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 Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:10 am
 Vartan had been cantering for nearly an hour. His mane and tail were hopelessly windblown, and his coat was soaked through with a thin sheen of sweat. Every part of his leg muscles felt as though they were burning. Running against the flow of a small stream in order to see how long he could endure the resistance had been a masochistic idea from the start, but Vartan wasn't the sort of stallion to do anything in half-measures.
The water churned. The strain grew worse. His hooves clattered awkwardly against the smooth stones below, and the water had long since ceased to cool him. Vartan supposed that the scenery was stunning - all old-growth trees and sun-dappled fields - but he was far beyond caring. Pain was the best and only way he know to clear his mind. Hard work washed away his brother's twisted words and loosed the dark tangles in his own thoughts.
Finally Vartan reached his limit, and stopped to catch his breath in an idyllic little clearing. He was slightly surprised to find that he'd ended up in a pleasant area; quiet, and close to food and water. It looked like it might be occupied.
Heh. If luck was with him, then he'd find part-Kalona living here, and he'd have himself an interesting afternoon. Home was starting to feel awfully cramped. Vartan wouldn't mind trying to take a place like this for his own.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:48 am
 Indeed, it was occupied.
And fortunately, though perhaps unfortunately for the stallion. Its occupant was just returning home. After a quick scouting of new land she had yet not ventured in since coming here. And even so, she was in a sour mood. Which seemed to be the case most days. Rarely was she ever in much of a good mood as of late. There really wasn't much to be happy about in the first place.
Long, wavy gold and red hair shined as it trailed along with its owner. The mare had never been one to get her own hooves dirty. No. That was work for those in a lower station than herself. But she was by no means vain. Well, perhaps not vain where her looks were concerned anyway. Dark red jewels clinked against golden metal as she walked. Some days Galaxia wondered if she sounded like a procession of two leggers beating on pieces of raw metals they had found in the mountains.
She stopped the instant a strange smell came to her nose. Sniffing the air, yes. Somewhere was in, or at least near her home. And here she thought she had found a nice little get away from the rest of the intolerable masses. Ears perked forward as she gave a snort. Well, if this person meant to take it she certainly wouldn't give it up without a fight. Red eyes stared forward in a piercing manner as she moved into the clearing. Instantly spotting the intruder.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:14 pm
Vartan heard her coming before he saw her. The clanking of her jewelry echoed through the forest, causing squirrels to scurry up into the tree-tops and birds to take wing to less noisy pastures. In the wild, it was a good rule of thumb to assume that anything that loud could kill you.
The noise made him unaccountably excited.
Vartan's ears pricked to take in the noise. He tossed his hair out of his face and arranged his legs into a solid, stable stance. A slow, sly smirk spread across his muzzle. Could it be a kalona, all draped in the bones of its conquest? He was still luxuriating in the afterglow of his run, and now his blood was burning again, pulse beating to the rhythm of the Kawani war drums. His heart sang for a worthy opponent, the conquest that would show he wasn't like-
A tangle of red-gold hair came into view. Then a flash of shining jewels.
Oh, lovely. It was only some two-legger's spoiled pet. Another, less combative stallion might have been happy to encounter a mare of such beauty. But Vartan mostly felt annoyed.
"You're a long way from your pen, Princess." Vartan snorted, before pausing to take a long drink from the stream. "If you're looking for the Kawani Village, it's over the hills to the east. Try not to get eaten on your way there."
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:05 pm
Galaxia sneered at his comment. Eyes narrowing as her lip twitched violently. Princess? Princess?! She was no princess. Far, far, far from it.
Her blood boiled. As she had already been in a foul mood this just made it ten times worse. Who did he think HE was talking to her like that. Intruding on HER home and regarding her in such a disgraceful manner.
