The ocean ebbed gently in and out, bringing one of the last chills of late spring off the ocean and onto a small, pebbled shore. A young faun girl, Solveis, sat with her back against the great cliff wall looking out at the slowly swaying water. The seasonally strengthening sun poured out of a mostly cloudless sky, making the air and earth glow with warmth. The last breath of chill from the ocean was combining with the deep cold that always emanated from the rocky cliffs. It made the atmosphere just a little bit more cold than warm. It was one of the perfectly balanced spring days which made one happy to be outside all day. Solveis sat leaning her back on the cool rock face of the cliff, and her legs stretched out on the warm stones. It was the perfect day for her arms to be bare of sleeves and her hair to be let down.
The perfect comfort of being in her own, familiar place, in such inviting weather, soothed Solveis into a contented lull. She climbed up a nearby tree to get some string and beads from one of her stashes. Then, feeling that it would please her to sit awhile undisturbed, against her cliff wall, she settled back against the cliff, sunk into the coziest position, and stretched her legs out. She stretched her goat-like, faun legs out on the stones, positioning her right hoof-like foot out in front of her. She tied one end of her rope braid onto one half of the cloven foot. She had been practicing some new braiding techniques that she had overheard some classmates describing. Her goal was to eventually know how to do every kind of braid, plat, and knot. Her hands went quickly and naturally to work, carrying out the algorithm which they were testing out for the first time.
The familiar monotony of the task allowed Solveis’s mind to wander right out of its casing. She saw from above, her own outstretched leg and her hands moving rapidly. Losing interest in that, her little floating soul, which she imagined to be like the little blue birds that lived on this island, except that it was probably yellow, not blue, drifted further up. Up and up until she had a view of the whole island. The island of Molil, sticking above the surface of the still water, looked something like a round peg, which was not hammered quite all the way in to its blue surface, the sea. The whole of the island stuck above the surface of the water so high as to be referred to as "the cliffs", that is all of the island except for the far northwest. There was a small pebbled beach below the cliff at the northwest. The yellow bird spirit saw its body sitting at that beach, leaning against the cliff face. The little spirit left its person behind, and soared clockwise, away from the beach, past the little wilderness in the northeast, to the dock at the far east. There was a foot path connecting the center of the island to the wood-planked dock. This man-made path resembled a dark brown line of paint on the canvas of the gray and green island. Back at the center of the island, there lay Solveis’s family’s cabin in the midst of a clearing. The floating consciousness lost interest in that man-made dwelling and floated back to the dock and its cliffs. The Eigeroy family’s cabin boat sat bobbing, happily attached to its dock. Moving away from the paint streak of the dock, the little bird continued its clockwise circuit. It glanced down unhappily at the only area which it couldn’t see into with perfect clarity and detail, the dense thickness of forest in the southeast corner. The closer the little bird flew to the forest, the more the mental image faltered and became fuzzy. Giving up on the effort, the bird went back to its clockwise circuit. It arrived above the plateau and hopping spots, at the far south of Molil island. It knew the cave was nearby, but that most secret place couldn’t be seen from above, as it was nestled in the crags of the rocks. The plateau and hopping spots were the faun children's favorite playing places. The spirit bird couldn’t help but marvel at how the area seemed to have been designed for fun. The land here, the plateau, lost its grassy covering and was hard, flat stone. The flat plateau transitioned into a hoodoo at the far edge of the island. Solveis loved this hoodoo, which she did not know the proper name of, and which she and her brother referred to simply as ‘the hopping spots’. Despite her affection for the place though, she always found it hard to describe to those who had never seen it for themselves. It must suffice to say that the hopping spots were pillars of rock that surrounded the southwest of Molil. The pillars grew larger and close together, as they got closer to the plateau. From the children’s perspective, when they were standing on the plateau, the rock surfaces were like un-evenly spaced platforms, perfect for hopping between. The little yellow bird tried to inventory the place again, and maybe find better words to describe it. Failing to do so, it stretched its wings against the cool breeze once more and soared further clockwise. It flew over the west hill, the area of sparsely treed forest on the west edge of the island. This was where the biggest and oldest trees lived, a wonderful place for running around and climbing. The hill reached all the way to the north cliff, at the base of which was the little beach.
