[PRP] There's a chill in the air... (Vidia & Kal)

[Grey Dragon]

The early morning forest was calm and quiet, and Kal's soft footfalls barely broke the silence. This was his favorite time of day, where it seemed as though he was the only creature in the world, and the thin shafts of sunlight trickling through the leaves above were clean and bright. The seasons were changing, and a little cloud appeared in front of his muzzle after every breath of fresh, morning air, and the little stallion found himself lingering in the patches of light as long as possible while he made his way to the river.

As much as he liked cooler weather, his delicate frame wasn't built for cold nights. By the time he got to the river, found a bright patch of sunlight, and dipped his head to drink, his wing feathers were all fluffed in a sad attempt to trap some warmth and he trembled slightly. Already he was dreading the arrival of winter.  

[lilmissy4205]

Her winter coat had finally started to grow, becoming longer and appearing shaggy under her chin and belly, but that still didn't keep the cold from biting at her flanks. She shivered as she stood by the water's edge trying to soak up as much sunlight as she could. It didn't help that she lived that much closer to the mountains and this was in face her first winter.

Her cyan eyes were closed until she heard the snapping of twigs and the rustle of leaves. They snapped open and she saw a white and golden Alicorn on the other side of the water. Her withdrawn behavior reared it's ugly head and she took a few steps back in her nervousness. The words of her mother and father seemed a distant echo and forced her to stand her new ground.

She lowered her head instinctively, looking down at the leaf covered ground. A thin mist moved in her vision. "H-hello," she said quietly at the earth.

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kal's head whipped up and he nervously skittered back a couple paces when he heard the timid little voice. He calmed down a little when he realized it was just a mare, nothing frightening. Now he just needed his heart to stop pounding. All thoughts about his own startling were put out of mind when he really noticed the mare's posture. She looked either very sad, or very shy. He dropped his own head a bit, his ears swiveling back slightly, and he moved forward to regain the ground lost to his first edgy reaction.

"H-hello," he replied, starting out a little hesitantly. Maybe she didn't want to be talked to? No, if she didn't want to be talked to she wouldn't have talked to him in the first place. "A-are you okay?"  

[lilmissy4205]

She had nothing to be afraid of, there was plenty of running water between him and herself. Even though he did have wings, this was pretty much as close as she would allow herself to get with anyone on her own. She'd been doing well avoiding others for the last few months, this was not what she had expect.

What she really hadn't expected was that he would be just as shy and nervous as she was. The slight stutter was just as evident in his voice as it had been with hers. "I-I'm fine. Cold d-day, isn't it?" Idle conversation, nothing terrifying about that.

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kal relaxed a little further as his momentary fright wore off, but it was obvious he still wasn't entirely comfortable in conversation. But didn't she look just as nervous, if not moreso? The little alicorn's tail swished uneasily as he thought it over. He was afraid of scaring her, but at the same time it just wouldn't do for them both to be so edgy. He would try to be brave, it would be easier to talk that way.

"I-it is, th-there's still frost where the light hasn't touched the ground yet..." The small stallion tried to will away his nervous stuttering, but it didn't help that his body shivered in an attempt to warm up. "A-are you ready for winter yet?"  

[lilmissy4205]

She lifted her head up half-way to look him over carefully. He appeared nothing like her father, covered in white and gold. He seemed to be the perfect colors for autumn, her favorite season until it got colder. "N-n-not particularily. B-b-but I've st-started growing my win-win-winter coat."

In her opinion, she looked shaggy and would have been content to hide away in Evening NIght's teepee for the duration of winter. Hibernate. She probably wasn't any warmer than he was with the light color of his coat, lighter than her own. "Are-are you?" Keep the conversation going, was all she could think about in an attempt to break a little bit out of her shell.

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kal smiled sheepishly and shook his head. "I-I'm still waiting for my winter coat. I've never seen a winter before, s-so I d-don't know what to expect, really." He bit his lower lip nervously, would it make her more nervous to hear how young and inexperienced he was? But he was smaller than most stallions and had such a scraggly, foal-ish mane, it was probably obvious anyway. Even if he was older than he looked.

He took a deep breath and rescued his faltering smile as he glanced back up at the mare. She didn't look shaggy to him, more like fluffy. If winter coats were like that and more, perhaps when he fluffed up he wouldn't look so small and scrawny. His smile grew a bit more at the thought.

