[IC] =Silencer & Ling's Teepee=

[Silencer Wolf]

Grand Dynasty whinnied a greeting, taking a couple of steps towards the girl and turned around to return to Yue'er, who was more than eager to join the indian in the berry picking trip. The dragon mare had taken a liking to the wild berries from trips like these, and she made up her mind to stubbornly follow despite her current physical state. This, or course, was very much to her mate's dismay. Yue was heavy with foals for the second time, and Dynasty had to intention to let his beloved mate walk herself into potential danger.

"Come on love, I'll be fine..." Yue persuaded, giving Dynasty a loving nuzzle before turning to gaze at Maralah, Chenoa and their son. Stealing a glance to the over protective(and worried) stallion, Yue took a testy step towards Maralah and was promptly stopped, though an air of hesitation made its presence known. "You know, I'm sure the berries would bemore than happy to meet you too."

"Yue... you know this isn't a good time for you to go on trips like these. You'll only strain yourself," Dynasty frowned, a quiet nicker escaping him. "Besides, we don't know when the foals'll be due."

"Oh Dynasty. I'll be fine. Really." Yue pouted, and braced herself for a shove at the buckskin stallion. Since when had he become a such worrywart?

"But--" Dynasty started, only to be cut off by Yue.

"No 'but's, 'or's, 'if's or anything else." The mare gave Dynasty a playful headbutt, and pressed herself hard against his sides.

"Come along then if you're still worried, and you can be my lookout or something. Whatever it is, I'm still going and that's final." Finding her efforts at dislodging the stallion futile, the scaled mare huffed, looking up at him pityingly as a last resort.

"There's also Maralah, she can help if something happens... and we're wasting time. Please?"

Dynasty hesitated and stole a glance at the little group waiting for them. The stallion understood his mate's desire to leave for adventure and her independent nature he himself possessed. Still, he could not help but worry about her safety. Perhaps tagging along was not a bad idea after all - and like Yue said, there was Maralah if they ever needed the help. Tentatively Dynasty nodded his approval, to Yue's delight.

"Okay. But no unnecessary movements, and no wandering off by yourself," Dynasty nagged with a hint of a smile as both equines made their way towards Maralah's little gang. Looking up at the sky, he pursed his lips and added after a little thought to everyone, "The weather doesn't look too friendly, so everyone keep close to each other."  

[Xiao Ling]

"Okay then, let's go!" exclaimed Maralah as she turned to the forest's direction. She then took several steps and stopped as the others moved closer to the destination and started walking again when the last one was in front of her. It was quite a long journey to the forest for the weather was bad and they had to walk slowly to prevent the pregnant mare from tiring herself.

Before entering the forest, the native girl took out two small pebbles and scratched against each other to produce sparks to light the torch she brought with her. It took her several minutes to do so and soon it was drizzling. Luckily it happened when everyone entered the forest.

In the forest, it was dark all over and there was not much raindrops for the huge trees had sheltered the place with its leaves. The team ventured further into the place until small groups of bushes can be seen. Without wasting time, the girl took one of the baskets and started picking the berries.

As soon as the basket was removed from her back, Chenoa felt lighter and stretched a little, before helping herself with some cranberries found on the bush. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's eat!" said the mare to the others as she munched on them. The mare then remembered Yue's condition and she carefully plucked some and offered them to both the buckskin stallion and his mate.

Yas Sahale smiled and went to the other bush with blueberries and started muching on them too. He ate the berries in a messy state and blue stains can be seen around his mouth. Not forgetting his parents, the young stallion picked some of the best berries he saw and gave it to them.

"Enjoy yourselves while you can," said Maralah, who had just finished picking the berries she wanted. "After this we'll go further into the forest to look for more and if we're lucky, we might find some vegetables and fruits." She then sat on the ground near them and ate the berries.  

[Silencer Wolf]

"Thank you, Chenoa," Yue'er nodded appreciatively to her friend before shifting her attention to the lovely berries before her. Without further ado the imperial mare tucked into the treats, happiness clearly showing on her face. The occasional raindrops that fell onto her way completely ignored as she let out a grateful nicker to Yas' filial gesture.

Grand Dynasty, on the other hand, reached down and accepted a couple of berries from Yas and Chenoa. The stallion smiled at the sweetness, pausing to check their surroundings before tucking in to another two. This was not too bad after all...

Just then, Yue perked her ears in Maralah's direction. Reaching down, she picked up a single berry and left her mate's side, trodding gracefully towards the girl and nudging said berry into her hands.  

[Xiao Ling]

"You're welcome," said both Chenoa and Yas together. The white stallion then returned to the bush and continued eating while Chenoa sat down and looked up at the sky. "The day is gloomy when it's raining, heavily or not. I hope it stops soon," said the mare as she laid her head down, feeling a little sad. Yas Sahale, on the other hand, ignored the bad weather and continued enjoying the berries. "I'm sure the rain will stop soon, it's always like that. Am I right?"

