[PRP]So...I'm not a freak? (Flower & Ahote)

[Lilly_Foxx]

It was exceedingly hot and muggy. Being mostly black sure didn't help the situation. The young mare nipped at the grass, only taking bites every now and then. Her tail twitched as a fly buzzed about her flank. She hummed an old tune her mother used to sing to her when she was young. It was sweet and melodious. She didn't dare call any attention to herself and thus didn't sing aloud.

A horse fly buzzed about her, looking for a good place to land for a feed. The insect dropped down onto her neck and stuck it's proboscis into her flesh. Her eyes widened and she let out a cry of suprise, as she tried to n** at the creature. It was days like this when she loathed her colourings. Horseflies loved dark colours. She tossed her stark white mane, snorted in distaste and went back to grazing. The young mare had never met another Usdia and thought she was a bit of an oddity.  

[Nori Ishida]

Ahote was being his normal energetic self and bounding across the field. Every now and then he would stop to take a bite of the lush grass before continuing along his way.

He was trotting around aimlessly, his eyes scanning the field, when he saw something black and white not too far in front of him. He stopped in his tracks, and squinted to better see what it was. From where he stood, it looked a lot like one of those stinky little black and white creatures. His mother had called it....a skunk, right? Well, he remembered having an encounter with one before, and the outcome was quite smelly, and he didn't want to repeat that. So...he should scare it off, right?

He started trotting again, straight towards the skunk, slowly getting faster. When he got closer, he started to yell a bit in an attempt to scare it away.

"Heeeyyyy!! Go away, you stinky skunk! Don't make me smell!!!"  

[Lilly_Foxx]

Flower's ears laid back, her blue eyes lit with suprise, her mouth slightly agape. Someone was randomly yelling and trying to chase her. She pawed the ground nervously before the stallion's words sunk in. "I-I'm no skunk!" She cried, it was like a switch had been turned on and she realised what he had said.

"A skunk?" The normally shy mare snapped in outrage, her nares flaring. "How dare you call me a skunk!" She added, a scowl on her face. "I'm a Usdia."  

[Nori Ishida]

As Ahote got closer to the skunk, he skidded to a halt. It had raised its head and was actually yelling at him. Wait...did she say "Usida"? Well, this was a first! He hadn't yet met any other Usidas. He was sure there were others out there, but he still hadn't met one. But now, standing right before him, was a real live Usida! He smiled and reared back on his hind legs.

"Heeeyyy!! I'm an Usida, too! Sorry I called you a skunk, but from far away, you looked like one. You're kind of small, you know."

Of course, Ahote was about the same size of the mare that stood in front of him, but he didn't really understand that they were both smaller than the four-legged creatures that resembled them and were called Soquili. But he knew that the mare in front of him was called the same thing as he was, and he was very excited about that.

"Well, is your name Usida?! Because I'm an Usida, but my name is Ahote. Do you have another name, or are you called Usida?"

He spoke quickly in a very excited voice.  

[Lilly_Foxx]

"S-S'okay." She said, calming down. Her anger abated but now found herself painfully shy yet again. Although he did seem a lot easier to speak to than the giants, she had no idea why. Perhaps it was his size.

"I-I'm...heh, I'm Flower...s'a pleasure to meet you Ahote." She said with a nod of her head.

"Ar-Are you new 'round here mate?" She asked curiously. " 'Cause all I've seen around lately are these massive giants." She told him. "They're as tall as trees...or, it seemed like it." She added after some reflection. "I'm kinda thirsty...wanna come find something to drink?" She asked, her tail flicking at a fly.  

[Nori Ishida]

Ahote smiled, giggling at Flower's studdering.

"Why are ya studdering like that? Are you nervous?"

He listened to her talk about the "giants", and he knew what she was talking about. He had met a few of them already, before he had met any Usida.

"Oh, those big guys are called Soquili! They're not that bad, most of them! One of them taught me how to swim! But I don't know if I'm new here. I haven't been here that long, if that's what you mean. But I haven't seen any other Usida, either! Where did you come from?"

He smiled and looked around at the mention of getting something to drink.

"Yeah, I think I passed a stream on my way out here. Come on, its this way!"

And with that, he headed to the northeast, towards the stream he passed.  

[Lilly_Foxx]

"I-I'm not nervous...just...well...maybe." She admitted scratching at the dirt with her hoof. "I dunno i-if you could say nervous but..." She bit her bottom lip.

She contemplated the name. "Soquili eh? Hmmm...well uh, I came from my two-leggers' teepee." She said. "W-We've never really seen anyone else so, this is rather new to me." She admitted.

Flower then moved to follow him, her gait soft and light, tail held high.  

[Nori Ishida]

"Its ok if you're nervous. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't worry. I won't do anything bad to ya!" He smiled as they walked towards the small stream. He would have challenged her to a race, but he thought that might make her more nervous, so he decided not to.

"Really! I have a teepee, too! I live there with my two-legger, and a Soquili named Shikoba. I really don't think he likes me that much, but he doesn't like a lot of things, so its no big deal. Our teepee is in the mountains. Where is yours?"

