In Search of Salvation (Full, but PM me if still interested)

[Jennalyn]

(OOC: The topic is open to anyone! I'd love to RP my Sams with someone else. Basically, the oasis that Earthenair~Mystic and his mares have restored to health has begun to sicken, and they're trying to find someone who will help them heal it. Maybe another Mystic? Maybe a Samanayr who is familiar with plants or illnesses or the like? Maybe a Desert-dweller who's seen the sickness in their plants and/or water before? It's up to you. Play with me! xD)


Song of the Restored Oasis

Two small forms trekked the landscape, moving through the harsh desert sands until they reached the barren scrub-lands that signaled the beginning of the end of the desert. Both of them were exhausted, with dust and sand coating their fur with a fine layer of grit.

Earthenair~Mystic didn't feel entirely comfortable traveling so far from his lands at any point, much less a time of crisis. It was precisely that circumstance that drove him from the lush shelter of his home, however, and sent him journeying through other territories to find another creature who might be able to help his Song. He had thus far been unable to do anything.

Beside him, Bloomingspring~Burst chirped a questioning sound, not even a true word, and nudged his neck gently with her green snout. Wide blue eyes regarded him with worry. He had been straining himself a great deal these past few weeks, trying to find the source of their oasis's malaise, and it killed her to see him so exhausted. It killed them all, every one of his mares.

He looked over at her and smiled tiredly, his expression a soundless reassurance. They would be fine. It was only a matter of time until they encountered another tribe, or even a lone Samanayr with a patch of land. Then they could see about finding the help they so desperately needed.

[silvermoondragon]

Ok, so this is my first time role playing (sorry if I am getting the samanayr accent wrong)

---

There was a small dot in the air, hard to discern from the bright blue sky, and as the two samanayrs looked up, it grew before them, seeming to be heading straight for them. Eventually the shape resolved into samanayr:



Landing awkwardly with a puff of dust, Blue of the Open Sky looks up at Earthenair~Mystic and Bloomingspring~Burst. "Hello," he says, "My name is Blue of the Open Sky, but you may call me Blue. What ayre you doing out heyre in this dyreayry place, and would you happen to have any wateyr? I'm payrched! I've been flying foyr days looking foyr an adventuyre."

[Jennalyn]

(OOC: A great start. ^_^ Whee! I hadn't expected an especially prompt reply. Thanks for playing with me!)

A small twinge in the back of the Mystic's mind caused him to look up and catch sight of a blue shape flying above them. Or was it... towards them? His mare followed his gaze skyward and watched in surprise as a Lamanayr landed near them and approached. But no, he couldn't have been a Lamanayr, not with those eyes. She hadn't seen wings on anyone besides birds since joining her Song several years ago. It had been a while!

The lilac-tipped Samanayr took up the mantle of greeter for her stallion, since she knew that he wasn't especially fond of beginning conversations. Some people thought it was the enigmatic nature that he tried to foster, or some such rubbish. No, he was just painfully awkward when it came to strangers. He had to relax a little bit around them before his nerves allowed him to speak freely.

"Gyreetings, Blue. We hadn't expected to see anyone else ayround heyre so soon, but it's good to meet you. I'm Bloomingspring~Buyrst, and my stallion is Eayrthenaiyr~Mystic. I go by Buyrst, and he geneyrally goes by Aiyr. We have been walking foyr seveyral days now in seayrch of otheyr Songs or Samanayrs, but hadn't yet found anyone. Until you, of couyrse. We have a bit of wateyr we could share."

She glanced over at the Mystic, who gave her a small nod. Reassured, she flipped her head and half-reared, sending a canteen tied around her neck and resting on her back flying around and resting against her chest. She carefully stepped out of the straps' loops and nosed it towards the other stallion. "Please don't dyrink it all. It's fyrom ouyr home and we haven't found any moyre yet."

[CosmicDragon]

(OOC: Oooh, a RP! Sounds like fun. Lets see how I can fit my girl into the story...)



