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 Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:28 am
She happily headed for the cave, the chilled air made her tail tuck down close to her so as to keep warm in this cold she was sure it may freeze and fall off. She was happy when the reached the shelter of the cave though she stopped in the mouth of the cave to listen, watch and sniff it out, inspect it a bit. Happy that it at least seemed empty, she took a few steps forward only to kick a rock just right and stumble nearly falling on her stomach legs splayed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:59 am
He watched as she inspected the cave, he had meant to go in ahead of her to do the same. She had listened, she had waited. If it weren't for how they met, he would have sworn that she actually could take care of herself, but clearly she couldn't as the incident with the cat had shown. But maybe she had the potential. Maybe. Still, she should be with some one. Cats like that were common in these parts, and desperate in lean times like winter. One had to be alert, and one had to be able to defend ones self. She could have carried a torch or fire brand. That would have worked. Some one needed to show her how to make one, if she didn't already know.
He watched her take a few steps, and watched as she stumbled. He moved, before he could think and puled up along side her, catching her against his own flank before she could hit the ground. He steadied her as best he could.
Of course he did, he told himself the moment that thought resumed. It's what anyone would have done. Not a big deal in the least, some one stumbles, you catch them, then you move on with your life, issue over. Done. He forcefully kept his mind from all the times he had similarly "caught" Lian. This was completely different. That had been a foal he was responsible for. Of course he would protect her, what kind of a monster would let a foal whose mother abandoned her get hurt? Not that she hadn't done her best to injure herself anyway, blasted reckless brat.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:20 am
She smiled her thanks and steadied herself before continuing further into the cave. Happily, she found a spot that wasn't damp to lay on and here her tail resumed it's waggling until she eased herself onto the stone floor. Sure the stone was cold but it would warm up at some point and it was better than waiting around to get lost in a storm. Looking around, she gave a small sigh. His silence was... awkward.. she was use to hearing her sister babble and ramble on even if she did often tune her out. "So.. You wander around all the time alone like this?" She'd broken the silence in an attempt to find out more about him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:35 am
An ear flicked in annoyance. Was chatter necessary? At least she hadn't asked something painfully obvious. It was possible that she might not know the answer, after all, it was not something that showed too terribly much, though from his ability to care for himself, it should be clear that he had little need of others. Still, the way she phrased it, asking about wandering, and about alone. Either on its own bordered on asking the obvious, but together he had to grudgingly admit was not something that her limited observations could provide. Still, he disliked the thought of having to speak.
Generally when one answered a question with words, it tended to encourage the other to speak more. Well, he could answer her question and lead by example. Yes, that did seem to be the best, perhaps then she would follow, and keep quiet herself. It wasn't that he minded conversation overmuch, it was the words that bothered him. Well, that and everyone's seeming inability to notice that which was most obvious in the world around them. What good was living in this world if you kept yourself blind to it? Spoken words were a crutch used by those too lazy to observe, or those too dim to find another way. At least, the way most used them they were. There were times, moments when they were a necessary evil, and used sparingly, and only in times like that, they were almost tolerable. No, if everyone used them only when truly necessary, he would not mind them so much. It was, he thought, like eating a bitter root. Not so bad now and again, but a steady diet of it could turn the stomach.
He nodded once. There, a nonverbal answer. If she wished to ask him more, without words, he'd be happy to oblige.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:56 am
"I bet it get's lonely.. do you often see you're family? Brother, sisters?" She was trying to get him to talk not just nod or shrug. At this rate she felt herself becoming slightly.. irritated. Was it normal to be irritated by such silence? Her tail gave a small flick as she mulled this thought over silently to herself, though still waiting for his answer.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:02 am
He twitched. Did he look lonely? No. He firmly pushed Lian's face out of his mind. He was fine. Why was she yammering on so much? Why did she have to keep talking, they had been fine before, he had almost even not disliked her, and now she was proving that no one in this sanity forsaken plain could keep their yaps shut. He snorted his annoyance out through his nose, hoping she would get the point and shut up.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:20 am
Well.... That didn't work out very well... She actually couldn't hide the flush of her own cheeks as she tried to think of some way to break his silence. Yawning, she looked around, listening to the sound of the wind breaking into the mouth of the cave before whipping around "Guess I'll take first watch..." She stood up and headed for the cave entrance, stopping just outside of where the wind would whip into the cave before passing it by. Here she was stuck in a cave during a storm with a stud she couldn't help but liking and he was being irritatingly quiet. She wondered if her siblings were warm. She was sure now with the ever fading light that her father would be worried about her. Oh boy she'd never hear the end of his lectures when she got home. Not to mention when he found out about Who she'd spent it with. Her face became pale then as her thought shifted on the conversation she'd have with her father it flushed a bright pink that burned in her face.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:29 am
He watched her from inside the cave. He would have taken the watch. What good would she be at the watch anyway? But at least it would keep her quiet, and if he was alert, he should be able to take care of any trouble that arose, yes? Yes. Nodding to himself he watched her. She communicated differently with that tail, and that odd look in her eyes before. None of which he understood. So he had to study her, watch her, and learn the cues that were, apparently, uniquely hers. He watched the side of her face as it paled, and as it pinked soon after.
He frowned, pale usually meant blood loss or fear. She did not seem to have any new injuries, and the one he knew about, from the lion, should not have been bad enough to cause that reaction. He frowned more. He had absolutely no clue what pink meant. A fever maybe? That was possible. Red often accompanied a fever. So maybe this was a small one?