Maralah smiled and stroked the mare as she took the berries offered to her. the girl then reached the bush nearest to her and plucked some deep-red berries, sharing half of it to the dragon mare. "Take it," she said. "Eat as many as you can, it's good for your health."  

[Silencer Wolf]

Yue gave Maralah's hand a lick. The mare was just about to return to the other soquilis when a crack of thunder reverberated through the forest, the accompanying shockwave penetrating into being in the dark forest. Being of Chinese Dragon descent, Yue was naturally unperturbed, thugh the same could not be said for her mate.

"Everyone! We must seek shelter!" Dynasty neighed, and as if to prove his point, the raindrops started falling heavier around them, before another resounding crack of thunder pierced through the forest.  

[Xiao Ling]

Upon hearing those thunderstorms, Yas Sahale stuck his tongue out, thinking that he had jinx it. "Oops, I guess I shouldn't had said those earlier," the stallion thought, seeking shelter as told by his father.

Chenoa ran over to the native girl and in no time the girl was on her back. She too, looked around for shelter but it was not successful. The forest was too dark for her to see well and the heavy and strong raindrops stung her eyes.

Maralah, with the baskets on her lap sat on Chenoa and called everyone to calm down. "Calm down, everyone!" she called, gasping for air. "The weather is too bad for us to continue. We must go back to our home," said the girl, leading everyone back to where they came from.

Yas, who understood Maralah's language called both his parents to follow the brown mare. "Come on, she leading us back home," said the stallion.  

[Silencer Wolf]

"Go ahead with her, son. Your mother can't go fast in her current state, so I'm staying by her side. We'll catch up with all of you sometime," Dynasty whinnied to Yas, stamping a foot on the ground.

"Yes, don't mind us. Take care of yourself, and each other, Yue nickered reassuringly. The mare smiled as Dynasty came up beside her, and together the pair set off behind Maralah, Chenoa and Yas though clearly at a slower pace.  

[Xiao Ling]

Yas Sahale looked at his parents and nodded. "Okay, but I'll slow down," he said. "That way it'll be easier for you to catch up." The stallion walked slowly as he promised, turning back often to see his parents condition.

With the rain showering heavily, the duo walked slowly with Maralah's instruction back to the teepee. They took several shortcuts which saved most of their time and they often paused so that everyone was not left behind.

When they reached their home, Chenoa and Yas Sahale hid under an apple tree for shelter while Maralah changed her clothes and took four large blankets to cover her soquili friends so that they do not catch a cold.  

[Silencer Wolf]

.. reserved ..

 

[Silencer Wolf]

Of names and four little foals

.. reserved ..

 

[Silencer Wolf]

Sniff sniff!

A little black nose poked out of the nearby bush, followed only too soon by a small sneeze. In an instant, said nose retreated into the foliage with a sharp rustle. Behind the bush, Jin Lian pressed herself hard against the ground and hoped against all odds the unexpected sneeze hadn't betrayed her position to a certain cream filly.

Half a minute or so passed by, and just as she was about to let out a sigh of relief, Lian heard a shuffle, and buried her nose under her forehooves. The filly held her breath, hoping again that whatever was coming wasn't what she was thinking it was.  

[Xiao Ling]

The brown coloured filly had been searching around for her sister, at the same time she was being extremely careful and aware to the surrounding. After several minutes of thinking, Royal decided to look behind one of the larger trees, hoping that her sister was hiding there.

But she was wrong. Nothing was hidden behind the tree and Royal snorted as she continued her search. The filly then heard a small sneeze as she walked pass a bush, and without wasting time she walked closer to the 'sneezing bush'.

Royal sniffed the bush and stared several minutes. What if her sister was hidding in that bush. The filly waited patiently for any slight movement or sound. But there was not. Feeling dissapointed, she walked away, and this time she was heading to the teepee, not knowing that Jin Lian was hiding in the bush she stared and sniffed earlier.  

[Silencer Wolf]

Lian smiled to herself, gleeful she had not been found. The filly reached slowly out and poked her head through the grass, grinning at her sister's retreating figure. Slowly and purposefully the lightly colored filly crept out of the bush she was hiding behind and sneaked along after Royal, careful to keep among the trees and bushes in case the latter turned around suddenly.  

[Xiao Ling]

Royal cantered towards the teepee without turning back nor looking back. She did not noticed her sister's movement and continued cantering until she reached the entrance of Maralah's teepee. Feeling confident that the cream filly is hiding there, Royal took a deep breath and smiled, meaning to scare her sister latter on.

"Boo!" shouted the young filly as she entered the teepee but only Maralah called back. The filly was shocked with the reply and she stepped back a little in embarassement, blushing madly.  

[Kane Hawkins]

"Hello there sis. What's with the red face?" a voice rang out from behind Royal Babylonia. He Ping stuck his head into view, grinning goofily at the obviously embarassed filly.