Having completed a full circuit of Molil, the little bird returned back to the little girl's body, at the beach. The little girl, whose body the little bird generally inhabited was still moving its fingers rapidly. It seemed to be almost done with the little braid of knots. Being almost done with her work, Solveis recalled her focus back into her own body to focus on the braid’s closure and final details.
Solveis began to feel lonely. She had just spent a few minutes communing with her place, her land, her mountain, but as enjoyable as that was, some humanus interaction would be nice. Since no one was immediately near to play with though, she would choose to transform her loneliness into contentment. Maybe she would find a book and lose herself in someone else's story.
Solveis didn’t have a chance to pursue this plan though. She was startled out of her revelry by the “ffwt” sound and the rush of air. A small stone had just been dropped unnaturally quickly, right next to her head.
Looking all the way up to the top of the cliff overhead, she saw the small figure of her brother grinning evilly down at her. She saw a fuzzy glow of sunlight passing through the light ginger fur on his legs way above her, up on the north cliff. Quickly, he darted away, down the steep slope of the cliff which led down and around to the pebble beach. She was forced to collect herself all at once and prepare herself for his arrival.
She stashed her knotted string into a crook in the rock face. She needed to shift her attitude quickly to accommodate this new activity. The first thrown rock had meant that Arlendr wanted to begin a game of throwing rocks. He had never been one to tell verbally what he wanted from you; neither did he choose to forget his own interests and join you in your game. She would know how to play with him though. They had been each others playmates – usually the only available playmate – for all of both of their young lives. Their weekends especially were mostly spent on Molil with just each other to play with. She knew that her options, in this moment, were either to play his game with him, or else for him to immediately get bored and go do something by himself. Even though she would have enjoyed reading a book, she could also enjoy a game of throwing rocks. It would be a nice change of pace from the solitary morning she d had.
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After stashing her knotted string into a crook in the rock face, where she would find it again later, Solveis ran to where the cliff sloped downhill and met the little beach. Her brother got there just after her. Arlendr, without preamble, threw a stone at her. She ducked. Joining into the game, she ran past him and toward the plateau as quickly as she could. She gathered as many stones on her way as was practical. She just barely beat him to the plateau, with a handful of rocks for ammunition. Their game – since it was a game they had both quite perfected their skill at over their short lives – became intensely competitive in no time at all, but without any real aggression. Solveis even left the safety of the flat plateau to slide down into the chasms that surrounded the hopping spots.
They were so much fun to navigate, to hide in. Solveis and her brother ran round and round tossing small projectiles at each other. They climbed back up and down the pillars until they grew warm and tired. Eventually, Arlendr grew hot and tired. In his discomfort, he left to seek a cooler, more relaxed source of entertainment. He left her alone in the chasms, without letting her know in any way that he was departing. He concluded his game as non-verbally as he had initiated it. This behavior didn’t phase her. When she realized she was alone, she sat at the base of a pillar of land and watched the water in the distance, pull and push, occasionally running into a particularly spindly land pillar far away from her. At low tide, the water stayed very far out.
Solveis’s mind, once left alone again for some time, left its body again to think and experience freely. She gathered a few small, damp, cold pebbles in her right hand and shifted them through her fingers over and over again while her mind traveled far away. It left to imagine where Arlendr had gone. She could imagine seeing him up on the west hill, playing with bugs or dirt, or in their cave down by the plateau, or on the edge of one of the cliffs throwing rocks into each other, watching them crash away.
