"Somewhere peaceful, and quiet. Away from the crush of kin..." his words were repeated to himself as he attempted to carefully pick his way through the throng of various kin gathered to celebrate the pinnacle of spring.
Of course it wasn't easy to see much of where he was going, so more than once he stepped on a tail, or a kin, sometimes a pet or familiar..
Still he was making it towards the edges of the crowd to hopefully steal a few minutes of peace and quiet.
Faults hated crowds. Too many kin packed in too-small of a space, moving unpredictably, making her feel like the ground was unstable, even when she knew quite well that generations-old, waterlogged lowland like this hadn't a ghost of a chance of collapsing.
She'd tried to mince her way through– there were foals scantly higher than her knees walking around her, and she hadn't wanted to cause injuries, but sometimes, it was just better to give a decent shove and hope kin got the notion.
"I said move," she growled, pressing her way between a couple of Acha who'd been trying to distract her. Nearly-white pelt or no white pelt, she didn't care to be the subject of affections like these kin seemed to enjoy– and she certainly didn't want those affections aired on top of each other, in the form of flowers.
Flowers! As if anything could be more trite and ridiculous– they grew everywhere, and even though white blooms were one of the most uncommon sights around, there were still enough of them that the ground was festooned with their withering, trampled remains.
The smell in the air was thick and cloying thanks to all the flowers being gathered up by all the kin. The batches being thrust around to this buck, or doe, he'd had one or two shoved in his face and he'd shaken his head to get away from the ticke in his nose.
While spring was important, and the gathering good for everyone to make connections, and a new generation to be born, at this point he felt all funned out and it was only a week into it all.
Finally he found a break in the crowd, and took advantage of it, only to run smack into something rather solid. That seemed to be trying to get others out of the way.
"Oh...what? I'm sorry. Did I crash into someone?" sightless white eyes swept the area trying to figure out what he'd run into. "I swear this is a mess, who ever thought it was a good idea to have us out here and blinded like this without a safe way around!?" he groused a little, earning a few odd looks. He was definitely not the only one to think this way, just amongst the more vocal who thought that way.
Fault stopped dead, turning to examine the slender kin next to her as he spoke up. It was obvious that he was Zikwa– tiny, and the way he seemed to be moving his head about, completely blind.
"Oh, for... I'm to your right flank," she informed the small figure. "Keep track of me and I'll get you out of this nonsense," she begrudgingly offered.
"Oh thank the Mother-Father. Please lead on." to get out of the mess of kin would be wonderful at this point.
"What I wouldn't give to be back in my cave or somewhere darker, and not so bewilderingly blinding." he grumped a little more as he stuck close to the female who was offering to get him out of here!
"I don't even know why I came here," the doe relayed. "Curiosity, I suppose. Killed the owlcat– should have known it wouldn't be any better for me." Other kin would be the death of her.
She continued navigating, glowering or offering a bit of a snarl when would-be-nuisances made themselves apparent– apparently, having a dainty thing pressed up against her was useful for freeing herself of this throng.
"Well, I have no idea where a cave is, but there's a thicket here that's not otherwise occupied," the doe indicated, pressing towards it.
He had no clue he was being any sort of help, but if he had, he'd have probably laughed a bit.
Though her offering a thicket made him blink a few times. "What's a thicket? In any case, lead on before yet another kin tries to shove those horribly sweet flowers in my face. I'm liable to bite next time and I haven't decided if it will be flower or kin."
It seemed they were of the same mindset that here was not such a good thing.
"It's where the bushes and trees get really thick. Thicket, Thick-get– that's the best way to remember it. There's about enough room for you to take a break, and that's about it."
She liked his spunk, for all that he was so small. "I wouldn't hesitate. Straight for the muzzle offering it," she retorted. "Addlepated lot that they are, I think it's the only thing that they'd understand."
"Ahhh that makes a bit of sense then." he wasn't exactly used to bushes and trees but he'd take what he could get at this point. He wasn't surprised at the lack of caves in the area after all.
"I think in my case I'd just bite randomly and see what I was lucky enough to latch onto. I can make a good guess at location but can't pin point it." else he'd likely go straight for the muzzle.
"You sound about as done with this mess as I am. Nice to meet a fellow sane-kin." the others just felt like they'd lost their minds at this point.
Well, his reaction helped spur her on. "Oh, that's easy," she said. "Go for the source of the smell and bite beyond it, and there you'd have it."
She nodded at his assertion that she was sick of things, and, a moment later, realized she had to speak. "I am Finds-Faults," she offered. "And I am loathe to report that I've found nothing but faults with this so-called celebration."
"You're a very smart doe. Bite beyond the smell. I'll keep that in mind the next time I get those wretched flowers shoved in my face." he shook his head at the memory as if trying to chase the smell away.
Her introduction made him laugh though, the first he'd had since the start of this strange gathering. "Of all the kin I've met, and none by choice till now, I'll be honest when I say it's nice to meet you. I'm Where Only Spirits Roam, and it's so noisy back there, I doubt there's any spirits about, thank you very much."
You know, she really liked this buck's attitude. Instead of wandering off once she had secured the area for him, she might even linger some. She settled herself down, and curled up.
"So. I've heard other kin dream their names when they're born," she offered, after a moment. "Does that mean you remember it?"Do you dream it again? Does your understanding of it change with time?
So many questions she hadn't had answered, not since she'd come to the swamp. She hadn't wanted to seem overeager, or encourage someone she later wanted to chase off.
