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 Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:39 am
Fenghuang couldn't understand how his mother could be so patient and good humoured with the spirits. Their meddling had caused him an infuriating number of headaches, particularly with the rising number of 'princesses' that were thrown his way. He had dealt with foals, mares and their companions all while attempting to return home. It had been an absolute pain in the a**, though they had the good grace to accept that he would not accept them as a Princess and never would. There was only one Princess in his mind and while his interest in her was beginning to border upon obsession, there was no one who could compete.
This didn't mean that the princesses he had met weren't attractive. On the contrary he had marvelled at the beauty of some, but, much to his distaste he hadn't been able to do anything about it. Even he knew this wasn't normal! He was a young soquili, a bachelor in (nearly) every sense of the word. Yet every mare he met simply couldn't compare to the vanity stricken, Anelisse. Perhaps this was what males meant when they proclaimed they 'hated' that a mare had made them love her. She hadn't done anything to him and yet he had no inclination to pursue any other mare than her.
Somewhere in the hills, at least one family member would be chuckling at his apparent stupidity. Then again, he'd never heard of any of his family being drawn quite so far into such an array of feeling. It still didn't make sense to him, even after his absence. He'd only recently discovered that he had been absent for nearly five months! That being said it still felt right and his family had always insisted upon following their instincts - right now, this was what his instincts had ordered him to do.
For the most part his return home had been quiet and there had been no drama. He'd encountered a number of individuals, all pleasant (if princesses) and in the process he had been able to muse over things. Indirectly he had provided assistance to a number of them as well, at his convenience showing them to the Kawani lands as opposed to allowing them to wander in circles permanently. He wasn't the most heroic of creatures but he had done his duty and well, he supposed that was enough.
However now that he had finally stepped foot into Kawani territory he came to note that it was much, much, much warmer than he was accustomed to. The arctic winds no longer cut through him, the lands shielded from the worst of the weather by the towering slopes. Even the snow seemed slushier and softer! It really was quite a change and his nose wrinkled somewhat as the heat threatened to overwhelm him. With a winter coat like his, it was certainly going to take some getting used to - he'd be sweating cobs until spring apparently.
Nevertheless, he had shaken his head and proceeded onwards. He made swift work of the coast line and the immediate forests that hugged the slopes until he was once again back in 'familiar' territory. It was here that he came to a halt, his ears swivelling somewhat for tell tale signs of life. In the shelter of the trees the sun's rays didn't beat down with quite so much vigor upon his fur. As of yet he couldn't hear much, though his nostrils had caught the scent of life nearby... He couldn't confirm who it was as it had been too long, but he was at the very least aware of them.
Shifting his weight, the stallion took the opportuntiy to adjust the reindeer pelt across his back and very quickly reassured himself that one thing in particular was safe. Well, he might have looked like something that had crawled out of a bush, his mane and tail were an absolute mess - his coat was much more coarse... but at the very least he had one little weapon at his disposal. It had been through sheer luck that he had found it too! It had caught his eye, sparkled beneath the rocks and he had very gently retrieved it.
It was a stone of course, a very previous gem stone and while he didn't understand the value of it to humans, it was pretty to him. The sun had caught it and in that light it had glistened. In a manner of speaking it had reminded him of that one instant when he had seen his Princess' light. It had glistened only briefly and then it had gone but at the same time... He'd picked it up and kept it. Through negotiations with passing mice he had even transformed it into a hair clip that they had then carefully placed against the pelt on his back. Up until recently he hadn't really been sure of what to do with it either, he'd picked it up on a more subconscious level than anything but the moment it had been transformed by the mice he knew.
Peace Offering.
She may not choose to recognise him and may once again sneer in disgust at his appearance but he could at the very least apologise for his behaviour. He had covered her in mud after all, had completely intruded on her personal space and infuriated her beyond all good etiquette and manners. No doubt she'd be clean now and wary of his intentions but it was really quite simple... He would approach, apologise and leave the gift. He wasn't going to force his company on her, particularly when he was even more of mess than he'd been than the last time.
Oh it wasn't that he felt uncomfortable about how he looked. On the contrary he had taken a liking to the 'rugged' appearance. The pelt was comfortable, the thick fur kept him snug and warm - so what if the Kawani was too damn hot? Not to mention, underneath all the fluff he had developed a startling amount of muscle that would have completely blown Ambroise's out of the water. Yes, he may have looked like an uneducated cave man (in a manner of speaking) but no one could deny that all that muscle made him look pretty damn good - if you liked that kinda thing.
Unfortunately he knew that Anelisse did not and suffice to say he wasn't really in the mood to listen to her belittle him. Frankly, he was happy enough to start into his role of bodyguard as quickly as he could - she need never know any different. This in mind he began to drift through the forest at a reasonable pace, a soft hum drifting from his lips as waded through the undergrowth...