Sick or injured, either way, she should not be keeping guard, she should be resting. Of course, if she was resting behind him he could not keep an eye on her, which was troubling, in case she should need medical aid. Well, he could keep glancing back to check on her. She should not be so close to the inclement weather if she were not well.
He moved to the mouth of the cage, brushing his flank along hers to get through where it was narrow. He got ahead of her and nodded to the back of the cave, ears flicking. A clear order for her to go back further in. He looked at her then pointedly to where rock-wall met rock-floor, indicating that she should lay or lean as was her preference then nodded once and then looked outside. He would take first watch. Really, were words all that necessary?
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:47 am
She flushed even further as he brushed aside her then watched his head movements and reactions. Ok.. either she was stupid or he just needed to talk already because what ever he was trying to get across it just wasn't happening. Sighing softly, she looked out into the storm still, keeping her vigil as she watched. The wind howled something fierce and flurries of snow drifted through the mouth. Her ears flattened back against her head as she laid down just watching the storm, shaking her head lightly to get rid of the now melting snow flurries that had been blown in.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:49 am
He stepped outside a bit then tried to walk back in, directly aimed at her, to get her to get up and move further in the cave, ears back, flat against his head.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:57 am
Sure, she got up, but she moved aside as though to let him pass. She'd already said she'd take the watch and that was what she was doing. If he was crabby, and by the looks of his ears being pinned back he seemed to be crabby, then it was far beyond her to know why. She most certainly wasn't a mind reader so what ever was causing this turn in his attitude she couldn't help but to think he needed to get over himself and just let her watch her watch. He obviously didn't want to talk and that was fine. She wasn't going to force him but to be out right bugging her was just starting to make her find him more rude than the dashing hero she'd though before.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:59 am
He nodded back into the cave. Why was she not getting it? Was she really sick and it had addled her brains? It was possible, but when they had touched before, she hadn't felt feverish. Still, winter ills were nothing to just ignore. Sturdier stallions then he had fallen to them, and he doubted her constitution trumped theirs.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:08 am
Finally irritated to her last nerve, She huffed a small sigh and stamped a cloven hoof. "If you're not going to talk to me then just get back inside and let me watch my watch without you pestering me..." Her tail stopped and flagged once more before giving a small twitch. She was irritated that much was sure. Then a thought crossed her. What if he'd been mute? Or just shy like Winter?? Flushing a bit he shook her head and sighed, flopping on the ground with a dull thud. "Look If you just can't talk I'm sorry But if you're shy like my brother... then... annoying me isn't going to help you get over your shy speechlessness.." She was attempting to regain her cool.. be her usual calm, gentle self.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:21 am
Mute? She thought he was mute? well no wonder his point wasn't coming across. If she thought he couldn't do something, then she could never realize that it was a measured choice on his part, and she could not see the wisdom of it. Ironic that he would have to speak to clarify that he chose not to. He really hated irony some days. He also hated that his rump was bearing the brunt of the storm. He loved winter, maybe more then any soq he had ever met, but he was not a fan of storms nearly so much, at least not the kinds that had bite. The ones that were just pretty to watch were not so bad.
Fine, so he had to speak to make himself clear, distasteful as that was. He would have to make sure he used his speech effectively then, that she would see that it was in fact a choice, not an inability. But how? What was the most efficient way to get his message across?
First he had to define for himself what he hoped to achieve, what the goal was. Simple, get her inside so she would not get sicker. He could take watch without a problem. It had been his original intent. Okay, what in that was superfluous? That he had originally intended to take the watch. Fine. What did that leave him? That he wanted her to go further in because she was sick, and that he would take watch. Okay, what in that was too painfully obvious to vocalize? Besides all of it, that was. Well, that she was sick. No need to say that, clearly she must know her own body enough to realize she was sick. If not, when the storm was over he could drag her by the tail to a healer. No, he reconsidered looking at her tail, that might hurt, given how weird and...well... fluffy the thing was. Well, he;d figure that out if the need arose.
So he didn't need to state that she was ill, and knowing she was ill, once she understood that he wanted her in, and that he would take watch, the why would be clear, eliminating the need to vocalize it. He was getting there.
He didn't have to say he was taking watch, of course. That would be obvious once she was in and he did so. Yes, that made sense. So all he had to do was tell her to go inside. The rest would follow as a matter of nature and course.
Of course, he wanted to enforce the nonverbal communication, so he would add the gestures to the word, teaching her if she was not too slow to learn that which simple observation should have already made second nature. So he looked at her, nodded further inside, to where he wanted her to go. "In," he said. So inelegant, so wasteful. He wished he could have been more succinct, but she had really left him little choice. Still, if she were ill, he would have to excuse that she had forced him to speak. being sick did make thinking harder, and he could not blame her for that. Though if she were ill, she certainly should not have been out, especially alone!
She had mentioned a brother, well where was he? Why wasn't he taking care of his sick sister anyway? Ever since finding Lian, family that abandoned each other really steamed him. He hoped that was not the case here, but was prepared for the worst.
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:54 pm
Her jaw took on a firm stubborn line as she looked at him. "No, you get your butt back in there I told you I'd take first watch so that's what I'm doing." She wasn't about to be bullied by him. She'd had enough of her sister pressuring her into to things and right now this stranger wasn't going to push her into going back on her word. She wasn't ill but she as definitely finding herself feeling the tinge of anger built up. Taking a few slow breaths, she attempted to harness her own emotions not to blow up and storm off but at this rate, it was becoming rather difficult.
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