[PRP] Blanket Weather --- Tove x Savannah

[Whoan]

The sky was dark and snow fell thick to the frozen ground. In between the drifts of heavy snowfall ran a single white figure. Her hooves kicked up very little snow, more the motion of the gallop than hooves striking the ground, and the fleeting figure left no prints. She reveled in the cold as it wrapped around her aura splashed coat. She tossed her frozen antlers against the wind laughing.

A color she knew well enough caught her eye stopping the hind in her tracks. As she trotted to a complete stop, she backtracked a bit. There was a sandy colored horse wrapped tightly in a red patterned blanket. The first horse she had ever met had been red. Her tail wagging with excited nerves, she made her tentative way towards the stranger trying to seem as nonthreatening as a winter spirit could.

belloblossom

Hope this was ok

 

[belloblossom]

Before Savannah had acquired her blanket she loathed winter immensely. Sure, there was snow, but there was also ice and it was on ice that she had the worse experiences with. All of the dirt roads became slick with it, all the soft plains grasses she loved running through became brittle with the chill of winter and worst yet, all the rivers that she splashed through either became savagely cold or frozen solid!

If things had been slightly easier, she could have run through the snow exclusively, avoiding the slick of the ice that could be lurking beneath and keep her blood racing (and her body heat going) at the same time. Unfortunately, it was so chilly that the naturally active mare found her bones aching in the morning, even if she hadn't given a hard run the previous day. It was truly a pain in the neck... and shoulders... and everywhere.

But then she met Ace and Ace became so tired of Savannah's complaining of the cold that the goat had marched straight into a native's village and stolen a blanket off a tree, before running as fast as her short legs could take her. When Savannah heard of this, she grinned from ear to ear and was rarely seen without her blanket from that day after.

Today was no exception. Ace was out in the woodsier areas trying to nose up truffles, despite Savannah telling her it was only wild boars that could do that. She couldn't blame the goat, however, since the tan mare was hungry too and she was growing tired of stripping bark off of trees like she'd seen deer do. Now that she couldn't complain of the cold, hunger was the next on the list and Savannah was ready to bully her companion into sharing whatever she returned with.

The mare was laying down in her blanket, curled up against the chill of the air. Her ears flicked at the sound of approaching hooves and she raised her head to receive her companion.
"Alright, Ace. I'm sorry for calling you a pig. What've you found-Oh."

Savannah wasn't gazing at her familiar, but instead was looking up at a beautiful mare, who looked as though she were made from the very winter chill that Savannah was protecting herself against. Savannah shifted awkwardly and then stood slowly, so that her blanket wouldn't fall from her shoulders.
"Uh, hey." She told the mare, before straightening and flashing the pretty mare a grand smile. "How may I help you?"

Whoan

Sorry for the late reply; I got caught up in holiday family things!

 

[Whoan]

Tove halted a few feet away pawing at the ground nervously with an unseen hoof. She snorted, her breath frosting around her muzzle. Her pale eyes widened as the other gave her a greeting warm enough to melt the snow.

"Help me? Ah...no I do not require help. You look...a little cold," Tove answered daring to trot a little closer, a deerlike prance in her step, "I am sorry to make you move in such a chill. I tend to...enjoy it and follow it. I..." She paused, the smile making her flush pink and duck her head slightly. She felt warm, an odd sensation for the winter spirit. Shaking her head clear, the bells on her dream catcher singing, she took a deep breath of the cold to steady herself.

"Who is Ace?" she finally asked, "I am Tove."

belloblossom

That is ok! I thought you forgot. My bad. D':

 

[belloblossom]

Savannah tried to recover from the embarrassment she felt at the "you look cold" slight. It wasn't as though she wanted to be born with such a short coat. She didn't know why her winter coat was never as long as anyone else's! If the wintery Soquili before her had been a stallion, she would have bit him. But no, this was a mare and Savannah, side from a slight shift in posture, did not appear on the defensive.

Strange, the mare was, to be certain, but she was also beautiful. Savannah never turned beautiful mares away from her company.