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:43 pm
((*coughs* I apologize for how long this post is...consider it a short story for you? 8D))
Whoever said that change was a good thing was in need of a very good kick to a very tender portion of their anatomy. Indeed, they were almost in need of said good kick being administered by a very butch and beefy sort of creature that may or may not leave a permanent mark in its wake. That, coming from a mare who abhorred marks of any kind, was a serious curse indeed.
Yet desperate times resulted in desperate measures, whether by action or by thought. Given Anelisse had never been a mare of extreme action, it was only natural that her 'desperation' was directed inward.
Ever since she was a small filly, life had been ordered and reasonable for Anelisse. She had been petted and adored and praised by her mother, true, but at the same time she had had her own responsibilities, raising her mother's spirits and living up to her expectations. Angelique had suffered, suffered far more than anyone else could hope to understand; it was up to Anelisse as her daughter and her sole child to alleviate that suffering.
All things considered, she thought she had done a marvelous job. No other child could possibly have been as attentive or obedient; when Angelique said bed, Anelisse was asleep before her head hit the ground. Angelique told her to keep out of the mud, Ane wouldn't stir an inch off of a bed of thickest grass. Every word Angelique uttered was taken as gospel truth by Anelisse, who knew, knew that she was the most beautiful, the most breathtaking, the most wonderful creature ever simply because Angelique said it was so. To disbelieve her mother was tantamount to the highest of insults, and if there was one thing that Anelisse herself would never tolerate, it was insult to Angelique.
Not even from herself.
As she'd grown, she had continued to embrace Angelique's ideals and done her best to be a mare Angelique would approve of. She took care of herself, her hair, her coat, her body; she had a loyal minion in the form of her adored Raccoon, and she had stallions that saw her falling at her feet.
Such had been the case for the longest time; granted, she hadn't encountered all too many stallions, but those she DID meet followed the accepted pattern on the whole. It wasn't until her meeting with Fenghuang that she had encountered a stallion so completely insufferable that he ignored her, her beauty, her words...it had been a meeting completely beyond anything she could ever have dreamed of, and that fact alone was enough to drive the mare to frustration.
Stallions listened to her, deferred to her. THAT was the right way of things, the 'natural order'. He had ignored that order, nay, flaunted it in every way possible! A handsome stallion with no discernible defect beyond an easily corrected scruffiness, he had proceeded to behave in a manner that would have suited the ugliest wretch to ever scale the earth. Anelisse had been left muddied, heated, confused, and extremely agitated, agitated to the point that even a few baths, some elaborate hairstyles, and a good week of fuming hadn't helped her calm down. In the end, she had decided that her problem was so confounding that it could only be solved by her mother's wisdom.
Travel wasn't something Anelisse ever undertook lightly, so it was a great effort on her part to trek back to the region her mother called home. Though a loving and affectionate daughter, Anelisse had decided upon reaching maturity (with her mother's concurrence, of course) that the best way for her to spread their family's superiority and awesomeness was for Anelisse to move on to a new territory. Thus far, it had worked out well, and her visits home, while not as frequent as she would have liked, tended to be pleasant.
This time, though, life as Anelisse knew it had been turned upside down. As she approached the clearing she usually found her mother in, an unusual sound had greeted her: laughter. Slowing in her approach, she had crept along, pretty much unseen, until she made it to a break in the trees and saw the source, five capering foals. Five foals capering under the amused and indolent gaze of her mother, and the biggest, spikiest, most sinister looking stallion that Anelisse had ever seen in her entire life.
It was as though she had been given a punch to the gut. For what felt like an eternity, she simply gaped, trying to rationalize out the scene in front of her. It went against everything she had ever believed in, everything she had ever understood; yet the more she tried to make it go away, the more she had to accept that the foals were the perfect blend of that animalistic stallion and her perfect, perfect mother. Her perfect mother who, even now, was looking over her children with a tender, serene, and utterly pleased expression.
Anelisse didn't know how long she had been crying, or even that she was, until she tasted the tears dribbling into her gaping mouth. But once aware, it was impossible for her to stop and she was turning away, moving off with ever-increasing rapidity until she was racing blindly through the trees, tears streaming down her face and her hair catching on every branch she went past. But none of it mattered, nothing could matter in the face of such a horrible realization.
Her mother was happy. Truly, honestly, wonderfully happy. Made happy by those five capering foals, foals fathered by a stallion who at first glance was not worthy of cowering at Angelique's hooves. Maybe even the stallion made her happy, for why else would he still be there? It was all so different, so wrong; yet it was impossible for Angelique to be wrong, and therefore...
Therefore, Anelisse herself had to have failed. She, for all her natural gifts and graces, had failed to be what she set out to be. She had failed to make Angelique happy, had failed to heal the wound left by the stallion who was never discussed, her birth father who had robbed Angelique of her sons. She had failed, failed to make Angelique smile and forget the past. Instead, it had taken a stallion so...so...WRONG, yet who was obviously not wrong in that Angelique had had foals by him. Foals who she loved, foals who were able to heal her.
