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Post by Lucca on Jun 18, 2010 16:34:27 GMT -5
 It was always a little hard for Arkady to be apart from his twin, and it was rarely necessary. This time, however, she was slightly ill, just ill enough to need lots of rest but not enough that there as any worry she wouldn't get better (though Ark worried anyway, he always did). And while Ark would have happily sat by his twin's bedside, looking over picture books with her all day, his guardians had said he should go out, get some fresh air. He was reluctant, but he never tried to resist for long, especially since Laika was sleeping anyway. At least he wasn't out alone...not that he ever would be, being still too young for that no matter how careful he was for his age. He stopped at the crest of a hill, dotted with little flowers, and looked back. The palace was still very much in view, the familiar white stone gleaming in the sunlight. But Ark looked to see the small form of his sibling behind him, one of his brothers. His tail wagged when he caught sight of him, and his small muzzle split into a grin. He hadn't meant to run ahead, but he wasn't used to his brother's odd way of walking to compensate for his extra limbs. " Up here, Yuri!" he called, just loudly enough to be heard. |
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Post by Bee on Jun 18, 2010 17:21:26 GMT -5
 Yuri had been busily engaged artfully arranging flowers on the small graves of the varies insects he had buried over the last couple months--plucking poppies, as they said, for their slumber--when his brother had come outside to get him. It was weird to get time alone with him because Ark always preferred the company of his twin and was rarely without her (not that Yuri minded; he loved all his siblings and happily basked in the glow of their chatter), but not at all unpleasant. One on one time could be lots of fun. So it was with enthusiasm that he dropped the last of his flowers and trotted along after his brother, numerous paws leaving squished grass in his wake. He was just getting the hang of lifting his forelegs up to run better and faceplanted if he wasn't careful, so he didn't rush himself up to his sibling as much as he wanted to. "Pfhhht," he said, on a small wheeze. "Almost!" |
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Post by Lucca on Jun 20, 2010 11:30:52 GMT -5
Arkady, for all that he was still young, was a very patient individual, especially when it came to his family. Family was very important, for while he had an awful lot of siblings, both close to his age and not, he had less family than he would like, so what little he id have he cherished. His tail kept wagging as he waited for his brother, understaning the limitations brought on by Realm. On sunny days such as the current one, hs fur coat had a tendency to overheat him terribly. But he would never have dreamed of cutting or thinning it, as that would mean he could never visit his true homeland, and that was his most secret, most fond dream.
It was a little sad, Ark thought as he watched Yuri getting steadily closer, that not all of his siblings would be able to visit Solandria with him. But at least his twin could come! And the two of them could see the place Dad had grown up...the thought paused his wagging momentarily, but then he saw the tip of his brother's nose poking over the crest of the hill.
Arkady leaned over to offer Yuri a paw up, if he needed it.
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Post by Bee on Jun 22, 2010 14:16:53 GMT -5
Yuri accepted his brother's paw and a moment later was standing triumphantly on top of the hill. Sometimes he wished he could take off his mask and easily breathe fresh air, but he'd tried that once and ended up terrifying his mother (and himself; he thought he was dying) by going into a seizure. He was determined not to scare her or anyone else ever again, so the mask stayed on, no matter how much it itched and annoyed sometimes.
He surveyed the bright green woods (and more hills) of the Highlands. Such a pristine place, it was! Though in his opinion not flawless enough for some Highlanders to act the way they did about it. He was sure there must have been a lot more prettier places.
"I bet," he said, speculatively, "trees in Solandria are bigger." The Bog, too! They lived in trees! It sounded ideal to him. He wasn't sure why so many people didn't want to go there.
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Post by Lucca on Jun 22, 2010 16:23:02 GMT -5
Arkady smiled quietly at his brother as they were both on the hill, tail wagging hard enough to make his whole backside wiggle. He bumped shoulders with him affectionately, and then did it again with his OTHER pair of shoulders, just to make it extra special! Then he turned to look out at the hills.
He was absurdly quiet and patient for a child, and the servants often commented that he reminded them so much of his older brother Hadrian in looks, but in temperament he was the complete opposite from what Hady had been like as a child. Ark would just nod whenever anyone said it, unsure if it was something nice for them to say to him or not. After all, he liked his big brother from the few times he came to visit.
So, all that to say that Arkady had no problem with sitting on a hill and just observing the world around him sometimes. He looked out at the hills, and tried to imagine what was past them. The Capital? It did sound like such a noisy place, and he wasn't sure he'd like it, but from there he could perhaps learn more about his homeland...
His ears twitched as he heard that very name from his brother's mouth, and he turned, nodding. "I think they are. Also, they have pointy leaves instead of large, flat ones." The Court library only had one picture book on Solandria, and Arkady had read it enough times to have it memorized. "They're called...ever-greens, or conif--cone--" He frowned, struggling with the unfamiliar word, and frustrated he couldn't manage it. "Coneefurs. Also, they'd be covered with snow." His tail wagged at the thought. It didn't snow very often here in the Highlands, but when it did, those were Arkady's favorite days of all...
