05-28-2017, 06:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-17-2018, 11:40 PM by Dane Regan.)
"Got any food?" Female voice. Nonchalant. A tad deep.
Dane stared blankly.
"You know. Apples, carrots, the good stuff. I'm not a fan of those meaty things you've got growing up there. Good job on that by the way, I never was a fan of the farm animals you humans use."
Dane blinked.
"Oh come on man. Did you expect me to just neigh a bit and happily take you places? I don't mind flying you about, but I'd like some food first."
"I just didn't expect you to have the vocal cords required to talk." Dane hadn't specified anything besides the general concept of a Pegasus when using his Omnilium to summon one. He expected the white creature in front of him to just be a horse with wings, though this development was interesting to say the least. He'd presumed there would be more visible physical changes to showcase the different biology - namely the intelligence and vocal cords, but apparently, that was an incorrect assumption. He made a physical and mental note to be more specific in the future when using the prismatic orb. Heck, he'd barely thought of anything. Just imagined the concept of a Pegasus and closed his eyes, when Bam! There was one in front of him. Not that the outcome, in this case, was a bad thing.
"Hey! Don't make notes like that. I feel like you're tearing me apart with your eyes." The Pegasus flapped her wings and kicked off with her hooves, raising the front half of her body into the air, reached out and snatched Dane's notebook out of his hands. "And anyway, who says I'm talking normally? I could just be making normal horse noises and you could just be imagining this whole conversation."
"You know what, I'll get started on an apple tree."
"Wh-Hey! Don't ignore me. I am hungry, but you could at least talk to me first. I've only been alive here for like a minute and you're already giving me the cold shoulder."
Meanwhile, a tree slowly began to sprout out of the ground as Dane stood and focused besides it, ignoring the white winged horse. He was interested to see how it, or rather she, would act. That and he wasn't used to anything displaying an active interest towards him unrelated to any benefits he could give them - even if it was just a talking horse with wings.
A book was tossed on the floor near to Dane's feet. "I'm sorry for taking your book."
The tree got taller. "I'm sorry for suggesting you're crazy in the head. I'm sure you're a totally sane person." Dane snickered, intentionally trying to wind her up just a bit.
Haha! Totally sane, as if.
"Hey! Don't laugh at me. I'm serious."
Now was probably a good time to say something, Dane thought. "Hello Serious, I'm Dane. Nice to meet you."
"Argh. You're terrible."
People, or horses, never learn. "No, I'm not, I'm Dane. Didn't I just tell you that, Serious?"
The Pegasus glared at Dane, not that he could see it, being as busy making a tree as he was.
"Seriously though, Serious. Do you have a name? I do seriously want to know. In all seriousness, I seriously can't just keep calling you Serious all the time. That would sound weird and totally un-serious." With an immense amount of effort, Dane managed to keep a straight face throughout. The tree continued growing taller.
"Cepheya. My name is Cepheya."
"Stephia?"
"No. Cepheya. Seth-ee-ya."
"Cepheya. Got it. Well, anyway, I finished the tree." Dane gestured at the apple covered branches. Strangely, though, he wasn't actually hungry right now. He'd been hungry when he arrived in the Omniverse, but since eating, he hadn't really felt the need for food. That said, he still took an apple to avoid looking awkward while Ceph flew up and demolished half a branch. He was fairly sure horses shouldn't eat that much sugar, but Ceph was probably smart enough not to kill herself though sweetness overload, he reasoned.
"So where are we headed Daney? Oh, and you might want a saddle you can hook yourself onto. Don't want you falling off now, do we?" Cepheya flapped her large wings loosely, shaking off the leaves that had got stuck to them.
"First off: Never call me that again, seriously." Cepheya groaned. "Secondly, probably that big city over there. And thirdly, I'm right ahead of you, I made one while you were murdering those defenceless apples." Dane raised the saddle up in the air.
"Hey! You ate one too. Jerk."