Never before in her life had Anelisse felt such despair, such self-loathing and disappointment. It was she who was in the wrong, she who obviously had done no real good. Why else would it have taken more foals to make her mother happy, if she had been at all proper herself?
She had run until she couldn't stand anymore, collapsing into a sobbing, whimpering mass of hair and crying until she passed out, falling into a disturbed but deep sleep.
When she had finally woken up, it was to find Raccoon cuddled against her back, one paw resting gently on Ane's cheek, and to feel a deep sense of resignation within her heart. She had failed, and that fact was irrevocable. She wouldn't burden her mother with the sight of her, wouldn't intrude on the happy family; she would just go on as she was, alone. But if she wasn't the perfect daughter, she would at least be the best daughter she could; if nothing else, she wouldn't give her mother anything MORE to despair in.
That was the theory, anyway, but acceptance was a bitter pill to swallow. Over the course of the many days it took to make it back to her river home, she had sunk even further into misery and self-doubt, ignoring even Raccoon and her ministrations. Her mane hung loose and untended, and Anelisse didn't even care.
After returning home, she continued to mope, spending pretty much all of her time staring moodily at nothing in particular and trying in particular to pinpoint exactly how or when she'd failed. As the weeks passed, she resumed her swims and once again let Raccoon style her hair; Raccoon, desperate to snap her out of her depression, pulled out all the stops in trying to impress her with new shinies, new hairstyles, new trinkets and feathers and dodads. Nothing worked, however; Anelisse remained morose and without animation, and Raccoon's efforts went unheralded.
~~~
Such was the state of affairs that day, so like many others before. It was a rather nice day, if Raccoon thought so herself; the cold and gloom of winter had given way to the color and warmth of spring, with flowers and greens and all sorts of pretty things to make Mistress happy. So far, however, all that the sights had done was fill Mistress' beautiful eyes with tears and inspire murmurings of deceptive beauty, comments which made Raccoon swell with indignation, as always. She didn't understand the issue, in spite of having heard Anelisse's teary ponderings hundreds of times; Mistress was perfection herself, and that was all there was to it.
Still, if Mistress wanted to be sad, then Raccoon would at least make her sad in style. Today, she had put up Mistress' hair in her favorite style; braiding the black longer hair into one thick braid, which she tied with some of the lovely red hair she'd taken from the Red Stallion, and pulling back the white hair about her head into a loose tie-back, leaving a few strands loose about her face and a few tendrils unbound at the shoulders. It was a very, very becoming style, if Raccoon did say so herself.
Now, if only Mistress would cheer up and look at it herself! Or look at it, that would make anyone cheery. But that was the dream of many a day already, and Raccoon knew better than to expect any major changes. A dull, "Thank you, Raccoon; you are a dear creature." was the only response that she got from Mistress; otherwise, she simply remained as she was, lying on the bank and staring at the rocks.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:52 am
(( 8D *Chills out and reads* ))
Apparently change came even when the individual had no inclination to seek it - a total bolt out of the blue, it would knock some for six and leave others gaping in horror. Fenghuang's change had been suitably more brutal and none could blame anyone but he for that, it had been his decision to leave and as a consequence he'd been battered and beaten by nature himself. However if he had known what his princess had undergone in his absence he would have been attempting to ascend so that he may have the priviledge of handing the spirits' their asses - well, it was the thought that counted. Alas he remained in the dark regarding her current state of affairs and the traumas that she had dealt with. Oblivious, he could only assume that the petite mare had simply led out her life in splendour and lorded over her lands with her critical eye.
Therefore you can imagine his surprise when he broke through the immediate forest line and entered the small clearing. The mare wasn't dishevelled as the first time he had met her, on the contrary her raccoon had tended to her hair as he had anticipated... but, instead of her haughty composure she resembled more of a kicked puppy. His jaw tightened considerably at this and he bit down on his tongue in an attempt to fully comprehend the entire situation. This was certainly not what he expected and what made matters worse was that she looked positively miserable. Now he had asked the spirits nicely to leave her alone and he came back to this!
Ah...if only he'd known she'd gone home of her own free will. He didn't expect explanations and suspected he wouldn't receive them even if he tried to ask. That being said he would have understood the situation far better if she had but eh, he was insufferable and was worse than mud itself so why should she permit him into her prviate life?
Shrugging loosely the stallion slowly began to approach the sullen mare again and cleared his throat, coming to a halt a short distance away to take heed of her personal space. There he chose to stand, shrouded in his reindeer pelt and completely dishevelled. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to look scruffy and for the most part a bath would deal with the grime, but having walked for weeks a bath really hadn't been on his mind. Well, she could tolerate the smell of a husky traveller for a short while in his opinion and he was more than capable of enduring the abuse that came with it...
"If you lie like that there will be grass stains all over your legs, Princess." He pointed out softly, clearing his throat to rid himself of the hoarseness. It had been a while since he had spoken and while he found the cracking of his voice to be entertaining on occasions it was really quite painful sometimes.
