Ignorance is Bliss

[Freya]

Of all the elements, water probably had the greatest number of incarnations, the largest spectrum of moods. Vivacious and fresh when it fell as cooling spring rains, it could turn pensive and tranquil when the surface of the sea lay calm and smooth like a burnished mirror for the sky. It could be silent and soft when it drifted down with languid laziness from thick clouds as snow, but that same softness could just as easily be made jagged and cruel when, in its hardest form, water formed the ice that coated the land and made it into a place for wraiths and ghosts.

And horses.

The snow dusted the fringe of eyelashes around a dark eye and they flickered, sending the already melting flakes falling free once more. Freya eyed the ground and scraped at its white covering with the delicate edge of one hoof. Laid out against the bleak whiteness of the snow-strewn landscape, the mare looked like half a horse when her black markings stood out in contrast while the white faded into her surroundings. It was as if some artist had taken rich, dark india ink and begun to trace the likeness of a long-limbed mare right there on the snow, but had tired half way through and left the project unfinished.

The female's attention lay focused on the quiet scraping noises her hoof made as she dug through the snow crust and deeper still. If she'd remembered rightly...ah, there it was. An ear flickered in subtle pleasure and something in her belly twisted appreciatively at the sight of the grass that had been uncovered. It was a little yellowed, a little damp and more than a little cold, but it would suffice.

Content to graze placidly, the mare hewn from ebony and ivory could well have been a ghost in this harsh landscape with the snow falling like a shroud. But, no, Freya was far too earthy to be a ghost and spirits didn't require sustenance in the form of half-frozen grass.

[Jericho]

Jericho did not see water as one large being. In fact, he hardly considered ice, snow, water, rain, and the ocean to all be one thing. He found it hard to insult each substance by generalizing it. Sure, he could see that ice and snow melted into water, which in turn could fall like rain or curl and swell like the ocean, but how could you call that perfect sound of rain in the mud or a wave on the beach just water? He had been nibbling at the edge of the stream considering this, which trickled dully beneath a thin layer of ice, when he heard a peculiar sound to the left of him. Jericho intook a breath sharply as he recognized the heavy groan of snow being compacted beneath the weight of something big, surprised as to how close they had gotten without him noticing them. However, some snow got in his nose, and he had to take a moment from running in terror to sneeze. "Is someone there?" He tried, backing away from the fragile creek bed so that he could quickly turn around and face the presence with his right side. His blue-white left eye disappeared from view as his good, warm brown right eye caught sight of the mare and relief flooded his face. Jericho subtly noticed that she was pretty, and so he decided he would let the creek be and continue his thinkings of water and ice on another day. "Hey, my name's Jericho. I'm new here." He recited, his head bobbing a bit as his feet shifted a little, causing the snow to moan again. Jericho cupped both ears to the snow and shifted again, listening. He was surprised to find that even his own noises sounded foreign to his left ear. "Everything sounds strange on the left side, doesn't it?" Jericho looked to her with a bright grin, or maybe not so bright, for he had failed to realize that he was the one with the bad eye, not her.

[Ryss]

Why was it so flippen cold? She had to live in the snow covered lands, didn’t she, but if she went south, then she would run into that sexist pig Syfthe and his herd of merry men, and if she were to settle in the east she would run into her mistake, and living in the common lands was just common, stallions who were not worthy of catching a whiff of her gas would try speaking with her, no The north was best, even with the frigid temps. Luckily it was spring and things were warming up. Too bad you couldn’t notice the seasons change in this ice berg of a place. Her two toned hooves dipped gingerly into the snow bank, puncturing perfect little circles in the white ice. At least the winter wonderland complemented her coat to a T, everything was either white or it was dead and black. A cheerful yet frightening look was set upon her stunning features; her nares had caught wind of someone, no two someones, and she made it her business to find out exactly who they were, what they could do for her, and why else were they here. But in her narrow and twisted mind there was little reason for an equines existence other than to serve her needs, whether it be entertainment or sexual pleasure, or both, everyone had something to offer, and she would take it from them. Taking dainty steps so that her noise was minimized, Ryss began to slink towards a female who remarkably had markings much like hers. A shiver of dread shot through her beautiful body, but no it was not her, but another common whore. How dare she wear Ryss’s coloration, her spots her hers, this ugly little string bean thought she could pull off black and white better than she! Snorting in irritation her eye narrowed, glaring past the frozen mist of steam and to fuel her temper a gangly brute entered upon that Ryss imposter, all frightened like a mouse. Pathetic, why were these things on her land. Yes, her land, the lead stallion might be Tsyrao, but that never stopped her from calling it hers; they might as well be a mated pair in need of serious marital counseling. Clearing her throat rather loudly the overly confident female entered tail high and ears erect, swiveling to in turn as her deep eyes gazed pitifully upon them, if she could click in disgrace she would instead, her tongue remained still for a moment deciding if these two were even worth her breath. They had encountered Tys, his scent reeked off there already pungent odors, since they were still breathing he must have accepted them into the herd. His standards must really be lacking. "Things should sound odd to you, I’m surprised that you can even use your left side of you’re mouth to speak with that disgusting scar." She interjected like she had been there all along, it felt natural for her to just weasel into situations and become center of attention. Ryss wasn’t being rude intentionally yet, her mind was just letting itself speak freely as usual. She had not only wiggled her thoughts and words into the scene but literally her body, she dazzled it tantalizingly before the two. Other than trying to make the female jealous Ryss was planning on completely ignoring her, so she batted a cold brown eye at the one eyed wonder introducing herself "Well, Jer, My names Ryss. How come I haven’t seen you around?" A step closer so that the male could get a good whiff of pheromones, and be delighted to appease her and answer any silly question she might blurt out, too bad her little tricks would be rather useless on a gay horse, she was completely unaware of such things and began her little game.