She and her brother were both alike, and not alike. She reached out to feel his mind, to compare how they were alike and different. They shared a small, trim, young-looking stature and childish, though sort-of serious looking, faces. Arlendr’s face was serious in a sort of self involved, inwardly focused way. He was either thinking fully about a thing, or not at all; and it showed in his expression. Even so, his expressions were generally hard to read, except for those who knew him well and could sense very slight changes. Solveis’s face was serious in a contemplative, far-away kind of way. It was differently hard to read. She moved and expressed herself in an awkward way that expressed a lack of body awareness. Her brother moved quickly, directly, and harshly.
They looked about the same age. They both had a very childlike look, clearly out of baby-hood, but also clearly not yet pubescent. They looked to be of the same color pallet, but of different shades. He was very light. His skin, often showing on his often bare chest, was a soft pinkish color, like the lightest shade on a peach. The fur on his faun legs was light, orange-blond, almost see through in direct light. The hair on his head was a more yellow version of the hair on his legs. It was long at the moment, as he had stubbornly refused to let his mother cut it. To complete his light, blond, peach coloring, Arlendr’s eyes were a very light gray color, yellow in some lights.
Solveis, on the other hand, was painted with warmer colors. Her skin was more like the darkest shade on a peach, bronzed and warm. The fur on her faun legs was an ashy, red-brown color, which she hoped would darken into a beautiful mahogany with age. The hair on her head was a similar color. It was generally braided into a thick, tight dutch braid which went down to her hips. Solveis’s eyes matched the rest of her color palette by being very dark brown, gray-black.
After Solveis’s consciousness grew tired of contemplating these things, which she had contemplated a million times before, it returned to her body. She had some completely different stones in her hand now than she had remembered picking up before.
Solveis got up and paced around the floor of her chasm. Finally, her feet decided to go to the cave. The cave was her and Arlendr’s secret place. The parents didn’t stray far from their cabin generally, and almost never went to the cave. Therefore, the cave was a safe retreat for the siblings, from the weather, and from observance. The mouth of the cave was down in the chasms, on the east-side rock face of the plateau. When you climbed down into the chasms from the plateau, the mouth appeared as a little nook, only a man-height below the top of the plateau. The mouth was a long thin opening which was inconvenient to find, and even more inconvenient to get into. This was to the siblings’ liking.
The inside though, was relatively spacious. It was long enough for Solveis to lay on the ground, head to hoof, at least a few times. It was a little less wide than long. Upon entering, one would be in an oval shaped cave which got smaller the further back one went, so that it had a sort of cornucopia shape in the back. The floor was mostly level in the front, but it sloped up in the back.
The cave was where Solveis and Arlendr spent much of their time on Molil when not playing outside. The cabin, on the other hand, was never a preferred place to go. At the cabin, one must remember the rules of the parents. The parents might ask you to do any number of undesirable tasks. They might also scold you for who-knows-what little thing, at any time. The cave was far preferable. It was always a little cold in there, but Solveis had it well stocked. This day, she reached into one of the many tin popcorn canisters that she used for storage, and retrieved a sweater. Tin popcorn canisters were one of the few storage containers that were weatherproof, animal proof, and would fit comfortably through the entrance. The siblings had a dozen of them. Solveis kept them organized. She made sure that they were always stocked with the essentials.
Solveis wrapped herself in her sweater. She got out some beads and string. She began for the second time that day to practice braiding with the new algorithm. The soothing repetitive behavior put her mind into a comfortable low hum. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually she heard her mother's distinct clicking whistle sound. This meant that it was time to go in for mealtime. Accordingly, she quickly put her materials and her sweater back in their containers and left. Whenever the mother called, she expected the children to go to her immediately. Any delay and there would be some consequence, which would be better avoided.
On her way back to the cabin, Solveis noticed her brother walking through the trees nearest the cabin. Arlendr saw Solveis and hid behind a tree. Then, he raced past her toward the cabin, apparently in the hope that she would try to catch him. She saw no reason not to chase him, so they raced back and arrived at the cabin out of breath. Her little brother, the third and youngest Eigeroy sibling, Oskar, toddled toward the front door and giggled at them both.