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Ausdauer was no fan of the forest. Murky, crowded, gloomy, claustrophobic place was how he regarded it, a place where a large stallion like himself already stood a strong risk of tripping up or getting caught in something, never mind the additional hassle of keeping his hair and his wings from getting snared. Flight was impossible, walking was a headache, and it was an all around unpleasant place to be. But in spite of his pronounced dislike of the woodlands, he had never been one to resist a dare or a challenge, even from himself. He had been in passing by, noting the thick clustering of trees with his usual disgust, when a thought had struck him. Yes, there were innumerable reasons to avoid a forest, but wasn't it a good test of physical endurance and stamina to pass through one?

So...here he was, wading through the undergrowth with nothing but his own will goading him on. It was a powerful will, so he knew he'd get through this, but man, this sucked!

Such had been his thoughts when he'd stopped for the umpteenth time to free his headwings from a low hanging branch. Honestly, it seemed like every branch in the whole of the forest was low-hanging, from the number of times he'd gotten snared; perhaps he'd learned to duck his head further before it happened another umpteen times!

He was standing there in grim silence, carefully working the delicate headwings out of the ensnaring branch, when without any warning, he was run into with great force by a...what?

"Hey!" He was so much larger than whatever had crashed into him that no damage had been done to him, but no one likes being crashed into. Particularly not while in a place they don't like, trying to save their delicate headwings from being torn off by devious branches. So his tone was a bit harsher than it might otherwise have been, as he tuned to glare at the offender: a rather dainty mare, who was gazing at him with a very strange expression. "You could hurt someone, racing around in that sort of helter-skelter manner."

...Ohhhhhhkay. Whatever Ausdauer had been expecting for a response, that had not been it. One dark brow arched up over one red eye, and he surveyed the mare with a bit more scrutinzing a gaze. Eyes that lack the sight? What the hell did that mean? And anyway, wasn't that a bit of rich comment, coming from someone who'd just ran full tilt into his backside? Obviously he wasn't the one with eyes that lacked the sight.

It hadn't registered that this was literally the case; in the shadows of the forest, he only saw that her eyes were wide, not anything more. Perhaps later, he would regret his rude thoughts.

But if he was having rude thoughts, she was making rude comments, and he could not suppress a snort as he finally managed to disentangle his headwings and turn around. "I can think of a lot of reasons for wanting to be anywhere, none of which include 'being run into,' lady. I'd be careful if I was you though, seriously. It's bad enough if you're going to go pelting around in the dark, but it's a lot worse if you're not going to be the least bit concerned or apologetic. You're lucky I'm a good-natured fellow; there are many out there who might take serious offense at such a cavalier attitude."

He himself was only mildly offended. After all, it wasn't like she'd hurt him! Considering their size difference, there was no way she could hurt him by virtue of running into him, even if she tried.

If Ausdauer's brows had been arched before, they practically flew off his face now. Here he had been priding himself on his restraint and his (relative) politeness, pointing out the danger of the mare's behavior, not even venting his justifiable anger at being run into and dismissed by a mare who had been acting recklessly and who he could probably squish with one foot. He didn't know whether he should fly off the handle or laugh, this whole situation was so absurd.

Fortunately, that moment of indecision was enough to save him from automatically flying off the handle, something he was notorious for back home. He always prided himself on his determination, and when he went for something, whether a personal day or a searing verbal reprimand, he went for it no-hold's barred.

So in that moment of indecision, he pulled himself together, drawing his brows back down to where they belonged and contenting himself with merely giving the mare his most imperious stare. "I'm sorry you're having problems, Miss, but I'd say you're hardly in the right being mad at me. I was standing still, you were running like a bat out of hell. You ran into me with enough force that, if I'd been smaller, you may have hurt me. What if I'd been a foal, or an Usdia, and you'd run right over me? I get it, you're having issues. That doesn't remove your responsibility for your own actions, and your actions had you apparently running around without seeing what you were doing. How, exactly, is that my fault?"

Tact had never been his strong suit, but he was pretty pleased with himself. All things considered, he'd been quite the gentleman!

Later, Ausdauer would hopefully reflect back on this conversation with some degree of shame. After all, blindness, or partial blindness, was nothing to take lightly or to speak lightly about, regardless of the provocation. But right now, he was feeling very provoked, and his reserves of restraint were pretty much sapped at this point. Who would have imagined that what had started out as an annoyance would turn into an insufferability so fast?

He knew there had been a good reason he'd never ventured into the woods before. Apparently, it wasn't just low-hanging branches he needed to worry about. This time, there was no pause to temper his response.

"It must be very nice to live in a world where you can behave however foolishly you want and blame any consequences on the world. Maybe someone else would have moved. Or maybe someone else, like me, may have been caught in these branches and have been in the process of trying to untangle themselves without ripping a sensitive appendage out by the roots and consequently been unable to move. Maybe those people expect other people out in the woods to be at least a little bit aware of their surroundings, and not so selfish that they can run into someone, possibly injuring them, without offering even the slightest bit of an apology."

He was glad his wings were disentangled now, because a dramatic exit would be pretty challenging if he was still hung up. He was gentleman enough to resist the impulse to bump into the mare himself as she went past him; with his large size, he could easily knock her over. And it would serve her right, the bratty thing.

But he contented himself with stepping back from the mare, allowing her to pass by without any further contact. "Watch out for low hanging branches, by the way. I doubt they'll be jumping out of your way, either."

Man, but it felt good to get that out of his system!