The sound of rushing water cascading down to a lagoon created a constant symphony, a near-constant lullaby for the life within the cavern. One such creature was sealed within a chrysalis, a pink jewel among the blue and gray of the watery tunnel. Within said chrysalis was a gangly youth, long legs pressed firmly against the inside of the tomb but she was far from uncomfortable. The babe was lulled into a peaceful slumber by the echoing sounds of water, they soothed her, spoke to her, made her feel safe. In fact, it was quite by accident when she gave a slight shift that the cocoon split and before long she was forcefully expelled into the world.

With a surprised whiny the foal was thrust out onto the shore of the lagoon. Hooves splashed as somehow she managed to land upright, legs splayed while she stood unsteadily on the new pillars. Wide pink eyes gazed around as she tried to make heads and tails of her new environment. Everything was so... strange. She'd had dreams of water and waves and oceans and streams... but it wasn't like this... Ears flicked back and forth as she listened to the sounds of the same water that she'd heard in her dreams many a day. Now it was louder and less muffled... The other thing she realized was that the water was all around! It... It excited her!

For a moment it felt like a surge of... something... in her head but then it stopped and the filly shook her head. There was so much here! She looked down at the water that her hooves stood in and in a high-pitched squeal that sounded rather unhorselike, said, "Ki'Ee?" Then she giggled and started slapping her hooves in the water, making water come up and hit her in the face which on elicited more squeals from the child.

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words| 314
tagged| Open
ooc| hover over text for translations
muse| 5/10 (would be higher if I wasn't so gosh danged sleepy!)

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

Honestly, this place was far too wet for Tuck’s liking, especially now that he had a plant-based backpack to worry about keeping dry. He just hoped the tree resin he had rubbed over the finished product would keep the moisture from soaking the bag. He was rather proud of his creation, which had taken hours to make. It wasn’t very big. It couldn’t be, since he himself was only four and a half inches tall, so the bag was only three inches long. Still, three inches long and about two inches wide was big enough to keep small pebbles, seeds, and other trinkets in if he ever came across any. The incident with the rats and the kunzite orb was enough to get him interested in having something to carry things around in.

He was glad he’d thought to make shoulder straps for the bag so that he could still easily move around and have his hands free. As it was, there were no trees in here to climb on, and the ground was wet and slippery, and everything was grey. Yuck. He wondered if anyone actually lived here, and if they did, who were they and why would they choose such a boring place to live?

— He heard a sound that was louder even than the waterfall, which was near deafening, and was glad that he was small and that there was nothing in the bag to clank around. He got down on his belly and crawled forward to assess the situation and finally saw through the mist a… a deer? No. But something close to one. It was splashing about in the water excitedly, and though it was much bigger than him, it didn’t seem unfriendly. In fact, it was downright excited. Having checked for immediate danger, Tuck stood back up normally and hopped forward, screeching above the sound of the waterfall, “Hello!”

Words: 316 @Saga

Legs were still splayed outwards at awkward angles, that somehow still kept her standing, while she stomped her forehooves in the water. Her face and mane were sopping wet but the little foal didn't care. She was having fun! In the midst of her play she heard a loud voice call out to her. Her ears flicked towards the new sound while her head turned and her brilliant pink eyes looked towards the source. It was a tiny, tiny little creature with a strange thingy tied around his body. The little foal didn't know what any of this was but it excited her even more! So much so that she tried to step towards him!

And promptly failed...

Her long legs tangled up with one another as she took a step and she fell into the water on her belly. However, she didn't even seem to be upset by this at all. Her mouth turned upwards into a huge grin while she giggled out, "Hai!" She attempted to stand up but fell again with another splash. This walking thing was pretty tough... "Hai! Hai! Ki'Eh!" Just because she couldn't walk didn't mean she couldn't make a new friend!

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words| 199
tagged| @TukLuk
ooc| hover over text for translations
muse| 6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

Tuck couldn’t help but laugh at this Gembound’s apparent lack of balance. She hadn’t taken but one step towards him before she fell face-first into the water. He laughed loudly, fully ready to make fun of her like the tiny jerk he could be sometimes, but she seemed to shake it off completely. In fact, she was smiling just as much as he was. Well, there was no reason to tease her about it then, if she didn’t even care at all. Then she spoke to him… or something. He had no idea what she was saying because she was either making babbling baby-talk, or she was talking in another language.

Always focused on his Magic the way he was, he wondered then if there was a spell that translated things into a language he could understand. Little did he know that there sort of was a spell like that, only it was a telepathy thing. Anyways, he focused back on the deer-thing-that-wasn’t-a-deer and said, “Uhh… I don’t know what you’re saying.” He sort of shrugged his shoulders hoping that would help convey something, but he seriously doubted it.

Words: 196 @Saga

The young mare was completely focused on the tiny creature. He didn't seem to be sure about what she said though. She was able to tell by how he seemed confused with shrugging shoulders and words that conveyed uncertainty. While he spoke though the foal stared intently at his mouth, eyes focusing in on the way he formed the letters and the pitch. It seemed all different than what she was saying. Her own words were mostly squeal and trill while his seemed more... grounded... Could she try to mimic him? Maybe understand what he meant?