[Freya]

From somewhere out in the snow and ice, a sound came drifting towards Freya and her black-dipped ears flickered in response, swivelling until they were able to triangulate from whence the call came.

Her delicately shaped head rose when her long neck tilted upwards from its slanted position and her eyes expressed mild surprise when they fell upon the mahogany form of the brute. However, her mouth was full of that last mouthful of grass and she chewed quickly before she was able to offer a polite response.

"Welcome," she voiced quietly (for indeed, most things about the pain mare were quiet.) Her tail switched against her hindquarters, moving slowly behind her. "I'm Freya." With her usual attitude towards strangers on a whole, Freya's tone was warm and amiable and the black rounds of her eye were peacfeully affabale. "How are you finding it here?"

She may not have been the brightest spark, but she was perfectly able to see the nasty looking scar that lay upon the left side of his face and, bleeding bloody heart that she was, a twinge of sympathy twisted something in her breast. Still, there was no chance to voice any response to his latter phrase because yet another being emerged from the frozen wasteland around them.

And with Rhyss around, delicate signs of submission made themselves more apparant in Freya's posture and manner. Her head dipped, her jaw moved subtly in supplication (once, twice, thrice) and a tightening of various muscles until they contracted gave the illusion that she shrank marginally.

A slightly wistful gave was bestowed unto the other female, for while Freya looked half-finished and patchy in her own coat, Rhyss was a fierce beauty.

Freya was well aware when she was outclassed and in the presence of the superior mare, she remained mute. Not drawing attention to one's self was safer after all when it came to the dominants.

[Jericho]

Jericho felt better when he heard the mare's voice. That was always how you could tell the nature of a horse, he knew it. And her voice was very gentle and warm, and Jericho was feeling even more pleased that she be the first horse he run into. "How are you finding it here?" Jericho bobbed his head and swished his tail a little. "It's very nice, really. A bit cold, but I.." Jericho's left ear suddenly began to spin every which way at once, and he flipped his head to the left as if nibbling his flank to be able to see that side of the world. Sure enough, someone came trotting over. Jericho's eyes widened, a slip of white flashing at the edge as he realized that this thing was not a horse. Patches of black floated towards him, linked by something unseen. As any horse would, he spooked, taking a sharp turn to the left and bolting blindly. He got about two bounds when his forelegs crashed into the stream, sending snow, ice, and water flying. As she came closer though, Jericho was able to see the slight shadows of the white on her body and make out her entirity to be completely horse-like. He snorted in confusion, giving a pleasant nicker out of the raw relief that she wasn't some strange monster. Thankfully, no monsters would eat him alive today. Slowly he backed out of the creek, his whole front end soaked up to the chest. Broken ice and snow clung to his shoulders, and he shivered as a sharp breeze hit his legs, which were practically freezing stiff out in the air. "Things she couldu can even use your left side of you’re mouth to speak with that disgusting scar." Jericho turned so that he could see both of the mares with his right eye, though he noticed that the first mare seemed to disappear into a submission as Ryss came foward. He eyed this mare questioning him in a confused manner, and turned his head a little to glance around him. She certainly seemed like she was looking his way, but he had no scar. Who was she talking to? Of course, being a horse and not a very bright one at that, he had little awareness of his own appearance, for he hadn't even had anyone around at the time to tell him that a scar had grown from where his injury had been. Jericho found the gaze of the gentler mare and gave her an expression that obviously said Who the hell is this crazy lady? It didn't matter to him that the crazy lady probably saw. "Well, Jer, My names Ryss. How come I haven’t seen you around?" Jericho was startled to find that Ryss had stepped closer while he wasn't looking. He could smell her now, but Jericho recognized it simply as the smell of a female horse. He did not tie it to sex, and if there were ever a completely Asexual horse, Jericho would fit it. The way he viewed females was in a respectful manner, and though he wasn't completely ignorant to those with looks and those without, he never related it to the organs between his legs. He simply didn't know. "Well, Ryss," Jericho spoke quite honestly, "That is probably because I'm new here. I just got accepted a few days ago. You guys are the first that I've run into! Isn't that neat?" Seeing as Ryss had addressed him directly, Jericho felt obliged to say more. "I'm surprised that there's so many horses together like this. Well, actually I'm not surprised, because I remember once when I was really little Mom and I lived in a big group like this but that was a REALLY long, long time ago so I barely can even remember what it was like now. Some big thing happened and there was this mean guy around, so Mom and I had to leave and run fast for a long time. I was really, really tired once we got away, but I don't think I got really hurt like this other foal there did, so I'm okay now. I did get hurt really badly this one time, after my Mom got eaten by monsters and before I came here. Oh, but that's a totally different story.." Jericho closed his mouth suddenly, averting his good eye while the other stared blankly outward. He'd only stopped because he knew that talking about the monsters might bring them here, and he didn't want to harm his new friends.

