The mahogany mare’s response brings forth a smirk of understanding to Loic’s dark lips, and a nod from his heavy crown. She was stating what was obvious - the sickness that ran like black venom through her entirety, and faultless babe protected by swollen belly was more than likely difficult to conceal. Loic watches her eyes of brilliant amber narrow in his direction, her attention focusing towards him. He briefly wonders what life was like for her, and how she had found herself in such an unfortunate situation. “You’re in the River, a common territory of Beqanna,” she speaks. Beqanna. It was an unfamiliar name to his ears, and as she finishes his eyes dart off into the distance, taking in once more their surroundings. So far, Beqanna had been foreign and cold - but not in a desperate way. Loic wasn’t intimidated by places he hadn’t been before.
“The River,” Loic repeats. “Seems like a fairly fitting name,” he says as honeyed eyes fall onto the babbling of cool water before them. The bay mare suddenly begins to cough and he can hear the raggedness of her lungs, how the infection has riddled them. Loic shifts towards her slightly, offering a soft muzzle in her direction - but he does not touch her. He knows that the mare is very ill, and his brain continues to heed its caution against directly throwing himself into the pits of disease.
It is a moment before her coughing fit recedes, but Loic is patient. “Is the entirety of Beqanna as down and out as you?” He questions, thick voice hinting at mild teasing. Perhaps a laugh would help the woman forget about her troubles. Perhaps there are more ominous realities happening around him that he’s unaware of. Perhaps he indeed has stumbled into a dark time within these new lands. “I’m Wishbone,” the girl states. He breathes a breath of cold air. “Pleasure, Wishbone,”Loic offers her as a hindleg cocks, the frozen ground making satisfying crunches as his hooves dig in.
He rests beside the pregnant woman, and he listens to each ragged breath Wishbone draws. He thinks of the growing life within her (completely none of his business, but he harbors a soft spot for innocent children) and if the sickness is going to affect it. He wonders if there are others like her, sick and sore, wandering throughout Beqanna. With luck, the bay woman will provide him some insight as to what he’s found himself.
L O I C
just a common counterfeit
i'm an ordinary man
@Wishbone