"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Spring was the best time for a journey to a new place. Ardashir had taken this time of renewal to take a trip to The Forest. He thought himself old enough to journey away from his mother and his home land. Ard had learned at least one new lesson with this season of birth. He was not his mother’s true son. He had been abandoned in the den. How he came to know this was seeing other foals born now in lands that he had passed with their mothers watching over them and tending to them. He still loved his mother though and could not fault her for the situation he was found in. It took a strong mare to take in a child that was not her own flesh and blood.
The cloudy weather of the spring showers kept the harsh rays of the sun from burning his pink skin. He was not a tenderfoot by any means but, when he could Ard liked to not be caked in dirt or mud. He had crested a small hill when the forest came into sight. Though spring brought with it warmth the ground still held onto a few patches of that snowy stuff he had come across. The winter slow to let go as he wandered down from the hill. The few patches of snow that remained were focused around the underside of trees where the sun could not touch them. He nosed a spot and took a clump of the cold stuff into his maw for a moist snack. It was not a very good water alternative but if you wanted to feel a crunching chill in your mouth snow would at least fill that.
Ardashir moved further into the line of trees his hooves making soft thudding noises upon the undergrowth. He kept his ears kean as he moved and his eyes scanned for dangers that might have lurked in the shadows of this place. The path he had chosen looked at least like it was some sort of game trail and he could smell the scent of deer, boar, and bear upon the ground as he passed. A bird called somewhere ahead and another answered. He took in the colors and the scents of this place. Ard could tell his own kind had walked this path as well and he wondered a little if anyone would be around to greet him.
Not having a mother – or one that wasn’t a part of their life – was something they had in common. That wasn’t really a fun thing to talk about though, or to think of too long. Jinju wondered where her Mama was, and why she wasn’t around, but neither Terran or Ander could answer that for her. She did know, however, that it wasn’t normal. She did, however, have a father figure in her life. Terran had told Jinju he wasn’t her dad, yet he was the one looking after her. Just like the brother figure Ander that wasn’t her brother either. But, they cared for her, and that was what mattered, right?
They also liked it when she was around and Jinju enjoyed playing with Ander. Especially when she won their wrestling or racing matches. Tag was also fun to play, as she was much more agile than her black pointed brother. Except for the fact that it still hurt to run. During a recent trip to the forest she had hurt herself, the wound on her flank slowly healing. Though unable to run and do crazy, it hadn’t stopped her from venturing away. Her ruby eyes hadn’t yet enough from exploring the forest.
Especially things like the last bits of snow, something she hadn’t seen yet. The white substance lured her in, only to melt instantly when she got to close. Little did she know that her – yet – undiscovered power was the cause of that. Jinju snorts and pulls back disappointed. She had wanted to touch it, to feel what it felt like, but all that was left now was wet ground. Why had that happened?
It’s the chirping of a bird, followed by a couple of others, that breaks her stern stare off with the snow. Her black ears turn and twist, trying to locate where the sound comes from, as she slowly backs away a few steps. Her ruby eyes look up, into the trees, trying to locate the birds. She enjoys listening to their songs – just as she is amazed by almost everything else in the forest – and there is an slight upset frown decorating her young features when they stop.
She’s almost pouting as she looks around to find the source. Something must have scared them off enough to stop their singing, and that something turns out to be a young, completely white colt. Curiously ruby eyes meet blue ones. They couldn’t have been more different. Ruby red and inky black versus electric blue and white. But it’s a welcome change from her black family. ”Hi!” she greets him, fluffy tail swaying as she jumps a little on her place. Which only leaves her frowning. ”Autch..” she murmurs under her breath, momentarily having forgotten the healing wound on her flank.
He had taken note of the birds overhead calling and dancing around in the canopy above him. The sounds of spring one would think. He walked on and some birds stopped where he passed and others started as he walked off. The colt left the fluttering things to their songs.
Ard lifted his head in a mildly surprised manner. He had expected to run into his own kind with in the woods but he had thought it would take a slightly longer time. The draft yearling stopped in his tracks looking at the dark colored filly that now stood before him. Her ruby red eyes stared at him in a brilliant manner as they were set against black fur. “ Hello” Ard would say to the filly gathering himself out of his surprise.
