Pool Day (open)

Are you mad? The painted hellion had been walking carefully among the rocks. His spirits had been dashed after having found the last of the autumn apples on the stingy little tree hidden on an old path along the cliffside. The fruit had managed to elude his grip and poor clumsy Liber could not quite catch the treat as it made way down the sloped path that led upwards. Oh the bruises the perfect little fruit would sustain, and how soiled it would be. Still, it was the last of treats before winter and really only flourished at autumn. They were a favorite of the medicine hat marked brute. There was an oddness about how contained his movements were. His head lowered, his back hunched slightly as he walked all wide-eyed and panic ever in those sky blue orbs of his. It would not be difficult to peg him as a mad-horse.

The fruit continued on his way finally rolling off the edge, flipping upward and falling victim to gravity as it descended down and rolled between a bystander stallion's hooves and into a tide pool. "No, no, no, no...." was all that could be heard in a rather pathetic voice that seemed to be begging fate itself to take pity. At this point Liber Valerio was not so far off from the ground. He picked his way carefully and looked to the stranger. Thorns fell back instinctively. He was not afraid of the virile so much as the elements about him. The ground was cracked all over the place forming the tide pools, a bad omen. The water was salty and the kelp might contain creatures that might ensnare him and pull him under. What if he slipped and fell to the mighty currents that swirled deceptively beneath the sea's stoic face? "You there, are you mad? Something might nip you in the nose and poison you! Or worse, what if something comes and snaps your head right off?! And..." Liber seemed to have lost focus before he started again. "I say, have you seen an apple come by these parts?" He might have sounded normal then if not for the made estate he appeared to constantly be in.

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Stallion. Age Six in Calydor's Year One. FrisianxAndalusianxArabianxMustang. 16hh. Dark Bay and White Sorrel Tovero Paint. Light Blue Eyes.  White face with medicine hat marking spanning the forehead to about an inch behind the ears. Brown at the chest and most of the body, white patch spanning half the neck on both sides before breaking off down the right shoulder. Another patch begins down the torso and falls over the left side just brushing over the hip and thigh. All four legs bear white stockings.

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Muse: Strong
Words: 369
ooc: hope you don't mind this mad hatter popping in. ok to have Ysabelle make a brief appearance? ^^

The spotted virile was startled by Liber's unannounced arrival, not that Liber noticed much. His mind had quickly flooded with all the sorts of dangers that lurked in the rather wide tide pool. He had seen them...or at least thought he had seen them...heard them definitely...it was a misty morning but he was certain. More certain than a little. The very stress of all this thought began to hurt slightly, a throbbing pain making itself known at his right temple, his ear twitched slightly at the pain. His thoughts felt clouded and then the only thing that seemed clear was (gasp) the apple! Liber's white face focused on the stranger, the sea breeze swept in blowing his white and brown locks amiss as he more politely inquired if the brute had seen his apple? Liber wondered why he always seemed to garner the same strange stares from those about him. Was there perhaps something on his face? In his mane maybe? Oh it mattered now. His sky eyes were pleading now hoping to find the last apple of the season. The painted sahib gasped to hear that the other had spotted it and he wasted no time nearing to be beside the other hellion. "Yes that's it lad! That's it!!" His heart fell as the fruit aimlessly floated away from their reach. "Oh no..." his cry was heartbreaking just then. 

"So... Fancy a swim?" At this Liber was lifted from his breakdown, his jaw shut and he looked at the other stallion with some agitation. "Do I look mad to you boy? Who knows what's down there...and besides I can't swim." he admitted with some bitterness to that last part. He sighed again and his head lowered as if in mourning for the morsel that bobbed and teased him. He was not mourning long with his sharp hearing caught other signs of danger approaching, his head darting straight up as he looked about in panic.

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Stallion|| Age Six in Calydor's Year One||FrisianxAndalusianxArabianxMustang||16hh||Dark Bay and White Sorrel Tovero Paint||Light Blue Eyes

White face with medicine hat marking spanning the forehead to about an inch behind the ears. Brown at the chest and most of the body, white patch spanning half the neck on both sides before breaking off down the right shoulder. Another patch begins down the torso and falls over the left side just brushing over the hip and thigh. All four legs bear white stockings.

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Words: 324
OOC: sorry for the wait. teehee these posts are turning to be so fun to write! ^^ Ysabelle coming.

My words seemed to pull this painted stallion back from his episode. He looked agitated, and chastised me with his words. I took a step back, and my ears pinned themselves against my poll by their own accord. I was not used to being talked to like this. Besides... I can't swim, he admitted. I stopped a smirk from playing out on my face. His head lowered sadly to the ground, and he stared at the apple with such longing. I was about to turn and get it for him, when his head spun to where he had come from, suddenly alert. My legs tensed, ready to run when whatever spooked him showed itself, when a golden horse picked its way down the cliff face.

