03-28-2018, 08:13 PM
I have not met very many others in my life, and the novelty of a stranger is as much a gift as is the treasures he now presents. Hod - I repeat his name in my head as the grey horse turns his attention to the leafy bundle at his feet. Uncle Castile's shoulder is close enough to lean into and I do so, shaking my head gently at the tickling in my mane.
He is the first to lean toward the fruits that Hod reveals, trying it before reassuring me that I'll like it too. I've never even heard of mangoes before, and it seems there are other types of foreign delicacies as well. I step toward the pile, but my attention is caught instead by the glittering shells. They smell of saltwater, and I delicately pluck a single white scallop from the bunch, putting it between my front hooves and smiling down at it happily for a moment. It doesn't occur to me that this might seem like odd behavior to the stranger; I'm only looking at the shell after all.
The black and white stallion at my side shifts, and I glance up to meet his mismatched eyes with a smile.
"I love it." I say aloud, repeating it as I look back at Hod again.
"I've never seen anything like it." The admission is true. Despite being nearly two years old, I've yet to leave the safety of Loess. Mother has been increasingly difficult to find, and Lepis often finds herself spending days searching for the buckskin mare. There's no need to explore other lands when all her time is taken up here in the hilly realm.
"Oh yes please! Tell us more of Ischia. Is it true that the seashore glows? And that the water is full of bloodthirsty sharks?!" I'm not entire sure about that last one. The seamonster had seemed amused by my reaction to that story, but his laughter hadn't reached his blue-grey eyes. But who better to let me know than a true resident of Ischia!
As usual, I realize only belatedly that this is probably the sort of situation where I should be acting more like an adult. More like a queen, and less like a child. Such occasions are becoming ever more common now, so I shake my white-tipped mane across my shoulder with a toss of my head, realizing as I do that it is almost as long as Kuma's now, and no longer the wispy brush of childhood. There's still a bright smile on my face and genuine curiosity in my own blue grey eyes, but I've pulled myself up straight, standing beside Castile and realizing that I'm barely a hand shorter than he is now.
He is the first to lean toward the fruits that Hod reveals, trying it before reassuring me that I'll like it too. I've never even heard of mangoes before, and it seems there are other types of foreign delicacies as well. I step toward the pile, but my attention is caught instead by the glittering shells. They smell of saltwater, and I delicately pluck a single white scallop from the bunch, putting it between my front hooves and smiling down at it happily for a moment. It doesn't occur to me that this might seem like odd behavior to the stranger; I'm only looking at the shell after all.
The black and white stallion at my side shifts, and I glance up to meet his mismatched eyes with a smile.
"I love it." I say aloud, repeating it as I look back at Hod again.
"I've never seen anything like it." The admission is true. Despite being nearly two years old, I've yet to leave the safety of Loess. Mother has been increasingly difficult to find, and Lepis often finds herself spending days searching for the buckskin mare. There's no need to explore other lands when all her time is taken up here in the hilly realm.
"Oh yes please! Tell us more of Ischia. Is it true that the seashore glows? And that the water is full of bloodthirsty sharks?!" I'm not entire sure about that last one. The seamonster had seemed amused by my reaction to that story, but his laughter hadn't reached his blue-grey eyes. But who better to let me know than a true resident of Ischia!
As usual, I realize only belatedly that this is probably the sort of situation where I should be acting more like an adult. More like a queen, and less like a child. Such occasions are becoming ever more common now, so I shake my white-tipped mane across my shoulder with a toss of my head, realizing as I do that it is almost as long as Kuma's now, and no longer the wispy brush of childhood. There's still a bright smile on my face and genuine curiosity in my own blue grey eyes, but I've pulled myself up straight, standing beside Castile and realizing that I'm barely a hand shorter than he is now.
