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 Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 9:05 pm
The day had dawned hot and muggy, a forewaring of the hot hours to come. Korofi didn't mind the heat, but it did get irritating when there was no escape. He'd spent the morning in the lowlands where the grass was best, but he knew it would grow too warm before long.
As the sun rose higher he made his way up the dry, rocky pathways towards the caves that he'd come to call his home. Caves were nice (when the bats were gone) and cool, but that wasn't why he'd come - there were streams that were still frigid with snowmelt. They sprang from the mountains near his 'den' and ran swift and cold until the pooled in a lowland lake. Normally he used them to wash and drink from, but lately he'd been thinking he could put them to better use.
The streams would be perfect for cooling off! The stallion grinned to himself and picked up the pace, his hooves ringing off the stones that littered the path. He tossed his head and bucked, feeling energy and joy course through his body.
So far today, the other had been quiet... but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Korofi could almost feel him hovering in the back of his mind.
Well, best enjoy the silence and solitude while he could.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 9:19 pm
And 'while he could' would not last very long.
Catacus was not as cheerful or content. He hadn't been for a long time. Days, in fact, ever since his human had wandered off. Two sunrises and one sunset ago, things had been normal.
As normal as they could be in this place that had so many strange things he didn't even want to think about, less he muse how they were possible and end up confused. Or scared, if his thoughts veered off in direction of that one that had been chowing down on a mare...
He could've shuddered at the memory. --Oh, wait, he was.
That and the frigid cold.
She'd done everything like she always did. Saddle on, yadda yadda. But that part where she was suppose to hop on and trot him around as planned? Yeah, they'd never gotten to that. Instead, she'd heard something she dubbed 'suspicious', went off to examine it (as she was like that, unfortunately), and just... hadn't come back.
For the first few hours, Catacus stood calmly. Only not.
After that, he was really panicing. For a while.
Now he was just unhappy, unhappy and starving. And thirsty. He could eat this way, yes, but it was very troublesome. As far as water, he could've had that, too, if she hadn't tied him around this damn tree.
The stallion made a variety of aggravated noises and gave the (stronger-than-it-looked) rope a tug. When it failed (as it had many times) to break from that, he reared up, front hooves slamming back down with the same result. Or lack of a result, he should say.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 9:44 pm
Korofi hadn't ever really cared for humans.
Well, maybe 'never cared' was the wrong way to put it. In fact, he'd rather liked his father's two-legger friend Ohanzee. It was more that... well, he didn't trust himself around them. They were so delicate! One well placed kick...
And he couldn't control what the other did.
These thoughts couldn't put too much of a pall on his day though, as they were old news. The stallion shook them off and continued, his path taking him into the dappled shade of a stand of trees. For a while only the humming of insects and the calls of birds kept him company. Slowly, he became aware of another sound.
Or rather, sounds. Something like a battle! He could hear hooves pounding, grunting as someone fought against something, and whinnying and - !
... the sound of metal?
Strange. Ears flickering, straining to catch even a hint of imminent danger, Korofi approached a clearing. Hopefully it wasn't a demon! ... Kalona, was that what Father called them? He suddered, almost turning around then; only curiosity kept him moving towards the noise. He stepped cautiously into the open space. There, teathered to an old, strong tree was another stallion.
Korofi froze, eyes going wide, and blurted the first thing that popped into his head:
"What are you wearing?"
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:13 pm
Catacus had eyes the size of dinner plates, almost, paniced (more than before) and shaking.
He was going to die! Something had eaten Her and now it was going to eat him and--and--he was too pretty! Too young! He was--
--getting worked up over nothing. The colors of horses here, the colors horses shouldn't be, no longer phased him as they had before. Wings no longer phased him. Horns no longer phased him.
Alright, that was a lie. They phased him, but they didn't frighten him. Plenty of other things to play that roll.
"Tack," the stallion answered, not expecting the stranger to have any idea what he was talking about. No one had so far. They just ran around like... like... like barn cats. "Help me out, will ya?"
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 4:09 pm
... tack?
That did nothing to enlighten him. Although he had to admit, the strange straps and bands (a seat?) looked rather... nice. They matched this stallion well, kinda like the blankets Ohanzee had made for Korofi when he was younger. All those shiny bits! Quite dashing!
Not something he would want to wear, but still.
"Uh, right." The stallion trotted cautiously up to the tree and eyed the leather reins that kept him tied. They wrapped around the tree, and led back to that strange thing in the new guy's mouth. Which attached to his head...
Korofi almost laughed then, but managed to keep his manners in tact. "Your head is tied to a tree, then? Can't you take that... tack... off?"
Seemed simple enough to him.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 4:35 pm
Catacus looked almost horrified at his lack of knowledge. Just for a second, because after that he remembered how uneducated the strange creatures here were (the people as well as the other horses), and realized he should add that to his list of things to get used to.
"I can't," he answered, gnawing on the bit in his mouth. The saddle he was okay with, but these things? Such a pain. 'Turn your head this way, Catacus,' She was always saying. Blahblahblah. Psh.
Still, while he didn't agree with Her shoving pieces of metal into his mouth and dragging him around wherever She wanted, it didn't keep him from being concerned. Weak, those two-legged things. Didn't take much to break them.
He was also unknowingly selfish, and there was a little demon formed from it in his head taunting him about how he'd never make it without Her, which he had no doubt was true. He could eat grass, he supposed, but that hardly would keep him in the health he was now...
"Have you see a human near here?" Oh, right. "Have you seen a two-leg near here?" he corrected. The last mare he'd spoken to had no idea what a 'human' was. They had such weird names for things here.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 6:16 am
"Erm, no."
In fact, that was why he'd chosen to live up here. Other than Ohanzee (who still wasn't that close) he was alone. Oh, the occasional two-legger was around hunting or whatever it was they did, but they never stayed long. It was for the best, of course. If he needed to see them (ha!) he could just head down to the village.
Not that he ever did so consciously.
"I know where one lives, though." He offered. Man, that head-rope ... thing looked uncomfortable! Dashing colors or not, up close this new guy looked like those pack animals the villagers sometimes used. And if having a two-legger meant being left tied to trees like prey... well, maybe he was glad he didn't offically have one. Korofi narrowed his blue eyes, squinting in confusion at the contraption on the other stallion's back.
How did someone even breathe with a seat on them?
"Did you lose your two-legger?" Korofi glanced around the woods, searching the trees as though it might be hiding behind one. You never knew - maybe it was. "They're delicate, you know," he continued, oblivious. "You should find it again, or it might get hurt."
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