Welcome to Gaia! ::

Though the day was beginning to wind down, the temperature in the air was still tolerable. The sun shone down at that funny winter angle, making it known that it was quite late in the afternoon. The little forest clearing was quiet, the sun shining down to dapple along the leafy floor. Peaceful, for the moment. That moment quickly passed. The beat of little hooves broke the silence first, following by a soft rustle of leaves and brush as the little colt raced out into the clearing, frightening a little group of birds that had been pecking about. They chirruped loudly at being disturbed, and fluttered off quickly, leaving the young soquili to dart about in circles.

The border between the forest and the plains was one of Flint's favourite places to be. Standing on the edge made it seem as if you were staring off across a great sea of grass. It often made him wonder what the real ocean would be like, as that had only been explained to him once. Then he would catch sight of a butterfly or a squirrel, and he would forget. The foal darted through the clearing and out into the grass, which nearly reached his chest. He was alone, as far as one could tell, but that didn't seem to dampen his spirits. He continued to play, only paying half attention to his surroundings, and thinking himself to be quite alone.

Flint darted about, light on his hooves, a sprightly little thing. The forest had been his playground for as long as he could remember (which wasn't long at all), and he was just getting used to navigating through it, to avoid pricker bushes and to be wary of where he stepped. He could have cared less about the time. Sometimes when the night was clear, he would run out into the meadow when the moon was big and bright enough to light the way.

He kicked up leaves, and after he was done he whinnied shrilly, perking his ears to see if he would get any response. He rarely ever did. When he did he would dash off quickly, leaving any confused soquili behind. He didn't like dealing with them much at all. No one seemed to think that a foal being left to his own devices was a good thing. Be he reveled in the freedom.

Snorting, he turned his attention to the disturbed ground, and continued to scrape away the leaves with his hoof, until he had reached the packed earth below. It did get a little lonely, sometimes...but that was what other animals were for. Some were talkative, and others were not...he hadn't spoken to a soquili in weeks. He huffed softly, as he continued to dig, somewhat lost in thought himself.

Flint was not yet keen enough to keep an eye on his surroundings. He was almost completely carefree, always forgetting to worry about the dangers the world around him held. But all had been well so far. Why should he think otherwise? No one had ever tried to hurt him before. He had never come across a large predator, nor had any soquili ever tried to pursue him. Come to mention it, he fancied himself quite swift.

He squeaked shortly as a response actually came, caught off guard. He hadn't even smelled the other, or heard his approach, too busy kicking up leaves. His long, skinny legs almost stirred to carry him away, but when the other horse spoke he stopped, looking up at the big teal male with surprise, and some amount of indignancy.

"Well...I was playing, of course! What are you doing there? I didn't even see you. Is this your place, should I leave?" he asked, a wicked little smirk coming over his face. His eyes were like a wildfire, and full of mischief.

As the older equine spoke, Flint quickly began to relax. The other did not command the sort of respect some adults did. In fact, he seemed to radiate with a nervous energy that the colt could almost sense on some baser, subconscious level. He bounced over to the stallion to get a better look. His mother had not let him around many males before, and he had never seen such a brightly colored one as Khajag.

"No, you didn't, sure did surprise me though. Were ya spying on me?" he asked, and snickered in a teasing manner. He was expecting the questions that followed.

"I'm all alone...I got separated from mother some time ago, but I'm sure I shall find her again soon." he said in an almost haughty manner, as if he were proud of his new found independence. He had always been the outgoing one, always the one you had to keep the closest eye on, lest he wander away when one wasn't looking.

"Oh, good. Sometimes creatures get angry when I get too close. What's your name, then? You're a strange color, I like it. It's almost like moss." he mused as he danced around to the stallion's side to get a good look at him, not shy in the least.