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Lessia was on her own.

With quiet energy and enthusiasm, she bounded through the trees, dodging and ducking around and below trunks and branches as she made her way to the forest's edge. It was a bit of a dangerous game; the shrouding trees blocked out a great deal of sun, and she had to contend with undergrowth and scrub as well as the trees and their branches themselves. Yet for all the opportunities to gore, trip, or crash, she continued to race on, a nimble white sprite in the dark.

She enjoyed this game, more-so because it wasn't often that she got a chance to play it. Having been born and raised amongst the trees, she had a strong sense of space in the woods, even when moving swiftly. And as for moving swiftly...well, she had a lot of practice in that.

Yet she could only enjoy this game when on her own; typically, she traveled in the company of her best friend, Seyx. But though he was of an easy-going nature and was typically game for anything Lessia suggested, he was nowhere near able to handle running full-tilt through an overgrown forest. He was small, yes, but he also had a forward-pointing horn, little sense of spacial perception, and was hopeless in the dark.

But they'd parted ways earlier, as Lessia had been hungry and, as always, they had split to allow Lessia the chance to deal with that hunger alone. Though Seyx trusted his friend implicitly and understood that she was physically dependent on meat, that didn't mean he had to enjoy that fact, or be around when the hunt went down.

Lessia had hunted and eaten her fill, though, and now she was in an excellent mood! Her general direction was the meet-up place out by the river on the plain, but for now she could enjoy the trees!

Xaivary had the advantage of color over Lessia when it came to the trees; Lessia's bright white hide stood out in stark contrast to the blacks and browns around her, while Xaivary was more or less camouflaged. Had she been standing still, it was possible that Lessia might never have even noticed the other's presence.

But even moving full tilt, even having to be aware of each branch and shrub and tree trunk, it would be a very poor hunter that failed to notice another moving creature, especially at such a close distance. Given the closeness of the forest, the natural suspicion would be towards the other being a sinister individual, but Lessia didn't think that such was the case now. After all, the other runner would have to be a pretty green hunter if they were stalking her so closely!

It was fun to have a racing partner, though, and she enjoyed herself right up to the point that the other runner called out. It was a long-drawn out hello, a distinctly perky and friendly sounding one. Just what she needed!

Cantering to a halt, Lessia wheeled around and looked back in the direction of the runner, flicking back her mane with one wingtip but otherwise doing nothing to smooth her disheveled appearance. Whoever it was, let them come!

"Hello yourself!"

"I could say the same to you." Lessia's tone was more amused, a playfully drawn out drawl as she surveyed the other mare. Her own mane was a sight, she knew; her braids were coming undone, and there were a few stray leaves caught in the strands. Probably a twig or two, as well, but she had more important things to do than to keep her hair in order. Looking at the other mare, she had a hunch she was dealing with a kindred spirit; though her brown mane wasn't nearly as long as Lessia's red braids, it was also ruffled and unkempt, though slightly contained beneath some sort of head covering.

In addition to the head covering, the mare sported a few more unusual accessories, most noticeably the dark shields over her eyes. Lessia had never seen such a thing before, and it was intriguing even as it was confusing. But what a stroke of luck, to meet another Soquili who liked racing, wasn't afraid of her, and stood a good chance of providing some interesting stories!

This looked to be a good day.

Grinning, she finished her inspection of the other mare, her white eyes crinkling at the corners in pleasure. "Depends on your definition of often, and your definition of running 'like that'. I run a lot, but not too often in the woods. Don't often get the chance, what with company and other time demands, but when I'm able..." Trailing off with a laugh, Lessia was the picture of amusement, not the least bit intimidating unless one happened to observe the fangs bared by the action. If Lessia wasn't such a tidy eater, the gesture might have been more intimidating; it was a careful soul who managed to keep a white coat white while eating from a bloody carcass!

"But what about you? Not many that are up to keeping pace with a strange creature in the dark...you've got balls!"