Liber Valerio...the mad hatter so to speak. How about a trade? The female voice floated over to us as she tossed a fruit over his head. My body started at the sudden movement, and every muscle was tensed. I didn't like the sudden appearance of so many horses. After having been alone for so long, it felt crowded. She gracefully took the apple from the pool and took a bite. Her two-toned eyes trained on me with curiosity, and I flashed my ears back momentarily. They then trained on her, the tips almost touching. Her voice came back, directed harshly at me. I picked my head up in pride. "My name is Lucius Maeror," I said in deep tones. "I expect your name, ma'am."  I watched her movement closely. She didn't seem to be very threatening, but there was something about her that suggested she was powerful. Maybe not physically, but maybe politically. The way she held herself. The way she approached us with no second thoughts. Two stallions, one she apparently knew and one she didn't. I regarded her thoughtfully. I must know her somehow.

I hardly paid attention to Liber as he worried over the new fruit, until he placed half at my feet in offering. "Oh, thank you..." I murmured. I took a bite of it, politely. It was rather good, though mint leaves were my favorite. The golden mare leaned to take another bite of the famed apple. Something about her demeanor rubbed me the wrong way. I found myself getting more anxious, and yes, more annoyed with her. "A fair trade I suppose. What benefit have I knowing your name?" "There is power in a name, ma'am. We weaken ourselves by giving them up. You may not see much benefit, but I definitely see loss." I feigned comfort by forcing myself to relax; lowering my head somewhat and shifting my weight to cock a back leg was enough to make it seem I was at ease. I had already determined Liber to be of no consequence.

Just as I was about to insist upon her name, since she so haughtily ignored me, Liber spoke up. "Ysabelle de Casiento. She's the most famous smuggle in all the South." Smuggle... I thought. I tried hard to keep my relaxed posture. First time really meeting new horses since I've been on my own and I run into a mad horse, and a smuggle. The mare gave Liber a look of hate. Apparently I was not the only one to despise giving my name. He forced her to lose the upper hand. I found myself liking him more.

"So...Lucius was it? What brings you all by your lonesome to the tide pools? Or do you often have pleasant conversations with fish?" Although her tone suggested she was merely making conversation, something about it made me think that she really wanted to know. I smiled politely. "The fish, yes. They do make for good conversation. You should try talking with them sometime." I had come here often since being alone, but it was in the hopes of meeting a mate, not fish as I had told Ysabelle. I do find them interesting, but I am not mad enough to think they will answer.

The more I talked with this mistress, the more tense I became. "Don't mock me Maeror lest you mean to try me in a test of strength." Did she mean to fight? I looked her over. Yes, she was tall, but only an inch taller than me. And agile, yes. But with her thin, elegant frame she did not seem to have the mass to be me in a fight. I prepared to react to a blow, but she simply left her words, put Liber in his place, and then turned to leave. I blew a deep breath as I watched her sway towards the tree line, and then caught it as she turned back around. "Hey Maeror...we'll meet again I'm sure. Perhaps by then you'll have a more impressive hobby than talking to fish."  I frowned in her direction, but just when I opened my mouth to respond, she spun around and galloped away. A low groan, almost a growl, rose in my throat and followed her shimmering form. I would definitely have to prepare myself for the next time we met.

Liber made me start as he grunted and walked around to scavenge the rest of the apple left by Ysabelle. I, took, shook myself down, but not from sand like Liber. It was more from nerves. I snorted and looked to the tide pool that so easily held my attention before. Now it simply set my teeth on edge. The cobalt fish returned for another bite of fruit. Liber spoke up. "She's got the mouth and manners of a soldier she does. But she's a good lass to ally with for those Northbound. Erm...where might you be bound this find day?" I smiled sadly at Liber. "Here... nowhere. I haven't a mate, and I haven't a home." The weight of my own words hit me, and I frowned into the water. This has been true for a few years now, but I hadn't actually admitted that to anyone. I'd hardly talked to anyone. I heaved another deep sigh, and looked to the sea. A shiny grey fin of a dolphin breached the waves, and a puff of breath erupted. Large lungs pulled in air, and the fin was gone.

What it must be like to live beneath the waves. I had often wondered this, but I would never know. I turned my eyes back to Liber, and offered another smile. This one more contented than the other. "And yourself, kind sir? What brought you to this fated beach, that we might meet and survive an encounter with Ysabelle De Casiento?" Somehow, I felt bonded to this strange stallion, like we could be friends. He was a little strange, but more than that, he was kind. And he had knowledge of the inhabitants of the south that was, as demonstrated here, quite valuable. The loneliness that I had been repressing suddenly hit me, and it left me breathless. But I merely took a deep breath, and moved on from it. Such was the life of a Maeror. With our name literally meaning sadness, we are bound to lead depressing lives. The thought merely depressed me. Oh, the irony.