The Caged Bird Sings [RED]

[fennecfyre]

In a way, these windswept hills reminded her of the plains she had grown up on. While her smaller size allowed her to navigate through thick forest with a bit more ease than the average horse, she still preferred open spaces to enclosed thickets and woodlands. Atop the scrub-covered hills, with naught but the sky for company, she could see for miles--an ocean of rolling slopes and scraggly copses. Tiny black dots that she knew to be turkey vultures circled high in the sky, searching for food, and a cool wind brushed past her withers and through her bristly mane. Winter's chill could still be found here and there, but the scruffy, hardy mare took little notice. Up here, she felt like the queen of the world--a little wind wasn't going to bother her. 

She was starting to get a bit hungry, however, and the grass at the top of the hills was rather sparse. Spying a thin sliver of stream trickling between the hills down below, she tossed her head and made her way down, careful not to lose her footing on the incline. At the base of the hill, the wind was weaker and the grass was lush, nurtured by the cold, shallow creek. She dipped her head and drank a bit, then set to grazing, champing the grass rhythmically and letting her thoughts wander. It had been almost a year since she had come to Tathra to live as a free horse, and though the life of a loner was a difficult one, the new sights and experiences each day brought had been well worth it. Nevertheless, Aryel was a social animal by nature, and in her current lifestyle, she often went days without seeing another horse. Freedom was nice, but it could be awfully lonely.

RED

[RED]

Ottie's mood is soaring as the day passes, her heart made happy her unending freedom and the weather of the day - a sweet, near-summer sunshine, everything quiet and beautiful, and the heat made bearable by a crisp breeze that ruffles her lush curls. There's some shade and shelter here, where she's tucked into the elbow between two of the lower, slopes leaning above and below her. Water rushes in a stream by her feet and trails down, widening as it hits the floor of the valley. Birds float serenely in the air above her; flowers pockmark the valley. Ottilie inhales heavily and grins to herself in satisfaction.

It's been a long time of nothing happening, but Ottie finally feels like she's getting somewhere. She's been meeting new people all the time, tracking her way through every accessible land, taking stock of every face she comes across, trying to form alliances and gather more information about what will soon be her kingdom. A lot of work, yes, but to her, it's all very exciting. Not long now until she gets what she's wanted forever: a land with her name on it, a herd pinned under her finger. That, or maybe the sheer height of the slope she's on, are making her feel invincible at the moment. She holds onto that sensation. She wants it forever.
    
Movement flashes in the corner of her eyes. Someone picking their way down the slope to her left, following the track of the stream she's currently steeped in, leaned slightly backwards against the pull of the corner. In a split second, Ottie decides the short, stocky mare can't be much of a threat and leaps after her, tail flying.


Hey!

fennecfyre <3

[fennecfyre]

Blue-black ears swiveled at the sound of distant hoofbeats drumming against the turf. Moment's later, a mare's shout caused her head to rise again, ears now perked in interest. There was a newcomer heading her way--a bay woman with white-and-brown markings adorning her. Aryel tossed her head, attempting to shake her shaggy forelock out of her eyes, where it had fallen as she grazed. 'Hey yourself," she called over as the stranger approached. The bay mare was a bit taller than she was, with a more lithe, athletic frame. Aryel's homeland--windswept plains and craggy peaks--had favored horses with small, compact frames that required little nourishment, and thick pelts that could withstand cold and brutal winters. Outside their borders, it seemed, horses could grow to bigger sizes and more elegant forms. While she was quite content with her sturdy build and strong legs, it would have been nice to be just a bit taller.

Aryel's posture was open and relaxed as she faced the other horse. Though a brawler at heart, she rarely ever started fights for the sake of fighting, and found just as much enjoyment in a friendly chat as she did in sparring. Besides, she realized, she was happy to have company at last. "Pretty little spot, isn't it?" she said, indicating the stream with a nod of her head.