"My familiar, her name is Ace." She answered. "And I am Savannah." The mare in front of her seemed to need company, since she didn't (or claimed to not) need any help since she approached. Because of this, Savannah went on talking. "Ace is a goat and rather stubborn one at that. I told her she would only be wasting her time going to try and nose up truffles-you know, mushrooms?-because everyone knows only pigs can do that. Anyway, she got huffy and went off and I called her... Well, she's not back yet, which either means she's out there still attempting the impossible, or she's gotten herself lost." Savannah had only said so to make the retelling of what had transpired more exciting, but now that the possibility of her familiar getting lot on this cloudy winter day made her nervous and she shivered, but not from the cold this time.

"I... You know how to navigate through a forest in wintertime, right, Tove? Could you help me go searching for her. I'm pretty sure she went in there..." Savannah nodded uneasily to the dark cluster of trees. Forests always held darkness, even in broad daylight.Their clustered trunks made Savannah, who thrived in open plains, feel horribly claustrophobic. Maybe it would be easier, she thought, to be accompanied by someone who she wanted to impress. If Tove accepted her proposal, anyway.

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Tove followed the other mare's gaze to the darkened wood and shivered. Trees liked to grab her antlers and trip her so she did her best to avoid groves of them. And these tree were covered in shadows making them all the more sinister to behold.

"Savannah...Savannah..." she tasted the name trying to draw strength from her ability to say and know it, "I admit I am not the most fond of the woods. But I will go with you. Just...help me if I get caught?" Sheepishly she shook her tall antlers. The mare before her seemed strong and brave, things Tove lacked. She could take heart in that, right?

With a small snort, the hind began her treck towards the shadows of the imposing trees, her feet leaving behind small cloven imprints due to her stomping. No tree would best her! She would be brave despite the warning she had gotten previously from her friend about skinwalkers and the low hanging branches ready to reach out and snatch her. Her friend Savannah needed her to help find Ace. And she would do just that.

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[belloblossom]

Savannah was worried that Tove would refuse for a moment, but then she agreed and relief washed over Savannah like a warm summer breeze. The wintery mare seemed just as unnerved by the woods as Savannah herself did. It was because of this that Savannah decided to be brave and she flashed her casual grin at Tove.

"Of course, I'll help you." She said, giving the other a friendly nudge. "We'll look out for each other in there." Then she turned towards the woods and began to walk towards it, comforted by the blanket laying across her back and the mare who walked beside her shoulder.

"So..." Savannah said to break up her nerves in the eerie silence of the forest. "Do you have a familiar of your own?" It seemed unlikely, because Savannah couldn't spy one present, but she supposed they did have a way about traveling, just as Ace had gone off on her own that very day.

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Tove was easily caught up to and soon passed, her dainty gait not enough to keep up with the determined stride of Savannah. She trotted and pranced a little faster to keep up with her.

"A partner sounds nice, but no. It is just me and whoever finds me and takes some time that moment," she answered sadly. She did get lonely often. Her family was missing, if she had any, and she just started opening a little to be able to have friends. She was a very lonely winter spirit.

"Ah no!" she yelped as she felt the yanking sensation of a branch against her antlers. The icicles on her tines fell to the snow and were quickly lost. Panicking slightly, Tove backed up into a frozen, dead vine only getting more caught.

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[belloblossom]

Savannah nodded along to Tove's words and noted the sadness in her voice, so she spoke up.
"I used to think I would never find a familiar of my own. I'd see my friends with their familiars. Like, my friend-he's more of an Uncle, really-his name is Tenzin and he found his familiar really fast, when Damian-that's his familiar-was just puppy. I thought it must be nice to have someone to match with so easily. They call it 'bonding' I think, but for Ace and me, it was kinda more like a 'crack' like when you step on a branch or..." She stopped at Tove's exclamation and turned only to find Tove ensnarled within branches and dead tree roots.

"Speaking of breaking branches..." Savannah said and returned to her companion's side. She leapt a little, though really it was just rearing forward to bite at the braches and untangling them from Tove's horns. It took her three more times before she successfully moved them all away and then it was up to Tove to wiggle her hooves lose. Savannah would have been happy to help with that too, but it would have been easier to do had she been able to see them.

