love from the west; loic

[Loic]

It’s the sound of another that disturbs the black stallion’s peace - although he would not consider having been disturbed.  The stranger simply brought him out of his own mind, snapping it like an elastic band back into true reality as she steps into his field of view. He’s standing amongst young trees barren of leaves, hardly camouflaged by his surroundings, so it strikes him as slightly odd that the maiden did not notice him prior to his lapse of consciousness - but getting a good look at her walking to get a drink of cool water, the stag realizes that the girl is unwell. She moves as though her body aches, or her muscles are too tight. Curious, he thinks. He notes her swollen belly swaying back and forth with each step and he feels a pang of pity crawl through his chest. Winter has not been kind to this woman, he tells himself, as if he needs more reason to approach the ailing dame.

Stepping from his shabby camouflage, he does exactly that. Approach her. He disregards the scent emanating from her - the almost rotten fruit sweetness of what he assumed was infection coursing through her veins. He ignores a natural instinct to avoid her, despite alarms chiming in his mind. It is not an ideal situation, to expose himself to her should she be infectious, but he is perhaps empathetic to a fault.

“‘Lo there,” he speaks softly, his modulated voice rolling through the quiet. His honey brown eyes watch her wearily, though he does put conscious effort into not making it obvious that he is cautious. “Enjoying the season?” A humorous introduction - he can clearly see that things could be better for the maiden. The male twists his face lightly into a grin of compassion for a few moments before taking his light brown pools off of the bay mother-to-be, directing them to the bubbling water she heartily took drink. “I’m Loic. I’m not from here, and would appreciate a bit of information as to where I am,” the man speaks lightly, hoping to quickly establish whether or not the female is of sound mind and is going to trust his presence. He is by no way a malicious being, and would be satisfied with being able to give the woman a bit of an escape from her situation if only be it chatting with a complete stranger. He once more eyes the rolling water where she had drank, but does not offer to come any closer. Loic was brave and kind, but he was not one to completely ignore the caution in his mind.

@Wishbone