"And your a long distance away from the hole you crawled out of, creep. Here let me help you back to it quickly since your too incompetent to tell your dank hole from someone else's home." Ears pinned back as she lept forward towards the stallion as he took a drink. Aiming sharp from hooves at the back of his legs and rear end, more of a warning than an actual attack. No, she'd restrain herself for just a while longer. If she managed to land a hit, well then here's hoping he'd go face first into the water.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:59 pm
What was this foolish mare babbling? Something about holes?
There was no time to think it over. Her sharp hooves had descended upon his flank in a deadly arc, and only the fact that he'd been tense already saved him from being hamstrung by the Princess' strike. Vartan reared back and dodged to the right, sloshing as he went. A glancing blow drew a thin line of blood on his flank, but the stallion took the hit without complaint, choosing to use the opening she'd given him to n** her in her shoulder.
If he was lucky, maybe all the splashing had soaked the Princess' pretty hair with lilly-pads and murky water. All that mane and tail had to be debilitatingly heavy.
"Oh, does your two-legger master own this place? He use you as a servant in trade for those jewels?" He said dryly, pulling back to the shore-line before they both toppled over. "I don't see a herd here."
The stallion quickly hauled himself up onto the shore, and settled into a defensive stance. The beginnings of a chuckle welled in the back of his throat. He thought that he could taste blood in his mouth. Maybe today wouldn't be so boring after all.
"Come at me again and I'll see you drown in that mane, Princess."
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:54 pm
A tiny smirk twisted the left corner of her mouth upward. And she watched him intently as he sloshed about. But she did not move as he came towards her to n** her shoulder. The mare could feel his teeth pressing down fairly hard, but she had lived through worse. Harsh bites were nothing.
Her ears stood on end as Galaxia took a step towards him. "I own this place you fool. And I do not serve two leggers. If anything they serve ME." The small, red jewels that dangled from the golden covers upon her back legs clicked against one another as she took even more bold steps towards him. Her head held high. "There is no herd here because no herd lives here. Who needs the constant babble of imbeciles such as yourself around."
Galaxia's stance did no change as he took one of defense. She rarely ever put herself in a position of having to defend herself. The mare was always on the offensive. As he mentioned drowning her in her own hair, she laughed. It may have looked inhibiting to some but Galaxia had learned to fight with it. It was a part of her after all and if part of yourself inhibited your actions well, what use were you? So his little quip about it had no effect. "Keep running your mouth like some big bad stallion you think you are and I'll make sure you don't walk away with your high and mighty prance that you came in here with."
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:46 pm
"Not used to traffic?" Vartan arched a brow. The stallion was bemused, but he didn't relax one inch. His uncle had drilled him well. "I can't imagine why this place isn't all full of callers, what with your sparking personality."
Vartan's wound stung where salty sweat met broken skin. Blood pooled at the edge of the gash and dripped down the contours of his muscles. He was damn lucky it wasn't bad enough to need the attention of a Kawani tribesman. The last thing he needed was for some sweet young village maiden to get ideas about trussing him up with more roses.
"Heh. No skin off my back. I was hungry, and that means there's more for me."
The stallion craned his neck downwards and, a slow, deliberate bite out of the patch of sweet dandelions growing by the water. It was a clear and obvious challenge. He was rather pleased with himself for having thought of it.
If Vartan's sister were here, she'd tell him he needed to stop shaking beehives, chasing bear cubs, and provoking violent mares. But his sister wasn't here. And the day he listened to anything Maharet said was the day he became both weak and boring.
"If there's no two-legger, then why the metal?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:54 am
"No want of it is more like it. If you hadn't gotten that through your thick skull already." She gave a subtle flick of her tail, standing her ground. The sunlight passing overhead in and out of clouds glistening off the red jewel that draped around her shoulders.
The mare felt a slight tinge of pain on her shoulder, but still. It was nothing serious. Not like she'd cry and be-moan about it to the world like some primp and wimpy weakling little mare. No, she was above that.
Galaxia watched as he took a bit out of the dandelions. A quick roll of her eyes. She despised them. They were nasty and bitter. "My, I didn't know you were part goat. I could have sworn you were part boar with how pig headed you are. Eating the trash instead of the good stuff. But if you want to eat those nasty flowers by all means, go ahead."
