"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
Spear had a moment to himself; a moment that did involve a careful watch kept on his twin sister now that she could turn into a living representation of fire. She was off on her own, but he seemed a bit more confidant that she was not setting things on fire as she went and his heart was calmer for it. But that left him thinking of the hills, how they came to have a name and how the black spotted mare that found them had gone from them as much as he had without a word or a look back. He missed that plucky little mare more than he cared to admit, and she was the first horse he had ever missed besides those that shared his bloodline.
With nary a backward glance, he leaves the familiar and languid haze of Tephra behind him for the equally familiar haunt of the Meadow. He’s been here before, more times than he cares to remember (though most of those times have been spent in the shared companionship of his sister and Lily) and is not quite sure what prompted him to come here again. Perhaps it is the lack of having his twin at his side that drives him out in search of something, or someone. He dwells on this more than he should as his feathered feet find purchase on trails heavily used by the many who frequent the meadow, but as always, his feet know the way to his favorite spot beneath a birch tree that is good for scratching his back against. He positions his thick muscular self against the birch’s peeling trunk, leaning rather casually up against it. If he had to think about it - and he does, for just a minute - it seems the birch is holding him up more than his own four feet do.
His mismatched eyes (the left eye is red and the right eye is black) peer out from the thick black forelock that falls across them. It gives him an oddly barred perspective of the world contained in just this one place, and he can see the shapes of horses going by as their shadows trail them through the wildflowers and the grass. He supposes that most are in search of the usual things - forage and shade since the day is rather hot, as all summer days are loathe to be. Still, not as hot as Tephra can be beneath the glowering cone of her trademark volcano, he muses with half a grin on his face.
Despite how much Siba cared for her dam, even the younger mare needed alone time on occasion. Still on the lookout for a potential home after Nymphetamine's departure from the meadow, the two mares had developed an incredibly close bond. But Siba had also inherited certain traits from her friends back in the Falls kingdom during her time as a filly.
And that was whenever she needed her own space, she took the chance. Of course, she'd bid Nitika farewell for the time being and let her know when she'd be back at some point, but as soon as she was from her dam's side, the filly had the time of her life. She absolutely loved being on her own, not that she would ever admit it to Nitika at the current time. Not when the older mare needed the support of her daughter.
Siba didn't give Nitika an exact time of when she'd be back, because even the filly didn't know this time. She just wanted to get out there and explore, see what she could do with her time today in order to provide entertainment. Siba at first wandered aimlessly, not really picking any particular place to go. It was only when she saw the vast expanse of the Meadow in the distance did she decide she'd go there, having not been there since her sire returned to the Tephra.
Siba followed one of the creeks that flowed from the outer edges of the Forest into the Meadow, her eyes both lighting up with excitement even though one of them was covered by a milky white haze. A couple of fish leaped out of the river as they swam downstream, providing the mare with a sense she hadn't felt since foal hood. Since before the Reckoning and everything went downhill...
The paint mare shook her head and started following the creek upstream. On occasion, she'd stop for a drink or graze on the tidbits of grass growing by the banks, at first ignoring the lush meadow grass spread out before her. At one point, where the creek started getting deeper, Siba moved toward it and stepped in until the water reached the top of her pasterns. The cool water around her limbs soothed the tired mare, providing even more relief from the hot day when she took a drink.
She wondered if this would work considering the creek wasn't all that deep yet... the mare, with her muzzle still wet, tucked her head in, wetting down the junction of her shoulders and breastbone, pleased when it cooled off the sweat that had accumulated there from her long walk. She did the same to her shoulders to try and cool herself down in general before lowering her head to the point that just the tips of her mane reached the water. When she lifted her head back up, the icy cool liquid made the strands of her mane cling to her neck, drawing a pleased sigh from the mare.
It wasn't much, but it cooled her off enough for now. Stepping away from the creek, Siba moved toward the meadow grass, trying her best to avoid giggling as the tall blades tickled the underside of her barrel. Along the way, as she walked, Siba passed a couple of horses, some heading in the direction of the creek, others to get to the shade provided by the small outcrops of trees here and there.