He didn't expect her to recognise him immediately given his change in appearance - the excess of fluff, the bedraggled hair and the increased bulk would make him resemble something more rabid. However he did have a little faith and though his voice was hoarse he would hope that either that or something else would give him away!
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:06 am
If Fenghuang hadn't cleared his throat, then he would have been standing there for a loooong time without any recognition. As it was, it took a few minutes for her to finally decide to see what was going on, turning her head to observe the stallion with eyes more dead than scornful. At first, she couldn't place him; he looked like some sort of wild Soquili newly emerged from the depths of the forest...or he did, until the red color of his coat and the term "Princess" brought back memories of an afternoon she wasn't likely to forget, not after what it had brought about.
It was an understatement to say that things had changed since then. Even if her original demeanor hadn't been a tip-off, the simple shrug that accompanied his statement would have set off alarm bells in anyone that had ever talked to her. "Not too likely, and even if they are grass will wash. It doesn't matter." Her voice, when she spoke, was as listless as her gaze and her pose; there was no glimmer of recognition, no scorn, no anything for this stallion. Indeed, she lacked even curiosity at this point, not even remotely curious why he had returned after all this time of what had happened to him. In the face of all that had happened to her, nothing else really mattered.
A very mature attitude indeed.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:35 am
Alarm bells did begin to ring the moment she replied, it was one thing to be treated with disgust but to be regarded with total indifference was far more painful. His lips pursed and he fought back the urge to reel at what could be described as the ultimate blow. She hadn't even had to launch an assault, all she had needed to do was look at him with those dead eyes. He wasn't one to gawk, but his brow did furrow and it was at this time that he chose to disregard the concept of personal space and closed the gap between himself and the mare. From the outside it appeared she hadn't been subject to any form of abuse or hurt, there were no scars lining her form but this didn't add up with the lack of life behind her eyes and the apparent indifference towards everything and anything. He had never thought he'd see the day when she would disregard her appearance as unimportant and now he had seen it, he didn't actually like it.
"What in the name of the gods happened to you?" He murmured softly, lowering his head to be level with her own. His mane tumbled across his eyes rebelliously and he made little attempt to snort it out of his way. For a time he merely observed her, taking in what he had missed for months. She wasn't as bright as he remembered, she'd lost her gleam and everything she had once was had been crushed. It was as if she'd chosen to crawl into another bubble, though unlike the first this one wasn't quite so exhuberant...it was a lot darker. In a manner of speaking he almost felt guilty for sacrificing the ability to affect free will, if he had that skill he would have dragged her back into the first bubble...at least then she looked healthy.
"You look worse than I do, Princess," he lifted his head again and gently teased the reindeer pelt from his own back. Shaking it out somewhat, he then draped it over the mare to keep the last of the winter wind off her and sighed. He hadn't expected this, on the contrary he had anticipated that he would be sworn out and lectured...perhaps cursed and told never to be seen or heard of again. "And I have to admit that's saying something because I must smell terrible," he chuckled softly and lowered his head again, this time snorting the hair from his eyes. Now comfortable to fix his gaze on the depressed mare, he quirked a brow at her uncharacteristic behaviour and shook his head slowly.
Urgh.
He'd never been good at this type of thing and it was getting worse as the minutes drifted by. She had completely stumped him and he wasn't entirely aware of how to deal with this situation without cuddling. His family always dealt with this sort of thing with a cuddle, that really didn't really fit when you reached the lowlands. You couldn't randomly cuddle a stranger or mere acquaintance, there was personal space to consider so what the hell was he supposed to do...?
"You look far better when you smile, though the melancholy expression is certainly pretty in it's own way..."
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:47 pm
It was telling a great deal, the way that Anelisse just lay there disinterestedly as Fenghuang first moved close, then draped the large woolly hide over her back. In the past, such disregard for her space and her aesthetic concerns would have sparked a snarl or a slap; today, nothing. Failures really had no reason to be particular about things like that, and until she managed to rationalize how to be a failure and a good daughter at the same time, she would continue to wallow in the misery of being a failure. It passed the time, if nothing else.
Though if she were being honest with herself, there was nothing farther from the truth. She hated being miserable, rebelled against it with every fiber of her proud soul. The morose, moody Anelisse warred hourly with the proud, vivacious Anelisse, but it was always the moody side that won. More ammunition for the moody.
Still, the proud side was putting up one hell of a fight at the moment. The fact that she had seen this stallion before and that he was responsible for so much pain made her wish desperately that she had enough motivation to rise up and give him the good slap his previous behavior had merited. Instead, she simply sighed quietly, lowering her head to her legs and withdrawing into the warmth of the coat, turtle-style. Because the truth was, even in her own somewhat delusional worldview, she couldn't blame him for what had happened. If she'd been inclined towards anything, it would be words of gratitude; his behavior had enabled her to find out the Truth about herself much sooner than she would have otherwise. Best to get all of this sulking done with sooner rather than later.
Not that she was getting done with her sulking in anything resembling a timely fashion.