Hot, gritty sand flew through the air around her as she ran, but Music of the Open Plains cared very little. In fact, the way the sun glittered off these tiny fragments was a joyous thing to her. This was Her Place, this edging between the harsh desert and it's tricksy mirages, and the dark, humid forests with their close-knit vines and roots just waiting to trip her solid hooves. And she loved it here, of how she loved it! She cavorted as she ran, playing in the sun and sand, until something very strange caught her eye.

Two small figures, clearly Sam's though their exact breed was indistinguishable from such a distance, were traveling out of the desert towards the scrublands beyond. They moved slowly, as though wounded or tired. Curious, as always, Music halted her headlong rush and proceeded much more slowly towards them, picking her way over the stone that made themselves more prominent after the smooth desert sands. By the time she was no more than a few meters from them, the two had become three, the third a strikingly blue winged Sam. Approaching from behind, her curiosity was tapered by caution and she tried to stay out of sight behind a stunted bush, watching interestedly from the sidelines.

[silvermoondragon]

Blue took a quick sip of the water and thanked the two Sams. "Mind if I join you? I have no lands of my own yet, and am in seayrch of adventuyre."

As they continued on their journey, Blue's keen eyes, adept at spotting things from the skies, noticed a bush with ears and a tail. "What's that oveyr theyre?" he said pointing at the bush. He took a running start and leapt into the sky eager to investigate the odd looking bush.
Soon enough, he realized that it was a tall Samanayr mare all scrunched up hiding behind the bush. Not wanting to scare her away, Blue landed a little ways away and called out to the mare, "Hello, no need to be afyraid, my name is Blue, what's youyrs? We'yre on an adventuyre!"

[Jennalyn]

Burst closed the lid of the small canteen and began the somewhat arduous process of looking the straps back around herself. Good thing she was flexible - the tosses and twists required to wear the container would have caught in her stallion's Mystic strands very easily. As far as joining them... that wasn't her decision to make. Large blue eyes looked to her stallion.

The Mystic tilted his head and nodded after a moment's thought. This stallion seemed young, especially since he hadn't founded himself a Song yet, but he also came across as an open and friendly sort. "Yes, that would be fine. We will need more wateyr soon, though, if we ayre going to be a payrty of thyree. Do you happen to know anything about the health of an oasis?" It was a long shot, but he still had to ask.

Neither of the green Samanayrs would have noticed another's presence, attention too focused on their new traveling companion, and so his sudden question surprised them both. "I hadn't felt anything," the stallion murmured at his companion's curious glance. His clairvoyance was spotty at times, and alerted him to the oddest things.

They would wait until the other Samanayr spoke before introducing themselves, at the Mystic's discretion. For all he knew, they could be tresspassing in someone else's lands. He hoped not. He hadn't seen or heard anything marking the territory.

[silvermoondragon]

(OOC: I guess I kinda skipped ahead a bit, sorry)

Happy to be allowed to join the other two sams on their journey, the question about an oasis startled him. "An oasis?" he questioned, "I've neveyr seen an oasis befoyre. I could scout foyr one if you tell me what it looks like."

[CosmicDragon]

((I apologise in advance if I totally screwed the accent. XD))

As her eyes met those of the duo-wing'd stallion, Music's back stiffened in apprehension. But she knew she was caught, however, and so stood to her considerable full height and stepped out from behind the withered bush. Her ears flat against her head, she nodded abruptly to the one who called himself 'Blue', her eyes wide and innocent. "I am Music of the Open Plains, though you may call me Music if you wish. And I was not afyraid, only fools are not cautious in theyse deseyrt lands. Mirages are all too common, and more than likely to lead an unwayry Sam into a sink pit."

Flicking her tail nonchalantly, she turned her attention to the two she had seen first. Up close, it was plain to see that while one was but an ordinary, if brightly colored Sam, the other was just as obviously a Mystic with the two tufted strand of hair, and the pupil-less eyes so commonly attributed to their race. This brought her curiosity right back up to it's previous levels, and she took a few clipped steps forward before performing a small bow in the stallions direction. She smiled widely at the mare next to him, her eyes dancing.