Siba would absentmindedly graze as she wandered through the meadow, and then looked up to the sky when she heard the caws of a bird passing overhead. It was covered in dark feathers, and though the two birds looked similar, Siba guessed it was a raven since it was traveling alone until its partner swooped by to catch up. The mare watched them both for a moment, suddenly wondering what it would be like to be in their position.
To stay a horse, but have the wings of a bird, like a number of Beqanna's residents had. She wondered how it must feel, to be up there, feeling nothing but freedom and not having any ties back to the earth...
When Siba put her head back down, she saw something she didn't expect. At first, it appeared that the tree was moving a little by itself, but upon closer inspection, she could see the silhouette of a horse underneath. She had to admit, it was a rather brilliant idea if you were alone and had an itch you couldn't get yourself. But still, she had to go see this with her own eye.
Making her way to inspect the tree, passing a few more horses as she want, the mare smiled a little when she saw that, indeed, it was a horse that had been shaking the tree. She walked up quietly, her hooves barely making any noise over the grass, her soft voice carrying the words through the wind and to the stallion.
"I must admit, its a rather bright idea you have, using the tree," she commented, the beginning of a smile appearing on her face. "But it still seems like the tree is doing most of the work here; why don't you try standing a little so the branch can really scratch you?"
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
He itched his barrel and muscular flank against the birch tree more than once, causing the whole thing to shake and shed a few green leaves onto his back. The shade was preferred to standing out in the open, something he had not done since leaving the hills. He kept to his sister’s pale side or the shadowy parts of places that offered him respite from sunlight and thinking. Thinking only lead him down a path of remembering that made it difficult for him to walk or forget how to feel all the things he had felt, like love’s first touch across his heart.
Spear found himself sighing aloud.
No, thinking much never did him any good. It was easier to be a complete beast, dumb and laboring through the usual things of scratching itches and grazing until his stomach complained of fullness rather than starvation. He deluded himself into thinking that was why he was in the birch’s shade instead of cooling his feet in the glorious river that ran not far off from where he stood, half-hidden until every time the tree shook from his scratching. It never occurred to him that this would leave him open to curious questioning looks and the potential for company, but then this is the meadow and do not all who come here find themselves inevitably in search of something?
Of course he smelled her long before his mismatched eyes landed upon her painted shape for all that her step was quiet and light. Any stallion worth his salt would have smelled her approach before he heard it, and Spear snorted softly as she spoke. He might have scoffed if Spark had said such a thing, only because his sister would have most likely been sarcastic as she said it since she often was nowadays. “If I stand beneath the branch then I have to do all the work,” he replied with a hint of a grin on his lips. “Or I could just ask you to use your teeth…” he muses, looking her over for a moment before stretching out his neck to breathe her scent in.
"Even if you end up doing all of the work, at least you'll be able to get rid of the itch," Siba pointed out, a smirk appearing on the lines of her face.
The stallion then pointed out that Siba could use her teeth to help, something that made the mare roll her eyes. She looked over the stallion a moment to get a proper look; he was a muscular being, close to her height. His paint pattern was not completely unlike hers, the brown spots only different by a few shades since Siba's were more of a blood color due to her sire's bloodline.
Like the mare's one blue eye, the stallion's were unique as well. The difference was color, obviously. Where the mare's was bright blue, like her dam's, the stallion's were a mix of bright red on the left, and obsidian black on the right. Siba had to admit, she found the sight quite peculiar, but pretty as well since she found the unusual interesting.
The stallion stretched his neck out, an action Siba reciprocated. The two inhaled each other's scents, Siba's nostrils flaring slightly as she took in a deep breath.
Once the introduction was out of the way, scent-wise at least, Siba pulled back. She gave the stallion a friendly smile, "Well, if the itch is still bothering you, I could help. By the way, I'm Siba. What's your name?"
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
Either way, he figured he’d rid himself of the itch even if the birch tree did all the work for him. Bark or branch, both were just as good as the other. However, her teeth might be a lot nicer… He can feel her eyes crawl all over him as she takes a good long look at him. Spear took the time to look her over too, noticed how she had one eye of blue as blue as a summer sky and the other, well… It was milky and he knew her to be blind, the eye good for nothing. He felt no pity at the realization, for she was full of mirth and smirks and she had moxie, which not many with a handicap like that would but she looked like she brooked no bullshit and had a good head on her, or so he hoped.