From her beneath the coat, she mumbled a response to the only one of Feng's comments that currently merited a response, the first one. "I woke up." The other two comments, those regarding her looks, she couldn't even think about; she knew full well that she looked thin and haggard, her constant tears, sparse meals and lack of exercise doing a number on her usually pristine appearance. If it wasn't for Raccoon, she wouldn't be fit to be seen at all.
At the moment though, that just didn't matter.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:01 pm
"Then you must have had one hell of a night," Feng mused, just about catching the mumbled response. It had strained his very ears to even pick up the soft words, but they had at the very least proved that something had happened. He didn't know what and nor did he really want to face the reality that something had caused harm. However he had already sworn that he would behave in a protective manner and if she had somehow been harmed then technically speaking it was his duty to spruce her up, give her a make over and nudge her on his merry way... Kinda. Really he suspected that his duty was to be shouted at and used as a mobile vent but whichever worked - clearly compliments weren't getting through to her and that was just bloody wierd!
He released a sigh and rolled his shoulders at the albeit dreary behaviour of his princess. It was positively laughable that he'd consider the shouting Anelisse to the tamed one but such was the way of things. He was more inclined towards the wild sort, one that wasn't afraid to show their temper as opposed to those who were exceptionally tame and well behaved. Everyone had a rebellious spirit and he would sooner see hints of that then live in a world like his brother's. Granted, he loved his brother dearly but the fact still remained that life would be very boring if everyone were like him.
"Seriously though," he cleared his throat and paced around the mare slowly, inspecting her form as she withdrew into his coat. Even he could see the change despite the coat hiding many sins. Whatever had happened had taken its toll, she had lost a huge amount of weight and her eyes seemed almost painful. Whatever had happened, had knocked her for seven bells and given her fiery nature from before he would have found it surprising...if he hadn't cottoned on to the vulnerability that lurked beneath that bubble a long time ago.
"You really don't suit the depressive stuff," he drifted towards one portion of sodden ground and came to a halt. Spring had certainly begun to 'ravage' the land, beating back the snow until the grass beneath had the opportunity to breathe. Alongside such a war of nature also came the 'victims' of it so to speak, the frozen soil had been released and now oozed across the grass sluggishly. It was unsuspecting, as was Fenghuang's current target... So he couldn't cuddle her or fall on top of her given that this would be a total annihilation of personal space - but if he could provoke her just enough to awaken that firey nature then maybe he could help...?
"But I mean if you want to wallow in self pity and depression..." he drifted off and calmly scrunched his hoof into the soil until it squelched. Once this had occured he swiftly lifted his hoof out and flicked the rather large clump of mud towards the mare's face. Reindeer pelt or not, she couldn't shrink that far in to the furry coat's protective embrace. "Then you should at the very least look the part," he continued and lowered his head, inspecting the soils beneath his hoof before he smirked and flashed an impish glance to the mare.
"Now would you like twigs or worms with that, Princess?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:38 pm
Fenghuang had almost, almost, ALMOST proved himself to be not completely insufferable by his sympathetic and concerned tone; even in her disinterest and mournfulness, Anelisse was not without reason and generosity. However, any and all thoughts of forgiveness and/or acceptability went right out the window when Ane's face was splattered with mud.
With Anelisse, everything had an order, a reasonable pattern that it followed. As a rule, stallions were supposed to defer to and respect her; in her current state, she couldn't have cared less if a stallion saw her, wouldn't have necessarily wanted him to but wouldn't have wasted the time or energy to drive him away when she had so much on her mind. Normally, she was a goddess to be put on a pedestal; now, she was worn and gaunt and without animation, but a fallen goddess was still a goddess. Her failure with regards to her mother was a terrible, terrible thing, but as her mother's child she still had a duty to perform: keeping up the family name and dazzling all she met with her beauty and charm.
She already knew she was slipping on that regard. Despair had warred with family pride and anxiety, leaving her even more depressed than if she had moped about her mother alone. Instead, her own inattention regarding herself ate at her, chided her for how she was not only a failure to her mother, but in danger of becoming a failure to her family as well. What sort of stallion would be dazzled by a mare whose face was gaunt and eyes were dead? True, he would admire, but he wouldn't swoon and fall at her feet. Bedraggled and disheveled was one thing, was alluring in and of its own right; she, however, was teetering on the edge of looking downright unhealthy.
Raccoon did her best to bolster Ane's spirits by her attentions, and when she'd been feeling particularly insightful Anelisse had been sure to thank her for making sure she had food and at least a little bit of dignity. In return, Raccoon had brushed off all thanks and merely chittered her own distress that Ane was wasting away and not taking care of herself. Not ideal on either end, but sometimes impasses were inevitable.
Consequently, her failings regarding dealing with her failure was just as much an issue as anything else, and even if she was acting detached, she still had a few expectations regarding her surroundings. Silly of her to expect such a thing from a stallion who had already proved himself so very...insufferable.
