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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 10:24:41 GMT -6
It was quite foggy too, with mist clinging to Fiera’s ankles and swirling with each swish of Andante’s tail. And yet despite appearances, the mansion was hardly silent this month. She could hear what sounded like burbling giggles, though the sounds she heard could easily be explained by other, more natural things. Probably. At the very least, the mansion was teeming with life this month, and the bushes were filled with all sorts of rustling noises. Fiera sighed- as strange as the mansion was this month (and potentially dangerous at that), she still didn’t want to go home. It would be a waste of time if she just went and dropped off Andante now, without having even let him take a look around. They could afford to go on a walk, if just a short one. Just a quick loop around the building, and they’d be gone before they knew it.
Fiera 19 Andante 0.4/0.4 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 10:25:02 GMT -6
If the mansion LET them do a quick loop, that was. Fiera knew better than most that the mansion had a mind of its own, and if it wanted to lead her astray and have her wander around for hours, it absolutely would. She just had to hope it was in a good mood today- despite appearances. Fiera veered off the path almost immediately, as she wasn’t heading toward the mansion proper today. It looked tall and comfortable, but she highly doubted that an equillion would enjoy being inside. It would be best to keep him out among the flowers and trees, as odd as they were. Speaking of the trees, she could have sworn they were moving, and not just from the wind (which didn’t do a thing about moving the fog around. It stayed there, dead at their feet.), gently curling and uncurling above her like wooden fingers.
Fiera 20 Andante 1.0/1.0 5
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Post by Renathan on Apr 9, 2020 13:39:45 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:06:39 GMT -6
Fiera wrinkled her nose and walked a little faster, trying not to think about it. Despite their movements, the trees seemed to be still rooted at least, and so probably couldn’t catch her- or catch up to her- if she just kept moving. Andante seemed happy to move at a brisk pace, though he sniffed the air at any given opportunity, clearly interested in what the mansion had to offer. The equillion was a perfect fit for this month of the mansion, to her relief. Fiera loathed to imagine what would have happened if she brought the harachiu from last month into the mansion. The little fairies were quite young and a bit skittish. In a place as contorted and confusing as this one, they could have gotten lost or worse. Fiera would have a difficult time finding them again to say the least, if she found them at all.
Fiera 1 Andante 1.1/1.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:07:05 GMT -6
Still, they were safe at home right now, so there was no point in dwelling on the possibilities. Fiera shook her head to clear her thoughts and as she did, her tail brushed one of the trees. Several of its branches curled inward at the sensation, and she heard a satisfied sigh come from… somewhere. Fiera shivered and immediately wrapped her tail around her leg. Gross and uncomfortable- she wouldn’t be doing that again. She couldn’t help but notice that the trees here were alone too, with nothing but fog between them. Fiera was used to bushes or something, but the only plant life she could see around here other than the trees was the occasional vine curling up one of the armlike trunks. They pulsed rhythmically with different colors of light, looking more like plump veins than any sort of plant matter, gripping tight to the smooth, sinewy bark.
Fiera 2 Andante 1.2/1.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:07:19 GMT -6
Fiera looked away, keeping her eyes on the path ahead of her, with Andante now leading the way, his ears perked up and his head held high. It looked like he was a lot more comfortable with this place than she was, that was for sure. She only just realized though that there was something off about the ground as well. At first she had thought that the ground beneath her was uneven or bumpy, but as she looked at it she realized that it was smooth dirt like anywhere else. No, it was more like the ground was… not moving, but vibrating. Like it was a thin membrane, with someone dancing on the other side, the vibrations travelling through the thin layer of dust and rock and through Fiera’s feet, making her feel like there was something there right next to her, even though she and Andante were clearly alone.
Fiera 3 Andante 1.3/1.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:07:33 GMT -6
Uncomfortable was definitely the best word to use in describing this place. Nothing was immediately dangerous or even vaguely threatening looking, just… odd. Awkward. It was like the fun loving spirit of the last month had been left out too long on the counter and had now gone soft and wrinkly with patches of mold, a distorted shell of its former self. Andante was pulling ahead though- this loop around would likely be over and done with in no time, Fiera comforted herself with. She almost wished that she had taught him how to accept a rider first though, so she could make it go even faster by riding upon his back. That would have to come later though- he didn’t know her nearly well enough yet to let Fiera sit on him, that was for sure. She could fantasize about it though, sitting on the back of an elegant equillion and bouncing through (less creepy) meadows.
Fiera 4 Andante 1.4/1.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:07:48 GMT -6
The only mount she actually owned right now was a savannah thundergug named Desert. She loved her good ol’ gug, that was for sure. He was stubborn, grumpy, and intimidating- all traits that Fiera found immensely charming for reasons she couldn’t quite place. (It was because she was like that). Not to mention he certainly made crossing a market easy, as she could just barrel through the square. If people wanted to get past her, they’d have to go ahead and get out of the way. Fiera didn’t see anything wrong with that of course, but that was because Fiera wasn’t a very nice person in general. She also loved Desert because of his prodigious strength- there was no excessive shopping trip that that thundergug couldn’t handle, no load that was too heavy for him to drag back to Fiera’s apartment in record time, with only the expectation of fruit for payment.