“I prefer to let the tree do all the work,” he answered back with a chuckle.
She finally stretched her neck out to him in reciprocation and they spent a moment inhaling one another’s scents. Horses have done this since the dawn of time, and these two were no different in utilizing the most basic of equine greetings and familiarization. She’s the first to pull back though, before he give her nose a friendly bump from his own and he looks her, intrigued. He notices that she is quick with the smile, his mouth responds in kind - a smile for a smile.
“Well now…” he drawls, still intrigued but more so by her idea. She’s a smart one, he muses to himself. Smart and a little sassy. He couldn’t help but chuckle again and sidled a little closer, “You’d really do that, Siba?” he asks, mentioning her name rather softly before straightening and flashing her a charming grin. “I’m Spear, and that’s mighty nice of you!” He repositioned his big frame to show her the bark-scraped side of him, it was quite roughened up and the itch was long gone but he was curious to see if she’d actually set her teeth to his skin.
Still couldn’t say why the intrigue, since horses have groomed each other since the dawn of time. Maybe it was because they were relative strangers and here, she offered to help him out anyway.
Siba had a feeling that the stallion was now messing with her. After all, why the sudden attitude change, his willingness to expose his muscular back to a mare he didn't even know? Then again, they'd exchanged scents through blowing air from their nostrils, a common exchange among horses who were unfamiliar with each other. So, for some reason, Siba didn't find it all that farfetched that she was willing to perform this favor. After all, others had done it for her; what was the harm?
The paint mare walked up to the stallion until she was right next to him, her height just matching his own. Stretching out her neck a little, Siba positioned her muzzle to have access to the itch spot on Spear's back. Pulling her lips back, the mare exposed her teeth and met the stallion's skin, being careful to not break any skin as she scratched his itch for him.
Ignoring the already roughed-up fur as she got rid of his itch, hopefully, Siba continued grooming the stallion until she was certain that it was gone, for now. When she was done, she ran her muzzle over the fur to press it back down.
Siba turned her good eye back to Spear, "All better?"
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
It must be the season that is making him a bit more mischievous than he has ever been, unless it happened to be his sister - he’d tease her from sunup to sundown, but she let him, only ending the mirthful banter with a hard look and a harder nip of her teeth that made his skin smart from the pain of it. This one, seemed more serious than most, but he caught hints of the sass in her from time to time. She snapped back with as much wit as a raven has and it took him by surprise, egged on his mischievous side and made him see how far he could take his ridiculous demands.
But she gave in! She walked right up to him, to the offered side and set her teeth to the task of ridding him of the bothersome itch that no longer existed. Up close, he could see that she was as old as he was, and as tall and he liked that he could easily look her in the eye. He leaned into her teeth, cocking a hip in relaxation as she tended to the itch and then smoothed his fur back down. It took no time at all, but in the few minutes that it did take, he’d reach out and nip gently at her own skin just to show his pleasure and thanks to her for what she was doing. He’d have owed his sister much more than a grooming session in return, like the gift of an apple, perhaps one of the last of the season…
He snaps back to attention at her question, grinning cheekily before he responds to her. “Much! Thanks to you. Now, how can I ever repay a stranger’s kindness?”
When she started grooming the stallion, Siba figured it would only be a one-sided display. It was common for horses to mutually groom each other, but Siba was only doing this for a small favor. She didn't need anything in return for grooming the stallion's back where the itch was. So imagine her surprise when Spear, a couple of times throughout the few minutes Siba spent scratching his itch, returned the favor by using his teeth to nip at her skin and relieve any itches she may have had.
And, if it hadn't been for the season, Siba would've had a much more apathetic attitude about it. But for some reason, with the stallion nibbling at her skin, she found herself enjoying it more than a mare should have for her age. She thought the stallion was just teasing her out of a playful attitude. The only weird thing was he hadn't been this cheeky just a few moments ago. Why the sudden change? Could it have something to do with the strange wind on the trees? The whispers she heard in the night sky? The start of the trees shedding their leaves signaling that winter was only a few suns away?
Spear turned around, giving her a cheeky grin before practically shouting "Much! Thanks to you. Now, how can I ever repay a stranger's kindness?"