She jumped and swung her tail around before a frown came to her dark lips. Ard leaned his head to the side some and asked her, “ Are you alright?” His voice soft but not whispering. He swung his own tail once or twice behind him. He did not see the wound on her flank so had no clue of what ailed her currently. The birds had once more started their songs above the two young horses and, somewhere another animal called a warning or maybe a greeting who knew..
Her smile widens the moment he greets her back, making her forget about the slight discomfort that her wound had caused her. That she had managed to surprise – and perhaps spook – him, only makes her more giggly. It made her feel pretty good, like a boost for her ego, that she had managed to startle this older colt. Also made Jinju curious and secretly willing to try it again, but perhaps it was better if she should try it during playtime.
And when her wound was healed. Something he had noticed too, well that was a pity, now he surely wouldn’t want to play with her. Jinju swats her tail another few times and nods. ”I’m okay, it’s healing already” she answers, turning sideward to show him the cut on her right flank. A flesh wound, but only superficial and already half way healed. ”I’m Jinju by the way, what’s your name?”
By now her ruby eyes are on the colt again. She’d have to admit that she likes his blue eyes, so different from hers or Ander’s or even Terran’s. Not less beautiful or enchanting. With a quick shake of her head she pulls herself back into reality. ”Do you live here? In the forest?” she asks curiously. After all, she didn’t have home. Jinju liked the forest, but it wasn’t home, according to Ander and Terran. Yet there was nowhere else they called home either.
Perhaps she could tell Terran and Ander they could live in the forest, but that would only work if she would have a real good story to share. Jinju didn’t really want to move elsewhere than the forest, but it wasn’t like she would oppose and stand up against his decisions. A typical case of ‘daddy knows best’. And that probably was true. Not that it would stop Jinju from trying. And thus she was hopefully looking towards the white colt in front of her.
Ard had seen the fillies wound but, the way she moved and bounced gave him the impression that she was on the mend. He knew if he had a wound like that he would not want to be jumping around though, he was not sure what he would do in her situation. He had only carried a few bumps and scrapes from his time in or around the ocean of his home. A call overhead caught his attention a moment and he looked away from the ebon filly before him to gaze up.
He shook himself a bit before looking back to the filly. “ That is good to hear, I would not think anyone that is terribly injured would be jumping and so ready to burst into a run.” He took another look around, “ Or even be in this place who knows what lurks in the dark waiting for a chance to leap and kill.” Ard had forgotten his manners a moment and he looked to Jinju answering her question, “ I am Ardashir.” He bows his head in greeting. He was used to dark horses from the kingdom he grew up in. He was even used to bright colored horses. He watched her with his sapphire blue eyes as she stared at him.
He shook his head. “ I do not live here. I call Nerine my home. How about you Jinju?” He asked her and allowed himself to venture a bit closer to her, “ I imagine living here has its challenges. But, that may be part of the fun. The cold and the shadows.” He stopped himself from getting to close to the filly and stood about 4 feet from her not sure where her personal bubble fell.
Ardishir looked around the clearing where they were taking in the scents and the sights before letting his lips part again. “ Not a hint of salt or stone, and sand.” He lowered his head to hr ground and took a breath in. He smelled the moss and the moist dirt a hint of something that had passed by a time ago and; he lifted his head of course the smell of the filly before him.
She probably should be resting, give her wound time to heal, but it simply was not in her nature. Jinju was like any child, active and curious, eager to discover more of the world she was living in. Terran and Ander give her plenty of opportunity too, but there was something thrilling about sneaking away and discover on her own.
If she had stayed with her protectors, she would never have met Ardashir. And she’s more than eager to make a couple of friends. The white colt in front of her seemed a good first candidate. However, he seemed not that eager for games. ”It’s not that bad anymore, right?” she asks him with a slight pout, her neck bend so she can glance her ruby eyes on the healing wound. It didn’t look all that bad to her. Well, he was probably right that he shouldn’t be dancing around, but that didn’t mean she should stand still all day.. She hoped not.
When her ruby eyes travel back to meet his blue ones, she’s still pouting. Why couldn’t she go to the forest? ”But I like the forest..” she mumbles, her head tilted slightly as she looks at him. Within a second her pout is gone, and made room for a wide smile. ”And you’re here now! So I’m not alone!” As if that changed averything. He was a colt, not yet grown to adulthood, but she’s too young to realise or care.