He hadn't seen any other teepees in the mountain spot where his was, so he wondered if they were the only ones up there. It was quite a climb for him, but for Shikoba, he could just fly up there. That's probably why he liked it so much. That, and there weren't any others nearby, so he probably liked that, too.  

[Lilly_Foxx]

Flower nodded. "I-I'm sure you won't...your the first other U-Usdia, or other a-animal sort of creature I-I've met 'sides my two-legger." She told him. "My t-t-teepee is in a clearing in the middle of the f-forest. S-So that way we get the c-change of the seasons and i-it's easier to get to. Ayashe, m-my two-legger's a-apparently little too. S-So it all works out." She added with a soft smile. The first true smile she had shown him.

"S-Shikoba sounds like a-an old stick in t-the mud if you ask me. But w-what's he look like?" She asked curiously. She hadn't seen many different Soquili so each individual's markings intrigued her.

Maybe this male wasn't so bad after all. Sure, he seemed a bit rough around the edges...his hyper activity and child-like nature, but it was also rather endearing. She wondered if there were any other Usdia around. If so, this could open up a whole new world for her.  

[Nori Ishida]

Ahote smiled himself when he saw Flower smile. But she still sounded a bit nervous with her studder.

"How come you're still studderin'? You're not nervous about anything, are you?"

He thought about what Shikoba looked like, and tried to describe it to her.

"Well, he kind of looks like a bird. He has wings, and his tail is really short, almost like a bird's tail feathers. And his mane is reeeealy long, almost down to his feet. He's mostly brown and white, but his mane is red with a tiny bit of yellow in it. And yeah, is he kind of like a stick in the mud."

He chuckled at Flower's description of Shikoba.  

[Lilly_Foxx]

So he did notice. The mare's cheeks began to burn with red, her ears pinned back at a forty-five degree angle. "I-I'm not nervous." She told him. "I just d-d-don't often speak with others so I-I'm..." She paused trying to think of the appropriate word. "A b-b-bit uneasy I g-guess." She finished. "But it's o-only when I meet someone n-n-new." She explained. "I-I'unno why it happens like t-that. It j-j-j-just does. So it's n-not just you...s'everyone."

When the topic shifted to his grumpy live-in she felt a slight weight lifted from her shoulders. "Wow." She said softly as she tried to picture the male. "So is he coloured like some kind of bird?" She asked trying to get the picture in her mind to become more crisp.  

[Nori Ishida]

"Yeah, he looks like a bird. Except he's got four legs, and he's friggen' huuuge! But other than that, his colours are like a bird."

He thought about Flower's small speech problem, and actually thought it was kind of silly. To him, meeting new people was exciting, and he was always very comfortable when he did make a new acquaintance. But everybody is different, right? He was slowly coming to learn this as he met more creatures around this land.

"Well, you don't have to be uneasy. Though I guess I can kind of understand. Oh, look, the stream is just over there!"

Ahead of them, they could see the grassy banks of a small stream. The water flowed over smooth rocks, and created a soothing rushing sound.  

[Lilly_Foxx]

Flower's ears were still slightly back and she glanced to the male before rushing over to the stream and bending to drink. She kept glancing at him warily, her muscles tense as if she were expecting something to happen. Once she had finished she turned to him. "I-I'll bet he's m-m-massive." She agreed referring to to the Soquili.

"S-Soquilli are q-quite big from what I-I've seen." She told him. No this stallion could never, would never understand. She doubted even her two-legger with whom she was very close, could understand what she was feeling. They all had perfect, sunny, bright and happy lives. Or so it seemed to her.

But she carried a dark secret within her heart that she'd never tell another living soul. She found it too embarrassing, shameful even. But in reality there was nothing bad about what had transpired when she was a filly.

It wasn't her fault as she thought it was. She hadn't asked for it, or provoked the issue. So she buried it. She buried it as deeply as it would go. And now, this meeting was bringing back the memories in full force. They were vivid, so much that she tried to force herself to think of anything else.  

[Nori Ishida]

Ahote also took a drink at the stream. He noticed the mare kept looking at him as though she expected him to attack her as she was drinking. And she was still studdering. He really didn't understand what she was so nervous about.

"You look really scared. How come you're so tense? What's wrong?"

Ahote never bothered to be subtle or dance around things. He asked questions outright. That was the best way to get answers when you wanted them, right? Just ask the question.

He looked around, thinking maybe there was something near that was frightening the mare, but he couldn't see anything. He looked back at her, still puzzled about her tension.

"Well, he's not all that big. At least I don't think so. Oh, I never told you my name! I'm Ahote!"  

[Lilly_Foxx]

Flower had her back to him, is what was wrong. But of course she wasn't going to say anything. She chose to ignore his first question and focus on the light conversation that she had tried to steer him towards. Apparently he had one track mind however.

She forced a smile, her eyes sparkling deceptively. "S-S-Silly! You have too told me your name." She said with a light chuckle.

She wasn't even aware she had been looking to the stallion in such a way. All she knew was that she had to seem happy and normal. 'I'm fine...nothing's going to happen...s'not like...well I'm not a little filly anymore either but...' She stopped mid-thought. He still made her nervous. She forced her ears forward into a relaxed position. It was quite a battle however because she was far from calm. Flower knew she had ot at least seem like she was.