``noble maiden fair [open]

[Mallory]

Morrigan was a young, wee little thing, but she was not dumb. Maybe a little naïve, due to her lack of life experiences, but certainly far from ignorant and lacking any common sense. She knew what grounds where safe to explore without fearing for her life or honor, and what grounds she ought to stay very far away from. This is what led her to the river, Voldea as she had heard it called from the random passerby she had come across in her adventures. It was a slow paced river, but the banks and surrounding area were wide and open. It was a very relaxing atmosphere, which made Morrigan feel relieved. She could take some time to rest without worrying about her safety, finally.

She hadn’t been around many other horses since the death of her own parents. Her father, a worn and battle scarred stallion, had died before her mother – had given his life in one great finally battle to protect her mother and her. The two females didn’t stray far from the final resting ground of her father, however. Her mother found his body and mourned. Her mother mourned so greatly she eventually fell ill out of heartbreak and succumbed to death, too. Morrigan knew it was just the way life was, but still mourned for the loss of her parents. Since then, she had wandered on her own; exploring the world she had yet to see. It was tiresome, though.

The red dun mare, petite in stature and height, picked her way towards the slow paced river. Dropping her dark red muzzle to the water, she drank her fill before her deep brown eyes double checked the terrain around her. It was quiet here, though there was a peaceful atmosphere that eliminated any tension that could form. The little mare could feel the tense drain out of her, as if it was being swept away with the river. The silence was nice, for a while, but eventually Morrigan grew tired of it. All she wanted was a little fun, maybe an adventure or meeting a new face...Was that too much to ask for?

status: Complete
notes: Meh, not my best. It'll get better with time.
"Morrigan speech!" Morrigan thoughts!

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[Deleted]

TIKA

It seemed like every day was a new adventure waiting to happen. New places, unexplored; new tasks at hand. She didn't know exactly where she was, but that didn't matter! She followed where he legs would take her and it seemed to do her good thus far. Tika had met many a horse in her wanderings, from grouchy to playful and everywhere inbetween. She could count the amount of horses she had awoken with her hooves, and the amount who'd chased her off with her forelock. But it was all in a journey's fun. She didn't have anything else making her move, so why do nothing when you could do anything?

The little filly traipsed around the green land, head raised and tail flagging. She had good extension in her gait, and covered ground quickly. That wasn't the point in her movements, though, just something she had taken note of from the horses she had met. She was pretty good at outrunning them! But then again, half of the fun was letting them think they'd get her, and then wasting the effort and giving up once they figured out how it really was. Tika, just sporting 3 years of age, was nearing a crossroads in her life to come. She would need to figure out what she would do, if she would travel or find a place to live, and the point and destination of it all. It was fine and dandy to live in the now and see where your hooves took you, but there came a time in life where evaluation put worth to the days spent alive. Perhaps it was an issue of perspective, but it was a task nonetheless that would soon come knocking on her door. For now, though, the filly enjoyed not knowing anything: being completely carefree and loving it. Not a worry in sight, nothing to fear or deal with -- anything that was daunting could be avoided, and that was something that attracted her to the idea of travel. Each day, a new sight and potential meeting. There is an entire world out there.

She blindly gallivanted between trees and along slopes of the land, but a bit of skittering noises snapped her from her daze. If she were to be running around, shouldn't she at least enjoy the places she visited? The sound came from the trees above, and the filly peered with a craned neck to find two birds dancing along the branches. Their tails flicked and wings fluttered as they jumped around, communicating and enjoying one another's company. A dull pang arose in her throat, but was quickly dispelled with the undertone of the river nearby. Eyes flicking toward the direction, then back to the birds for a moment, she snorted softly and picked up a canter to see what the river was about.

