Samanayrs

Wayfarer turned the scale over and over in her talons, trying to decide if she wanted to investigate the cave further and find what had dropped it. She looked doubtfully down into the darkness, when a sudden image of being trapped deep under the ground made her mind up for her. She would take the scale with her and find someone who might know more about such things.

((And here's a mental image of her shaking her head and saying [a la Edna in The Incredibles] "No caves!"))

Wayfarer's newfound prize could offer her a chance to barter for something special, but it was very original...maybe it was better kept to one's self. Clinging to the scale, she looked up, right into a hot cloud of breath from a creature who was apparently also curious as to what she had found.

If she were planning on a massive adventure, it would be best for her to be in tip top shape, right? She wiggled her aching talon, and the rest of them for good measure, before plucking up the glowing object in her fine beak. The answer was obvious, she would find an old, decrepit Samanayr who would tell her the secrets to everything and then, with her talon feeling much better of course, she would charge gallantly back in to face the scale leaving thing, that is... if the whispering sounds that came out from deep within the darkness didn't pull her away.

"Theyre ayre Monstyrs heyre...." she says as she looks around and holds her breath, scared yet intrigued. She swallowed hard and ruffled her feathers in confidence, taking the scale as a keepsake of her adventure before starting to proceed farther.

She looked at the scale with eyes of intrigue. She moved it in and out of the sun to the shadows to see if it kept glowing in both kinds of light. It did but what does that mean she thought, as soon as she said that in her head she heared something in the darkness.

Wait- a vague memory from her foalhood popped into her mind, in the voice of the traveling Storyteller...a Scitalis? Its glittering scales were said to stun anyone who looked at it, which could make for a very useful tool on her journeys...or, at least, an interesting artifact for her own tales. Wayfarer smiled as she carefully stuck the metallic tip of her tail through the scale, then headed back into the open air- it wouldn't do to stay in the cave until the owner of the scale returned, after all!

It was not a huge scale, not really, but the way it glistened and subtly shone... It was definitely completely unlike anything she'd seen back home! With a grin, she tucked the scale secured between some feathers and went to leave the now-empty and therefore boring fissure; she just had to hunt down whatever had left this behind!

CosmicDragon wrote:It was not a huge scale, not really, but the way it glistened and subtly shone... It was definitely completely unlike anything she'd seen back home! With a grin, she tucked the scale secured between some feathers and went to leave the now-empty and therefore boring fissure; she just had to hunt down whatever had left this behind!

Takeoff was a trickier maneuver with one lame claw, especially since she couldn't jump from a high place as she preferred, but Wayfarer took to the skies once more with her prize ferreted away as carefully as she could manage. She'd have to fly a bit more carefully from that point on or risk dislodging it, but... little glowing scale!

From her western mountain home, over the sparsely forested foothills, and onward to the chill grasslands below! The mare found food where she could and water only rarely, but she'd had many conversations with her mother before beginning this journey. Beyond the long and windswept steppe, days to the east, lay a desert, inhospitable and dry. To the north a ways were more mountains, branching off from the range where she'd lived her whole life. To the south, far to the south, the grasses eventually gave way to sand and rocky soil until they reached a vast expanse of undrinkable water.

She had a plan!

As Wayfarer continued her flight the sky began to darken, perhaps now she'd have more luck tracking down the source of the glowing scale. Just as the sun disappeared behind the mountain range, she spotted a flash of light off to her right. Was that the glowing creature, or just a fleeting glimpse of the sun as reflected off some object?

Scaly things liked living in hot places, right? If she could somehow keep an eye out for more glowing scales when she stopped to rest and forage, she could definitely track whatever beastie had left the curious treasure right back to it's desert home!

The great churning waters to the south- perhaps there had been a great flood, which had deposited such a pretty glowing bauble in the crevice? After all, some great sea-beast might have glowing scales to see in the dark waters, and she had never ridden ocean breezes laden heavy with salt before!

Wayfarer flew for a bit longer and found a perch where she felt safe so she could look at the scale one more time and decide where to find answers. She took out the scale and before she could get a good look at it again it was taken out of her claws by the little dragonet she was chasing earlier. The dragonet was away from her but going slow enough for her to follow but......why?

And that plan- head to the desert! It may have seemed counter-intuitive, but she had heard that the Sams there had set up stone markers showing the paths between the watering holes, which sounded better than the hit-or-miss strategy she had now. Besides, the sparser vegetation increased her chances of seeing other Sams- and maybe a Healer, is she was really lucky.

Seren wrote:The great churning waters to the south- perhaps there had been a great flood, which had deposited such a pretty glowing bauble in the crevice? After all, some great sea-beast might have glowing scales to see in the dark waters, and she had never ridden ocean breezes laden heavy with salt before!