As quickly as her smile had come, it fades too. Not because he has a home, but simply because she lacks one. Or at least, the one she wanted wasn’t allowed her. ”I live nowhere..” she replies, glancing away to look around in the forest. It appeals to her, and she feels comfortable in between the trees. ”We’re looking for a home, says Terran. Our old home isn’t anymore, or so they say..” she mumbles.
He soon distracts her. Jinju slowly lifts her gaze to look back at Ardashir again, blinking her ruby orbs at him. ”Salt, stone and sand?” she repeats questioningly, pausing for a moment. ”Your home has that?” Well, now he had to tell her more, or at least, the inky girl hopes he will tell more. She hadn’t heard of such land. And it sounded quite appealing. Like another adventure laid out for her.
10-19-2017, 08:53 PM (This post was last modified: 10-19-2017, 08:57 PM by Ardashir.)
Ard noticed her concern as she asked about her wound once more and he felt bad for saying anything in the first place. She was clearly still healthy and spunky, “ No it's not that bad I am sorry if I upset you.” She pouted at him and the colt did not know whether to chuckle or to feel a little worse about talking about her injury. He lowered his head a moment and tucked one of his front legs behind the other is a shy movement.
She was still pouting when they locked eyes again and he smiled a bit sheepishly. He lowered his ears some as he had not been exposed to those his own age so had no real social skills. He could not help but think that all this hesitation might have been because she was well a filly. His pricked his ears forward as she spoke once more, “ Oh! I did not mean to tell you that you can’t go there..I mean I just was saying that their might be things lurking out in the dark waiting for something that is wounded but!” He stopped himself a moment, “ I mean you are clearly better now so..”
Ardashir chuckled and nodded, “ Yeah you’re not alone.” He smiled and puffed out his chest some trying to act out like he was a big strong colt that would defend her if needed “ I’m here now!” He declared in a playful voice.. A game for now but, in the future who knew what would happen. He was already slightly protective of the idea of his home and his mother. He leaned his head to the side some as she mentioned she lived no where. “ Well if you are here, and those that care for you are here. Then..can you not call this place home?” He asked and started to venture a bit closer to her. “ I mean home in where your family and heart belong.. I think..I don’t know I have heard that somewhere before I am sure.” He chuckled.
The pale coated boy nodded his head, “ Yup. Sand, and stone and of course the salty sea.” He looked around some, “ Not like here. Even the meadows of home have the scent of salt. You have to wander pretty far almost to the border before you lose the smell.” He turned his head and smelled himself a bit, “ but even then it follows you.” He looked back at Jinju. “ I could take you there sometime if you wish.” He offered the idea to her. He tossed his head a bit and pranced in place, “ But, what shall we play for now?”
He asked her and looked into those crimson colored eyes that were set in that ebony coat of hers.
Ardashir
The blue in an ocean of grey..
@[Jinju]
You’ve mistaken the stars reflected on the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.
Upset? She wasn’t upset, not really anyways. It was just fun to tease him a little. She didn’t feel any different, other than that she had to remember to not jump around too crazy. And that would be something Jinju would probably forget again. It’s nice to meet someone of her age, or close to her age, and she is eager to explore and interact with him. ”I’m good now!”
In her opinion at least. And, like Ardashir said, he was there now too. His stance makes her giggle softly and nodding eagerly at the same time. Not that she was thinking of danger and needing protection, Jinju is too young for that. She does however, like their little play. ”Yes! Nothing will come if we’re together” she finishes, bouncing a little on the spot. Not that she thought something would come if she were alone.
”Call the forest home?” she asks, basically summing up Ardashir’s words. The logic of that has her head tilting a little as she studies him, before glancing around to her environment. She did really like the forest. ”I think Terran would want us to live in a place with other equine though..” she mumbles softly, frowning a little. Not that she didn’t like that idea, but she wás tired of going from place to place.
With Ardashir stepping closer to her, Jinju gladly moves closer too. She’s not yet aware of what personal space is and how some seemed to think it was important, but she does know she likes to be around others. Especially when he tells her about his home. ”Oh, I wonder what it smells like!” Without waiting for an invitation she steps even closer to the pale colt, the velvet of her nose pressed against his shoulder as she deeply breaths in his scent. ”It’s true! I can smell in on you” she enthusiastically exclaims. His proposal makes her even more excited, just as the way he dances on the spot. ”Can we, please?!”
