them dead once, washed up on the beach; such teeth the water beast had posessed!
As he set hoof in the first wavelet, Ignacious pulled himself from the memory and scanned the water for a likely fishing spot. No one place looked very much better than another, and so he gave a satisfied grunt and waded into the salty water until it lapped up against his shoulders. He had almost forgotten Sanue's presense now so focused was he on the goings on below water-level. At first, the fish had scattered at his approach but as he continued to stand still, tail held out of the water much like a scorpion's stinger, they began to drift back over, swimming between his legs as though he were no more than a rock.
A moment later, one of the silvery things paid for this mistake; Ignacious' tail scythed down, broke the surface of the water and pierced a fish clean through its body. Grinning to himself as those left scattered once more in panic, the spined Reya lifted his tail back out of the water, his prize impailed on its end.
"And that," he said, turning back to his feathered companion, "is how I do it. Most of the time anyway."
With his interest peaked in the subject, and put at ease with the explanation to sharks and their presence, Sanue followed the spiked 'demon' down to the shoreline, but did not wade in himself. He'd rather not disturb the fellow's technique, for assurdely he just might scare the fish away.That was an odd stance he observed, with such a tail posed and stiff as it was over the water. He mused to himself, how heavy such an adornment must be! It certainly looked like it held some weight with it, however the hippogriff nearly started as it, without warning, went shooting into the water to spear a fish. Oh, splendid! Splendid! Such accuracy that tail held! Such persion! "Certainly a polished technique!" exclaimed Sanue, restraining his voice from growing much louder, for he feared such a screach that would admit from his throat had he not, would have scared the rest of the fish away. That is, if Ignacious hadn't already done that with such a deadly blow.
Interest quenched he was more than willing to show such a fisherman his own little way to catching the fish, for his little stub of a tail flicked behind him as if it too were capable of such a blow. A musing indeed, he couldn't imagine carrying such a tool around with him, and was rather thankful it had not come to blows between them. For though he did not distrust the swiftness of his claws or beak, such a creature, as this 'demon', would have been a formidle opponent without question.
Without further question or hesitation, the hippogriff unfurled his wings and leapt into the sky, literally pushing his body upwards with his hindhooves and catching himself on the wind with a powerful thrust from his practiced wings. "I much appreciate the chance to see such a tail at work, but now I am implored to show you my own skills, for hunger I am afraid has taken over at the sight of such a prize at the tip of your tool", he called to the Reya as he carried himself up into the warm sky, to lowly circle the water below. He would wait for his companion to move out of the water however, incase the other party wished to find a better view.
Ignacious grinned at the complement; it certainly was good to encounter another meat eater. Pretty much everyone else who'd ever seen him spike a fish like that had been, to a greater or lesser degree, horrified. Their opinions didn't bother him that much, the stallion mused as he watched his companion loft gracefully into the air, but the change was undeniably welcome nonetheless. Just because he didn't care about scorn and distaste didn’t mean he didn’t care for approval and praise.
The scaled stallion called himself back to the present gave a belated nod to the soaring Jala before turning to wade back up onto the beach. Once there, he shook water from his scaled body and back to face the ocean. Focusing his eyes on the other strange stallion to observe his technique, the draconic Reya brought his tail about, twisted his neck slightly, bit the fish’s head off and began to chew in a satisfied manner.
Olive-green eyes had set to work the moment he was at a comfortable height, with an arched neck and beaked muzzle pointed down it was easy to spot anything and everything directly under him in the small area he circled. Hawk-like in appearance and nature, the feathered stallion with his round unchanging eyes was able to pin-point the exact location of dark shadows just below the surface of the cool shallows. Spotting a fairly sized stain to the blue of the ocean, the hippogriff began to spill the wings from under his inside wing and pulled his circle tighter yet, drawing close the area his keen eyes took in, and fathomablly limiting the chance of the shadow swimming away.