"Yes, but you destroyed an entire branch. Keep that up and you'll be too heavy to fly."
Cepheya pouted. Which looked both weird and amusing from Dane's perspective. "You're infuriating." Cepheya realised her mistake just after finishing the word and quickly tried to cover it up by continuing her sentence. "You make me wish I chose an honourable rich knight as a partner instead."
"I told you, Cephy, I'm Dane."
"Stop pulling my mane."
"Stop trying to get us killed."
"I am flying at a reasonable speed and at a reasonable altitude."
"You're flying at thirty-five meters per second, and you almost crashed into a tree!"
"But I didn't. And we'll be at the big city in a minute, don't be such a baby. There's nothing scary about flying so fast."
"It's the bit where we're suddenly not flying I'm afraid of," Dane muttered as he continued to pull Cepheya's mane. This Pegasus seemed to have a death wish. The tree they'd almost crashed into definitely lost at least a few leaves. Still, he could finally make it to the big city and find answers to his many questions about this alien world. And if not here, there were seven more gates back at the Nexus to give a shot. But, he'd probably be able to check out the magic theory and disciplines available, assuming the flying city wasn't off limits. If that didn't hold magical knowledge, what did?
"I was wondering, Dane."
"Hmm?"
"How did you get those cuts earlier, they looked pretty recent."
Without thinking, Dane replied. "Some jerk attacked me. Nothing to worry your silly little head about. He's gone now."
We probably should have patched those up first.
Actually, where are the cuts? They're gone now.
That was indeed the case. Dane's prior injuries had fully healed, which made him question whether his biology or magic had been altered since he'd come here.
"Did you beat them up with super cool sword skills? Like a ninja pirate samurai warrior? Also, you heal pretty fast. I bet we could crash-land and you'd totally be fi- oww! Don't pull my hair."
"Don't you dare test that. "
"Okay, fine. Sheesh, you're such a wimp. I bet you just at complained whoever attacked you until their eardrums melted away and liquefied their braaiiin... aaaaannnd we're landing now."
Cepheya gracefully, to the bewilderment of Dane (which confirmed in his mind she was flying poorly earlier, just to spite him), spiralled down and landed in front of the large city gates, barely disturbing the grass. Dane didn't hop off because he was feeling lazy and inconsiderate.
"I'll give you two apples if you carry me about the city."
"Three."
"Done." Dane reached into his satchel and pulled out three of the apples he stashed earlier and systematically fed them all to Cepheya while examining the area.
Many people were travelling in and out of the large city. Traders, maybe some tourists, the occasional soldier or scout, and some farmers presumably selling their crops. By the gate stood some guards, eyeing up Dane and likely waiting for him to try to enter. Some of the travellers had stopped to look at Dane, but most then moved on to go about their days. He did spot the rare elf in the crowds and thought he may have caught a glimpse of some other non-human beings.
Dane patted Cepheya's side and loosened the straps securing him to her saddle. "Let's go."
She neighed and started trotting forwards. "I'm on it master."
Master?
Unlike the other "smart" people, or Pegasi, we've summoned, we know nothing about her. Is she a fictional being of our accidental creation, brought into reality? Or pulled or copied from some world?
That came out of nowhere. Anyway, we can always ask later.
We could just not. She's happy working for use, so let's leave it at that.
We need to make sure she stays happy and continues working for us. And we need to know about her to insure that.
Fair enough.
Her words did turn a few heads, some gave a questioning look to Dane, and others a curious look towards Cephy. Were talking Pegasi uncommon? Dane questioned. Regardless, they both ignored it for now as Cephy trotted on the city gate, the traffic separating slightly around them to accommodate for the two. Like they were a stick jabbed into a stream of water, bending the current around them.
"I haven't seen you around before, are you just new to Camelot? Or new as a Prime?" One of the guards questioned.
"I'm new to this Omniverse place if that's what you mean?" Dane responded.