Just like Ardashir, Jinju is bouncing on the spot. A wide grin starts to tug at the corners of her mouth and she leans in to bump his shoulder. ”Hide and seek! I’ll go hide first” And off she goes, not even waiting for the blue eyed colt to reply. She did prefer playing tag, but she wasn’t really in a condition to play that, hide and seek would have to do instead.
As quick as she can her legs carry her off deeper into the forest, searching for a good place to hide. Her ears twist to see if she can hear Ardashir count in the distance, but other than the birds, she hears nothing. Eventually she dives into a bunch of bushes, using the darkness of her pelt to hide among them.
10-27-2017, 04:48 PM (This post was last modified: 10-27-2017, 04:49 PM by Ardashir.)
Ard was not great at reading the room but he knew that she was not upset with him. She would have walked off and left him there if he had something that angered her. Or, at least he would have thought so he had no real way of knowing. He took her word when she said she was good and was more than willing to drop the subject.
She seemed more than willing to play along with his silly posturing. He looked to her and nodded, “ It does not seem like such a bad place to call home.” The colt leaned his head to the side, “ Do no others live here?” Ardashir was surprised that JinJu stepped in closer almost with him. The colt swung his ears forward as he was sniffed. Her nose pressed to his shoulder and he extended his neck allowing for his nose to almost touch that ebon coat. He sniffed at her as he had done to him along the top of her neck. The scent that came to him was of multiple places but, the sea was not one of those places that hung to her. If horses could blush he was sure this was a perfect moment, “ Yeah it kind of sticks with you.”
He nodded his head, “ I will take you there sometime. You just need to ask.” He would be happy to show her home maybe take her down to play in the waves. He would show her the coastal caves and the little pools that he would visit to see some of the sea life.
Jinju suggested hide and seek , then she was off like a bolt of lightning. Her dark hide adding her in sinking into the undergrowth. He was a bit shocked as she ran away from him so fast but she had been waiting the whole time that they had talked. A chuckle passed his lips and he waited for about 20 seconds before he started off. The forest was too new to him. Even if she had stayed in eyesight longer he was not sure he could have found her. A game was a game though and he was down to explore more of this place. He started at a trot down the path she had started on before slipping out of his view.
His nose was of some use to him Ard would try to catch her scent in the air but this scenting game was new to him. He shook his head a bit in his frustration and pinned his ears back before taking a deep breath and settling his mind. It is just a game no need to get frustrated. he told himself and set about his task on looking for Jinju. He passed by her hiding place none the wiser as he continued to trot along the underbrush. Hide and seek was harder in an area where there were a ton of trees and bushes. Ard turned around after a moment and put his nose to the ground a second. The ebony filly had not gone the way he had chosen to follow and he backtracked a bit
Ardashir
The blue in an ocean of grey..
@[Jinju]
You’ve mistaken the stars reflected on the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.
She can only whole heartedly agree with what Ardashir is saying. ”It isn’t. I like the forest, it feels sheltered and I like the smell” she answers with a nod. It’s so very much different than the smell of Nerine, which clings to his coat. Not better or worse, just different. ”I don’t know.. I’ve seen other around and you can smell them too, but I don’t know if they call the forest home.”
The idea of visiting another land and being shown around excites her. Jinju was sure to ask Terran or Ander if she could go and visit sometime, with or without them. Ardashir’s description of his home sounded like something worth exploring. It’s the very same excitement she uses when she bolts off when looking for a good place to hide.
Her muzzle is lowered to the ground, so she can peek through the thick underbrush to see if he’s coming in the right direction already. She’d made sure to take a little detour, so her scent wouldn’t lead her right to her hiding spot. Leaves rustle gently with each exhaled breath, but Jinju makes sure to hold it when she sees the pale of the colt’s coat. All she hears that moment is her own loud heartbeat, both afraid to be found this quick as enjoying the thrill the feeling gave her.
But no, Ardashir passes by her hiding space and the inky black girl can’t be more thrilled. A grin tugs at the corners of her lips and her ruby eyes twinkle happily. It’s impossible to not giggle when he’s out of sight, she’d been fighting it from the moment he had passed her and barely been able to hold it back. Now Jinju could only hope he hadn’t heard her.
