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 Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:14 pm
Ortzi pranced a little further out into the meadow. He had managed to sneak away from the nanny for the time being. The painted foal wasn't sure just how much time he had before he'd get caught, but it was nice to have a chance to be out by himself. Ortzi felt too restricted when the adults were watching. He couldn't do this because he was too young, that was too dangerous, don't forget to share with your siblings, and just about everything else they could think of. Out here at the edge of the herdlands he could do anything he wanted. Sure he was bound to get an earful when his parents found out, but it wasn't exactly the first time this had happened.
With the sun shining down upon his back the foal pranced after a butterfly. The creature was so beautiful that he wanted a closer look, unfortunately it never seemed to stay in one place. How he wished he could be like that sometimes. Free to do what he wished and go wherever he wanted. One day, he told himself. One day he would go on grand adventures, see places he could only imagine, and start a family of his own.
Finally, out of energy, the little foal lay down for a bit of an afternoon nap. He lay so still that to a passerby he might almost even appear to be dead.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:11 am
 "Okay, let me think . . . the river was to the left of me before I got away. And the sun was way up and to my right. So that makes the river . . . to my east? West? Or maybe north? Nuts." Moxie had never led her owner wrong, but she had a terrible sense of direction on her own, she was quickly finding. Without guiding hands, she was but a foal lost in a rather large world to be honest - but that wasn't stopping her from trotting along right through it all regardless.
The loneliness of it was also beginning to get to the blue roan. She was used to company, to the cowboy's mutterings even if she couldn't understand it. It was a pleasant buzz in her ears that reminded her that whatever happened, at least she wasn't alone. Now Moxie was beginning to wonder why she had ever gone to that little podunk town at all at her rider's command . . .
It was during these musings that she didn't notice the stone-still foal until one of her hooves smacked against its back, causing her to blink out of a reverie and look upon it with a frown. "Odd place to put a kid," she muttered. "Oy, you alive down there?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:36 pm
Upon being awakened, the painted foal quickly jumped to his feet. He was sure to be in for some trouble now. Odds are one of the nanny's or his parents had found him. As Ortzi turned around to get a good look at his punisher, he let out a sigh of relief that quickly turned to a little yelp of fear. Who was this strange mare? The foal didn't recognize her from the herd and was especially frightened by the strange contraption that lay upon her back.
Ortzi slowly began to back away in fear. The mare looked like she might be nice enough, but there was a strange stench about her, something that he had never smelled before. All of his instincts told him to run, but he was intrigued and fascinated.
The full took a deep breath and planted his hooves firmly in the ground. He was at a safe enough distance that he could easily run back to the herd if he needed, yet still close enough that he could communicate with the mare. Besides, if she had really wanted to harm him she would have done so already.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:07 pm
Moxie merely chuckled as the little one stumbled to his hooves and backed away. "Good reflexes, lad!" she complimented him with an agreeable nod. "Mayhaps not the best place to lie down for some shut-eye, though. Bit open don't you think? Oughtn't you be with some sort of nanny or parental guardian?" He smelled odd to her just as she probably did to him. This one was . . . well, Moxie was beginning to find there were different sorts of "wild", but this one had had contact with others recently, so he probably had some sort of family if not a herd.
"No reason ta be frightened, kiddo, I wasn't minding where I was going 'tis all. Looks like I didn't stomp on nothing either, huh. So, you lost or somethin', kiddo?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 8:10 pm
Ortzi stared wide eyed at the strange mare for a few more moments. She didn't seem to be all that bad, the mare hadn't even moved toward him and looked genuinely friendly. Letting his guard down just a little, the colt moved a step or two forward.
"I..." He started out fairly slowly. How much should he tell her? He didn't yet know if he could fully trust her, and wasn't about to put the rest of his herd in danger. "I snuck off for a bit." He finished rather quietly.
"I know I'm not supposed to, but I can't stand all the rules." He ventured a little further. If the mare was going to harm him, Ortzi figured she would have done so by now, and he was quite curious about her. It couldn't hurt to stick around a bit could it?
"What's that thing on your back?" He asked rather bodly. Of course his parents had taught him his manners, but they weren't around to yell at him right now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:09 pm
"Mmm, rules are there ta help, kiddo," Moxie began, then winked, "but I get what ya mean. Rules're more of a . . . guideline, if ya will. Put too many up, you're gonna do something wrong. 'Course, there's also a ton of horses out there that don't get even guidelines, so . . . More rules to compensate. Real shame says I. Aaanyways."
She had to clear her throat before beginning, sounding rather reverent and like a tour guide explaining her favorite piece of history. "This, kiddo, is a saddle. S'what humans - well, least the more clothesy wearing ones - like to put on us horses to ride around. Used to chafe, but it's getting better. You like its design?" she asked with a little grin. "Got it off a nice ol' wealthy man with pretty sticky fingers."
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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:58 pm
"Yes," He told her. "It's very pretty." As much as he did admire the saddle, he wasn't about to go looking for his own.
Ortzi's mind began buzzing with questions. In just a few short sentences, he had heard more unfamiliar words then he had thought possible. What were these humans that she spoke of? The word sounded vaguely familiar, as if he had possibly heard it before, but likely it was only in passing. He wondered what they were like, what they even looked like. Was that the strange smell that radiated off of her? Perhaps, it did make some sense.
"What are," He paused, trying to replicate the word. "humans?" He asked her quite naively. "And why do they ride us? I don't want anything on my back." He said proudly. No son of the Astral Walkers would ever be tamed in such a manner. "And, what's Wealthy? Oh and fingers too... I've never heard of those."
The painted colt was full of plenty of questions. Actually, he was holding back on some of the ones that he did want to ask. With so many questions to chose from, however, he did have to prioritize.
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Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:10 pm
It shouldn't have surprised her so much to hear so many questions coming out, yet Moxie couldn't help herself. She had lived in a world where her kind had been travel facilitators and (usually) well taken care of pets, which had suited her until the day she had met her previous rider and had most of her day either riding or waiting. Beyond her narrow horizons, well . . . Let's just say even little conversations like this were leaps of knowledge to her. "Dear, dear, where do I start . . ." she tutted, flicking her ears thoughtfully. Had her bit bin in, she would have chomped on it thoughtfully - the metal taste had actually become comforting after a while.
"Let me start with humans. Humans are creatures who can walk upon two legs and have hair on their head like we do, but don't have tails. Instead of hooves, the legs they walk upon have things call 'feet', and the two legs they don't walk on end in things called 'hands', and both hands and feet have five things on each of them called 'fingers' and 'toes', respectively. Humans can use hands to grab things like we can with our mouths, but they can do so much more with it. Like . . . like pick things up to sniff and then put it in their mouth, or break things between their bare hands, or just pet you if you're a good mount," Moxie explained with a reminiscent grin.
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Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:15 pm
Ortzi carefully digested all of the information that he was given. He was eager to learn everything that he could about these humans. The young colt was excited by the information that Moxie had provided him with. They could pick things up with these hands? He examined his own hooves carefully and imagined having these odd finger things. Yes! That would be amazing. Imagine what he could do if he had them!
However magnificent these hands and fingers were, there was still something else bugging the colt. "Why do they ride us though? Does it hurt when they do?" Ortzi couldn't imagine having one of these odd creatures upon his back, but perhaps it wasn't quite as bad as he imagined? If Moxie had done it then surely he could too!
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