[PRP] Good Evening Bright Eyes ((Estelle and Ayden))

[Nisshou H]

Her laughter was rather contagious and in a short while he was laughing with her. His previous anxiousness seemed to drift away on the air with the sound. Soon he found he was feeling ever bit as relaxed as he did with Uyasga; it was nice. As she spoke and broke the laughter he calmed and stood staring at her with a dopey smile on his face.

What was she talking about?

After a few moments of pondering this he found he hadn't really thought of anything at all. Just on how pretty she looked when the sun hit her. Given that her name meant stars he wondered more what she would look like in moonlight rather then on what she could have possibly meant. After a minute or two longer of wandering thoughts he kicked himself mentally to focus.

Deciding to act rather then wonder he bowed his head thinking this to be the only thing she could really mean. "Alright. We'll start over. My name's Ayden." He said wearing his goofy lopsided smile.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

Estelle watched him intrigued at how he would interpret her, there was a moments uncomfortable silence but she tried to ignore it by allowing her eyes to wander from Ayden and the Ocean, he seemed so at home here.

Then he spoke, and she melted, it was so adorable in his mannerisms yet deep down her sinking feeling of fear rumbled forward, she wondered if she would every manage to get over her feeling of dread and betray that hit her with each encounter. Suppressing this notion in her mind she smiled and bowed her head forward in welcome. "My name is Estelle." She giggled unexpectantly to even herself, she was not entirely sure what was running through her mind although it was obvious that it was something important to her.

The sun seemed to be higher in the sky now; although it was the day she felt as she more energy than usual. Smiling playfully she started to swing her tail from side to side enthusiastically and changed her stance, even though she was unsure how he would react it felt like an acceptable risk. Stepping towards him, initially slowly she tapped him with her nose, it gently aimed for his muzzle and then she stepped past him increasing her pace with each step, she called back to him. "TAG!"  

[Nisshou H]

He grinned at her as she re-introduced herself. She was laughing which seemed to mean she wasn't thinking him completely stupid for his actions. For him this was a very good thing. He didn't like being made fun of or being called stupid just because he chose to act silly. As she moved he wondered if perhaps he had said the wrong thing and she had in fact been making fun of him.

She nudged him then ran off leaving him blinking for a moment until he heard a very familiar word. 'TAG'! His eyes widened in childish delight before he reared back kicking at the rising sun. With a joyous whoop he dropped back down to the earth and took off after the pretty yellow form of Estelle.

It was a wonderful feeling to have someone to play with again. It had seemed that the moment he had been declared an adult no one wanted to play with him anymore. It was so nice to know that he had met someone that was not 'above such childish games' like the rest of the world seemed to be. "Better run faster or I'm gonna catch ya!" He called after her working to get to full speed.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

Estelle ran as fast as she could, each step hitting the stand with increased force causing it to sink a little further with each pace. It was difficult to keep up yet at the same time she didn’t want him to catch her, not yet at least. "Just try and catch me!" She called back to him as she continued forward, he was indeed fast.

Suddenly an idea came to her, it would either work really well or cause her to get caught instantly. She stopped, pausing for only a split second before shifting her weight abruptly forcing herself to turn towards him and started running as fast as she could past him. Her heart began racing, who knew that playing such a childish game would bring such a welcomed relief, a relief that Ayden seemed to share also.  

[Nisshou H]

"I am!" He called back to her. Ayden was used to running along the sandy shore. The sinking of the sand had startled him the first time and he had wound up face first into the ground. After some practice he had learned a few tricks to make the sand less of a trouble. The first of these was to not let the shifting substance trouble him, if it did it made running harder.

As she turned he couldn't help but think she had a trick of her own. He did not slow his pace despite them running headlong at each other now. Either she had a truly brilliant idea...or this was seriously going to hurt. The space between them closed in and he couldn't help but think about how many stars he was about to see.

As though it would help the situation he closed his eyes tight and turned his head away slightly still right on course. On the bright side, if they crashed, she would be it.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

With each step she closed the gap between them, this was her chance, turning ever so slightly she aimed to run along his left side. As he closed his eyes she knew that it was more possible, she was going to do it, she was going to pull off her small trick, almost certain that shortly after he would catch her and she would be it. Smiling at the thought she put her plan into action, changing her angle her body moved as gracefully as she could muster although the sand make it more difficult she believed she would have just enough room.