[Ryss]

Suddenly Ryss felt warmer now that she had two play toys to occupy her attention. A twisted sneer crept onto her face as the female bowed hastily and avoided making eye contact. Lucky for that wanna-be, she had some brains and thought better than messing with the master. Wasn’t it so kind of everyone to just obey her without asking? Things went so much smoother when horses just thought and used logic, Ryss is better than you so shut your stupid face. Well, not everyone used that ‘Ryss logic’ but if they did, lives would be a lot better. By knowing her place right of the get go, Freya just earned herself a smidgen of respect from Ryss, gold star for her. The black and white sculpture continued to ignore the cowering estrogen pile in the corner. Her dark chocolate eyes snapped back to the strange stallion. He seemed dazed and confused by her, not uncommon; the presence of such an alluring creature could dumbfound the wittiest of horses. Just as their auras about these two suggested, they were meek and so friendly, innocent little creatures ignorant of the cruel world the inhabited, she wanted to laugh in their faces. But she was bombarded with jolly ramblings. It first began slowly, "Well, Ryss, That is probably because I'm new here. I just got accepted a few days ago. You guys are the first that I've run into! Isn't that neat?" and that was about as much information as she needed to know this little kitten was a perfect little chew toy to munch on. ”Yea that’s neat alright. She said dryly looking away to see if that little girl was still hovering nearby waiting for her chance to pipe up or dash away. But then his snowball began to roll, and picked up steam and ice and turned into an avalanche of his whole damn life story! She didn’t catch a word, besides maybe ‘monsters’ and ‘the’ This stud was deranged. But mental disorders were not frowned upon, they were quite normal, take Tysrao for example he will start arguing with himself for no reason, and Ryss loves to remind the stallion how ridiculous he looks, oh that gets his pulse pumping. OK enough was enough Jericho was still rambling on, and she was about to cut him off for her patience with him was paper thin, but he decided that they didn’t have time for another story, and he saved himself. Hr expression had become bored as the deep chestnut male jabbered on, and then annoyed when his brief history turned into a novel. But she remained composure as her cynical mind went over the uses this kind hearted and trusting soul could be for her. Slithering her slender bodice up to his, she purred out a welcome. "Well, I’m glad the monsters spared you; they must have known I was around. No one needs to hurt a poor, defensesless guy like you." She let her voice flow smooth like wine, with a flavor of lust and desire. As she finished her pity greeting her frame had slid itself across his chest ending with a flick of her black banner brushing his nares. She began prancing around the river’s edge crunching the snow so that it’s stark white splendor could not compete with hers.

[Freya]

Well, this lad was full of surprises wasn't he?

He'd been in the middle of a narration when, out of the blue, he bolted. As he passed her, Freya pranced in reflex, rearing a smidgeon up on her back legs. The look she sent after him was partly querying (because, really, Ryss may have been scary, but she wasn't that terrifying) and partly concerned since he was floundering about rather inelegantly.

Once it became obvious that he was aware of his mistake, Freya let out a quiet chuckling whicker - his actions had left him rather wet and when he cast her that incredulous glance, the picture was amusing enough to force the painted mare to break her silence.

And it seemed he was a talkative one - eloquent even if he didn't seem aware of his scar.

"You'll have to tell it to me sometime," Freya replied when the rush of words finally seemed to have stopped. Perhaps she would have said more, but Ryss was already making the most of her sharp beauty and Freya let out the tiniest of sighs. A quiet mare, conversation was still enjoyable. However, if Jericho was anything like most males, his eyes would be glazing over any moment soon, what with Ryss slithering across his chest like that.

Oh for confidence and beauty.

Used to being ignored by the more dominant mares, Freya's gaze sidled sideways as she looked for a tactful moment in which to slip away quietly so she could leave the other black-and-white mare to her games...