"As though you need to ask!" Yes, there would be some interesting conversation coming out of this meeting, but it appeared that that would have to wait until later. The other mare was ready for action, and Lessia herself had more than enough energy and adrenaline to last her for quite some time, so the idea of another race sounded very pleasant. Taking a moment to jerk back her braids and blow a leaf off of her bangs, she gave the other mare a challenging grin. "Staight up, no tricks, loser has to explain why so many mares try to keep their hair in order, and GO!"

With that offered as both challenge, rules, and starting call, Lessia was off again, a white patch against the dark of the trees. She truly did love running! And having someone to run with, someone that was up to the challenge and had enough spatial awareness to be up for a race in the woods AND not run into things...well, that was a rare treat indeed! She loved Seyx, but while he was a great companion for cliff diving and general roaming, there were some things that he just didn't do well. In this case, she blamed that horn of his: Being sharply pointed and angled forward (instead of backwards, like her's), his horn was forever getting caught in things!

It was a well-known fact amongst those acquainted with Lessia that she was an adrenaline junkie of the first order herself. She had been a tomboy her entire life, and there was no tree she hadn't perched atop, no cliff she hadn't lept off of, no pond she hadn't swum, no game she wasn't willing to try at least once. Some lost their allure quickly; others, such as racing and cliff diving, were pursuits she continued to practice to this day! Not that she was old, by any means, but with three younger siblings all grown up she certainly wasn't some giggling filly!

She was instead a laughing mare, her face and spirit ablaze with enthusiasm and excitement as she made her way through the trees, ducking and dodging over and around branches, trunks, and roots. Unlike Xaivary, she wasn't watching her opponent, although she did take note of when the other mare crossed into her field of vision. Instead, her entire focus was on the race and her surroundings, the growing patch of brightness she could see through the trees...

"Finished!"

Lessia had to give credit where credit was due; the other mare was fast! She had been well and truly beaten; not by much, but beaten was beaten. Still, it had been such a pleasure to be joined in her little sport that she wasn't about to begrudge the other mare her victory; she might be competitive, but she prided herself on her sportsmanship. Consequently, she offered out her spade-ended tail in the relative equivalent of a handshake, offering a cheery "Good race!" before the other brought up the terms of victory. Ah yes, hair color...

Drawing herself to her full height, which had her more than a head taller than the other mare, Lessia schooled her features into her most stern-teacherish expression. "Well, the obvious reason that so many mares worry about keeping their hair in order is that they feel it's far easier to manage hair than manage a personality, and they feel that by cultivating at least some aspect of themselves they'll be a more well-rounded and therefor attractive creature. Those of us who spend our energy instead on cultivating hobbies and interests naturally have less time to spend on ourselves, and our hair shows it!"

An excellent explanation, if she did say so herself!

It must have made an amusing picture, the large kalona touching her tail to the hoof of the smaller regular. To make it even more amusing, Lessia had schooled her features for the 'handshake' into the picture of utter solemnity to reflect the seriousness of the event. Or not.

Her own toothy expression matched Xaivary's grin as she finished her explanation, the fact that her running partner could appreciate the humor of such silliness making her like the other mare all the more. "Well, there are exceptions of course. For example, there are those that have naturally pretty hair and spend no time at all on it; that type of creature might have a fabulous personality because they're not wasting all their time on their appearance, but they have to contend with suspicion and accusations that they ARE actually fussing with their looks. And you also have the type that waste time trying to make themselves look UGLY because they don't have a personality but they want to fool others into thinking that they do...it's very complicated, and reinforces the belief that we ought not judge anyone by their looks!"

Coming from a kalona, those were strong sentiments indeed; even though Lessia didn't refer directly to herself in her explanation, there was more than a hint of personal reflection in her words. Being a friendly kalona wasn't always something that others could believe in, unfortunately...but no matter.

"Nice to meet you, Xaivary; I'm Lessia. And the sweet stick would be much appreciated, actually; don't let these babies fools you," as she gestured to her fangs, "I don't follow a strictly carnivorous diet. A little sugar would be great after that run. Or are you just leading me on?" This was followed by a playful, mocking glance, as she finished with, "because that wouldn't be very nice."