YES! She ran by his side for a moment until she had passed him, as she turned her head softly too look at him she saw his lighter patterned rear end shrink with each step. She pulled out a tongue, yet realising he could not see it she turned her head forward and called behind to him once more. "You won’t get anywhere with your eyes closed."  

[Nisshou H]

He could hear them getting closer. His eyes clamped together tighter then they had before and he braced himself for pain. Hearing her steps growing further away he realized that he was not sprawled on the ground groaning from whatever injury he had been expecting. Estelle's words reached his ears and he opened his eyes a look of pure confusion on his face.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw her running along behind him. "Ohhh...so that's it..." He said still running in the opposite direction. After a moment of reflecting on just how clever her little move had been he realized he was going in the wrong direction still. "Hey!" He called as though what she had done was cheating.

He dug his feet into the ground to stop. He slid a several feet before finally stopping. Running in sand was one thing, he did it very well, stopping however was something he failed at. He blinked at the pile of sand now covering his hooves for a moment or two before spinning around to chase after her once again. One of these days he was going to have to learn to stop properly so that he wouldn't give any others advantages in these games. "You just wait! I'll get ya!" He called not giving up. He was still faster then her even if she was tricky.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

Estelle continued running, her muscles rippling with each of her movements. She knew that he would catch her soon; especially since was starting to tire, it had been a while since had played such energetic games and she had not exactly conserved her energy. Slowly down softly she knew he would catch her but it would at least give her a chance to catch her breath.

Her face bore a toothy smile; it was only a matter of time now.  

[Nisshou H]

Seeing her slow made Ayden think it was all another trick. He wouldn't fall for it this time. No sir. His eyes would stay open so he wouldn't lose track of his this time around. As he began to close the gap between them a giant grin settled on his face.

He was actually going to catch her this time!

He lowered his head slightly to get more speed. He came up within range and moved to tap her flank with his muzzle. Either she would move and he would stumble or he would get her and their roles would switch. One part of him wondered why this game was fun. It seemed like it would be more fun with a few more players so it wasn't just the two of them running back and forth after each other.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

As she ran she wondered how long it would take for him to catch her, suddenly she felt a small tap on her flank. It was gentle yet it caused her to fly wards ever so softly. She was it. Attempting to spin around she slipped on the sand, which caused her trip over her own legs, stumbling to the ground ungracefully. Sitting their in a pile she looked up at the sky, it was embarrassing that she had tripped over in such an un-lady like fashion, a bright pink blush covered her cheeks, throbbing their heat into the day. She wanted the ground to swallow her up right there and then.
 

[Nisshou H]

He watched in mild horror as she tripped and fell. He came to a sudden stop but seemed to be unable of thinking anything besides 'that looked painful' for a few moments. After a little while his mind began to function normally and he looked over her a few times.

She was blushing.

He looked at her for a moment and felt bad for her assuming that this had been his fault. It would be best to find some way to make the situation better. In his traditional fashion, of course, he came up with perhaps the strangest fix.

"OH NO!" He shouted before falling onto his side. He winced slightly as he connected with the earth. He hadn't really expected it to hurt at all so it was a bit of a shock. Ignoring it he lifted his head and looked over at Estelle. "Looks like we both fell over. The sand must be out to get us." He said with a big smile.  

[Syaoran-Puu]

As she fell Estelle found herself wincing in pain, she could feel the grains of sand digging into her flesh as she slid across the ground, fear struck her, how would she clean a wound covered and buried with sand. As she stopped, she lowered her head to the ground and panted slightly, only to be moments later laced with fear once more. Still blushing she watched as her new companion tumbled towards her, something seemed wrong about it, was he merely attempting to indulge her by making her feel it was nothing to be embarrassed about? Sighing she paused to think of the world for a moment, the waves splashed happily upon the shore, they did not care if they found it difficult to roll upon the surface of the largest of boulders. Nor did the birds seem to mind that they crashed to the ground when attempting to land.

Before she knew it she was laughing, it was a gentle sound that seemed to lighten the air and lift her embarrassment, she would not make it obvious that she suspected he had fallen on purpose; it seemed somehow out of place to even consider it. She nodded in response to his words before speaking herself, “Indeed it does.” There was something about the second part of the sentence that didn’t hold true; surely the sand could not hold a vendetta against anyone? It was inanimate right? She tilted her head and looked curiously at Ayden before speaking once more, “perhaps, but how can the sand actually think of such actions.” It didn’t take much to make Estelle drift off into space as she spoke, running the concept of things she did not understand through her mind in an attempt to solve them.