"And what, may I ask, should I call you?"

[silvermoondragon]

(OOC: @cosmicdragon - I think the accent is just on the r's, the r's become yr's)

When Music stepped out from behind the bush and started talking, Blue took a step back as he saw the full height of the mare. "What's a miyrage?" he questioned, "this is the fiyrst deseyrt I've been too." "Those ayre my companions oveyr theyre, I just met them." he said pointing to the two other samanayrs.

[CosmicDragon]

((OOC: -dies- Ah, so that's how it works! Ok, I've edited my previous post to reflect that. Thanks!))

Back tracking slightly, Music half-turned to the blue stallion, who it seemed had retreated slightly since she had first stepped from behind the bush. "You must be a long way fyrom home, theyre is nothing but deseyrt and scyrub-land for miles in eveyry diyrection... A miyrage, my fyriend, is when the deseyrt plays tyricks on your eyes, making you see things that ayren't really theyre." Her eyes wander from Blue's, looking out over the trackless wastes of sand and grit thoughtfully before returning her attention to the stallion. "They can be tyricksy."

[silvermoondragon]

Blue looked up into Music's eyes, "I have no home," he said with a sigh, then brightened up, "I am a lone wandeyreyr, I am an exployreyr looking foyr adventuyre. I will know when I have found the yright place to call my own." Blue then paused to think. "Aha!" he shouted, "now I know what happened to that delicious beyrry bush I saw but could not find, it must have been a miyrage. It looked soo tasty, in fact, I could use some food yright now, I'm suyre we all could. Do you know of any such places?"

[Jennalyn]

The Mystic shook his head at the other's words. "Oh, we don't need you to find an oasis foyr us, though it would be useful for wateyr and gyrazing. We came fyrom one and ayre seayrching foyr answeyrs."

Since Blue seemed so eager to start up a conversation with the Samanayr who'd only recently been behind the bush, the two green Sams stood by quietly and waited for an opportune moment to introduce themselves. Taking a few steps forward, the stallion offered her an inclination of his head. "My name is Eayrthenaiyr~Mystic, abbyreviated Aiyr. My mayre is Bloomingspyring~Buyrst, or Buyrst." The green mare gave the prettily patterned Samanayr a small bow in greeting at her introduction.

A bit more from Blue and the Mystic spoke again. "We ayre not so fayr fyrom home as he is, seveyral days' jouyrney fyrom a deseyrt oasis that we have yrestoyred. My song contains thyree Mystics, including myself." Such a thing was almost unheard of in Samanayr society. The magic possessed by Mystics was usually spread amongst songs. Others had called them greedy, selfish, power-hungry, arrogant... many things for amassing such a collection of magic. "The yrestoyration of ouyr oasis home would not have been possible without all of us."

He sighed, looking out to the horizon. His mare looked concerned and nosed lightly at his cheek before turning back to the other mare. "Ouyr home has yrecently begun to sicken, and we ayre seayrching foyr the yreason why. We ayre in need of help."

[CosmicDragon]

Music's eyes softened at the other's words. Though she felt at home in the desert, she had never found another to share it with, and never once had she settled in a single place for more than a day, always moving on before the sun rose in the morning. She knew well the life of a wanderer. The smile that accompanied her reply was warm, and very welcoming. "Yes, I've had that happen myself many times. Although my miyrage is usually a beautifully cool, tyrickling styream. And yes, we ayre but a few minutes byrisk walk fyrom a spyring of cool wateyr and some payrticulayrly tasty riveyr lilies."

Ducking her head, Music grinned sheepishly at the green pair. "It is an intense pleasuyre to meet both you and your mayre, Aiyr." Standing perfectly still, Music lowered her head onto her neck in a relaxed, yet thoughtful position as she considered the pairs words carefully. They came from one of the oases? While that was not completely unusual, it was more than a fair walk to the closest, and for these two to be traveling alone... Well, it was a miracle neither was hurt!