"See? I got you." She told Tove with a friend,y smile before turning away again and starting to move again, though considerably slower than before. "Anyway, what I'm saying is that you'll find yourself a familiar sooner or later, but you won't always recognize the new companion as a familiar until later. Unless you're incredibly perceptive, which I am not, usually.'"

She bobbed her head to avoid getting her mane caught and took extra precautions to make sure that her blanket would not get pulled off of her. After a while, she began to call her familiar's name. "Ace? Aaaaace?"

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

The hind quickly scampered away from the tree falling into a sitting position. Rubbing her nose against her front leg, she regained her composure. As the icicles reformed on her tines, Tove stood awkwardly and returned to Savannah's side with a whispered embarrassed thank you.

Looking up at the dark branches, she found herself musing aloud, "I hope you are right. Though I always wanted a bird. Flying seems so...free." She had run with a flock of snow geese before, even though they were not to thrilled of the outsider.

She joined Savannah in calling Ace's name in hopes the goat would hear that there was another with her mare and come to see what that was about.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

"I don't think I would've done well with anyone besides a goat, if I'm honest, though now I'm probably bias." Savannah said, pausing in her calling. "Don't get me wrong, birds are wonderful, but I'm not sure what good they would do me, since I haven't any wings." She flashed a charming smile at Tove as she added, "Just my good looks here." She then tossed her head back and laughed at herself, for she was not a vain thing. If anything, she chased after the mares that she deemed prettier than she and since that was all of them... Well, she may be on the more self-depricating sides of things, once might remark.

"Bonding me to a bird would have been like trying to bond me to an octopus–did you know that Mers and Seathi actually bond to those slimy creatures?" Savannah had never actually seen an octopus, but she heard enough odd facts about them and chopped up descriptions of their appearance for the idea of having one as a familiar come as a distasteful thing to her.

"Anyway, when you do find your familiar, be sure to come find me, I'm usually in the Western Plains, though I do run about a lot... Anyway, I'd be delighted to see who you choose as your special companion." She gave the other another playful nudge. "Though I dare say if Soquili were allowed to apply for the job, I'd volunteer straight away. I rather like you, Tove, despite our just meeting."

Perhaps she would have gone on, but from the frost-laden bushes appeared an orange tail and Savannah's eyes lit up with relief.
"There you are, Ace!" She cried. The tail disappeared and then Ace's head popped in, eyeing the two mares. The goat huffed, rolled her eyes and then came forward from her bush. "Of course, when I finally decide I'll share my stash with you-I know you're sorry, or else you wouldn't have come looking, you see-you bring another mouth to feed." Ace looked up at Tove with a sizing up look and then nodded once. "Well, you don't look like you eat much, so that's alright then. Come look what I've found, Savvy!" Then she disappeared behind the bushes again.

Savannah cast an apologetic smile and shrugged at Tove. Ace was normally this brisk, but others did take some time in getting used to her, that was for sure. Still, she hoped Tove didn't mind too much. For whatever reason, she wished the two would get along, even.

Picking up her hooves, she moved carefully around the bushes until she found a small clearing that Ace was standing proudly in. Beside Ace was a pile of truffles that nearly came up to the goat's shoulder. It was very impressive and Savannah told Ace as much. The goat glowed under her praise and then started sorting the pile into three so the others could eat. Glancing at Tove, Savannah nodded towards the pile that was nuzzled in front of her.

"You're welcome to it, if you'd like. It can be hard to find food in this season, after all."

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

The deer was still hot from Savannah's flirtations when Ace practically found them. Her normally white pelt almost glowed pink as she ducked her face to hide her blushing. She always saw herself as homely, not really anything to look at twice. But Savannah kept looking at her. It was almost....nice.

Ace brought the hind back down to earth. There were a lot of truffles being sorted into three to the deer's surprise. Tove laughed, her soft voice raising with joy. Ducking down as low as she could go, she managed to not get caught by trees this time around. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with joy.

"You really are talented Ace! This is a great find!" she praised. She ate one, the earthen flavor a shock to her. She had to concentrate on not making a face as an unfamiliar and almost unpleasant flavor assaulted her tame pallet. She managed to swallow it with only minor difficulty. Thinking back on what Savannah said about companions, Tove broke her silence.