With her intent focus on the sounds she was somewhat able to garner a meaning of what he was speaking. "Dooon't... knooowww?" She intoned in a similar tone to his. Pleased at the strange new sounds she squealed in a singsong voice, "Ki'Eh! Don't! Know! Ki'Eh! Don't! Know! Saying!" Then it seemed to finally click and everything fell into place. He didn't know what she was saying... The words she was speaking were different from his mouth-sounds. "Ki'Eh! Little friend! Tiny one is friend! Friend of This One!" While she informed him in pretty much a song she began to try to stand again but couldn't gain traction with her hooves so she just lay there, still smiling brightly.

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words| 215
tagged| @Tukluk
ooc| hover over text for translations
muse| 7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

Tuck laughed again at the horse and her silly — oh, it was a horse! Of course! He didn’t know why that had suddenly clicked, but it had. Anyways, he was laughing at how stupid she sounded right now. Again, he wasn’t a bad guy or anything, but he was still a little kid, basically, and little kids were prone to making fun of others. Still, though, he understood what she was saying this time and she insisted that they were friends when she finally managed to say something that made any kind of grammatical sense. “Sure, yeah, we’re friends,” he called to her, making sure he kept his body dry and not going anywhere near the water. “I’m Tuck. Who’re you?”

Words: 121 @Saga

The little filly was completely unaware that the primate was having fun at her expense. She just figured he was laughing because he was just as excited as she was! So, she joined right in by braying out her merriment along with him. She was especially excited when he confirmed that they indeed were friends! The gal was so excited that she got up and tried to walk right over to him and give him a nice wet nuzzle! But... she failed and fell flat on her face again with her legs wrapped up in a bundle underneath her. Gee... This walking thing was hard.

His question hit her ears and she sat up, rump in the water and forelegs shakily holding up her forequarters. "Tuck! Tuck! Ki'Eh Tuck!" It was a strange, harsh sound but she liked it! It was different than the other noises buzzing around in her head like the squeals and trills and whistles that formed her other words. Who was she though? Was she a "Tuck" too? No... That didn't sound right. Her brow furrowed as she attempted to find out who she was. "Saaagaaa?" The sound came out of her mouth unbidden and surprised her. "Saga!" She said it with more confidence this time and it seemed just right! That was her name! That was who she was! "This One is Saga!" She announced proudly with a cheer.

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words| 234
tagged| @Tukluk
ooc| hover over text for translations
muse| 7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

Tuck nearly fell over laughing when the horse failed at standing up, but he was aware in the back of his mind that his handcrafted bag was on his back right now, and he had spent far too long making it to wanna break it so soon. Besides, now she was talking again, so he quieted down in order to listen to her. She seemed surprisingly okay with the fact that he was laughing at her so much, but he suspected it was because she didn’t understand. He waited patiently for her to finally get her name out of her mouth — patient mostly because she was so entertaining. And when it finally came, he had to admit he thought her name sounded pretty cool.

“Saga, huh?” he repeated. He sat down to watch her some more, carefully removing his backpack from his back and placing it beside him. There was nothing in it yet, for he hadn’t found anything interesting enough to bring back home with him yet. He was sure to change that soon.

Words: 175 @Saga

So much laughing! It must mean so much joy! This must be a really happy person! It made her happy and more excited by just looking at him! It made her want to try and get her legs working again! The filly looked down at the unsteady things and, once again, tried to stand. For a moment it looked as if she would fall again but she managed to steady herself and stood, shakily, in the waves. Great! She whinnied happily with her small victory while her rose gaze found her companion, looking to him to see what he would do or say. More happy laughter to cheer her on? Hopefully!

The filly bobbed her head up and down in a "yes" motion. "Kir! Kir! Saga!" It seemed though that he was doing something strange with some brown thing now. Her head tilted left and then right before she trilled, "What what what? What is, Ki'Eh?" Not content to stay so spaced apart the horse wobbled her way over to Tuck on what felt like stilt-legs. Finally out of the water she stood dripping in front of her friend, wet muzzle going lower and lower while her lips started to stretch out. What was she doing? Why, trying to grab that green thing of course! It looked so interesting...

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words| 219
tagged| @Tukluk
ooc| hover over text for translations
muse| 7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
"Eekii eee!"
Thinking looks like this...

Oh, good, now Saga was coming over here… and she was dripping wet. Ew. Tuck sort of leaned back as if he thought her being wet was some kind of contagious disease and he didn’t want to catch it from her. And the closer she got, the more uncomfortable he became, until his fur was all poofed out. “No, I don’t wanna get wet!” he complained loudly. “Get awa—

— Oh my God, what was she doing? He watched in horror as her mouth seemed to come down in slow-motion, closer and closer to his precious handmade bag which he’d spent literally hours making. At the last second, he came back to his senses and snatched the bag up in his arms as if protecting a newborn baby from a monster. “NO!” he screeched, scrambling to his two back paws and stumbling backwards while still holding the bag. “You don’t touch this! This is MINE! You’ll break it!” He gave an angry hissing snarl and stared at her with burning orange eyes, daring her to come at him.

Words: 178 @Saga