10-15-2017, 09:30 AM
 i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take
She dances away, snapping playfully at him, and Ivar smiles. He doesn’t snap back in return – he had learned from a young age that his physiology makes the playful gesture into a far more startling one. She’s only shown him her little baby teeth; Ivar has an impressive set of canines held by jaws strong enough to crush bone. Best not startle her, he decides. He is enjoying their conversation, after all, and having her run screaming for the forest would not be the most ideal ending to the afternoon. The girl seems excited by the idea of growing into something, but she mentions her brother and Ivar wonders if she doesn’t just want to have something of her own. She is already as colorful – perhaps more colorful – than a sunset. More like a coral reef, he decides, with teal waters and brightly colored fish swimming about. Ivar, who has only ever been black and white, wonders what that must be like. Shirad flits from one subject to another as quickly as a hummingbird darts, and Ivar does’nt manage to hide his amusement. First scales, then hiding places, what will she want to know about next? He has a place, of course, his spring. But that is his, and there are a plethora of other places that he thinks she will find more interesting than a black pool of still water. “There are lots of good hiding place,” Ivar replies, pausing for a moment after that admission to come up with the best of them. Coming from Sylva, he knows she has likely seen more than her share of trees, but Ivar is well aware that there are no trees quite like the ones in Loess. “I think I know just the place.” The piebald stallion moves away, glancing over his shoulder in a clear invitation for Shirad to follow him. The path is roundabout (Ivar might have briefly forgotten the way – he’s not been since he first found it), but eventually they round a rocky bluff. A half-dozen rainbow eucalyptus trees grow beside a clear freshwater spring. The water is not deep, but it has eroded a small hollow into the stone of the bluff. It does not appear to be a large hollow, but Ivar pushes back through the brush and there is just enough room for two adult horses – or one very large adult and a small child – to stand in an be hidden from view. “A lot of the animals come to drink at this pool,” he tells her, his voice lowered conspiratorially. “If we wait long enough, we might be able to scare one.” |