It was a matter of brief moments until his circle was tiny enough, and the location pin-pointed just under his beak. Without warning to his prey below, the hippogriff silently dipped downward, folding his wings partically against his sides. Dropping down, closer to the surface of the water, a spear however able to slightly angle itself in degree if the prey decided to move in the short period of time he was airborne. Closer and closer, he dropped, his taloned forelegs outstretched and claws wide and outspread. Grasping quickly as his forelegs plunged into the water, he thrust his head back and once more unfurled his wings, jerking himself up and out of the water just as his belly scraped the surface of the ocean; wriggling and squirming fish tightly clung to in one of his talons.
Technique shown, Sanue glided the rest of the way back to the beach, stopping a ways from the scaled Reya. However, as he landed he had to come down with hind hooves first, holding his upper body up the best he could until a single talon caught the ground below him and held his weight steady. Still, he had his prize clutched between the claws of his left talon, regarding the wriggling critter at first before returning his attention to Ignatius. "And there you have my technique, or at least one of them", concluded the feathered stallion.
Finally bending at the neck and manuevering his beak between his forelegs, he snatched the fish softly at first, flipped his head upwards once more to give it a small toss to angle it just right, and caught it headfirst to easily swallow it whole without needing to worry about fins or it getting stuck.
Ignacious watched the show of precision flying with appreciation; he’d never been that agile in the air himself but then, compared to the Jala, who was? As watched, the grey-coated stallion plunged seawards and, in a spectacular display of accuracy and coordination, snatched his dinner from the sea and swept back up into the air. Reminded of his own dinner, the scaled Reya brought his tail about again and yanked the rest of the fish off.
As Sanue landed, he gulped the fish down and gave the hawk-eyed beast a nod of approval. “Most impressive, those feet of yours must be very useful.” The landing had looked somewhat awkward but that sounded like a fair trade for being able to grasp things in something other than one’s mouth.
As he watched the Jala’s prize disappear in one gulp, he couldn’t help but recall the expressions he’d seen normal Nequus wear when he behaved as such, and indeed when he decided to take bites rather than swallowing whole. “Tell me,” the slit-pupiled stallion said after a moment, “is the rest of the world as squeamish of you as it is of me?” Talons, feathers in the wrong places, hawk-like eyes; somehow he couldn’t imagine such traits were approved of any more than scales, spines and eyes more similar to a Rit’s than to a Nequus’.
Now that was a bit of sour subject for the feathered stallion, however he regared the oddly adorned Reya, certainly he too had received the same treatment as himself; but a bit of suspicion once more rose within Sanue's mind. Must he be on his guard again? This fisherman may be aiming to strike a nerve, or possibly join in on the treatment for himself. It took some doing, but the hippogriff settled his mind once more, awkwardly shuffling his feathered wings as such thoughts were pushed aside. No, no, such a creature as this 'demon' mustn't be expected to do such things.
"Squeamish may not be the word for it, but yes, the treatment to myself since foalhood has been poor at best", remarked the hippogriff, a bitter taste upon his tongue as he said so. Had he perhaps the spikes or the ivory fangs to bare rather than feathers and a beak, it would have been 'squeamish'. As it was, their reactions to himself were quite different.
“…Mmm.” And there wasn’t much more that could be said on the subject. “Bastards,” the scaled stallion muttered vaguely, wondering internally what the other stallion meant by his words. Had he been feared, or simply estranged? The fierce-eyed stallion had been most used to fear being the strongest reaction he got, had revelled in it and still did. If he was an outcast, at least he was an outcast that nobody dared to cross.
“In any case,” the tall Reya went on, scratching at an itch on his flank with the side of his tail-spike, “aren’t too many others about here that I’ve seen lately. I’ve spotted a few Nequus who seem to live on the coast permanently but none of them were down in the direction you’re headed, or they weren’t last I took a flight out that way. Most of the other Nequus I see are visitors to the sea; they don’t stay long. I suppose it must be hard for them to find enough decent food to eat what with them not liking fish and all.”