Then another thought struck her. Did he say... Three Mystics? Such a thing was not only rare, but generally frowned upon. Not that she knew much of regular Samanayr society, remote as she was. But the groups sounded powerful, a song not to be on the wrong side of, though the stallion was friendly enough.

"Sicken? In what way, exactly? I may be able to be of some assistance to youyr cause afteyr all."

[Jennalyn]

A cool spring with fresh plants sounded wonderful to the pair of travelers, who had been subsisting off of the heated water in their canteen and a full belly from home, complimented by scrubs and an occasional carefully harvested cactus once they hit the scrub lands. Both of them were hungry, weary, and in need of nourishment, not to mention a replenishment of their canteen. It was nearly empty. The stallion would have had to try and summon up a bit of rain if things got any worse, and that always left him exhausted. Sometimes the clouds wanted to cooperate and gathered without too much prompting, but that generally wasn't the case in the desert.

"The wateyr has a styrange flavoyr to it now, wheyre it used to be peyrfectly cleayr befoyre," Burst said with a small sigh, speaking up first. "I miss the old wateyr. Not long afteyr it changed, the plants stayrted to look less healthy. Some of the leaves changed coloyrs oyr stayrted to wilt. Theyre's a diffeyrent smell in the aiyr now. None of it feels yright, but neitheyr of the Eayrth Mystics we have can deteyrmine its souyrce."

It had been incredibly distressing to everyone involved. The change had happened overnight in the water, and the plants began to sicken only a few days afterwards. "We only have one souyrce of wateyr at the oasis, so if it stays tainted, ouyr home will die and we will have to find anotheyr."

[CosmicDragon]

So, now she had the puzzle pieces. All she had to do was find how they fit together to see the answer. Watching the mare intently as she spoke of the oasis's symptoms, Music listed them in her head to give the shape. Tainted, perhaps poisoned water was not uncommon to the springs that fueled and oasis, as the water deep underground could get low, even be mixed with leaching contaminants from a great many years ago. Such things were rumored to happen around Miseries as well, though she had never seen this for herself.

The leaves withering, though, was a little stranger. All of the plants that grew in and around oases were built and bred to withstand all but the harshest, bitterest of water, and could endure levels of toxins that no Sam could. If these two were still standing before her after drinking from the spring, then the levels couldn't be even that high. So why, then, were the plants taking the toll harder than those who lived among them? The smell she would put down to rotting vegetation for now, though it could hold some significance later.

Lastly, and strangest of all, was the apparent fact that not even the Earth Mystics she spoke of seemed to know what was happening. Usually so in-tune with nature, one would think they could purify even the most intoxicated water. Which meant that the contaminant was not natural, or not coming from a normal source.

Still deep in thought, Music turned a fraction towards the rising dunes that kept them from seeing the trickling spring not far away. "If you would like, we shall talk on the way to both food and wateyr, as you both look tiyred, and the mind woyrks fasteyr on a full stomach. I have a few ideas of my own, but I would like to heayr what you think it is fiyrst, if I may. In my expeyrience, it is best to fix these illnesses befoyre they do any peyrmanent damage."

[Jennalyn]

The intensity with which the exotically patterned mare listened to her words gave the mare a small reason to relax. At least this person was taking their plight seriously, rather than ignoring them as strangers or trespassers. That was half of what they'd feared in the first place.

"Food and wateyr sound like a veyry good idea," Aiyr agreed with a quiet sigh. He and Burst were exhausted and on their way to dehydrated, since they'd been conserving their water as best they could during their journey. Both of them had been on their feet for quite some time and the sands made for a treacherous surface at times. He was glad to leave the dunes in favor of the scrubland. "Perhayps with the fouyr of us yrefueled, something will make itself appayrent. A full belly sounds wondeyrful yright now."