"I have wings but they aren't super good for flying. I guess I am too heavy and they are..delicate." She gave her dainty wings a small flutter.

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[belloblossom]

Savannah had a tendency to flirt with any pretty mare, but very rarely did she find one that seemed to accept her compliments as well as Tove did. It was with a look of amusement that Savannah observed the changing of color from white to pink of the other's coat and the dun mare couldn't help but wondering if she would witness other changes in color, like green if the mare was ill or blue if she was sad, if she got to know the winter mare better.

After the mare had bent her head to eat, Savannah took her cue and picked up another truffle, eating it quickly. The texture of mushrooms always unnerved the mare, but the flavor was more acceptable than the fiberous bark she would strip from forest trees in order to get something in her belly on especially cold days. Goodness, more than ever, Savannah was ready for it to be spring already.

She ate all that was laid before her with relish and licked her teeth and lips after she was done. She looked to her familiar first, who was still glowing after Tove's additional praise. As soon as she had received it, she'd eaten the truffles in steady gulps and Savannah wondered if the goat had even taken the time to chew. The amusement turned from a look into a smile, which she then turned onto Tove when the other spoke.

It was only then that Savannah noticed that Tove had wings, fragile and very nearly transparent, hence why Savannah hadn't seen them before. Her jaw dropped a little as she behold them with wide eyes and then she grinned widely.
"Tove, my dear, you are a wonder." She beamed at her wintery companion and then turned to Ace. "Now then, what's say we get out of this pesky wood, hm?" Ace simply nodded, the fullness of her small belly rendering her into polite silence as she moved through the bushes and out of the clearing, instinctively knowing where to go to get out of the wood. Savannah made a gesture that was similar to an "after you" to Tove and then followed the two girls when there was enough room to do so.

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Tove hurried and gulped down the remainder of her truffles failing at hiding the face she made at their strong flavor. She didn't want to seem rude by leaving any. The hind quickly fell in in step with Ace as she was lead out of the dark. Even though she was blushing hard enough to almost glow, she didn't enjoy the shadows of the wood itself.

"I am a wonder?" she echoed trying to figure out their meaning, "How so? I think lucky is the right term because everyone I have met so far is so nice!" As she turned to smile back at Savannah, her antlers caught in some thin branches again. Remembering what the mare did the last time to free them, she reared as best she could and slashed herself free with her cloven hooves. Unseen or not they were still there and they were sharp. Laughing nervously, she ducked her head low to continue her way, a few of the twigs still in her tines. A deer of grace she was not in these woods.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

"Yes. You are a wonder because I have never met another like you before. Which is to say, I have never met someone so beautiful willing to listen to take the compliments I give them." Savannah replied and winked at the pale beauty beside her.

Tove went on to saying that she was lucky for having met only kind Soquili and Savannah gave an involuntary shiver. Green firey eyes burned into her memory and she frowned for a moment, her eyes distant. Never again would she desire to court death as she had unknowingly did.

"Lucky, indeed." She breathed, only to notice that Tove was no longer beside her. She turned her head to see the mare catching up and smiled with amusement at the twigs caught in her antlers. They could deal with those out of the woods.

Ace veered a corner and another and then they were free of the trees. Savannah was so relieved that she cantered forward, veering back to her familiar and friend suddenly and creating a wide arching spray of snow in her wake. Slowing as she returned to them, she smiled.
"So, where to next?"

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

With a more reindeer like hoot, Tove joined Savannah in her frolic. She leaped into the air, wings pumping to keep the leaping deer airborne for a few more moments. She leaped and twisted as if dancing with the snow that billowed up from her unseen hooves. The vines still tangled in her tines slapped against her neck and the bells covering her dreamcatcher sang merrily.

Turned back to Savannah after her energy surge wore itself out, she laughed. "Wherever the winds may take us! I have never felt so free and...warm...." she panted trotting to Savannah's side. Pausing a moment before her, Tove met her gaze.She bumped Savannah's neck playfully with her snout.

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