"Ah, then welcome to Camelot, and to Minas Tirith, our capitol. Cause no trouble and there will be no problems with your stay." The guard stepped to the side.
"Thanks. What was that Prime thing you mentioned before? And I don't suppose I could have directions to any libraries or magical institutes you may have?"
"A Prime is a being summoned by Omni, while secondaries are people Primes have summoned. And if you want books and magic, you've got Dalaran." A different guard interjected, pointing towards the flying city. "I trust you'll have no trouble getting there."
"Nope. I could fly up there easily." Cepheya commented, flicking her wings slightly.
The guard blinked. "You talk, huh? I haven't seen any talking Pegasi about before. And we've got quite a few Pegasi about and such. Anyway, take care, and have a good day."
"You too." Dane and Cepheya replied in sync.
Now, time to explore the city, Dane thought, as Cepheya trotted on through the gate. He had to be on his best behaviour. No arguing randomly for funsies. No pissing people off just to see what would happen. No verbally provoking fights. He wanted to form a good reputation for himself, if possible. Maybe not in this realm specifically, but though one of the gates, he wanted to work his way up the social hierarchy - and at least gain influence and the acknowledgement he desired.
"So, Cepheya. Tell me about yourself."
"I'm just your friendly neighbourhood Pegasus. Didn't we establish that?" She replied, vaguely, while navigating the crowded streets. Dane was looking about at the buildings. There were inns, taverns, various item stores, a blacksmith, and a few stables. He wondered what the currency was, or if Omnilium was used instead. If worst came to worst he could just set up a tent outside the city should he have to. But he'd rather stay on a comfy bed. And summoning stuff all the time would get annoying - as cool as the concept was.
"We did. But, come on. I want to know more about your past. What happened before I summoned you?" Dane was wondering who exactly he did summon. He was thinking of Pegasi in general, when kablam. Suddenly there's a talking white horse with wings in front of him. He racked his mind for any mythology he might have slightly remembered, but nothing came to mine.
"Just... Pegasus things, flying about, eating apples, the usual, ya know." She was probably hiding something, Dane figured. "What about you? What did you do before you came to the Omniverse?"
"I wrote a few books. Made a few people angry by spreading knowledge they didn't want to get around. Vocalised some controversial opinions, and somehow convinced a small collection of people that spiders have six legs. Some people wrote some folk songs about me, I think. I don't remember them that well though. What about you though, any fancy achievements? Where were you from, anyway?" Dane idly petted her mane and they continued on through the streets. Nothing directly stood out. Sure the city was beautiful with its uniform white walls and style, but besides that, there wasn't anything Dane hadn't seen before of was particularly interested in.
Cepheya giggled a bit, her ears twitching. "Wh- how? How did anyone believe that spider thing?" She paused, not answering his questions. "Couldn't they just... look at one?"
"I really don't know. I think they assumed the eight legged things they were calling spiders were actually something else. And that the real spiders had six legs. That, and I'd spread some useful information that was definitely true, or at least helpful. I just wanted to see if anyone would spot a mistake in my work, but people accepted it pretty blindly or assumed it was a typo. Mostly the latter. Also, Ceph. If you don't want to talk about it, just say so. OK. You're not going to fool me by beating about the bush, but nor am I going to try to read between the lines and guess what's wrong." Dane reached into his bag. "Want another apple?"
"Yeah."
"You don't sound very enthusiastic. I don't know if you deserve it."
"Wooo. Apples. Yeah!" She ruffled her wings.
"That's the spirit. Come on Cepheya, after we've done some exploring about, we can go on a magical adventure." To complement this statement, the apple magically disappeared from Dane's hand, almost instantly, the moment it approached Cepheya's mouth.
"I wouldn't call a library an adventure."
"Shut your mouth you overgrown turkey."
Cepheya laughed. "You're silly."
The pair continued on and up through the city, neither oblivious nor caring to the occasional weird looks they were getting.
Dane stared blankly.
