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 Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 10:38 pm
 Bandit was fairly certain she was lost. This was not exactly new to her- the black-and-white mare was 'lost' fairly frequently. That tended to happen when one wandered from place to place without purpose or intention. She'd been wandering long enough to feel almost entirely comfortable no matter where she was; still, she'd been in somewhat familiar territory recently, and now she was not.
Flicking one ear forward, she noted with some interest that there were tracks on the forest floor ahead of her. They were the first sign of others she'd seen in weeks, and the tracks previously had been quite old. These seemed to be of varying ages, overlapping, some layered with loose leaves. The topmost tracks were fresh enough that she thought it likely that the individual who had left them was probably nearby.
"Well that'd be roight nice," she murmured, glancing around. She'd been feeling a tad lonely, and she'd enjoy a bit of conversation. That the last individual she'd run into had been a tad more on the intimidating side of things didn't phase her- after all, it could have gone somewhat worse than it had.
Ears flicking forward and back, she ambled on, a bit more alertness in her posture.
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:05 pm
 A short distance off in the woods, Kildegard was walking along, just like Bandit. Also like Bandit, chances were that he too was lost; UNlike Bandit, though, the fact that he was lost was completely lost on Kildegard, as was pretty much everything else. The time of day, his location, his surroundings, the fact that he wasn't alone....none of it registered with him. In fact, it would be completely honest to say that externally, NOTHING registered.
Internally was a different story. Behind the glazed expression in Kildegard's dark eyes, his mind was whirling frantically, comtemplating the many wonders of....
Hummingbirds.
How, he wondered, was it possible for a hummingbird to flap its wings that fast? They moved faster than his eye could follow, and managed to support weight that seemed grossly disproportional to the small size of the bird's wings. Besides that, they moved up, down, sideways; really, when one thought about it, the hummingbird was an amazing creature. Amazing enough to totally occupy the mind and attention of a grown stallion for going in three days now.
And when he'd started walking, he'd been in a meadow by the lake. Funny how the feet moved when the brain stopped being bossy...
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:58 pm
The unmistakable, if quiet, sound of hoofbeats on soft loam made Bandit's ears p***k forward. She picked up her pace, heading toward them. She paused when the stallion came into sight, quickly looking him over. Nothing on fire, no demon horns or fangs or anything else out of place. He seemed like a normal enough chap, even if the way he moved did seem a bit... abstracted.
Head high and ears still pricked forward, she pranced closer.
"Good mornin'," she called, her tone light. "It's a fair few folks I've seen this way... I hope I'm not intrudin'." Not that she intended to stay long, even if she was intruding, but it never hurt to start polite.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:48 pm
"No, not at all." The words, spoken in a somewhat dreamy tone, were perhaps the only indication that Bandit's precense had registered with Kildegard; yet even saying that much was perhaps a stretch. The words had been an automatic response, a yes or no answer that could have come from the mouth of a ventriloquist rather than the stallion himself. As things stood, he kept up his ambling, still looking ahead through unseeing eyes.
How, he wondered, did a hummingbird know how to fee off of a flower? Sure, they had those long beaks, but there had to be some sort of talent in getting it positioned exactly right. Was it something that they knew inherantly, or did they have to be taught? He'd never seen a parent hummingbird with a baby, but that didn't mean that they didn't do their family bonding at weird hours...
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:22 pm
Golden eyes alight with curiosity, Bandit fell into step with Kildegard, pacing alongside him.
"Glad teh know I've not ended up where I dinnae belong," she commented. "Some folks, well, they kin get a might tetchy about strangers bein' about. Are yeh from nearby?" She paused, then, as an afterthought, added, "I'm Bandit, by the way."
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:35 pm
"Perhaps." Continuing on her his serenely oblivious way, Kildegard had no real understanding of the fact he now had a companion or was being asked a question; if he HAD been aware, then Bandit's guess would have been as good as his as to whether he lived nearby! Ah, to be a winged Soquili...it would certainly make getting his bearings easier!
But in the meantime, he continued to mull hummingbirds, even while his voice was saying, "Kildegard. Nice to meet you."
And he wondered why he lost so many traveling companions!
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:49 pm
"An' it's a pleasure teh meet you, as well," Bandit replied cheerfully. She was ever so slightly puzzled- perhaps he was from nearby? Was he lost, then? If he was, he didn't seem terribly troubled by it. Maybe he just liked wandering, which, as she knew so very well, some did. "Do yeh mind if I walk wiv' yeh aways?" she inquired, thinking that he probably wouldn't. He didn't seem particularly troubled by her presence as of yet. "I've been wanderin' for a long while, down out o' the north, an' I've not seen many others of late. Are yeh from a herd, or do yeh walk alone most oft?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:24 pm
"No, not at all. No trouble." When in one of his trances, Kildegard could go on indefinitely with his stock answers; his name, banal pleasantries, variations on 'yes' and 'no'...all easily managed without distracting him from important things that would otherwise be occupying his thoughts. They served him well enough, though they had the bad habit of driving off his companions in frustration. After all, there was only so far a conversation could go on 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe.'
Then again, sometimes all it took was that extra frustration or provacation to get him right back on track. If he had to think about things or was otherwise forced back into 'the real world'...well, to start with, he'd inevitably be confused; where was he, who was he with, how did he get there? But these things were all par for the course for him, so after that first moment? All was golden.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:56 am
"Wonderful." Bandit flicked her tail, settling into an easy pace. The air was warm, a somewhat welcome change from the chill bite it had contained a week's travel north. The trees left lovely dapples on the ground as the sunlight filtered through the leaves. It was all in all quite a pleasant day, as far as Bandit was concerned. "If'n yeh dinnae mind me askin'," she said after a moment's pause, "I'm wonderin' what yeh meant. Yeh said that yeh were perhaps from nearby... Is that a polite way of tellin' me teh mind myownself, which I understand well enough-" her tone was amused, as it would certainly not be the first time she'd asked questions someone else didn't wish to answer, "or are yeh not sure where yeh are?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:30 pm
"Yes, certainly." Nodding his head absently, Kildegard continued onward, blissfully contemplating the majesty of the noble hummingbird while equally blissfully blowing off the majesty of the noble walking companion...and no doubt contributing to a bit of confusion as well, considering that he'd just given a 'yes' answer to an either-or question!
That fact was a bit of a boon, however, as somewhere in the depths of Kildegard's subconscious, a little bell rang. "Wait, what?"
Dismissed were the hummingbirds, and suddenly Kildegard was stopped dead in his tracks, staring blankly (but clearly) at a black and white mare that he'd never seen before in his life. "...Excuse me, but were we by any chance just talking?"
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