Her red eyes lidded at his question, eyebrows barely raising as an unamused look washed across her face. "Why not? Why the flowers that you wear around your neck with those god awful feathers? Why anything? And just why do you have to go an assume anything has to do with two leggers when it is absolutely none of your business to be prying into. I don't do deeds for the two leggers to get my things. If they wish to give me things and I like them, fine. If they make things that I think are pretty then I'll take them. But I am no two leggers lap dog that comes when its master calls. Get it through that skull of yours before I have to beat it in."
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:01 pm
Vartan liked bitter things. They cleansed the palate. There was nothing worse than a big, cloying ball of sugar after a nice refreshing run. Hunting for fruit made him feel like he was still a foal, bothering his mother for treats and haunting the apple groves at dusk.
He tried not to think about the reason why he might have odd tastes. One mouthful of chewy cartilage had been more than enough to turn him off carnivores for life.
"Is that so." A smirk spread slowly across Vartan's features, and he gave the mare's trinkets a long, evaluating look. That was probably rude. Not that he cared. "If you need metal protectors to get by, then that's your choice. Carrying the weight must how your muscles got all bulked up. Bet it adds more weight to your strikes."
Vartan supposed that it was good to hear that the mare was unimpressed by two-leggers. If there was anything he hated in this world, it was the supposition that so-called regular Soquli were weak, just because they lacked horns and wings and other mutations. A hoof was a hoof, and a strike from one hurt the same no matter what body it was attached to.
"If you're bound and determined to be a good hostess and tell me all about the local plants, I can't rightly object, can I? Where is this good stuff of yours?"
Vartan lazily swatted an insect away with his long, multicolored tail. He understood that he'd worn out his welcome. But he'd never been a gentleman, and he didn't plan to change now. He needed to rest before he returned to his own home. This place was as good as any, and it had such an interesting view.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:47 pm
Galaxia much preferred the sweet grasses or the mild shoots that grew near the river banks. Anything too bitter or too sweet just did no set well with her. Of course, to her, her own tastes were far from odd. They were normal for her. But pretty much anything a Soquili was accustomed to would be labeled as normal for them.
And now he was questioning the possible applications of her leg guards. Obviously this stallion could not leave well alone. "If you must know, yes. The added weight does build up muscle and allows you to be able to move easily once you are used to them." The mares ears flicked back and forth in an opposite fashion a couple times. One going forward the other back and then they both came forward once more.
She knew there were those regulars who were nothing more than weak pessimists. But Galaxia was none of them. She might not have the horns, wings, what have you that the other races had. But she had her speed, strength and wit. Keep those sharp and you could run with the best of them.
Sighing lightly, she had a feeling that he was not going to be leaving anytime soon. What a bother. "You were born here were you not? You should be able to tell what is good and what isn't. Unless your as daft as I believe you are." She turned her nose up slightly and moved away from him a few paces. Lowering herself to the ground, she had been walking all day and hadn't expected to come home to an unexpected and quite unwelcome guest. Her long mane and tail gathered around her as she stared at him dead on with those red eyes. "Besides, you seemed to like those trashy flowers and I suppose I could use a goat around for the moment to clean them up."
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:17 pm
Vartan took the opportunity to saunter up to the female and loom over her prone form. It was a good thing he'd never been a gentleman. Otherwise he might have to give a s**t about things like manners. To him, courtesy was a bunch of useless rules that only got in the way of living. And since mares weren't any weaker than stallions, they sure as hell didn't deserve any special breaks because sometimes they carried foals around in their bellies.
"All bark, hunh? You gave in faster than I thought you would."
He stomped down on her tail to keep her from moving around.