"You know. Apples, carrots, the good stuff. I'm not a fan of those meaty things you've got growing up there. Good job on that by the way, I never was a fan of the farm animals you humans use."
Dane blinked.
"Oh come on man. Did you expect me to just neigh a bit and happily take you places? I don't mind flying you about, but I'd like some food first."
"I just didn't expect you to have the vocal cords required to talk." Dane hadn't specified anything besides the general concept of a Pegasus when using his Omnilium to summon one. He expected the white creature in front of him to just be a horse with wings, though this development was interesting to say the least. He'd presumed there would be more visible physical changes to showcase the different biology - namely the intelligence and vocal cords, but apparently, that was an incorrect assumption. He made a physical and mental note to be more specific in the future when using the prismatic orb. Heck, he'd barely thought of anything. Just imagined the concept of a Pegasus and closed his eyes, when Bam! There was one in front of him. Not that the outcome, in this case, was a bad thing.
"Hey! Don't make notes like that. I feel like you're tearing me apart with your eyes." The Pegasus flapped her wings and kicked off with her hooves, raising the front half of her body into the air, reached out and snatched Dane's notebook out of his hands. "And anyway, who says I'm talking normally? I could just be making normal horse noises and you could just be imagining this whole conversation."
"You know what, I'll get started on an apple tree."
"Wh-Hey! Don't ignore me. I am hungry, but you could at least talk to me first. I've only been alive here for like a minute and you're already giving me the cold shoulder."
Meanwhile, a tree slowly began to sprout out of the ground as Dane stood and focused besides it, ignoring the white winged horse. He was interested to see how it, or rather she, would act. That and he wasn't used to anything displaying an active interest towards him unrelated to any benefits he could give them - even if it was just a talking horse with wings.
A book was tossed on the floor near to Dane's feet. "I'm sorry for taking your book."
The tree got taller. "I'm sorry for suggesting you're crazy in the head. I'm sure you're a totally sane person." Dane snickered, intentionally trying to wind her up just a bit.
Haha! Totally sane, as if.
"Hey! Don't laugh at me. I'm serious."
Now was probably a good time to say something, Dane thought. "Hello Serious, I'm Dane. Nice to meet you."
"Argh. You're terrible."
People, or horses, never learn. "No, I'm not, I'm Dane. Didn't I just tell you that, Serious?"
The Pegasus glared at Dane, not that he could see it, being as busy making a tree as he was.
"Seriously though, Serious. Do you have a name? I do seriously want to know. In all seriousness, I seriously can't just keep calling you Serious all the time. That would sound weird and totally un-serious." With an immense amount of effort, Dane managed to keep a straight face throughout. The tree continued growing taller.
"Cepheya. My name is Cepheya."
"Stephia?"
"No. Cepheya. Seth-ee-ya."
"Cepheya. Got it. Well, anyway, I finished the tree." Dane gestured at the apple covered branches. Strangely, though, he wasn't actually hungry right now. He'd been hungry when he arrived in the Omniverse, but since eating, he hadn't really felt the need for food. That said, he still took an apple to avoid looking awkward while Ceph flew up and demolished half a branch. He was fairly sure horses shouldn't eat that much sugar, but Ceph was probably smart enough not to kill herself though sweetness overload, he reasoned.
"So where are we headed Daney? Oh, and you might want a saddle you can hook yourself onto. Don't want you falling off now, do we?" Cepheya flapped her large wings loosely, shaking off the leaves that had got stuck to them.
"First off: Never call me that again, seriously." Cepheya groaned. "Secondly, probably that big city over there. And thirdly, I'm right ahead of you, I made one while you were murdering those defenceless apples." Dane raised the saddle up in the air.
"Hey! You ate one too. Jerk."
"Yes, but you destroyed an entire branch. Keep that up and you'll be too heavy to fly."