From beneath the shelter of the coat, she gave him a look that spat forth venom even as she said, still softly but with a new edge, "I would LIKE for you to have learned some manners, but if memory serves my wishes didn't matter last time, either." Compared to her earlier diatribe, this was extremely mild, but compared to her earlier dead expression...
Indifference was too good for this sort of stallion. Any decent stallion would have been able to see she was unhappy and in no mood for company, but she had to get the one stallion who lived to torment. Any prior thoughts of gratitude were gone, replaced only by anger at the stallion's amazing presumption. As though she didn't have enough to worry about already! Obviously this was some sort of cosmic punishment.
However, after a moment the flash was gone and she was burrowing back into the hide even more, mumbling once more. "Can't you see that I don't want to talk? Even you should be able to know that."
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:22 pm
So. Damn. Close.
Fenghuang had initially prepped himself for an verbal assault but apparently she really wasn't in the mood. Well, she was pretending not to be in the mood and suffice to say he didn't approve. As insufferable as he was and as annoying as he might have been to her he hated seeing anyone in this particular state. He'd pushed his luck just a little, had thrown the mud in her face in the hopes of sparking her into a rage great enough for her to ignore her desire to wallow and well...it had almost worked. He saw the flash of fire in her eyes and that warning tone in her murmur - he must've been a masochist though as this clearly wasn't enough for him. No sooner had she withdrawn into his coat again than he released a tut. She constantly accused HIM of being difficult and she was the one bemoaning and whining, had Winnie the Pooh existed in these realms he would have called her Eeyore.
"Oh, I did learn some manners you just don't deserve to see them right now," he pointed out smoothly, circling the mare once more and rolling his eyes at her huddled form. Really; how old did she think she was? She seemed to be behaving in much the same fashion as a foal that had been grounded and told to sit in a corner. Now he wasn't entirely aware of the extent of her trauma but come on. She was supposed to be shouting at him - she wasn't supposed to sigh, slump or turn away in disinterest regarding his or the world's very existence. It was difficult for him to fathom that some retreated into themselves rather than venting, given that his parents had always encouraged their children to express themselves and their opinions. It was good to talk and he was a firm believer in that as opposed to developing a hint of paranoia by mulling over events in your head repeatedly until you'd pick them to the bone regarding otherwise...irrelevant details.
"My manners are reserved for real nobility," there was a hint of teasing in his voice, but the young stallion was fairly certain it would be completely ignored. That in mind he was swift in his next action, swooping his reindeer pelt back over his shoulders as he flicked his muddy hooves back in her direction. They weren't loaded with a lot of mud, but they did spatter her cheeks with a sufficient number of mud 'droplets' for him to be satisfied. Needless to say this entire meeting was almost de ja vu-ish, add in a raccoon and the mention of hair and it would have been their first encounter. However there were some differences though, for a start she wasn't behaving in her usual manner at all and that was just wrong.
...It would've been surreal if he'd behaved himself anyway.
"And your wishes were listened to last time," he continued, shrugging his shoulders to readjust the position of the pelt on his shoulders. He'd need to employ the assistance of a squirrel or two to fix it properly but it would do for now. "For a start I left your presence didn't I?" He rolled his eyes and completely disregarding the mare's personal space he lowered his head level with her's and arched a brow. Nose scarcely inches from her own, if this didn't tick her off he wasn't sure what would (outside of tackling her).
"Though here's one for you," he popped his lips and chuckled. "If you didn't want to talk why are you humouring me with sullen words? Most creatures just shut their mouths when they crave silence," he grinned a little at this and fell quiet.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:01 pm
Ooh, this was just not fair. She had never known anyone as determined to flout the natural order as this stallion; even with her boundless patience and warmth of heart, he managed to push her buttons. Undoubtedly he made a living of this, wandering around and tormenting mares to get some sort of vicarious thrill. It made her so mad...
And mad was something that she was very good at, even if she wouldn't admit it. Unlike her mother's more polished and cool demeanor, Anelisse was (as Fenghuang had learned last time) prone to somewhat tempestuous outbursts and fits of pique. Even now, when she was being depressed, there were obvious signs of irritation in the hunch of her shoulders and the narrowing of her eyes. She wasn't going to rise to his bait, he was just trying to get her goat...
"And how long did it take you to leave? A lot longer than it should have if you would have been a decent sort and actually respected my wishes and gone when I told you, but obviously THAT never occurred to you, you with your 'noble manners'." Having lost her protective retreat, Anelisse was forced to suffer the indignity of further mud and a stallion that didn't know how to go away when told. She might be a lost cause, but she still had her pride; no daughter of Angelique was going to get kicked at and just take it, damnit! Rising to her feet, she fixed Fenghuang in her angry stare as she spoke, her voice getting faster and her tone more emotional the longer she spoke.
