11-20-2015, 09:17 AM
Para couldn't hide a grin as the stallion bucked at her nip, turning on her heels to lunge forward as he moved into a lope. She kept her gate slower, briefly, to admire the stallion as he ran; he truly reminded her of the ocean, and for a moment, she felt peace. She shook her head, mane flowing around her, lengthening her stride to keep up with Lupei as the field and meadows flew past them, the mare paying little attention to these surroundings. She doubted she would ever come back here. As the mountains seem to suddenly loom before them, she drops to a walk, breathing heavily from the speed of their run, exhilarated as she takes in these new surroundings.
"I will only presume that to be a complement." She grinned in his direction, shaking out her mane as she tried to regain the natural rhythm of her breathing. How exciting this stallion was! She mulled over said stallion for mere moments, the massive forest taking over her thoughts. As they continued into the secluded area, a strange feeling settled onto her shoulders; she felt both at peace, and on edge. The ground was soothing to her sore muscles, the path smoothed down by other hooves, the quiet a wonderful relief from the continual birdsong she had been subject to. Lupei's voice startled her out of her thoughts, and she refocused on the stallion as to not seem disrespectful. The last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. She thought for a moment, but her answer came rather quickly: "I was a peace-maker before I was Para." Her answer was slow, hinting at the thoughtfulness behind it. "But I no longer want to be a delegate. I want to fight, now, and I am willing to be trained." Her ears trained onto the stallion, her voice raising above the softness she had kept in her tone. Peace-making caused the things she was running from, and there was no desire to return to such a job.
The stallion seemed to be in deep thought, and Para had no desire to pull him from his thoughts. His posture hinted at things she couldn't fathom, and her curiosity rose in a wave that she suppressed, instead focusing her ears on the forest around her. It was getting darker, and while her vision was good in many lights, this was an almost oppressive darkness, and her ears were stronger than her eyes. "Then I'm glad to have met someone trusted by more than I." Her remark wasn't unkind, but matter of fact. She was wary by nature but the stallion's words set her at ease. If he was a warrior, there was no better companion to someone untrained in physical warfare.
She noticed how he scented the path and wondered, fleetingly, if they were lost, but the stallion's voice showed no cause to worry. "Straia." She tested the name on her tongue, practically tasting the reality of it. She could hear a jest underneath the harder exterior, but her ears pinned back nonetheless. "I promise I will not make a fool of myself." Her voice briefly cooled, despite the fact she knew he was trying to prepare her. "Nor will I do anything to make you appear less than the warrior you are." She paused when he stopped in the path, his coat barely visible to her eyes in the darkness of the trees. She made out the grin and her own ears flattened back briefly before pricking up again, her hooves shifting on the needled ground.
She went to ask him just what he meant by 'wolves', but was instead drawn to the hunching of the stallion's back, her eyes widening as his form shifted. She snorted, her ears flattening onto her skull immediately, bewildered by the change from equine to...canine. It was still Lupei, she knew that, but it still took a few minutes before her ears slowly shifted forward once again. The toothy grin couldn't help but serve as a reminder that this stallion could kill her, more easily than she had figured; against a wolf, she would be dead in seconds. More than a little set on edge, she trotted after Lupei, the wolf, her ears flicking in all directions as she struggled to get her bearings. The only familiar thing for her now was the smell of the forest and the path beneath her hooves.
Only a few minutes passed, it seemed, until they entered what she assumed was the chamber, and once again Lupei, the horse, appeared before her. Questions were swirling around in her head but she met the stallion's eyes readily, straightening her posture. He seemed to face her as an equal, his words seeming to take on a different tone - this was obviously his domain, and she was honored to be in it. She kept her eyes on the stallion's but dipped her head in respect. "I will serve this home with my entire being." Her voice regained its natural softness, but there was an edge that promised she was ready, her head raising, her jade eyes never leaving the stallion's. "I will repay you, somehow, for this. You did not have to bring me in, yet you did. This is a kindness I am willing to repay with my life, if that is what I must do."