 Plan? I don't need a plan! He hadn't even really said goodbye when he left, but she isn't entirely sure that's the reason she's following him.
It certainly isn't because of the way he tastes. She'd licked him once and it had been decidedly unpleasant. He'd tasted all kinds of weird and sour – which is strange, when you consider all the things that she considers yummy. She's learned to like most of the normal things, like grass and water and milk. But she's also learned to like a lot of abnormal things, like tree bark and dirt and even the occasional rock. She's licked them all and liked them, but she didn't like Zai.
Maybe it's boys. That's probably it, he probably tasted like boy.
But even if he tastes like boy and he's trying to leave, she's not done with him yet. And so she follows him, an (amazingly) silent little shadow as he leaves the confines of the Valley. She trails him, unseen, as he makes his way out from the mountains and travels the short distance from one kingdom to the other. She wrinkles her nose when he enters the thick undergrowth of the jungle; it smells weird here, it's not something she's used to. No doubt a more sensible or timid foal would turn back, but Val is neither sensible nor timid. She wants to know where he's going, and she's not going to let a little thing like a strange land that she's completely unfamiliar with get in her way.
But walking through this strange land isn't so easy. There's all kinds of things here that can trip a filly up, and she finds it very difficult to keep going, let alone match Zai's pace. All too soon, his body is swallowed up by the underbrush and she's entirely alone.
No doubt this should have caused her to panic and worry. She's lost in a strange kingdom, not even the slightest hint of how she got to where she is, let alone how to get out. She's beginning to suspect that here, there are strange things that go bump in the night and that some of these things might try to eat her. But she's not afraid; she's Valkerine, daughter of Covet and Librette. She'll kick their ass if they come for her.
No, she's not afraid. She's annoyed that she lost Zai.
And so, before too long, she reaches a clearing and decides to abandon her stealthy ways because, well, it's getting boring being out here all alone. And so, in the most incredibly tactless, brash voice possible, she bellows for him. "ZAI!!!!" She takes a deep breath and bellows again. "ZAIIIIIII!" Little does she know that she's echoing what he'd done to her mother months ago. She stands in the middle of the clearing and tenses herself like a horse about to shake its coat, closing her eyes and pouring every fiber of her being into bellowing. "ZAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
And then the chestnut yearling stands and waits.
VALKERINE!
@[Shahrizai]
all things are possible
even the worst of things He does not taste weird. He tastes like a perfectly normal horse. Why she had tasted him in the first place was the real question here. What kind of horse licks another horse? Now that’s weird. Which he would have happily told her if he knew that she was thinking of how unpleasant he’d tasted. Which he should have told her originally when she’d said he tasted funny.
At the moment however, that is the furthest thing from his mind as the meeting comes to a conclusion. He remains where he is for several long moments, watching everyone disperse. He was just thinking he might attempt to locate his sister when the shout splits the air. His dark head jerks around, ears snapping forward in surprise. There is only one horse that had ever called him by that name: Librette’s opinionated (and weird) daughter.
The second bellow propels him into motion, his long legs moving easily through the dense foliage. The third bellow causes several nearby birds to burst into flight, followed by a cacophony of loud squawks and protestations. Criminey, does that girl have a set of lungs.
He doesn’t see her right away. As small as she is, she is barely visible through the large leaves of the surrounding plants. As a result, he nearly barrels her over. He doesn’t however, catching himself at the last moment. A surprised snort escapes his dark nostrils as he gives her decidedly disgruntled look. His dark brown eyes glance over her, making sure she is unharmed. Once he is able to ascertain for himself that she is perfectly well, he gives a soft sigh, amusement and exasperation warring for dominance on his features.
What, exactly, are you doing here? shahrizai
Plan? I don't need a plan! He shows up, and she gives him her best entirely unimpressed look. Of course she's not really unimpressed, he had appeared so comfortable amongst the tripping-hazards that seem to litter this place. She notes with pride that she's called him and he's come quite literally running. So what if there had been a little bit of collateral damage in the form of a bunch of birds? Details, really. There's probably bunches more of them here anyway.
She doesn't startle when he almost runs her over. She's very difficult to startle, being that she's got little in the way of fear. Perhaps that will change once she finds herself orphaned at an early age, but for now she doesn't have a sense that anything can go wrong in the world. In her mind, Val and Thorny and Mom and Dad are all more or less invincible, and the world is butterflies, rainbows, and sunshine. And, apparently, Zai. She does notice that he seems disgruntled, perhaps exasperated. But she also doesn't especially care – and he doesn't seem entirely unwilling to tolerate her presence. Not that that would've necessarily stopped her.
"What are you doing here? she returns, her voice exactly as adorably sassy as you're currently picturing it in your head. She hasn't answered Zai's question, and she knows it, and she doesn't intend to change her answer. Or, really, her non-answer. She doesn't have to give him a reason she's here. And anyway, her reason is mostly some combination of "because you taste funny" (which he does, even when compared with dirt and that tree she licked on the way into the jungle) and "because you came here and it looked interesting" and above all "because I was bored."
Instead, she looks at him with a stern expression, which on her youthful face just comes out looking…well, more than a little silly. "You're supposed to be in the Valley. Mom said." she scolds, her voice confident. Librette hadn't said that he was supposed to be in the Valley. Librette hadn't said anything of the sort, and had in fact never mentioned anything about it to Val one way or the other. But Zai didn't know that.
And with that she is quiet, her stance defiant, her small face stubborn, as though daring him to come up with a reason not to report him to her mother.
VALKERINE!
all things are possible
even the worst of things His dark eyes are fixed upon her small, upturned face. In that moment, he has to struggle to keep the smile from his lips. Her face is such an adorable mixture of pride, awe, and forced disaffection that he cannot help the way his lips twitch in amusement. This is followed by a surge of affection for the brash and opinionated chestnut filly, though he keeps any hint of it from his expression. He is decidedly more successful than she is.
If he had eyebrows, they would have disappeared under his hairline at her first question. The audacity! He is still trying to contain his surprise when she makes her next (obviously false) statement. This time he simply cannot contain the laugh that bursts from his lips. He thinks that perhaps this is payback for everything he put Librette through when he was younger. At least he doesn’t have worry that her mother might come bursting through the underbrush to wreak vengeance upon him (really, his mother is not that scary. Mostly).
Your mom never said any such thing.
Though the thought of her saying something to that effect is amusing.
And my mom lives here. So there.
In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have added that last part. She is turning him into a yearling again. What the hell is happening here? The only way he could have made himself seem less authoritative was if he had stuck is tongue out. Sadly, he’s tempted to do so for a brief moment, but he resists. Instead, he tries to gain back some of his lost authority.
And you still haven’t told me why you are here.
He really hoped she decided to tell him this time, because this could potentially go on all day. shahrizai
Plan? I don't need a plan! He responds to her, denying that Librette had said it, and the fact that he's right doesn't matter at all. She continues to look at him with that look, the one that is all attitude, the one that so clearly says he's in the wrong, and she's just so very over it
"Mom did so."
And unlike him, she does not hesitate: she sticks her tongue out, thrusting her head in his direction to accentuate the gesture.
"And now, you won't have to worry about why I'm here, because I'm just going to have to tell on you." She sticks her tongue out again, and with that, she disappears back into the undergrowth, headed back for the Valley.
VALKERINE!
Yay for closing threads! I'll have a new one up in a bit here to catch us up with the current timeline of it all <3
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