Welcome to Gaia! ::

He took the path to the left, knowing that the lake wasn’t too far down that way. The path to the right would have taken them to a rather nice meadow. Well, rather nice when the weather was dry and sunny. Now it would probably be damp and muddy. He shuddered at the thought.

He could still hear the clip clop, clip clop of the mare behind him. That wasn’t too surprising. The two paths were fairly close for the first few yards before they really started veering in their own directions. But when he got further down the path and the sound of her hoof beats didn’t fade in the lease, he had to acknowledge that she was still following him. Why in the world would she be doing that? Unless… was she heading for the lake also? That was possible. It wasn’t like the lake was a secret. She wasn’t following him. Why would she follow him? That was the question that kept running through his mind. What possible interest could she have in him? Most people avoided him once they got a good look at him, and he had tried to yell at her initially. That didn’t scream “come follow me.” At least it didn’t to him. Unless she was looking for him, maybe? But no, that went back to the question of WHY?

She was getting closer, he could feel it. And hear it, really. The sound of her hoof steps was getting louder and… odder. He tilted his head slightly, listening intently. What was she… ah… he shook his head slightly, feeling foolish once he realized the reason for the odd cadence of her steps. She was skipping. Either she didn’t know how to walk normally or she had gotten over any fright she might have had when they first met. He moved to the side of the path so she could pass him.

He walked normally for six steps before he realized she hadn’t passed him. Feeling more than a bit confused and frustrated, he glanced over his shoulder to see what she was doing. When he saw that she was practically right behind him, he missed a step and then stopped walking all together in favor of turning to face her. He frowned slightly as he realized he couldn’t rationalize this away. There was no mistaking what she was doing. She was, without a doubt, following him. The question, what he couldn’t even begin to understand, was why?! What did she want? Did she want to tell him off for being rude? It wouldn’t have been the first time someone found courage in indignation to yell at him for rudeness. Such occurrences always left him feeling ashamed and irritated because he couldn’t help himself and he couldn’t even begin to defend himself. Those who chose to lecture him usually either stormed off without caring enough that he didn’t say anything in return or eventually realized he COULDN’T speak and rushed off in embarrassment. Neither situation ever left him feeling warm and fuzzy.

If Pinzin had been capable of it, his jaw probably would have dropped at the rant the mare had launched into. She spoke so quickly and so much that he was having trouble sorting through what she was trying to say. It didn’t help that she seemed to back track in several places and then jumped ahead in her thought process. Or was she jumping behind? He really couldn’t tell.

That last bit he understood, even if he was still trying to wrap his head around the first flood of words she had dumped on him. Autymn. Somehow the name seemed to suit her and at the same time seemed completely wrong for her. On the one hand, with her golden colors and leafy saddle, she certainly did bring to mind the autumn season. On the other hand, he had always considered the transitional season between summer and winter as a sort of busy season. It was a time when the humans brought in the harvest and prepared for the winter. He personally used the time to gather up seeds and nuts and to find a good place to hole up for the cold season. It was not a time for running and playing and chattering as if one didn’t have a care in the world, which seemed to be this mare’s primary mode. Though, he forced himself to be fair, he had only just met her. Maybe she was taking a break. He knew he shouldn’t judge based off of first impression. But to be honest, the mare wasn’t exactly making it easy. He still wasn’t sure why she was following him, though he suspected the answer was in that deluge of words she had spewed originally.

He wanted to ask her why she wanted to know. It was none of her business, after all. Was it just curiosity? Surely it couldn’t be. Curiosity wasn’t enough to keep someone around in such an awkward situation. But then again, it was becoming increasingly clear that this mare wasn’t exactly normal. Maybe she was a bit touched in the head. Yes, that must be it. Suddenly feeling much more charitable, Pinzin turned and started walking again. He paused after a few steps to glance back at her and nod, giving silent permission for her to come and find out for herself.

Pinzin led her down the rest of the path, what was left of it. They had actually nearly reached the lake before he had realized she was following him. He braced himself for the sudden lack of trees that meant the water was nearby. It was something that he had learned the hard way… repeatedly. There was no dwindling tree line, or clearing before the water. The path went, surrounded by forest, and then suddenly there was the lake. He had walked into the blasted thing three times before he remembered to slow his pace after the tree with the missing bark. He didn’t know what had created the markings on the tree, though they looked enough like claw marks that he suspected a bear or something. Then again, it could have been some sort of horned soq who had made the same mistake he had and decided to take matters into his own hooves. Pinzin had never run into a bear, or anyone else who could have done it, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t deliberate. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and stepped aside so that the mare could see the lake.