Turning her body softly she sat up straight on the sand, her side feeling soar as a few thick sand soaked droplets of blood trickled to the ground, she hoped it would not be that bad an injury. Refusing to look at it she turned her attention the Ocean, it seemed happily unaware of the events upon the land.
 

[Nisshou H]

He smiled as her laughter filled the air. It was a good sign an 'all clear', she was alright. He rolled over and gave his head a toss to shake the sand from it as she spoke. He tilted his head to the side at her question of sorts. How could the sand think of such things? It was his turn to laugh now. Estelle seemed to be quite a silly mare.

"Of course the sand can think. It's alive like everything else don't you know?" He nodded his head and pushed himself to his feet. At his full height he could see everything out to the horizons. The ocean, sparkling in the light; the beach, full of prints from all kinds of creatures; and the sky, bright and cheerful as ever now. It was beautiful and all very much alive. The ocean roared, the sky blushed in the morning and evening when the sun would touch it, and the sands that they stood on sometimes sang and would often move to change shape. "It's all so wonderful, don't ya think?" He asked turning his gaze back to the mare who's company he was in.

He gasped to see that she was bleeding a bit. "You're hurt." He said taking a few steps closer to her. It seemed the sand really had something against her. Maybe it was jealous of the sky so it took it out on the her because she was colored like the stars. "Come on, we should clean it. Ocean water will sting a bit but it should wash everything away."  

[Syaoran-Puu]

Estelle continued to watch the Ocean, and as he spoke he could tell that he really felt a connection towards it similar to that between herself and the stars that twinkled so high above them in the sky. Yet as she listened she couldn’t help but feel a brief moment of sadness, if the sand was indeed alive and it was ‘punishing her’ perhaps that was a sign that it disapproved of them being friends? For once it had not been her own desire to escape that was pushing them apart but a force she did not understand. Yet as he looked towards her wounds and spoke with a compassion she did not recognise it melted away the veil of disillusion that she had begun to spin around herself, only Ayden could decide if he wished to be friends with her or not, not the same, be it alive or not.

Smiling she closed her eyes for a moment and shrugged softly, it didn’t hurt although she suspected that getting the sand out would prove to be a tricky challenge. Opening her eyes once more she continued to smile and spoke in a gentle voice, “Its nothing. Please do not worry too much about me.” She felt like adding the words ’I am not worth it’ but resisted the temptation. Standing as gracefully as she could muster she raised her front legs first closely followed by those of her hind. It was difficult suppressing the urge to flinch but as she looked towards the Ocean she felt that would sting far worst and she needed to attempt to keep some of her composure intact.

Her eyes flicked towards the Ocean as she took a deep breath and nodded, “Ok” her words where shaking slightly at the anticipation of pain, it was not something she usually inflicted upon herself yet the circumstance could not be avoided. “One….” She stepped closer to the waters edge. “Two….” Taking yet another step she entered the water, its cool waves splashing friendly around her ankles, it was slightly icy and nipped sharply at the small wounds that dug in around her ankles. The worst was yet to come, closing her eyes she attempted to prepare herself. “Three….” She lunged into the water, the sting was intense, her eyes welled, her brain stung and her eyes began to well. Now she needed some help with the sand itself, at least the worst was over.  

[Nisshou H]

He tilted his head slightly to the side. How could he not worry about her? He considered her his friend. He should worry about his friends even if he had only known them for a very short while. He wondered if he should help her up and into the water but she seemed to be doing just fine. Keeping a careful eye on her he followed her to the water.

He paused mid step as she started counting. He lowered his foot slowly as she reached three and wondered if perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. He was used to the stinging salt water because of wounds from Uyasga. He didn't imagine she was used to it.

He got his answer almost instantly as the light began to catch more on her eyes. "Oops..." He kicked himself mentally before pushing his way through the water to Estelle's side. "I'm sorry! I forgot how much it stings the first few times! It starts to lose it's effect after a few times..." He said quickly hoping that she wasn't made at him. The water would help with cleaning the wounds, he hadn't lied about that. He hoped she would forgive him.