"Not until you had had all your fun and made a mess and picked and picked and picked and picked, and if you hadn't had to go and...then I wouldn't...wouldn't..." Grasping desperately for the right word, Ane didn't realize that her eyes had started to tear up until she was so blurry she couldn't see straight. Blinking vigorously, she tried to stem the tide in time to finish her tirade, but emotional control had never been something she was good at. The tears came faster, and she only managed to blurt out, "You just don't understand," before once again bursting into hysterical sobbing.
This really wasn't her day.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:16 pm
Finally she had cracked! He would have whooped for joy at this very second if things had taken a turn for the worse after that. He had been celebrating as her eyes had narrowed, had given a silent cheer as she rose to her feet and yet now, he found himself plummeting to earth like a ton weight. He hadn't known she would react quite so badly, had been expecting her to impale him on her horn and instead of that she had defied him. Now the situation had changed entirely and the impish smirk that had been upon his lips at vanished in the split second she had burst into tears. There was really no excusing his actions and he had known that but outside of cuddling her and nudging her (as he did with his siblings) he hadn't the slightest idea how to handle the depressed. What made it worse, was that it wasn't in his nature to leave the depressed either, he had to cheer them up some how.
He winced mildly as her voice raised, finally peaking as her sobbing became ever more hysterically. There was really no arguing the fact that he had finally hit the right nerve. While he had been the cause this time, he sincerely doubted that he warranted such sobbing. Needless to say, he was both relieved and guilty for pushing her to her breaking point - she completely transformed when she was in this state. At the moment he didn't see the noble princess or the firey siren, all he could see was a very vulnerable and distressed mare.
...The world outside of her bubble really wasn't nice for her, was it?
"Ane...Anelisse," he murmured quietly, lifting his head and take a tentative step forward to close to the gap between the pair. His lips were parted in what could have been a gawk, but for the most part it was merely due to his loss of words. What was he meant to do now? Running for the hills to scream for his mother really wasn't a viable option and slinking into the shadows would have been cowardly.
"You're right, I really don't understand." He cleared his throat and sighed softly, pursing his lips as he fought the desire to give her a monster hug. It wasn't his place and frankly he'd butchered her personal space more than enough for the time being. There was no point in provoking her further when she had finally cracked, that would just be cruel. "In fact I'm at a complete loss, but that's because you've never tried to explain it to me," he chewed on his lower lip, his ears flicking against the back of his head.
He had two options here, he would pry directly by enquiring what had happened exactly or he could try and play dumb, feign ignorance and perhaps get a laugh due to his apparent 'stupidity'. Given he was the joker of his family, his choice was a fairly obvious one...
"You know, if you'd told me that mud hurt you this much I never would have thrown it," he pointed out quietly, his expression albeit 'clueless' to her current state of affairs. "Usually it's just an annoyance, it doesn't inflict pain!" He continued to explain it as though it were necessary to inform her of just how silly he was. "You're more dainty than I thught, Princess. I didn't mean to hurt you so badly, I'm sorry..."
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:50 pm
If she had known what a dither her behavior had thrown Feng into, then Ane might have been able to rejoice. After all, if she had managed to distress HIM, then technically she was evening the score with him after he distressed HER. That was the theory, anyway, though the knowledge that he was distressed on her behalf...well, that would have thrown a whole new element into the mix, confusion.
As it was, she had no idea what Feng was thinking, because she wasn't really paying attention to him. All she could think of at the moment was herself, once again reduced to wallowing in her own self-misery. Lowering her head, she rubbed her eyes with the tip of her tail, blotting at them again and again without really doing anything to stop them. It was ridiculous, her inability to control herself,but at the moment she wanted nothing more than a shoulder to lean against and sob. For all of Fenghuang's anxieties, at the moment there was probably nothing better that he could do that offer a hug and that same shoulder.
In response to his questions, though, she merely hiccuped and gave him a baleful, teary look. "Not like you would have understood and listened anyway, I'm nothing more than an amusement for you. Torment the 'prissy' mare, that's all this is, just like before." And then she was off into a fresh round of tears, her tail officially disregarded as useless.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:09 pm
"Alright, I deserved that one..." Fenghuang admitted as the pale mare landed him with another blow. He had picked on her horribly during their initial encounter, had sought to infuriate her to the point that she had shirked at him. At the time many stallions would have done it for entertainment but he had reasons, he'd wanted to see if there was more to the 'prissy' mare than looks told him. He wanted to see if somewhere in that bubble there was a little bit of spark, something more gentle and not quite so blind - he had seen the light (in a manner of speaking) but had been quickly spurned shortly after. He had goaded her and he deserved her verbal lashings for his misbehaviour.
He didn't expect her to understand in much the same way she didn't expect him to understand. It was ironic that he now found himself in this position and he heaved a sigh. Weary as he was at his own journey, he really didn't need further weight placed on his shoulders. Unfortunately he couldn't run from this and he pursed his lips a little more, permitting her to speak up in regards to all he had done. He did feel the need to correct her on her assumption that he was there solely to torment but... she probably wouldn't listen would she?