When Music moved in the direction of the rising dunes, they both followed her and trusted that Blue would do the same. If he was in this for an adventure, after all, he wasn't as likely to leave their side just yet, especially not with the prospect of a fresh water source so close by. It would no doubt taste better than their tepid canteen water.

((OOC: My apologies for the delay. This is the last semester of my fourth year of college and things are certainly off to a bang. xD))

[silvermoondragon]

As they topped the dune Blue spotted the spring, "Yrace you theyre!" he shouted, leaping into the air. Being the young stallion he was, he was bursting with energy and excitement and well, just couldn't help himself.

[CosmicDragon]

With a quick glance over her shoulder, confirming the exhausted pair was following her, she reached the crest of the dune and spotted the glimmering blue disk of water that was the spring at such a distance. The haze coming off the sand made the water seem to move, though there was not a breath of wind ruffling the sand at her feet, but it would not be that way for long. The great orb was on it's way down towards the horizon, and the desert was a harsh, cold place at night.

The tall Sam was about to take the next step over the dune towards solid ground when the blue, winged stallion rocket past her into the air with a joyous shout. The downbeat of his wings loosened the sand beneath her feet, and she whickered, trying to throw herself backwards before her hooves shot out from her and she slid haphazardly down the slope. At the bottom, in a stifling cloud of dust and sand, she coughed and picked herself up, glancing annoyedly up at Blue's airborne form and trying the shake the sand out of her mane.

Turning back towards the top of the dune, she called out sheepishly to the male and female with whom she was journeying. "Theyre ayre only a few small dunes afteyr this one, and then the gyround is solid diyrt. If we ryun, we can make it befoyre nightfall and decide whetheyr to wait till moyrning." She kept her some place at the back of her mind focused on the sun's declining form, tracking the time near subconsciously. If they were lucky, they still had a good 2-3 hours before sunset, and the spring was only a half-hours run away. An hour at walking pace.

((OOC: I completely understand, Jen! I'm just starting the 11th grade, and the whole preparation thing has me bushed! Glad to see you're still around, though.))

[silvermoondragon]

As Music slid down the dune as a result of his flight, he looked down ashamed, "Soyryry!" he yelled, "do you need some help?"
Music looked up with a glare as she picked herself up and Blue took that as a no.

Blue circled over the group as the other two cautiously made their way down the dune. That gave him an idea, a little ways from the others so he wouldn't blow sand onto them, Blue started into a dive. As he neared the top of the dune, he braked a bit with his wings, angling with the slope of the dune, and landed with a large cloud of sand, his high velocity causing him to continue to slide down the dune. With a screech of joy he slid down landing in a pile of samanayr and sand at the bottom. As he got up, he was no longer a blue sam, all covered in dust and sand. He blew a puff of sand from his mouth and shook himself, causing sand to fly everywhere. His belly was a little sore from rubbing along the ground but otherwise he was unharmed.

"Hey, hey, you've gotta tyry that!" he said, bounding over to the others.

[Jennalyn]

In other circumstances, Burst would have been tempted to race the winged stallion down the sandy slope. Today, however, she couldn't quite muster the energy and enthusiasm. She'd been walking for a long time and her hooves ached from the scorching sand that shifted beneath them. She was used to desert life by now, but didn't often have to foray into it for extended period of time. Their oasis served as the perfect hub in the middle of their territory.

She and her stallion watched the male's antics as they reached the bottom, quickly side-stepping the pile of Samanayr as it rolled down the hill in a furry, feathery pile. At least someone was having a good time. "Maybe next time," the green mare said hesitantly. It really did look like fun. The dunes were larger here than they were closer to home.

Aiyr's eyes returned to the strikingly patterned mare and he considered. "Once we yreach the diyrt, I think we might have one moyre good yrun in us befoyre we need to rest." He glanced at his mare to confirm the statement on her part, heartened by her firm nod. The incentive of cool, clear water at the end of their lope would be a good incentive to keep going despite it all.