She pushed through the bushes, avoiding the pat-down trail entirely, and made her way between the trees toward the river. Poking her head outside of the forest, she gazed in awe at the sounds and sights of the river. It was magnificent! Something inside her fluttered, but it was there only a moment. Her head snapped to the side as she caught scent of another equine. Quickly she skittered through the brush and trees until she came into view. She looked young, a lot like her (aside from being red!), and instantly the filly sported a grin. A playmate! Tail wriggling and shoulders twitching from the sudden excitement, Tika decided to start the party off with a bang. She started back into the forest, veering around in a circular motion back toward the filly in an excitement-filled canter. She broke out from the trees and into the open from around where the filly was, drinking peacefully by herself. Tika let out a few bucks and a whinny as she passed alongside her, beckoning her and looking behind. Who needed proper introductions? Let's play!

Let's go on an adventure!

[skerrbullian]

In a small clearing in the forest, Kiran grazed, lazily soaking in the rays of sunlight that streamed through the trees. His coat was beginning to thicken, growing in darker, almost bronze, and concealing his summer dapples, but even so, he felt the cold of fall.

Kiran knew cold well, and he dreaded it. He had been born in the rugged country of the Arcarian Range in late fall, and the earliest memory he had was of biting cold, of snow, of wind. It had been a tough time for his herd, tougher still for he and his mother. Without good grazing, she had little milk for him, and many were the times that she had no milk to give. He had grown weak and sickly as the weather worsened.

In search of richer grazing, his mother had pressed steadily south to the lands of her birth, where the snow was not so deep, the cold not so bitter.

Life without a stallion to defend them had been difficult, and so they had learned to move swiftly and silently among the trees. Slowly, his mother recovered from the ordeal, and yet still her milk did not flow. So it was that he had learned to graze and forage far younger than most foals.

As summer faded into autumn, his mother had heard that wild call on the wind, the howling winds from the north that promised danger, excitement, and fresh white powder to roll in. But, with her yearling colt at foot, the gentle mare had remained in the low country.

Now in his second year, the first cold wind had called his mother north. Kiran had not returned north with his mother, instead striking out on his own in the low country around the Voldea River and the Halete Forest. It was here that he would make his home, until he felt strong enough to carve out a territory of his own.

He raised his head and pricked his ears, listening to the sound of drumming hoofbeats. Though he had grown up without the company of other horses, he found himself curious about other horses.

Now was a time for the last adventure before winter gripped the land, a time to run through the forest, swim in the river, and to revel in the companionship of colts and fillies alike. He gaily kicked up his heels, and set off in search of the owner of those drumming hooves.

He trotted steadily through the trees. Always ahead of him he heard hoofbeats. Sometimes he gained on them, other times they sped on ahead. Here and there, the mare's scent lingered on the brush, and he knew she must not be far ahead.

She was staying off the trails, as he was. Was she afraid? Fleeing from something? Kiran's ears slowly flattened to his head, and his pace slackened. Should he go back to his clearing? Or follow the filly?

As he looked around, he caught a glimpse of a willow-the-wisp of a filly cantering through the trees ahead of him. She did not look afraid, but full of joy, and excitement. He cantered after her.

He knew they were heading toward the river. The riverbanks were beautiful in the fall. Looking along the river you could see the whole forest slowly change color, as though the sun had come down from her roost and rubbed against the treetops.

Caught in a daydream, he had gone several strides before he realized the enchanting filly was gone.

Then he caught the scent of a second filly on the breeze.

Slowly, he moved toward the edge of the trees. With his coat, he was the color of the fallen leaves dappled in sun and shade. He hoped he would see the new filly before she saw him.

She was beautiful, her coat shining red like sunset, and mottled with spots. He guessed she was about his height.

Suddenly, the filly he had followed burst from the trees nearer to the red one, bucking and whinnying.

Wrapped up in the excitement, Kiran reared up on his hind legs and whinnied, then burst out of the trees toward the two fillies. What was he thinking? He stopped abruptly only a few lengths from them, heart pounding in his chest.



OOC: I hope you don't mind if I join in?