Siba didn't know what to say for a moment, taken aback by the stallion's exclamation. She took a shy step back, suddenly feeling bashful as she offered a reply, "I-it's all right, I w-was glad to help. Perhaps though, at the very least, you could not refer to me as a stranger? I figure that's not exactly what I am anymore."
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
His sister has long stood by the accusation of him being hotheaded and brash, and he can only imagine what she’d say or think if she saw him acting like a foolish colt in this mare’s presence. Where had that cheekiness come from? It was rather unbecoming of him and he can see that it was disconcerting to her, - she backed up a step, became shy and shuttered in his presence, and seemed bashful in her stuttering reply. He grew quiet and calmer once her teeth left him, once the itch settled back beneath his skin having been dispelled, and thought it must be this season that made him different, even crazy.
(He’d only been this way one other time, but his advances had been welcome and they’d danced around one long into the night, outlasting even the moon that shone bright on their skins.)
Spear took a step forward and offered her his nose again, the expression on his face apologetic as he said to her, “You’re right you know, strangers we are not but more like friends newly met.” He fixed her with a simple stare and a simpler smile, one that was gentle and coaxing as he touched his nose to hers, bumped it rather than withdraw back to his own personal space. “Tell me more about yourself, since we are friends.” Story for a story, he thinks as he never takes his eyes off of her. He couldn’t think of how to chase the sudden shyness away - Spark was better at things like that than he ever was, he only know how to tease and bark out orders or warnings or the like.
Siba's ears twitched when she heard the stallion take a step. Her eyes looked up, seeing that he was getting closer to her, rather than try to give her more space. The mare's instincts told her to step back herself, to get away from the stallion, but at the same time, his body language didn't look aggressive in any manner. Perhaps he was going to offer an apology of some sort? Which Siba wouldn't mind; like any horse, she appreciated personal space, but her display just now had been one out of shyness and not a haughty attitude like her dam's friend Raxa. Now that was a mare who hated having her personal space invaded, if Siba had anything to say about it.
"You're right, you know. Strangers we are not but more like friends newly met." Now that was a refreshing thing to hear; Nitika almost never admitted her daughter was right, even if it was plainly obvious that Siba was.
Spear offered the paint mare a simple smile, different from the cheeky one earlier. Siba felt a wave of comfort now, as it seemed the stallion's personality had changed and was no longer like a few moments ago. The attitude hadn't bothered Siba until he'd gotten a bit in-her-face about the favor she'd given by scratching the itch on his back. She got overwhelmed when others praised her; Nitika was a bit of a tough-love mare, and with her vegetative-like state lately, Siba hardly ever heard her dam say anything. Which meant that even when she completed a task successfully or got the two mares somewhere safe for the night, a thanks wasn't offered.
She'd been praised as a foal, of course, but the then-filly hadn't really known the impact compliments would have on her later. Now, as a grown mare basically taking care of her own mother, she didn't know exactly how to deal with them.
Spear took another step forward and gently bumped Siba's nose with his own. For a split second, Siba was a bit unsure, but before Spear could pull away, she returned his action with a bump of her own, a small smile appearing on her face.
"Tell me more about yourself, since we are friends."
A harmless request. Now that Spear seemed to have a calmer attitude, Siba didn't have any qualms about getting closer to him. Moving into the shade to get out of the autumn sunlight, Siba turned around so that she was still facing Spear.
"Well, my life's not that interesting. I remember I was born before the Reckoning, and my mom and I were staying with my dad. After it was all over, we tried to find him. We did for a while, and he invited us to go to the Tephra with him, but my mom seemed real out of it so I said no for the time. She and I have been traveling all over Beqanna to try and find a new home, but the last one to check out is the Tephra, so hopefully they'll be willing to take us in.
"Other than that, not much about me. I like to run, I enjoy taking swims in the river and the ocean, and my favorite grazing spot is a small meadow cliff I found near the waterfall in the Field," she offered. Siba decided to not tell the stallion about her blindness, because figuring out the cause of such a thing could be quite simple.
Siba herself had been told by her dam that it came from the fact that Nitika had blue eyes, as had her own parents, and one of them went blind in both her eyes due to the harsh light of the sun. Which is another reason Siba had moved into the shade; she only had one good eye and couldn't really afford to lose it at this point.
"And what about you? What can you tell me about yourself?" she asked, flashing the stallion a cheeky smile.