Her imagination sometimes got the best of her, but Wayfarer imagined some great beast, the likes of which she'd never seen, prowling a flooded steppe...

Except that water beasts didn't prowl. And the water was so far to the south, it could have never made it this far. And a single, glowing scale wouldn't have lasted this long untouched, even if none of that were true, because something would have found it before her...

The voice of her snootiest sister narrated the list of holes in her idea so clearly that she almost glanced around to see if she'd been followed. No, she was all alone, and her sister wouldn't want to head for the steppe anyway. It would be just like her to poke fun at a fancy taken to exaggerated lengths.

But she liked her story better! And really, it was a good excuse to angle her journey southward. She'd always wanted to see the sea and ride the ocean breezes.

She felt safe for the moment, assuming she would catch sight of a glowing water beast. She couldnt help but to take a moment to dream, losing herself as her eyes closed and a smile widened on her face. Her wings flap quick and strong rocketing her towards the waters of the south.

How was one supposed to act when confronted by a beast of another kind? Would they be able to speak to one another? Surely to meet a creature like the one that blossomed to life in her mind would be the highlight of this adventure, just like seeing the waters in the south, which was a milestone in this new life of hers as well.

Taking a deep breath, Wayfarer began to head south, her mind running through the possibilities of what she might find. Could she smell the salty air already or was it just her over active imagination playing tricks on her? Perhaps it was something else entirely!

Sea oh the Sea how wonderful it must be. *does a twirl or 2 in the air* Thinking of all the different kinds of things that could be there from new sights and smells too new creatures, oh how curious and excited she was getting as she picked up the pace a little more. Then out of no where a hugh gust of wind came and caused her to drop a few feet, it had the smell of smoke to it when she got her barrings back. Smoke??

Wayfarer sped southward, lost in wild imaginings of sea monsters and the possibility of meeting a Samanayr that lived in the water like she practically lived in the sky. She was so absorbed by her fantasy that she never moticed the darkening sky until the first crack of thunder startled her out of her reverie. She looked about frantically for a place to take shelter as the wind and rain began to buffet her.

Recalling the tales her mother had told her of the sea, Wayfarer closed her eyes and tried to imagine what she would see when she got there; scaly creatures frolicking in endless stretches of undrinkable water as far as the eye could see and then further and further still, until the end of the world... Geeze, it actually made her head hurt a little to think about it.

Not as much as whatever she had just forcefully collided with mid-air, but still pretty OUCH!?!

First she saw the white stretch of a beach and then with a sparkle the sea came into a view: a line sapphire that grew and grew and grew in a huge expanse of water. Wayfarer dove down close to the white-capped waves, laughing with delight as the salty spray dampened her feathers. She saw a flash of movement under the water's surface and circled around - it was probably just a fish, but what if it had been an aquatic sam?

Even though it was improbable that the scale had come from a sea creature, Wayfarer was certain that south was the way she wanted to go. Her sense of adventure kindled by her new found trinket, the young mare took once more to the air and began heading toward the wide sea. Perhaps she might find the original owner of the scale on her way, and as she glided over the steppe, she kept her eyes peeled for anything else shiny.

Sights are not the first experience of a place, as Wayfarer knew, for scents carried by winds told more than any first glances- the tang of salt was mixed with a hot, dry scent of the neighboring desert as she headed south. Ahead, she saw a few shapes that could be crying seagulls....or more sneaky dragonets...or maybe the cutest Minayr anyone could find, how fun!

(Wow you all have such GREAT imagination. Hope im doing ok it is my first time doing this kind of thing. *scratches head*)

Jaes wrote:First she saw the white stretch of a beach and then with a sparkle the sea came into a view: a line sapphire that grew and grew and grew in a huge expanse of water. Wayfarer dove down close to the white-capped waves, laughing with delight as the salty spray dampened her feathers. She saw a flash of movement under the water's surface and circled around - it was probably just a fish, but what if it had been an aquatic sam?

She'd been flying for a long, long time and her wings ached with weariness, but the sight of something so incredibly new and vast and incredibly different brought a song to her beak.

Water with salt! She could practically taste it in the air - she definitely could, after a particularly fierce wave rolled and broke against the shore nearby. In that wave, a flash of silver and black caught her attention. It hadn't been the reflection off her own metallic tail-tip either, which could trick her during aerial maneuvers.

She flew over the waves, her keen black eyes scanning through the foam for another glimpse of whatever it had been.

There! What was that? She swooped close, almost too close, and for a split second she met the gaze of a Samanayr with fins instead of wings as it rode the surf.