Somehow, she didn't think that she'd regret asking him this.
"That's right we get told in a dream what our names are." he could feel the grass under him and he carefully lowered himself down with a slight grunt. "More or less. It's different for everyone. Some of us get names told... longer dreams. Sometimes in poem, and song. Sometimes, it takes awhile to really understand what's meant and others... not so hard.'
He turned his head toward the sound of her voice. "So, you say other kin so that tells me you must be Totoma. You earn your names, not dream them. That's actually interesting. How'd you get your name?" just because he was slightly anti-social didn't mean he didn't listen to stories!
"This is a good way for each of us to learn about the other, or other less crazy kin in general." he gave a low laugh as he said that.
"More or less..." So, their names were stories, and the stories were told in a variety of ways. That made more sense than it didn't, really. The doe nodded, listening for a moment, and trying to imagine it, at least until the buck directed a question at her.
"A solid observation. I am Totoma, yes– I grew up in the mountains, and earned my name there, before I made the trip. I've... always been a little short of temper, and there used to be this boulder that was in the way of my track– the path I travelled at least twice a day. One day, instead going around it, I decided that I was going to break it... and I did. That, and the ground below me, right into a crevice. That, and the fact that I've always been critical of incompetence, got me my name. Finds-Faults, instead of something like Crevice-finder, or Breaks-the-Way, or whatever else might have caught on." She quieted, awaiting his reaction.
He listened to her explanation on how she got her name...and laughed a moment. "I think Finds-Faults is better than those, or anything else that comes to mind, like hard headed. I can only imagine how strong you are to have managed to do that."
He sounded suitably impressed, and that's because he honestly was impressed. "I get the feeling if I attempted something like that, I'd be truly fulfilling my name in that I'd be where only spirits roam rather than generally spending my time lost there." so to speak.
"Well, we're not handed out our names on pity or kindness. You need to do something remarkable, earn a reputation for yourself, become storied," the doe replied, her confidence bolstered by his compliments. "And of course you couldn't– you don't even have horns. You're not built for brute strength. I'm sure you're better at navigating in the dark than I am, or... fitting in small places, or hearing things."
She paused. "So, your turn. How did your... dream happen?" The concept, however alien, was fascinating to her. A story that held a special meaning, one that you might not find out about until later in life? It was so... antithetical, so opposite to how things were done amongst her kin, where names were borne from a reason, that turned into a story, and the name's meaning was obvious.
"Horns? What are those?" he sounded perplexed by this and he moved his head around in a searching manner as if he'd be able to locate her horns that way. He hadn't really talked with any kin other than Zikwa, so this 'horn' concept was foreign to him!
"Mmmm. There's a reason we all tend to have bits that glow to us. Easier to find one another in the dark...and enough small lights in a dark place make it easier to find a path through. As for small places, quite! I have a spot I like to sit and ponder as it were."
The question though it made him grow quiet a moment and his eyes closed as he took a breath and exhaled a moment, recalling his dream.
"Though you reside in the land of the living, the world of the breathing...
...you will find comfort and solace in the world beyond.
You will connect easily to this other realm, and do all you can to bridge the gap between what all know, and
Where Only Spirits Roam."
He recited it easily, it was something that had been with him from the start after all!
Well, that was certainly a question. Faults guessed that lacking working eyes was a serious handicap for knowing the world. "Uh... they're like hooves or scales, coming back off the side of most kins' heads," she answered. "They let me use all the force of all four hooves, plus my neck... with hardness beyond that of anything else."
When he settled in to recite his naming dream, the doe listened raptly. "That... is certainly a story," she said. And, after a moment...
"Is that... a real place? Have you been there?"
"Hooves out of the head." he repeated that and his head dipped down to nuzzle at one of his own hooves carefully, trying to imagine what it looked like having a hoof coming out of the head. It sounded interesting in any case.
There was a soft noise of affirmation. "It's not hard to get there now. It was at first, because I tried too hard. But I learned how to let go of my focus and close out the world around me. To let my mind and my heart go to this other side."
His voice was soft, revered. "Some say I just imagine it, and maybe I am. Maybe all the shifting muted light I see, has just given way to a fantastic place within me, and yet...it's not something that bothers me. I find comfort there in any case."
Interesting. Finding an escape, a place that was just a few moments away– a spot of solace, where one could escape the inanity of other kin.
"Regardless of whether it is, it's useful to you. As long as it doesn't harm others, that's what matters."
"Useful, but impossible back there. Too much noise, and confusion. Trying to find a spot to sleep is chore enough, getting through the crowd an entirely different matter, but finding somewhere I can just sit, without flowers in my face an entirely different thing." he chuckled lightly.
"So, thank you for helping me get somewhere a lot more peaceful, and a whole lot less crowded." it was appreciated.
Finds-Faults nodded. "Of course. You're welcome for that," she replied. This was a calm, restful thicket, and she had good company as well. She stayed quiet, considering topics for further conversation– she could stand to stay around a little longer.
"Somewhere peaceful, and quiet. Away from the crush of kin..." his words were repeated to himself as he attempted to carefully pick his way through the throng of various kin gathered to celebrate the pinnacle of spring.
Faults hated crowds. Too many kin packed in too-small of a space, moving unpredictably, making her feel like the ground was unstable, even when she knew quite well that generations-old, waterlogged lowland like this hadn't a ghost of a chance of collapsing.