Cepheya pouted. Which looked both weird and amusing from Dane's perspective. "You're infuriating." Cepheya realised her mistake just after finishing the word and quickly tried to cover it up by continuing her sentence. "You make me wish I chose an honourable rich knight as a partner instead."
"I told you, Cephy, I'm Dane."
"Stop pulling my mane."
"Stop trying to get us killed."
"I am flying at a reasonable speed and at a reasonable altitude."
"You're flying at thirty-five meters per second, and you almost crashed into a tree!"
"But I didn't. And we'll be at the big city in a minute, don't be such a baby. There's nothing scary about flying so fast."
"It's the bit where we're suddenly not flying I'm afraid of," Dane muttered as he continued to pull Cepheya's mane. This Pegasus seemed to have a death wish. The tree they'd almost crashed into definitely lost at least a few leaves. Still, he could finally make it to the big city and find answers to his many questions about this alien world. And if not here, there were seven more gates back at the Nexus to give a shot. But, he'd probably be able to check out the magic theory and disciplines available, assuming the flying city wasn't off limits. If that didn't hold magical knowledge, what did?
"I was wondering, Dane."
"Hmm?"
"How did you get those cuts earlier, they looked pretty recent."
Without thinking, Dane replied. "Some jerk attacked me. Nothing to worry your silly little head about. He's gone now."
We probably should have patched those up first.
Actually, where are the cuts? They're gone now.
That was indeed the case. Dane's prior injuries had fully healed, which made him question whether his biology or magic had been altered since he'd come here.
"Did you beat them up with super cool sword skills? Like a ninja pirate samurai warrior? Also, you heal pretty fast. I bet we could crash-land and you'd totally be fi- oww! Don't pull my hair."
"Don't you dare test that. "
"Okay, fine. Sheesh, you're such a wimp. I bet you just at complained whoever attacked you until their eardrums melted away and liquefied their braaiiin... aaaaannnd we're landing now."
Cepheya gracefully, to the bewilderment of Dane (which confirmed in his mind she was flying poorly earlier, just to spite him), spiralled down and landed in front of the large city gates, barely disturbing the grass. Dane didn't hop off because he was feeling lazy and inconsiderate.
"I'll give you two apples if you carry me about the city."
"Three."
"Done." Dane reached into his satchel and pulled out three of the apples he stashed earlier and systematically fed them all to Cepheya while examining the area.
Many people were travelling in and out of the large city. Traders, maybe some tourists, the occasional soldier or scout, and some farmers presumably selling their crops. By the gate stood some guards, eyeing up Dane and likely waiting for him to try to enter. Some of the travellers had stopped to look at Dane, but most then moved on to go about their days. He did spot the rare elf in the crowds and thought he may have caught a glimpse of some other non-human beings.
Dane patted Cepheya's side and loosened the straps securing him to her saddle. "Let's go."
She neighed and started trotting forwards. "I'm on it master."
Master?
Unlike the other "smart" people, or Pegasi, we've summoned, we know nothing about her. Is she a fictional being of our accidental creation, brought into reality? Or pulled or copied from some world?
That came out of nowhere. Anyway, we can always ask later.
We could just not. She's happy working for use, so let's leave it at that.
We need to make sure she stays happy and continues working for us. And we need to know about her to insure that.
Fair enough.
Her words did turn a few heads, some gave a questioning look to Dane, and others a curious look towards Cephy. Were talking Pegasi uncommon? Dane questioned. Regardless, they both ignored it for now as Cephy trotted on the city gate, the traffic separating slightly around them to accommodate for the two. Like they were a stick jabbed into a stream of water, bending the current around them.
"I haven't seen you around before, are you just new to Camelot? Or new as a Prime?" One of the guards questioned.
"I'm new to this Omniverse place if that's what you mean?" Dane responded.
"Ah, then welcome to Camelot, and to Minas Tirith, our capitol. Cause no trouble and there will be no problems with your stay." The guard stepped to the side.
"Thanks. What was that Prime thing you mentioned before? And I don't suppose I could have directions to any libraries or magical institutes you may have?"