RED

[RED]

The girl turns as Ottie's voice reaches her, and she becomes clearer by the second: short and shaggy, mostly monochrome and splashed with white, deep eyes so blue they're almost black. Ottilie slows her pace as she moves forward, halfway regretting her decision to say hi. This does not look like her kind of girl. At all. Not one to hold off on judgement, Ottie looks the stranger up and down as she sidles forward, sloshing through the shallow water. Wind ruffles her hair and spits curls into her vision, causing a temporary blindness, but Ottilie shakes it away and keeps moving as proudly as she can.

Pretty little spot, isn't it? Ottie shrugs as she steps down the level with the stranger. Sure, she offers. The wind blows at her back as she gazes down at the stream, then up at her acquaintance, raising an eyebrow in some semblance of a dare. She’s trying to keep it civil, but she has limited patience for small talk and girls who don’t share her burning ambition. Have you been here long? There are better places.
 
fennecfyre <3

[fennecfyre]

She didn't miss the scrutinizing, appraising look this mare gave her as she approached. Her ears shifted back and her eyes lost some of their pleasantness. Yeah, she knew she was short and, quite honestly, a bit underwhelming, but this chick wasn't exactly a warhorse herself. Nevertheless, she resisted the urge to snipe at her for now. Sometimes, others just weren't used to seeing people like her--ones more akin in appearance to a pony that a true horse. Curiosity and surprise were just things she had to get used to.

"Nah," she said in response to her question. "I was up in the hills admiring the view earlier. Just came down to get a drink. As for better places," Here she raised a brow just as the other did--perhaps unconsciously, perhaps in mockery, "It seems like a fine land to me. The grazing is good and you can spot danger a mile off." Truth be told, she had always preferred open spaces over other types of terrain, like deep forest. She disliked being in any situation where there wasn't room to run away or fight back. "What brings you here, if it's so underwhelming?"


RED

[RED]

With only a few moments of interaction shared between them, Ottilie is already starting to feel the spark of annoyance crawling up her spine. She's big enough to admit she doesn't like being challenged by people, especially strangers, especially tiny, scruffy girls like this one, and everything that's happened in their conversation so far feels like it's leading to an argument. The shifty flicker of the girl's eyes, the defensive look on her face.  The air between the two is crackling, and distasteful attitude is drifting off her company in waves. Ottie fights to keep her lip from curling.  She turns her eyes up to the sky and wills herself to keep the easily-heated blood in her veins down from boiling for once in her life.

As for better places, it seems like a fine land to me. The grazing is good and you can spot danger a mile off. The girl quirks an eyebrow back at her, and Ottie is sharp enough to catch the hint of mockery in that one twitching muscle, a reflection of her own unconscious movement; she stares blankly, blinks, and then resumes an expression just pleasant enough not to raise suspicion. Interesting move. She'd be a witty friend, if Ottie didn't find her annoying from the minute she opened her mouth. Too late. First impressions are hard to shake. What brings you here, if it's so underwhelming?

Ottilie's eyes zero in on her partner, trying to gauge if she's serious. Well, she starts slowly, finding no hint of a joke in the stranger's expression, I'm trying to see everything before I settle down. Better to know what's going on than be caught off guard. Whether you like it or not.

fennecfyre <3 she's a butt lol sorry

[fennecfyre]

(Lol it's fine)

"Off-guard?" Aryel chuckled. "What, did you think the hills were going to sneak up on you?" She dropped her head and cropped up a mouthful of stubbly grass, oblivious to the irritation wafting off the other mare. "Besides, there's not much reason to be on guard in a place like this, at least not in broad daylight. Like I said, you'll see any signs of trouble long before it actually gets to you." A roaming wolf pack or some such danger might pose a threat on the steppes, but, at least you'd have a running start.

"My name's Aryel, by the way." Not that the other mare had bothered to ask, but one of them had to be polite. "I'm assuming you have a name as well?" She was getting an awfully haughty vibe off the other, and if there was one thing that Aryel couldn't stand, it was arrogance. And the best way to counter arrogance, she had found, was to either completely ignore it, acting as if the other horse was no more special than anyone else, or to purposefully push their buttons. She was willing to be civil for now, but she had no issues with switching tactics if need arose.

RED