"You don't know that," he pointed out quietly, trying his best to keep his tone gentle while audible above the sniffles, snorts and snerks that were a result of her weeping. "Everyone has a reason for acting the way they do even if no one else wants to understand them," he released a sigh and drew a little closer, sweeping his neck around hers in what could arguably have been taken for a hug. He wasn't very good at this sort of thing - keeping his distance when something was in such pain wasn't in his nature and eventually he had to submit to his instincts. She could clout him for it later if necessary but this was the only way he knew how to act.
"It was never my intention to torment you and while your huffs were... kinda funny, I never meant to be regarded as acting maliciously," he rolled his shoulders in a light shrug. "I'm sorry - I never... I never ever wanted you to cry."
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:45 pm
At least on that they could agree. He deserved that, and a WHOLE lot more, but at least he had admitted to something. She would have to make a note of that for later.
Not that she was concerned about that at the moment. Without really caring about the fact that he was, at least for the moment, her sworn enemy, she snuggled into his neck, burying her face in his shoulder and snuffling into his shaggy coat. Really, there was something to be said for the longer coated look, that it was good for snuffling and snuggling if one was in need of a teddy bear. It was like Raccoon, only bigger and better suited to snuggling...
Not that she was going to get into that habit, but at the moment it was very nice. Being a somewhat aloof mare and from a family that didn't exactly tend towards extreme demonstrations of emotion, it had been a long time since she had cuddled with anything, whether in joy or pain. And maybe he understood that, too. Unlike some stallions, he wasn't trying to take any liberties, and THAT was the most important thing. Although he seemed to have been shaken by the gesture, if his words were any indication.
Aside of some muffled snufflings, she was quiet for the duration of Fenghuang's speech. For a few moments after, there was silence, then with a hiccup and final sniff, she pulled away and gave Feng a look that could only be called wary. One minute he's all insulting and mean, the next he was apologizing...and saying that he meant to be funny? That was laughable, even if his behavior wasn't. Her huffs were NEVER funny, if she had them (which she didn't); if she was upset, it was something to be taken seriously, not laughed at!
"Apology accepted, even though you have a horrid, horrid sense of timing." Taking another deep breath, she stepped back and put a little more space between them, then announced, "But I'll humor you, this one time. What justification do you have for being so...insufferable?" Few mares could manage to be dignified with gaunt, mud spattered, and tear streaked; however, Ane had a few moments where her breeding shone through. Anything to calm her nerves, anything to distract her, would be welcome at this point.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:15 pm
Frankly if he had taken any liberties he would have found himself hung, drawn and quartered by his family. He had been brought up better than that and no one in his family would stand for the manipulative and almost malicious manner of that type of stallion. He understood his boundaries and while he crossed them on occasions it was never to the point that he could transform himself into a gelding...he might have been a rogue, but he was a gentleman to boot. Some might have accused him of being an oxymoron in that regard but he could safely say that there were a few in the world who could point out that he wasn't He didn't conform to society, nor did he cave in to expectations - he was usually spontaneous and generally seemed to keep himself occupied. That being said he wasn't inclined to leap to the aid of any random stranger if it didn't work to his advantage and was most definitely a bit of a prankster...Granted he would never admit he stole that beer barrel from the humans in the Kawani villages, even if it did further support his claim.
Combine this rather chaotic behaviour with his general good manners and he would have argued that any individual who met him had stumbled upon a very gentlemanly rogue. It didn't have to make sense, it should just be accepted and applauded. Very few people complained and spurned his company, Anelisse was merely an exception and even then she couldn't chuck him out of her life. Ah, he was sure he would have bolstered her ego had he informed her that she had bewitched him but somethings just needed to be kept safe. He did have a reputation to uphold after all and he was fairly certain that some idiot would prey on that knowledge if they knew of it.
He could handle this stalker title, even if it made his brother groan in exasperation!
Nevertheless he wasn't so 'pure' and gentlemanly as to not savour the embrace. While she might find comfort in his thick coat, he could embrace the opportunity and enjoy it for what it was worth. He'd consider that his welcome home, since he'd never experience such an embrace again - suffice to say it ended rather quickly as she regained her composure and withdrew, her expression wary as was to be expected of one who had been 'tormented' by an insufferable stallion.
"I'm a stallion, we all have lousy timing...s'in our blood," he pointed out softly, his typical smile forming a shadow on his lips. As much as he wanted to smile, to indicate it was a joke he was wary that the mare would still be too sensitive to realise he had offered a joke and wasn't back chatting. Oi, he really didn'y enjoy being on the defensive, it made him terribly restless and paranoid... which really wasn't his thing.
"But I'm not asking to be humoured, Princess," he trailed away for a few moments and heaved a sigh. Rolling his shoulders, he again readjusted the pelt on his back and swept passed her, glancing over his shoulder as he came to a halt. "Nor am I inclined to ask for your understanding after the trouble I appear to have caused, just know it wasn't intended to cause such pain." He popped his lips and motioned for her to follow.
"Let's get you cleaned up and fed, I'd say it's about time you got some colour back in those cheeks of yours."
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