girl with one eye ― gideon/open

[skibbereenfarms]

ASTRID
―the valiant

The misty air began to layer the linings of her lungs, and Astrid found that up here it was very hard to breathe. She didn't even consider the idea that she was nervous about being in Orut once again. She had not been here since she was a mere yearling, but even then it was hard to forget the way when it'd been ingrained in the skull like that. There were various times that she stopped herself whilst scaling the mountains, nearly turning her back on them and never bothering to give a second glance. Why on earth had she even bothered coming this far? There was nothing here, just a load of fog and over-saturated plants. What are you looking for? Her bitter thoughts chastised her with every step, reminding her that what was once here no longer existed. It had all washed away.

Honestly. I don't know what you're doing. There's noth― The mare, her head angled upward, had picked up on something. Nostrils flaring, she studied the scent, a look of confusion and slight frustration strewn across her face. Perhaps she wasn't as alone as she'd thought.

If another were in front of her at that very moment, perhaps they would have noticed the brief flash of fear across her face. The mare's mind momentarily buzzed with worry, though it only took her a second to regain composure. No, of course this new scent wasn't what she had thought it was. It was new, something she'd never tasted before. It couldn't have been anything else, really.

Astrid gave an annoyed exhale, already frustrated with the stranger and his aroma. She had the option to turn back now, but somehow she could not do so. What with there being various reasons for this, she decided that it was because she wanted to be sure whoever was living in her former home needed to have the proper qualifications if they wished to stay here for an extended period of time. Yes, that sounded just about right. The mare then extended her neck proudly and began attempting to seek out the source of this strange new smell. She hoped to find someone at the end of the trail, otherwise this entire chase would be for nothing. Astrid despised pointless pursuits.

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[Mallory]

Gideon

Already the life as King was proving to be a trying task. Granted, Gideon had very little patience as it was. It was certain a trait he needed to work on, but he had time to hone that skill.

It seemed like as soon as he had staked his claim, things began crawling out of the woodwork the second his decrees were silenced. He was not ignorant to the sudden smells that invaded his nostrils; not when they were so strong and fresh that there was no doubt that they from the same day, or at least very recent. The euphoric feeling was gone, now. The foreign feeling he hadn’t felt in so many years went rushing out of his system as soon as these intruders came to his attention. To Gideon, they were intruders until proven otherwise, for there had been no trace of them when he scoured the land throughout the passing days before his claim to the throne.

To say he was annoyed was putting his ill mood lightly. The pale stallion’s body sliced through the mist at a determined pace. Gideon was certainly a stallion not to be taken lightly. He was tall, statuesque in build with thick cords of muscle and sinew that flexed and bent with every determined stride. His pale coat held a distinctive pale golden sheen despite the significant lack of light. He was still bright enough to stand out against the mist, alerting to the figure he approached to his present. Well, if his curt and rather gruff whinny didn’t alert her first. While nearly not as aggravated by now, Gideon was still wary of the mare despite the height difference. She did not carry herself like most mares did; there was something considerably different about this mare in particular. It was enough of something to make Gideon reconsider his original demand and decide to be considerably more...respectful.

“Welcome to Orut, though no doubt you know where you’ve come in to,” he stated calmly, even though he felt totally different underneath. At least he had a firm grasp of his control. “Gideon, King of Orut,” he continued, introducing himself curtly. His blue eyes assessed her carefully, noting that just like she carried herself, she was built differently too. Most mares he had come across in his lifetime were sleek, dainty things. This mare was built to fight. It was unexpected, but impressed Gideon just enough to have him reconsider his original evaluation...Though he wouldn’t give that away, for now. “What brings you to this secluded part of the land?”

status: complete
notes: partially recycled
"Gideon Speech"

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[skibbereenfarms]

ASTRID
―the valiant

A simple turn of the head brought the other into her sight. Her eyes slowly rolled about as she moved at a much slower pace, just then deciding to take her sweet old time in order to gather a little more information before they properly spoke. She would be lying if she said his essence wasn't daunting, although she had no real problem with telling anything but the truth. It was a fact that he was far more massive than her own father had been, and while she was somewhat relieved of the lack of resemblance, there was still the matter of facing a rather large animal. Although he quite obviously towered over her, she held herself firmly in place. If she were to be intimidated by every beast she saw, she might as well have been a lowly broodmare.

To be honest, she had not expected such...friendliness from someone of his stature. She came across dozens of different horses in her time, each bringing something new to the table, but nothing could truly match up to something like this. Almost immediately she formulated her judgement; it was somewhat of a bad habit of hers, but she never made any attempts to break it. It never brought her too much harm. There were many words which she often considered voicing, though the mare did know when to hold her tongue. Most of these opinions tended to remain in her head.