He’d tried the tufty grass that grew occasionally on the sand, tried too the grass that grew up on the cliffs. It was all somewhat salty and often gritty. He had a hard enough time believing that Nequus could really get all they needed from good grass, but with the quality of the stuff that grew around here he wasn’t surprised at the scarcity of permanent residents.
He bobbed his head to that, for it was good to know not many ventured this far along the beaches, or even stayed ver long. "I have yet to encounter an individual near my stretch of the beach, though I tend to stay pretty well hidden up in the cliffs, so that just may be why. I should be thankful other nequus can't stand the concept of eating fish, otherwise I would be pretty much screwed in the sense of solitude", he chuckled to himself. Yes, solitude away from the masses, that had been his solution to his problem. However, if more chance encounters like this one occured with the Reya stallion, he may very well need to toss aside his solitude for a companion.
Ignacious gave an amused snort at the mental image of some sweet little Bae, or perhaps a pretty Ichsa, guzzling down fish. It would be a sight well worth seeing, for sure. “Yes,” the fierce-eyed Reya agreed with a snort, “I’ve no desire to have to make room for hundreds on hundreds of Nequus; can’t imagine the competition for the best catches if everybody ate flesh.” There was another advantage to his oddness; when grass became scarce in winter and other Nequus struggled to find enough to eat, there was almost always a well stocked larder of scaly treats moments away from his cave or at least within easy flying distance.
Wasn't that so? If everyone started going after the fish he could imagine the jostling about for the best fishing spots, and the showing off of techniques. It seemed to the feather stallion, as he stood with his foreclaws lightly digging into the sands and his fiercely beaked muzzle pointed just to the left of the scaley creature in order to actually see the wonderful fiend, that there were two sides to this issue. "Perhaps though, a bit of competition would do me good, and I doubt you'd have any problems with beating away the masses with such adornments as yours. As for me, such an invitation to fight off my catches from others would be great fun", he grinned a bit, the little part of his beak that was flexable at the end upturning the best it could. Sure, he prefered solitude, but taking stress out on the one's who caused it was always a great way to releave some tension. However, that was once in a blue moon, and he could really only recall it happening twice in his lifetime, but the feeling he got afterwards with the fool's blood on his talons and dripping from his hooked beak was, in a lesser sense, a perfect calm.
The draconic stallion couldn’t help but give a sharp-toothed grin in response. “Yes,” he said with a nod, “certainly is useful to have weapons such as these at my disposal. Not least because when I do get into fights, I seldom find myself challenged by one individual. Bastards always seem to gang up on me, so any advantage is most welcome. They seem to find it most off-putting, though, when I bite chunks out of them.” The spined Reya gave another sharp grin. “Funny that, eh?” he said with a throaty chuckle. How he did like scaring off the ones who dared to pick a fight with him, especially if he could get a taste to remember them by and indeed give them a few impressive scars to remember him by.
He tried to imagine a nequus running around with say a chunk of flesh the size of this fellow's mouth missing, and snorted it away. As hilarious as it was it left an itching feeling to his hide that wasn't all too pleasant. "Bastards should consider themselves lucky it wasn't more than a missing chunk of flesh", he spoke with a nod of his head, shifting his head to the otherside much like a bird would do and gazing at the Reya through his other eye, as fierce and unblinking as the first. "Eh, I don't have that much luck with this beak though. Good for stabbing and ripping, not too great with biting off chunks. I must say though I enjoy these talon more than anything, not many folks happen to pay much attention to them up close, its mostly the beak they see", and with that his talons flexed responsively into the sands, their claws clutching a large mass of sand before letting it go. "Its always a surprise to bring them up into the poor fellow's face." Quite vividly he still remembered the awkward jutting of the lower jaw and the rolling white eyeballs of such a surprised face, and he couldn't help but ruffle his own feathers.
