[PRP] Get out. (Reiko and Sangmu)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"So you pull wagons?" Reiko suddenly piped up in the conversation. She was having a harder and harder time containing herself and her demeanor grew ever more frosty. "That must suit you well. You are certainly well enough muscled to pull a cart." There was no denying the catty sarcasm embedded in her statement. To Reiko, if one was muscled and one wasn't a warrior, they were some common laborer. She was quite certain that was the sort of person that Uzoamaka was. A nobody. A commoner.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Sangmu twitched. Reiko was clearly running out of patience, and now so was she. All she wanted was to have a pleasant soak and now she was just getting more stressed out instead. "Excuse me," she said, glaring at where the kirin still reclined. "If you want to be alone, fine. But we're here and it's not fair to be mean to us and try to make us leave." She was usually not a very forceful soquili. Her voice was slightly raised, but the tension that ran through her made it shake.

She was embarrassed by how poorly she stood up to conflict most of the time. This was actually doing quite well for her.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Uzoamaka had regrets, but she also had a heaping pile of aggravation. Reiko's snippy comment about being "well-muscled" pushed past Uzoamaka's tolerance levels.

"You should leave," she told Reiko flatly. She was done with playing nice with this mare. "I don't care if you were here first. You're bothering people." Reiko was right, Uzoamaka was strong. She was strong enough to know that she could hold her own if any kicking or mane-pulling happened. She didn't expect a real fight from Reiko, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be physical confrontation.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"Fine," snapped Reiko, standing up. She leaned back and then sprang out of the water. She didn't want to get past the two mares to exit the easy way so had to scramble over wet rocks to get out. It was undignified, and that just made her more angry. "Fine!" she repeated, this time louder and more shrill.

"But I'll have you know that my family has been using this spring for years! It is within the area protected by our herd and we could have you both driven out!" It was technically on the outskirts of their patrolled area, but she wasn't letting that slow her down. "I was being kind to you by sharing, even though that one," she jabbed her tail in the direction of Uzoamaka. "That one is so filthy that she muddies the water." She wished Tatsuji was here. He would have handled all this for her if he had been.

"Enjoy your mud bath!" She spun on a hoof and fumed away. Her bath had been ruined, and now her whole day was too. She hoped they drowned.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Sangmu's face twisted up in pain. She'd made it worse. She looked beside her to Uzoamaka and wanted to cry. She made herself choke down that impulse, but she still was shrunken with unhappiness.

"I'm so sorry about that," she said. "I... she... She wasn't very nice to me when I first got here either." She should have just left when she saw the spring was occupied. Then none of this would have happened. "I really did want to now about what you do with the humans," she added weakly. "You must live such an exciting life. I wouldn't know the first thing to do if a human wanted to ride me or needed help with something."

The insults still jabbed at Uzoamaka, but she too forced composure. There would always be people like that in the world. If she couldn't avoid them, the most she could do was stand up to them and not let them hurt her.

"It is not so hard to carry a rider," she said, trying her best to sound like she didn't have fury seething beneath. "But sometimes you get some new idiot that kicks and thinks he's the one driving you." She wouldn't be so harsh if she wasn't so angry, but she thought it was acceptable given the circumstances.

"Oh no!" gasped Sangmu, scandalized. "Who would think it was ever a good idea to kick someone you were working with?" A moment after she said it, a sly look passed over her face. "If that kirin was a human, I bet she would." And then they both laughed. Slowly, the mixture of good company and soothing waters brought their cheer back. Maybe it wasn't such a bad day for a bath after all.

~Fin.