Do you think that just because you are royalty, you deserve my respect? This was a common thought associated with the chance encounter with a King. In all honesty, she believed that the qualities of a King needed to be tested in battle, but she'd be getting far too ahead of herself. Instead, she supposed a harmless conversation would suffice. The way in which a being responded often told a whole lot about who they really are.

"I am not here to bow down to you, if that's what you wanted." Her nose was pointed directly at him, eyes still trailing over his muscles. She was somewhat envious. Best not offend him anymore. Then again, when did Astrid ever listen to her conscience? "Being Oruitian origin, I believe I have a right to be here without question."

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[Mallory]

Gideon

Gideon may have been a rather brash, blunt stallion; prone to be rather rude sometimes, (as a warrior was wont to be), but despite all of that there was certainly one aspect that was a contradiction to his warrior nature. He respected other’s personal space, allowing them quite a bit of allocated space between their body and his. A subtle sign of moderate respect, and if anyone knew Gideon, they would see it as a sign of “You haven’t given me a reason to hate you, yet. Don’t fuck up.” The pale stallion was still cautious, but courteous despite his rough nature. He was a perplexing mix of contradictions that, oddly enough, worked. Besides, he had been raised somewhat properly. His father would be appalled if he didn’t give a mare some kind of respect. Gideon wasn’t a total brute, after all.

His face remained blank. He would let nothing slip or let anything reveal itself, unless it was to aide him in figuring out what on earth this mare was doing in Orut. There had to be some goal in mind. Not many would willingly walk into the misty forest – Gideon knew this personally. Many gave Orut a wide berth, due to outlandish tales meant to scare wee little ones. He almost snorted at the idea, but refrained. He had more important matters at hand.

His ability to keep his poker face caved abruptly, surprising himself. The barkish laughter that tore itself from him was loud, ringing through the mist easily, and was such a foreign sound to his own ears. Her forwardness, which Gideon had little doubt that it would have been rewarded in some cruel manner elsewhere, was so unexpected. He had been half expecting her to try to feed him some half-crocked excuse, but lo and behold...How wrong he was. For once, it was a pleasant change of pace of being proven wrong. “Then take a deep breath, child of Orut. My intention was not to offend,” he replied, the last tremors of his laughter quickly dissolving as his serious nature took back its control. “I, too, am a child of Orut. No descendent of Orut has been here in quite a while besides me, until you. Most who have strayed into here are outsiders with some scheme in mind.”

status: complete
notes: n/a
"Gideon Speech"

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[skibbereenfarms]

ASTRID
―the valiant

The response managed to catch her off guard. Well, she supposed it was his attitude that made her eyes bulge slightly, if anything. At first she felt offended by his sudden fit of laughter, as she assumed he considered her retort to be nothing but an insignificant attempt at control. For a moment, she felt as though she were being mocked. This did not sit well with the mare, and she likely would've reacted harshly had he not explained himself. Surely a stallion of his stature would've given her nothing but disrespect, but it seemed he had done the exact opposite. It was enough to lighten her mood somewhat, her hardened stance slowly easing into a relaxed one. Her face scrunched slightly, her body deciding it was too uncomfortable to be calm. She resumed her previous position, instead holding her head proudly. The mare had every right to believe she had to defend herself, and surely this one would understand that.

Tail flicking about, lashing at her hocks, she began to chew on a proper response to follow up his outburst. She still wasn't entirely sure what his core intentions were, though being a King she had a pretty good idea. As she eyed him carefully, she was almost certain he was attempting to carry on a conversation with her, but her social skills were incredibly rusty, so she couldn't be sure. Still, he wasn't being as blunt as some of the other's she'd met, so perhaps there was a chance for her to actually get to know someone. Not that she needed friends or anything. She was doing very well on her own, thank you very much.

She struggled to come up with a proper reply, so she ended up eyeing him suspiciously for a couple of moments before speaking. Astrid wasn't entirely sure what to do with the information he had given her about her former home. To be honest, she didn't really care, but she felt the need to dwell upon the subject further. She was certain that was how one was supposed to carry on a conversation. "Maybe they do not wish to own up to their blood. It very well may be likely that they are trying to make their own name be known instead of that which was given to them. Earning a name is often better than having it be thrust upon you." Alright, somehow she managed to reveal a little too much about herself. At least it was a task she was immensely proud of. The mare glanced away momentarily before returning to Gideon with a question. "What sort of schemes do these...outsiders present?" She wasn't entirely sure if she cared about the answer, but somehow she felt protective over her former home.

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