Fiera 5 Andante 2.0/2.0 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:08:05 GMT -6
Yes, Desert was definitely excellent, although...he wasn’t exactly the most elegant creature that Fiera knew. Utilitarian, useful, yes, but beautiful? Ehnn, perhaps if you looked at him from the correct angle. The patterns on his face were nice but thundergug were definitely not known for their intense beauty, to say the least. Fiera owned an equillion and a couple of galabex, but none were particularly well trained. Arethusa was a beautiful but predatory beast, and Fiera hadn’t worked with her yet. Dollie was a sweet young doe galabex, but overwhelmingly skittish and hard to train. As a result, Andante would be the closest Fiera had ever had to a traditionally ‘pretty’ mount. He wasn’t hers though, she knew that- she was just training him for someone else. Still, it would be nice to work with a more graceful creature than usual, and see if she liked it enough to work on her own some more.
Fiera 6 Andante 2.1/2.1 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:08:16 GMT -6
Speaking (or thinking) of Andante, as she walked with him she realized that the trees around them were starting to thin out into a more open area, and the grass beneath their feet was starting to put off big stalks with flower bulbs on the end. Fiera couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow a bit nervously- what were they getting into now? They’d probably run into a field of whatever these flowers were at this rate, and knowing how the mansion worked they would probably be in bloom by the time they found them. The closed flowers looked harmless enough for now though, consisting of a dark green color with thin, grasslike blades at the base and a heavy, nodding bulb at the top. She’d just have to wait and see if these were regular flowers, or something that she should be avoiding. By the mansion’s standards, they were probably both.
Fiera 7 Andante 2.2/2.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:08:32 GMT -6
She didn’t have much time to think about it though, as they soon reached the end of the small incline they had been walking on this whole time, coming to a crest. To Fiera’s right she could see the mansion- it looked like she and Andante had managed to walk about two thirds of the way around it, and were surprisingly on track to end up back at the entrance at the end of the loop as planned. Fiera supposed that if the mansion was so strange this month, there had to be at least ONE thing that was normal, if just to switch it up a bit. Between the entrance to the mansion and them though, there was the field of flowers. It was… admittedly, not as bad as Fiera had thought, to her surprise. In fact, it was actually far prettier than she thought it would be up until now.
Fiera 8 Andante 2.3/2.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:08:49 GMT -6
The flowers beneath her had opened up, but not into regular plant blossoms. Where there should have been petals, there were just swirling, kaleidoscopic masses of color and light. Fiera crept down the slope a bit, leading Andante next to her, and crouched down next to one of the flowers. As she gazed upon it it shifted and changed from red to orange to yellow, the basic shapes that made it up shifting, expanding, and retracting into fractal shapes. It was reminiscent of a blossom and made sense in the context of the stalk and leaves, but on its own it made no sense. For once though, Fiera couldn’t exactly complain. It was beautiful, no two ways about it. The field stretched to the back door of the mansion (which was upside down right now, as far as she could tell from here) and out into the illusory distance to her left.
Fiera 9 Andante 2.4/2.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 16:09:02 GMT -6
She was sure that if she kept walking to the left, something would show up, mirage like. Or perhaps she’d just hit the fence. The mansion’s grounds weren’t LITERALLY infinite, after all- they just liked to look like it. At least like this, she could see clearly where the mansion and the exit was, so it would be a straight shot there- with beautiful scenery to boot! Fiera took her first steps into the kaleidoscope flower field, filled with newfound confidence. Andante followed along beside her, sniffing at the flowers. He bit at one curiously, but the blossom seemed to fizzle out of existence and light back up again the second he moved his head away again. He snorted, frustrated, but kept walking regardless. Fiera couldn’t help but smile a bit. It looked like there was at least ONE thing here that annoyed Andante, despite his usual flippancy about this place.
Fiera 10 Andante 3.0/3.0 15
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Post by Renathan on Apr 9, 2020 17:41:41 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 9, 2020 22:57:13 GMT -6
Fiera had walked for a couple dozen feet before she realized that there was something odd about these flowers- well, more odd than their appearance, that is. Despite the shallow wind, there was no scent in the air. Normally a field of flowers would have that wonderful floral scent, like a load of fresh laundry, but there was just… nothing. They really did seem to just be made out of light and little else. Fiera glanced to the right, toward the mansion. It stood like a massive pillar in the ground, the axis on which the rest of the wheel turned. Fiera could see the front gate coming further and further into her view now, which only encouraged her to keep moving. They were so close now! “Come on, Andante!” She said happily, picking up the pace to a trot. For the equillion however, he merely had to power walk.
Fiera 11 Andante 3.1/3.1 16
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