As his companion spoke, Ignatius turned his amber gaze down onto the grey creature’s forefeet. He had seen them before, of course, but until now he hadn’t truly considered what they might be capable of doing to another Nequus. Once he had considered this, he grinned slightly. “Ah, the element of surprise,” he commented as the hawk-faced Jala finished speaking. “Always a good thing to have on your side. It’s the tail on me that people spot, unless I make a point of grinning at them they don’t usually see the teeth coming.” It might have been nice to be born with fore-feet like Sanue's, the scaled stallion considered. Alright, he didn’t really need any more weapons but still; they were cool. His, if he’d had them, would probably have been the same bronzish colour as his horn and spines. Ignatius snorted at himself and pulled himself out of picturing himself with such extra weaponry.
“I expect the looks on their faces is priceless when they finally notice them,” the tall stallion offered with a grin and a nod. “I know I’d be pretty damn surprised.” And yet again he was glad that the pair of them hadn’t come to blows. He suspected those talons could have done him some pretty nasty damage, scales or no scales.
And certainly with those teeth, it might as well be a deadly surprise, the hippogriff concluded to himself. Such a foal's nightmare he seemed, and yet he doubted that one had ever dreampt of a dragonic stallion such as this demon before him. "Oh I have their looks plastered to the back of my mind, not many at the count, but still enough to remember it by." He made a point not to fight off the most common of offenders, the ones who simply did not want him near them or their families by shouting obsenities or glaring, he spared by walking away. However, it was still a heart wrenching experiance for the solitude driven stallion, to bear such a burden without refute and to finally realize that he simply must avoid others. Though, at the rare occasion where one made a point to not only chase him away but to attack him while they're at it... well they got a good taste of what he yerned for everytime. Striking out with such adornments that drive people to attacking. How fun it is, how calming it is, to relieve himself of such stress.
For a moment his gaze lingered on that spiney tail of a weapon, wondering just what it would be like to watch it in action, and the type of skill needed to command it in battle. He pondered how they, and why as well, were chosen to carry the burden. Were they're others then. It set a hard frown upon his muzzle as he thought this over, for if there were two than there simply must be more that shunned the norm with their appearance. "Its an odd thought..." he started, his contorted frown easing into a more appealing calm. "How things such as us came to be. I know it wasn't from my parents, for they made a point to tell me so. However, I am quite curious if any of my offspring would bear the same adornments as mine." So far, he was merely speaking his mind to a listening ear that wouldn't snap back at him or likely demand he leave his company at once. Once more he turned a fierce olive to his companion. "What about you? Have you ever seen others, before myself?"
The scaled stallion frowned thoughtfully and shook his head. “No,” he said aloud, “I think you’re the first major oddity other than myself I’ve seen. Oh I’ve spotted a few that aren’t quite normal but nothing like us...” He had an idea of where he’d come from but he couldn’t decide whether or not to tell the other freak of it. In a way, it might be nice to share something of his history with one he could claim some odd sort of kinship with and yet he’d only just met the other stallion; surely it was too soon to trust him with such knowledge. The scaled stallion peered out over the ocean for a moment, trying to come to a decision or failing that to think of something else to say.
“Neither of my parents were like this either,” he said eventually, and it was the truth; he hadn’t said it hadn’t come from them. “I’d suppose it could vary from one to another, what causes such differences,” he went on. “Something in the mixing of the parents’ blood, something in the air, the soil, some random burst of magic that changed us... Not sure if we’d pass it on, either. I think it could be interesting to find out one day though,” the Reya commented with a nod, a thoughtful frown spreading over his face as he tried to imagine what these hypothetical children might look like. “I’d have to find a decent mare first though,” he realized with a laugh and a snort. “Not very easy to come by in my experience.”
"Indeed." A decent mare? He'd have to find one that could look upon him without scorn first before he could even think of having offspring, and that he had found to be a challenge too great for one such as himself to do. Perhaps when Urin wasn't so full of idiots, he could give it a shot. "That's an interesting way to look at it though, the varying of ways, and there's not quite a way I know of to test it either", he spoke with resolution, allowing the subject to leave him like a fleeting whim; no need to dwell on what couldn't be answered. Perhaps then he should make it his quest to seek out odd ones such as themselves, to ask the same question and to hopefully get an answer that might have solve his curiousness. But that would mean travel, and interaction, one of which the hippogriff wasn't too fond of. No, he supposed he would do fine to stay at the ocean home he had created, and to hopefully keep in touch with his sharp-toothed friend.
