Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dawn broke on the horizon. The first rays of sunlight filtered through the trees, casting a soft golden glow upon the forest. Animals stirred from their sleep as they prepared to meet the new day. All around, the sounds of the forest began to fill the air. Birds chirped their good mornings. Squirrels chittered their hellos. Deer and porcupines and the like rustled in the foliage, eager for some breakfast. One inhabitant, however, seemed to miss the message that it was time to wake up. Curled atop a pile of leaf litter, fast asleep, lay Qeshti. Her coat as vibrantly orange as the sun, she stood in stark contrast to the greens and browns of the fallen leaves. Any passerby would have to try very hard to overlook her.

Typically, her bonded- an owl named Hikari- would have kept watch over her as she slumbered; however, the mare had decided to make this particular trip on her own, leaving the owl time to visit with family. Unfortunately, this meant that her friend was also not there to wake her when it was time to go. So Qeshti slept. And she slept. And she slept some more. If not for a well-placed acorn to the eye, she might have dreamed the day away...and been perfectly content with that. “Awww,” Qeshti grumbled around a yawn. “Time to get up already? I was just starting a good dream.” She peered through hooded eyes, gazing blearily at her surroundings. It took a minute, but her brain and body slowly whirred to life. “Ah well,” she staggered to her hooves, “Guess it’s time to rise and shine. Sun’s awake so looks like I am too.” Not that she wasn’t tempted to try for a few minutes longer. It was best not to though. She could practically hear the chiding remarks Hikari would make if the mare even looked like she was going back to sleep. No more resting. Now was the time to see what the day had in store for her.

Qeshti stood rooted to the spot as she tried to wake herself up. The problem with that was, if she stayed still, her eyes would slide shut and she’d start to slump back down. She had to jerk herself awake each time, shaking her head vigorously to clear the cobwebs. “Ugh, come on Qeshti girl. Time to wakey wakey.” The brightly colored mare attempted a pep talk. She thought of anything and everything Hikari might say to get her motivated. Thing about that was she could picture the little owl’s expression and tone. Always a comical sight to behold, but not quite what was needed to get her moving about. “Okay, gotta push through the sleepies,” Qeshti muttered around a yawn. Maybe if she got the blood pumping… Giving her body a hard shake, she overestimated exactly how much she put into the move, sending herself reeling to the side. “Oh oh--” In a bid to catch herself, the mare stuck her front left leg out. Somehow- she didn’t know how it happened- that leg crossed over her back right leg, making her tumble further along until she was nothing but a blur of body and legs flipping one over the other. Qeshti felt like she might roll like that forever. And she might have if she hadn’t been stopped by a conveniently placed tree. “Oof!” She laid there for a moment, bewildered. Then, as if a switch were flipped, she began to giggle. A giggle that turned into all out laughter. “Seems like I put a bit too much oomph into it.” Untangling her limbs, she gathered herself together and stood back up to check for any injuries, completely oblivious to the nearby presence.