"I-I'm Kal, by the way."  

[lilmissy4205]

So he was just as new as her. "Th-This will be my f-f-first winter," she said cheerfully. She lifted her head up all the way, showing her pride in her youth. Her white mane fell down to her hooves with the movement. She flicked her tail and listened to the beads click together. He wasn't so bad.

"My-my name is Vidia." She was happy that she hadn't stuttered with her name. She looked him over carefully. He was a very peculiar sight to behold with the unicorn horn and the wind wings. She could run like the wind, but she still wished that she could soar in the sky. "I-I-I assume you're new around here?"

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Pleased to meet you," Kal said, smiling brightly now that she held her head up. It made him happy to see her less nervous, instead of perhaps more nervous like he had feared. Maybe it was having something in common that reassured her.

He shifted slightly, and fluffed his feathers in hopes of trapping just a bit more warm air. "I-I don't think I'm new anymore, but I wasn't born here. I did some traveling before I settled in this area. It... is a nice place. B-but I-I'm always meeting others I haven't met before." There was no need for anyone he had just met to know exactly why he had found this region to be agreeable, it was very embarrassing, so he quickly skipped over it and moved on.  

[lilmissy4205]

She couldn't help but have the curious nature of her sister peek into her own behavior. "So you must have c-come from somewhere else like my parents," there was a small note of awe in her tone. Both her parents had come from different lands or herds. Someday, she'd like to travel beyond the mountains and see what's out there.

Her eyes moved away from him and seemed to glance at everything that surrounded them. The trees, the river, random rocks. She scratched at the ground before meeting his gaze once more. "I was born here. I've been here in these lands for five months."

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kal felt his cheeks heat up a bit as he caught the awe in her voice. "I-I'm o-only a-a bit older, I-I l-left my family when I was s-still young." He had left home before he had finished growing, but he was sure he would never leave this place for the rest of his life. His fears kept him firmly anchored.

"Y-you sound like you might like to explore the world a bit," he said quickly, trying to get his nervous stutter back under control. Perhaps she seemed too timid for that kind of adventure, but wasn't he too timid for adventure himself? And he had gone on a long journey all alone.  

[Evening Night]

"E-Eventually, yes. B-But I th-think my family would worry about th-that." And image of her parents and older sister flashed in her mind's eye. "S-Suli would want t-to go with m-me. And mo-mother would have O-Omani'c-ceta tail us," she said with a slight mischievous grin.

"You-you seem m-much older than me," she admitted quietly. Even though her mother was quite young, she still came off as an older, more worldly mare. And Vidia didn't put much stock in appearance. His personality seemed to make him older. That was what really counted after all. "Your-your family must mi-miss you."

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Are Suli and Omaniceta family?" He asked hesitantly, unsure if he had gotten the name pronunciation right himself. "It might be nice to travel with someone, it can get pretty lonely when it's just your thoughts for company."

Her next comment put him a little off guard. It wasn't often someone said he seemed older. In fact, he couldn't remember ever hearing something like that from anyone. Usually others said he looked young, like a foal who forgot to grow up all the way, not that he seemed older. "I-I th-think they do, b-but I couldn't stay with them forever. Here is better for me, even if I miss them."  

[lilmissy4205]

Her appearance seemed to brighten when he asked about her sibling and the watchful falcon. "Suli is me sister. Sh-she has wings like yours. I take ah-after me dad. We-we get into-to trouble when we're to-together. Th-that's why mom sends Omani, a peregrine fal-falcon."

She dipped her head down and took a very long drink from the river's water. The cold liquid made her stomach twist slightly and another shiver coursed from the inside out. Droplets clung to her muzzle and trailed a thin stream down her sleek neck.

He seemed sad when he spoke of his own family. Was he lost like her mother had been at a young age? "My-my mom hasn't s-s-seen her family either. If-if you can visit them, you-you should." She felt that family was important. After all, her family seemed to stick together nicely.

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kal smiled, it sounded an awful lot like his own family. His brothers had always gotten into trouble, and he hadn't been too much younger than them, just smaller. Some had gone so far as to call him the runt of the family, but his mother just insisted he had inherited a delicate unicorn physique.

"They live so far away, I don't know if I would be able to travel that far again as I am now. It would be a very long trip..." Cryptic perhaps, but Kal was reluctant to let anyone know about his shameful weakness. Even someone as nice as this mare, who would probably not laugh at him for it.