Ignatius nodded to the feathered stallion, only half listening. The other half of his attention was occupied with the on-going debate of whether or not to tell what he thought had made him the way he was. ...Well what harm could it do, in the end? It wasn’t as if the knowledge gave Sanue power over him, and it didn’t seem as if the Jala would jump to use it even if it did. “I think it might have come from my mother,” the Reya said before he could change his mind again. “My father told me about it when he thought me old enough to know, I never met her myself... She went mad not long before my siblings and I should have hatched and she started taking the tree apart. Father found her half way through killing us, and he fought her. In the end, she killed all of my siblings and my father killed her. He said I was normal until her blood seeped into the roots of the tree. I don’t know if the blood was all of it, or if it was a trigger for some flare off of magic or what but... well, that’s the story he told me and it’s all I have to go on.”
There, it was said now and now that it was said it didn’t seem a bad thing to tell the olive-eyed stallion before him. It was a thing that had happened, no more, and if it had made him who he was physically it hadn’t made him who he was, really was; right? Well, it had affected him for sure but the murder of his siblings and the spines on his back hadn’t made his choices for him; for better or for worse those had been his alone, and somehow that made it alright to tell a near stranger what his dam had done in her hunger-madness.
Had he the ears to do it they would have been part way between perked for listening and down-turned for despair. He had heard of a parent suddenly turning on a tree before, but nothing quite like this at all. He thought of telling Ignatius of how horrible that was, but figured it to be a dolt thing to do, certainly the Reya already knew it to be such. He couldn't quite comment on the tale at all, for it might as well have been disrespectful for all he knew. He wasn't quite sure how such things were to be handled, not at all.
His solitude had finally come back and bit him on the haunches. However something else had come to his mind as he thought about it, his own past that haunted his doings and his actions like nothing else. His raising, so to speak. To talk about it though? He didn't like mentioning it, he didn't like talking about it, but he doubted Ignatius had gotten some form of joy by commenting on his mother. He was unsure of the custom and if he should return the favor of the past, or if he should remain quiet on the subject. At the time his beaked muzzle was raised upwards, piercing the sky with its deadly gleam. He shouldn't have felt unsure about it, not with the spined-Reya. Sure, he had just met him, but this was the closest he had come to friend with anyone in a very long time. He came to the conclusion that it would be rude of him not to talk about it, as if taking the other's past with him and leaving the Reya without any renment of his brief companion. A sort of gurgling exasperation left his throat, a soft sound, but a gruff one as he came to his conclusion.
"I haven't been told of any oddity that happened during the time I was in my fruit, but the little group around it made a point to tell me just how odd it had been from the start. Leaves like feathers, they said, and I saw it daily for that's where I spent my time. My parents, though both lived, ran off and left a few days after my birth, and as far as I can remember they were both normal as could be. So, I'm not quite sure if mine was genetic or not." That was the best he could do about the telling of his past without bringing up old feelings. Or the subject of blood. Sure, Ignatius had spoke about it freely, but it hadn't been his hooves that drew it out of another.
“Bah,” Ignatius gave a snort and a shake of his head. “That can’t have been any fun for you. Honestly, I think people who say foals have beautiful minds are either crazed or haven’t seen how little ones treat the outcasts of their groups. Don’t even have to be freaky like us from what I’ve seen; just too short or too tall or too smart or too dumb. Little bastards love to have somebody to put down to make themselves feel bigger from what I can tell. Sadly a lot of them never grow out of it.” And had he grown out of it? It made him feel good to be stronger than others, to scare people off when he chose. A moment after this train of thought had started however, the tall stallion remembered that he didn’t really care if he was good, bad or somewhere in between and he chuckled to himself.