"What's your name, Princess?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:14 am
She watched him saunter. Rolled her eyes. And the only thought that ran through her mind was 'Typical male'. Pushing his own weight around and acting all high and mighty like it was nobody's business. Galaxia herself was not one for courtesy as well, as it could clearly be seen from just a few minutes ago. For her, it was more of a small bit of tolerance. Which she had little of and used sparingly. But, for some odd reason this stallion (even though he got under her skin as just about any did) was a bit more tolerable than those sniveling fools who pranced around in the fields not but a few yards away.
"I've only just begun. Besides, there's no fun in kicking you around when it would be as easy as snapping a twig."
Galaxia's eyes instantly shot up, a dangerous look as sharp as knives. "Gee, I didn't know you were that scared of me. Having to resort to holding my tail down like a coward in case I decide to stand up? Pitiful." She grit her teeth as yet once again he called her Princess. Knowing full well he only did it because it annoyed her. "Get the hell off my tail like a good little boy and I might tell you."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:15 pm
"That's not cowardice. That's good tactics." He replied blandly. The mare's gaze was as sharp as the metal of her bracers. Too bad for her that she didn't have to hands to slash and strike. "Am I supposed to throw away an advantage, or put myself in line for another kick, because it would make me a gentleman? Hah!"
Aw, hell. The very thought of it made him chuckle. Sure, he tried to clean himself up whenever he saw a unicorn, on account of they were all things good and fragile, but a regular stallion who wanted to chase around Kalona couldn't afford to play nice for the sake of so-called honor. The only point of pride that Vartan had was the knowledge that he didn't sink his teeth into hunks of bloody meat like the perverted demon Soquili that had come before him. Meat-eating was for glorified donkeys who liked to tear things up for the hell of it.
"Tell you what. Since you're feeling all princess-like, I'll indulge your delicate sensibilities just this once. I think I'll take a nice long rest here before I go home, so we might as well get introductions over with."
With that, he stepped back and off her tail - and out of the range of a quick strike, too. Neve and Marius hadn't raised any fools.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:35 pm
"Tactics of a coward." She huffed in reply. "If you were anything of a fighter you wouldn't need any advantages like holding a person in one spot by stepping on their tail. Its not about being a gentleman, its about being good enough to the point where you wouldn't need to do such things to get the upper hand."
She really didn't care if he wanted to be a gentleman or not. In all fact, the gentlemanly acts that some stallions put up made the bile rise up in the back of their throat. Who needed to be treated like a little glass doll up on a pedestal because someone had the urge to be proper?
This little game bored her. As he stepped off her tail she gave it a little flick to work out the indentation the pressure of his hoof had left. Galaxia wasn't about to just sit there and groom out her tail, it'd go back to the way it was before without any help anyway so no reason to try and straighten it out. And she almost smirked as he moved away quickly. She hadn't even made a move to strike out at him and he was prancing away with the notion that she would have. Perhaps she would have but that was the thing about her. Usually when one expected her to do something she usually didn't. It kept people on their toes. "Galaxia."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:17 pm
Vartan was almost disappointed when the Princess didn't try to get a blow in on him. Obviously it wouldn't have landed, but dodging was two thirds of the fun, and he wasn't half bad, if he was honest with himself. He didn't encounter many Soquili who were as adept as him and his Uncle. Most of the ones with natural advantages decided to forgo learning and use their native traits as a crutch.
"I'm Vartan." He said, voice as dry as ever. "It means 'rose'. 'Cos I'm so pretty."
The stallion briefly considered trying to start something again, if only to get Galaxia to shut up for five minutes, but that little half-leap back had caused his legs to sting more than he would have liked. His muscles were letting him know in no uncertain terms that he couldn't pick fights after a run of several kilometers. He really did need to rest. Especially with all the blood that he was losing.
And so Vartan meandered back over to the dandelions and laid his own self down, careful not to press his wound into the dirt. The lat summer twilight still hadn't hit them yet, and if would be terribly easy to let the warm sunlight lull him into a doze.
Galaxia might very well bash his head in if he dared.
"So what's it take to get you to share like a good filly, Princess Galaxia? Unless you feel like finding me a unicorn, I'm going to be here for a while."
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