"A Prime is a being summoned by Omni, while secondaries are people Primes have summoned. And if you want books and magic, you've got Dalaran." A different guard interjected, pointing towards the flying city. "I trust you'll have no trouble getting there."
"Nope. I could fly up there easily." Cepheya commented, flicking her wings slightly.
The guard blinked. "You talk, huh? I haven't seen any talking Pegasi about before. And we've got quite a few Pegasi about and such. Anyway, take care, and have a good day."
"You too." Dane and Cepheya replied in sync.
Now, time to explore the city, Dane thought, as Cepheya trotted on through the gate. He had to be on his best behaviour. No arguing randomly for funsies. No pissing people off just to see what would happen. No verbally provoking fights. He wanted to form a good reputation for himself, if possible. Maybe not in this realm specifically, but though one of the gates, he wanted to work his way up the social hierarchy - and at least gain influence and the acknowledgement he desired.
"So, Cepheya. Tell me about yourself."
"I'm just your friendly neighbourhood Pegasus. Didn't we establish that?" She replied, vaguely, while navigating the crowded streets. Dane was looking about at the buildings. There were inns, taverns, various item stores, a blacksmith, and a few stables. He wondered what the currency was, or if Omnilium was used instead. If worst came to worst he could just set up a tent outside the city should he have to. But he'd rather stay on a comfy bed. And summoning stuff all the time would get annoying - as cool as the concept was.
"We did. But, come on. I want to know more about your past. What happened before I summoned you?" Dane was wondering who exactly he did summon. He was thinking of Pegasi in general, when kablam. Suddenly there's a talking white horse with wings in front of him. He racked his mind for any mythology he might have slightly remembered, but nothing came to mine.
"Just... Pegasus things, flying about, eating apples, the usual, ya know." She was probably hiding something, Dane figured. "What about you? What did you do before you came to the Omniverse?"
"I wrote a few books. Made a few people angry by spreading knowledge they didn't want to get around. Vocalised some controversial opinions, and somehow convinced a small collection of people that spiders have six legs. Some people wrote some folk songs about me, I think. I don't remember them that well though. What about you though, any fancy achievements? Where were you from, anyway?" Dane idly petted her mane and they continued on through the streets. Nothing directly stood out. Sure the city was beautiful with its uniform white walls and style, but besides that, there wasn't anything Dane hadn't seen before of was particularly interested in.
Cepheya giggled a bit, her ears twitching. "Wh- how? How did anyone believe that spider thing?" She paused, not answering his questions. "Couldn't they just... look at one?"
"I really don't know. I think they assumed the eight legged things they were calling spiders were actually something else. And that the real spiders had six legs. That, and I'd spread some useful information that was definitely true, or at least helpful. I just wanted to see if anyone would spot a mistake in my work, but people accepted it pretty blindly or assumed it was a typo. Mostly the latter. Also, Ceph. If you don't want to talk about it, just say so. OK. You're not going to fool me by beating about the bush, but nor am I going to try to read between the lines and guess what's wrong." Dane reached into his bag. "Want another apple?"
"Yeah."
"You don't sound very enthusiastic. I don't know if you deserve it."
"Wooo. Apples. Yeah!" She ruffled her wings.
"That's the spirit. Come on Cepheya, after we've done some exploring about, we can go on a magical adventure." To complement this statement, the apple magically disappeared from Dane's hand, almost instantly, the moment it approached Cepheya's mouth.
"I wouldn't call a library an adventure."
"Shut your mouth you overgrown turkey."
Cepheya laughed. "You're silly."
The pair continued on and up through the city, neither oblivious nor caring to the occasional weird looks they were getting.
Quote:Cepheya isn't some fancy mythology name. I made it up based on Cepheus - which has no relation to the character I've written. Also, iunno if you should feed horses that many apples, but Ceph is a fancy magic pegasus so I'mma do what I want.