Welcome to Gaia! ::

He was wandering again, as he did at night. Patrolling, he called it, sometimes. Just in case there was something out there that didn't belong. Most nights he saw nothing and he wandered the land idly nibbling on what he found, resting, and enjoying the coolness of the air after sunset.

Some nights, he ran into trouble, running off the packs of wolves that even now dared to get to close once in a while.

And even more rarely, he spotted something that intrigued him and made him forget entirely his patrolling duty and go off following whim instead. Like tonight, and that flash of color he'd just seen through a few low-hanging branches. He tilted his head and picked up the pace, half-trotting around the tree to see if he could catch whatever it was.

Or whoever. A mare. A mare with amazing color. A mare that made him smile without thinking. "Looking for something?" he wondered, hoping not to startle her too badly. "Or have you just lost your way?"

She didn't startle. Good. Better. No point in scaring her off if that wasn't the point. He stepped a little closer. "No one else to talk to," he pointed out, quietly amused. "And not really which? Lost, or looking for something?"

He took another step and tilted his head, lifting his wings enough to shrug and let them settle again. "You might be surprised at what passes for weird, for me. Try me," he suggested. "At the very least, I can tell you if I've seen it or not."

Roque could just imagine that all manner of things might get caught in feathering like that. Living in the caves as they did, he thought they were lucky -not- to have such fuzzy feet. No doubt long feathers would make excellent homes for things that crept and crawled. Granted, they'd also make for warmer legs come winter. It was a balance.

Her answer was a surprise, though. Roque couldn't claim to be an expert on mares, but he'd never met one who deliberately went looking for scary things. Usually, they shied away from it, or better yet, -ran- away. And yet this one ran toward it? He flicked an ear and smiled slowly. "Well...that depends on what you call a monster, I guess. I haven't heard of any 'walkers in the area, and they're about the scariest things I know. But." He leaned toward her, lowering his voice conspiratorily. "I do know a few Soquili with some very sharp teeth."

Oh yes. This was definitely an interesting mare. A different sort of mare. The little ones who grew up in the caves with the family counted as different as well, but they, like Roque, simply had a calm acceptance of dangerous and frightening things, not an active curiosity, or the desire to hunt it down. Not like this mare.

"You." He laughed, not at her, just a surprised sort of sound. He thought as he shifted his weight a bit, still smiling. "If I arrange a meeting, you have to make me a promise." Interesting and different often warred with practical, and though the mare's curiosity fascinated him, it was bound to get her into serious trouble.

Roque himself might not have been frightening to look at, but neither were his father or uncle, for that matter, and they certainly had their dark sides. Looks could in fact be deceiving, and those deceptions could get a mare badly hurt.

"Promise me that you won't go looking for trouble alone again." He'd had this talk with the little ones, too, but she was more likely to listen. He hoped. "I could show you a lot of places that are dark and where scary things lurk, sometimes, but it's not safe to go to them on your own." Not even for a stallion who knew what he was looking for. "If you want to go, any night, I'll show you the way, but only if you promise me first."

Roque laughed. Enthusiastic, wasn't she? Sometimes that could be as good as it was dangerous. And, despite his warning, he found himself admiring her courage. He'd met a few mares who seemed almost scared of their own shadows. Not so this colorful lady.

"Absolutely," he promised. "All the places I can think of where you're willing to follow." He could handle himself and one mare, he was sure of that, even in some of the dicier corners of Soquili lands. "Sunako," he echoed, bobbing his head. "Nice to meet you. I'm Roque."

(So she's saying Roque's not really handsome? Hnf! wink Kidding. Got it.)

He nodded again. "I grew up right here. Well, not here on the spot," he amended. "But close enough. I could probably walk for a while with my eyes closed, open them, and still know where I am." He could probably fly that way for a while, too, but he didn't close his eyes while airborne often, and saying something like that would just sound like boasting, so he kept it to himself.

"So what do you want to see first? Hungry wolves? Fish with sharp teeth and fins that might be able to cut your legs?"

It was interesting to meet someone who was as excited about seeing new things -- and potentially dangerous things, mind -- as the little ones his family had taken in. He ... wouldn't say that out loud either, for fear she'd think he meant she was being childish. It wasn't that at all. It was just. Fun.

"Pointed fish it is, then." He flicked his wings and settled them against his back again, trying to choose the best way to go. "It's a bit of a walk," he warned. "And we'll have to cross some rock, but I'll do my best to call them out. It'd be a shame to twist an ankle before you have a chance to let the fish snip them off." He grinned and turned to go.