“Still,” he said with a slight shake of his head, “there’s some decent folk out there I’ve met who haven’t judged me on what I am. I think one of them was blind, but still.” How many had there been? Probably more than he realized most of the time; when people regularly ran screaming from you, yelled abuse or actually attacked you it was hard to notice the ones who simply watched with interest once their initial fear was passed.
A bit of a grim smile tugged at the edges of his beak and Sanue gave a flighty bob of his head that sent his feathers rustling into the little wind of the ocean. "Oh foals are little demons, I know. Most of the time a mirror image of the soul of their parents as far as I can tell", he chimed in, his own beliefs spilling out into the conversation. Heck, practically everyone was a hidden demon, a tormentor of ignorant brashness that deserved a good stomp in the face. Ignatius on the other hoof, was of a different breed. The outward demon, like himself, who bore his spines and threats on the outside, with the fierce eye of who-gives-a-heck?
There was something that turned his head back to attention and back towards his companion as he spoke one more thing. A bit of an odd look that consisted of one olive-eye switching views with the other for several turns before settling on a single vision, and then they blinked in unision which was a rare occasion for the hippogriff nequus. "Decent folk? If that's so I must not have met any of them, so I suppose its a fair thing to say that they might exist. Just never when I'm around." Well, there was one... but Sanue would rather not talk about his tale of blood. Not only was it uncomfortable, but despite everything, he had still just met this fellow, and it would not do to drive him away yet, or change an agreeful opinion.
Ignatius gave an amused snort and nodded to the eagle-eyed stallion. “Few and far between they are, but they’re out there. Mostly the ones at are a bit odd themselves I find, mark you they can be the worst too.” The scaled stallion gave another snort and shook his head. “Either oddballs seem to empathize with being outcast and treat me alright, or they’re glad to see a bigger freak and are quick to point out the freakiness to anyone who’ll listen to make themselves feel more normal.” The horntail gave a pointy-toothed grin. “Now those ones are fun to beat up,” he chuckled. “If there’s one thing that pisses me off it’s people, if you can call them people, like that.” And then they tried to appeal to a fellow weirdo. Bloody hypocrites.
Freaks picking on freaks? Now he'd heard it all, and gave a pointed shake of his head that had his beak weightedly pointing in either direction. "If that's the case I'm sure I'd like to meet one of them folk. These claws could use a good tune-up, ain't been nothing but fish flesh for awhile now, and I'm sure it'd be an enjoyable little treat." He hadn't quite expected something like that from a fellow oddball, but he supposed even some outward demons still held the black souls of Nequus demons. Impure little twits, didn't they know about the blackness of the Nequus race? Only seperation and seclution by the outward demon could ever purge oneself from such black hollowness to compassion, and to think that some out there with the gift of the outward demon still pertained to old ways, well, it was a dark amusement to the hippogriff.
With a bit of a gaze off to the side, he noticed how the day had seemed to slip past them while in conversation, but in all readiness it had already been fairly late into the mid afternoon when he arrived. He supposed he should leave soon to get back to his stretch of the beach, but he didn't quite want to leave just yet.
The fierce-eyed stallion chuckled darkly at the other Nequus’ words. “You may just get a chance, lots of Nequus seem to come to ‘find solace in the majesty of the ocean’ of late, especially those who think they’re persecuted by the rest of the word, sob sob.” He really did hate pretentious idiots like that, insisting on trying to sound mystical or wise or whatever. “Might not be the sort that would actually tell you you’re an abomination, thinking of it,” Ignatius went on as he did. “Still, that sort are fun to chase around as well; airy-fairy oh-poor-me; my-poor-damaged-soul types are nearly as bad as the damn hypocrites who’ve tried to get me mobbed in the past.” Why couldn’t they just damn well get on with it as Sanue and he were? Well, some people, a lot of people actually, were just stupid.
"That's welcoming and unwelcoming at once. However if some find their way to my little stretch of the beach then I must have a chance to do so." That or move somewhere further away from the dolts, he sure wouldn't like to spend much time around the blackhearted souls, oh no. Though given the chance to fight back, assuming they actually did attack for otherwise he would just have to bear the burden, he would take it like a devil given wings. His grim smiled turned further into a more darkened grin, just a peak of an ivory molar exposed as the actual lip part of his muzzle parted.