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Post by Bee on Jun 25, 2010 21:57:45 GMT -5
Yuri smiled happily as his brother bopped against him; his brothers and sisters and momma were his absolute favorite living people, and the ones he most liked to be around. The only ones he really felt comfortable being with, anyway. He could understand why Arkady liked being with Laika all the time; it was pleasant and reassuring.
"We should go sometime!" he suggested. He thought maybe Momma might like to take them on a trip and then thought maybe she might not like that at all. He was too afraid of hurting her feelings to ask, in any event. Maybe Pale would take them, all five of them, on an adventure...and had any of his older siblings been there? He wasn't sure.
Then he wondered how long it took someone to freeze all up and turn into a popsicle. He would have to look that up if they went. His coat seemed mostly Solandrian, but there was a lot of Boggie there, too...he bet they froze faster...
"We could climb the trees!" he continued. "I bet the bees there are nicer than the stupid ones we have in the Highlands." He was still pretty sore about his failure to make friends with them. Maybe, if they were one of his home region's buggies...
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Post by Lucca on Jun 27, 2010 18:44:41 GMT -5
Arkady's tail took up wagging a cheerful beat again as Yuri actually expressed his most favorite dream of the future out loud! To go to the Glacier with his whole family, that was what he would love more than anything in the world. He would be able to finally see where his Dad grew up, what had made him into the wonderful man that Ark was sure he was, even though he never got a chance to know him. The (for now, hypothetical, but looking more hopeful all the time!) trip would help ease that deep ache...the Coyote hoped. "I think we should," he agreed softly, almost too quiet to be heard, as if saying it aloud would jinx the chance for it to actually happen.
He nodded along, also, at his brother's suggestion of activities, but then frowned at the mention of bees and tilted his head. "I'm not sure there are bees in the Glacier," he said softly. "Don't bugs like that need warm weather, since they don't have any fur to protect them?" At least, he hoped there weren't any bees in the Glacier. He'd gotten stung by one on the sensitive part of his paw one time, and he still winced at the memory of it.
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Post by Bee on Jul 5, 2010 20:37:48 GMT -5
"We've got fluffier fur than normal people do," Yuri said, reasonably, though his full-Solandrian siblings had it thicker than he did--though he made up for it by having more legs, "maybe the bugs there do too." He thought a moment. "But you're probably right. Probably they'd all die if they tried to live there."
He wondered how things got pollinated then. Maybe the birds? Or they pollinated differently, or not at all...He would need to read up on this. Though Arkady probably already knew. "We should tell Momma and Makenna to get huge coats," he said, thoughtfully, amused by the sudden mental image of his mother rolling around in a giant puffy coat. Makenna especially might need one...weren't people always on about how delicate little humans were? Some of the Court servants talked about them like they could snap all into pieces if you looked at them funny. Which was obviously dumb, but the cold...
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Post by Lucca on Jul 5, 2010 21:22:07 GMT -5
Arkady shrugged. He didn't want to rain on his brother's parade. If it made him happier to think of large, furry bees flying around over the snow (and wasn't that a rather amusing mental image? He had to smile) than who was he to tell him it was impossible? Even if there probably wouldn't be much for the bees to eat. Didn't they drink something from flowers? And there weren't really many flowers in the Glacier. It was too cold for them too. At least, he'd never seen any pictures of his home region with flowers in them, poking out in bright spots of color over the snow.
But now they were talking about the trip again, and that was much more exciting than flowers and bees that may or may not be able to live in the freezing temperatures. Arkady grinned. "Yeah! Huge fur coats, since they don't have any." Speaking of fur, it was getting a little hot just standing here out in the open on the top of the hill. They should...roll down the other side! The Coyote's tail wagged at the thought, and he nosed his brother and then nodded down the hill. "C'mon!" As nice as it was to talk about the Glacier...they were outside in the Highlands, and they might as well enjoy it.
Ark leapt, tucking in his paws and head and rolling down the grassy hill. He hoped there wasn't a big mud puddle at the bottom, though...he hated getting his fur dirty. It took forever to get clean...
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Post by Bee on Nov 5, 2010 16:44:40 GMT -5
Yuri gazed after his brother for a moment, thinking about all the bones that could get broken on a seemingly innocent tumble. He had a lot of legs to break. If a rib cracked and punctured a lung, it would be all over. What a terrible way to die. That wasn't even taking into account his mask breaking off or the possible head trauma. The right amount of force and the brain could just swell right up.
But if anyone had to be brought to him with deadly intracranial pressure, he hoped it wouldn't be his brother. He didn't know if he could stomach performing an autopsy on him. Best not to think about it. And join him in his journey toward potential full-body fractures!
He pitched himself down the hill after his brother in a tight tuck--as tight as his sometimes ungainly limbs would allow, anyway--and enjoyed the alternating wind and grass on his fur.
And then--
Splat!
Puddle.
Yuri lay in the mud for a moment, delightfully dizzy from the rolling. He wiggled. Squelch.
"It actually feels pretty nice," he said. "It's cool."
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