i won't blackout // (lead/open)

[Deleted]

Caoihme.,

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[Hud]

"Oh say, can you see my eyes? If you

can, then my hair's too short!"

"Ah must say, yuh seem preddy fearless, shah."

Devereaux had made his way to the southern portion of Bastein for the sole reason that he hadn't been since he was a child. No telling what chaos lurked toward the delta that fed into the ocean. He was far east of that now, almost to the border between Bastein and Baahir. It was by his father Armand's suggestion that the newly-crowned king venture here. Good thing he did. If he hadn't, he might never have found this mare.

This had to be one of the only places in Bastein that wasn't at least lightly frosted over. The water was colder than usual - the winter would do that. Most of the water was still, however, with the occasional tiny rapids closer to the delta. The coldblood seemed to walk in with a little but truly not enough caution. She was no native, as obvious by her attempt at looking for alligators. "Dough, dere's really nofin' t'fear dis time'a year. Gatuhs' sleepin', y'see?" The stallion approached the wading mare from the other side of the bog, a small stretch of water between them. It was close enough not to have to yell to be heard.

[Deleted]

[/i]' Maybe that was what he meant? His words were in the native tongue, but they sounded..foreign? Maybe that was the way others in the bayou talked? She swished her tail, letting it sink into the water as she turned to look at the tiny stallion. "Being fearless has gotten me where I am, sir..?" She responded loudly, hoping he'd throw a name out to her afterwards. His coat was an orangey red colour, and it seemed odd for a horse in the Bayou. They were usually covered in mud and dark in colour. She cocked her head, examining him closely as she stepped closer.

"Oh." Her words were short as she scanned the water again. "Well, you can never be too sure if they are sleeping. They get hungry. but I guess this part is pretty empty of any gater's, eh?" She sunk lower into the water, stepping into the deeper part. She churned her legs, staying afloat as she faced the stallion. "I'm assuming, as you know this land so well, that it is yours, yes?" She questioned, shaking her head to sprinkle water atop the surface of the water.[/ul][/div]

[Hud]

"Oh say, can you see my eyes? If you

can, then my hair's too short!"

"Oh, quite de opposite," Devereaux confided. "Gatuhs prefer de warm, so, dey travel south, toward dis area durin' de wintuh. Dey sleepin', but dey gotta come up fuh air. Ah wouldn't go much deepuh, f'Ah were you..."

Devereaux stayed out of the cold water today, his hooves caked in the dry mud of autumn. The ground was harder in winter than any other time. His coat cleared itself up naturally, though his hooves never seemed to. He could well have dirt on them that he'd had for years. It didn't bother him. The stallion snorted at her assumption of his kinghood. Was it that obvious? He'd never gotten the question before the ceremony. Strange.

"Yeah, Ah'm da king'a Bastein. Name's Devereaux."

[Deleted]

Caoihme chuckled to herself, smiling widely at the small stallion. Her well-toned legs kicked powerfully at the water as she watched him. " I guess that is understandable. Why not go any deeper, hmm? Gaters wake up or something?" She half-joked, a little more cautious about how her legs struck in the water. Her ebony tail floated on the water, along with her mane as she watched it collect algae.

She smiled again, before deciding to haul herself onto the bank beside the stallion. She shook herself out a distance away from him, trying not to get him wet. With a drenched coat, she snorted and stepped close to him again, her height towering over him. "Devereaux? That's quite a wonderful name. Sounds..foreign to the land, but then again, I grew up in the northern area where it's cold, mhm. Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya, King of Bastein. My name is Caoihme, and I'm just me. Nutin' special." She adjusted her ears to hear his words, tail swishing as it slowly started to become damp.

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[Hud]

"Oh say, can you see my eyes? If you

can, then my hair's too short!"

"Gatuhs kin only hold de-yuh breff fuh so long... Plus, yuh wakin' 'em up ennyway!" Devereaux watched as the larger mare pulled herself out of the water beside him. She remarked on his name. " 'Foreign to da land'? Dis where da name came from!" The stallion watched the mare, sopping wet. He didn't bother moving; water did not bother him, especially not his precious swamp's water.

"Nice ta meet ya. What brings ya t'Bastein?"

[penguin]

The stallion walked slowly through the lands, not caring about the chill of winter that much. It was still pretty mild compared to other years so it would be wrong of him to complain even if he was feeling cold. His bay roan pelt, which had smears of green on from the vast amounts of moss, seemed to fit quite nicely into the persistently emerald surroundings as he made his way towards the river. He'd only seen this place in passing on the way into the lands when he was accepted, but he had not been back to enjoy its vast amounts of water. There were many places for the alligators to hide, which would make it a risky watering hole particularly in the summer months. However they would not be an issue this time of year, not if he was careful and didn't disrupt their sleeping grounds too much.

Flicking his tail the stag picked up a trot to shorten the time it would take to get there. He had only travelled for a few minutes when the distant sound of voices caught his attention. Pricking his ears the gent followed the vocals, slowing his gait as Devereaux, the new King, and another equine came into view. His eyes travelled straight past the mare until he realised how much taller than Dev she was, and he did a double take. He guessed she would be even taller than him! His muscles relaxed and he felt himself cheer up, curious to meet this equu. For once it seemed he would not have to worry about being intimidating. He might even be able to understand why some mares that were smaller than him were so off-put by his warmblood build and sixteen hand high height. To him it wasn't very big, but evidently something about the way he looked set off alarm bells. Now it was his chance to figure out if it really was just his appearance that did this, or simply just his sex.

Nickering softly to announce his presence, the gent stopped alongside the horses. It was only close-up that he noticed that the mare was wet. His brown eyes moved to the river, noticing the disturbed algae, and did his best to suppress a chuckle. She had nerve, that was for sure. Not wanting to interrupt the conversation he stood quietly, waiting until he was either included or they left. Regardless of how things panned out, he planned on getting his drink but only when the waters had settled down enough for any awakening alligators to go back to their slumber.

[Deleted]

Caoihme did a mental facepalm as the words left his mouth. " Oh lordy, I apologize. I'm a bit of a spur of the moment kind of person, and the thought of waking them didn't happen to cross my mind. " Her voice lightened into a laugh as she stopped talking, blinking slowly to clear a few drops of water from her eyes. Another hearty laugh vibrated from her throat as the small stallion spoke again. " Well, sorry, mister Devereraux. I'm not from this land. I'm from up north, in the land of lots of snow." She kept her tone friendly, not wanting to offend him with her remark. She swished her tail, letting it fall after the third time around. She looked down at her feet and noticed pieces of algae sticking to the feathering of her legs. She grimaced softly. Fabulous. she thought coldly, hating to be dirty. " I was thinking of settling down somewhere, preferably warm. I'm getting a bit tired of the cold, mhm."

Caoihme, out of the corner of her odd-coloured eye, turned to the newcomer, dipping her head. " Hello there, mister." She wasn't sure what else to say, but she wanted to at least greet him and not be rude to him. After all, he was only a little smaller than her and she grinned.

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