It was good to find a like-minded Nequus, especially a freaky one. Ignatius grinned at his companion and nodded. “We might get a break from them over the winter; most will stay in D’ob where it’s warm and where they can find plenty of grass.” He himself might have to head out that way if the weather got too nasty; cold had never agreed with him, possibly because he lacked a coat of hair to protect him, possibly for some other reason... Speaking of cold, it would be night soon and he wanted to be snug back in his cave before then so he had a chance to doze off before the air chilled and kept him awake. Sanue had a way to go before he reached his own home too thinking of it.
“It’s getting late,” the amber-eyed Reya commented with a nod to the sky. “If you want to get back to your territory before dark you’d better head out soon.” The draconic stallion gave a grin. “Not trying to hurry you away or anything though; this is the most pleasant conversation I’ve had in...” A frown crossed his face briefly before the spined Nequus’ wings lifted in a shrug. “A while at any rate,” he concluded.
Poor fellows, grass was always rather bland, and not as filling as a live flopping fish as it slid its way down your throat. Thankfully, he was able to stay in the ocean terriotory year round, for his feathers made a great neck warmer and his fur... well it did leave the rest of his body rather chillled but his haunches would be fine as far as he was concerned. "I'd be surprised to see anyone about here during the winter season other than myself. Not many have the means of warmth to stick it out over here, even if a good cave or shelter is found there's little warmth to be had", he spoke, agreeing with how a break would come in the wintertime. That was good, he prefered his solitude over screaming idiots any day.
At the mention of it getting late he once more turned a hawk-like gaze to the sky, his olive-like eyes scanning the horizon for any peaking moon that may have hidden itself in the growing darkness. "I should, not only for the long trip but a gnawing hunger. Its been awhile since I've gotten the taste of fish in my mullet, and that last one just kicked in the need for more. I wouldn't want to take away from your supply over here, so it would be best for me to leave soon", he returned, with his ever quiet voice that hid a screaching feature if spoken too loud. Once more his fierce gaze returned to the Reya demon, and he gave a low bob of his head that actually extended into a bit of an upraised foreclaw in a sort of make-shift bow. Ignatius deserved such respect, especially from the predator of a same nature. "It was an enjoyable talk, and I feel certain I shall seak it out again."
Ignatius nodded, he was doing that quite a lot for once; it was odd to agree with somebody on so many points but odd in a good way so that was alright. “I’ll probably be gone in the worst of it,” he told the grey stallion, it would be rude to leave him in the dark and for once the draconic creature had no desire to insult or look down upon the Nequus he was speaking with. “Never was very good with the cold,” he added by way of explanation, “but I’ll be back before spring comes. If the fish get few while I’m away, feel free to fish around here as well if you need to.” There, now that was an offer he thought he’d never make but then he never thought he’d meet another who ate flesh either. It certainly was a day for firsts.
Well, he was more correct about his theory and the winter at the ocean than he had expected, but he supposed without fur nor feathers to keep him warm it was impossible to expect the Reya to stay in such a chilled place. "Thankyou, I'll be sure to make use of it if the time comes. But I really must be on my way now, I shall you again near spring then, for I am here year-round mostly." It certainly was a pleasant meeting, a rare occasion for the hippogriff, but for now he could only part with a fierce grin and be on his way back to his stretch of the beach to fish and hunker in for the night.
Ignatius watched him go with a satisfied smile that turned into a yawn once the Jala was out of sight. Giving himself a shake, the Reya turned about and set off toward his cave at an easy trot. Today had started out alright but now, now it had been the best day for a long time. As his wide hooves thudded across the sand, the horntail smiled to himself again. He had a sneaking suspicion that he’d made a friend today. All in all, he considered as his comfortable home came into view, life didn’t suck in the slightest.
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TawnyAngel
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Empty Weyrs & Scattered Wings; a late 9th interval AU Pern RP.
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