07-06-2016, 03:00 PM
She was asleep or almost so, the moment he nearly stepped on her. Startled, her blinked sleepy wide eyes up at him as her mouth made a little moue, as he made a hasty step back and an equally hasty startled exclamation. His apology is quick, as she scrambles to her feet and sways slightly, still drowsy and barely able to stifle a yawn but she manages to do so - it’s not polite to yawn in his face, he was her elder after all and if mother was nearby, she probably deliver a prompt rebuke for being disrespectful if she had caught Stoney doing just that. She stifles the shiver at the thought of mother’s teeth pinching her shoulder; it has happened often enough that the pintaloosa has no desire to antagonize her mother and so she tries to be mindful at all times, except like now, where she has strayed far enough away from Scalped’s line of sight but the mare never chased after her… Stoney thinks that is rather curious in and of itself but then she musters a more attentive look and takes the stallion’s measure for the first time.
“Probably not, but if my mother was worried she would have found me by now.” Her little head tilts to the side thoughtfully, “She always seems to know that I don’t leave the Desert, especially not after the big war. Mother said it was too dangerous…” her face pinches together in a pout because she really does like to explore; the oak and the dunes are all that she has come to know and they are getting awfully boring for a lonesome thing like her but Stoney is used to it, being alone that is, though sometimes she plays with a coyote that comes to visit her. She can talk to it and it talks to her, but has yet to know it is some relative of hers’, a cousin maybe, that can change his shape but he never does so in front of her. Truthfully, she hasn’t had much exposure to the weirdness of the Deserts, for all that it is a land of mythical beasts. Scalped has kept her pretty sheltered or maybe figures the girl will figure it all out on her own.
Stoney realizes she is being more than a little rude, staring up at him and going so far away in her thoughts as to forget he’s standing right there in front of her. He looks big and spotted like herself, but she doesn’t put two and two together just yet. “Why are you out here all alone?” Because it seems like a valid question to ask an adult, especially one that is a stallion.