honey tongued.

[Seydi]

SEYDI
sweet talking all the way to the top.

Seydi could not make a decision as to wether or not he was happy to be in this new.. home? Was it really a home? The young stallion had a displaced feeling, even as he stood there in the wide and very much empty belly of the canyon, his eyes grazing over the few shrubs with little interest. He'd travelled far and wide, fleeing from the place he had first thought to be his home, fleeing from violence and segregation and all types of abuse that spawned from fear of differences and fear of change. And every single time he felt the ground change beneath his hooves, he pondered the same question - Is this home?

So, we reach the beginning of our new chapter, it's opening line being that very question, as it forced itself into Seydi's mind for what felt like the thousandth time. The Tersk found himself unable to answer, solutions to his problems evading him like so many before; but as per usual, he remained unphased, and took it all into his stride. Life was always going to have it's little boulders, you just had to learn how to walk around them.

Seydi began to walk forewards in that moment, his muscles weaving eerily beneath his dapple-grey skin as he performed the motions as well as any fool could. Walking was not a feat of daring or expertise, it was merely something every foal was taught from birth (and woe betide the foal that can't run), but Seydi's walk was something of perfection - his steps evenly placed, his balance immaculate, his stride properly paced and his posture smart and defined. For such a youngster, he looked almost like a noble.

Narrowing his green eyes, Seydi sought some sort of company, or perhaps just something other than the dull, muddy-brown void he appeared to be trapped in, but no to no avail. No matter where he wandered, the place was just as barren, and just as empty. Seydi sincerely hoped that the status of the lands was not a reflection of their owner, or he might be in for a bit of a rough time.


ooc
argh it sucks ):

[Katani]

It was with something of a grumpy air that Katani surveyed the landscape he walked through. A giant of horseflesh, it was a rare article of nature that managed to make him feel small and insignificant, but with the canyon walls looming above him several times his height, he was as much a minnor compared to a whale as he'd ever been.

The Clydesdale snorted, shaking his Roman head so that a bicolored mane cascaded around in ruddy glory. Never the most positive of horses it didn't take much to get under his skin, a thought as insiduous as a louse when it came to wheedling its way into nooks and crannies. The sense of being dwarfed was such a thought.

However, fortune was on somebody's side today because the titan was distracted from his superiority complex by the glimpse and scent of equine. Ears tilted forwards atop his skull and he paused in his ramblings, one sturdy hoof aloft in almost a questioning stance. It came to ground soon enough and then the stallion was moving forwards with the stocky grace of a horse used to things parting before him, living or not.

"Ho, stranger," he called, deep voice moving before him and announcing his presence. The white-splattered roan fixed the newcomer with a critical glance, heavy tail switching against his muscular hindquarters. "What brings you to the East?"

Katani inspected the dappled grey with the arrogance of an established stallion, indentured in his own territory. And while he lacked numerous subjects to lord over, his manner was never going to be an amiable one until such cameraderie had been earned and earned well.

ooc: Hush. There was no suck. Not a smidgeon. ^^

[Seydi]

SEYDI
sweet talking all the way to the top.

There was a loud voice and a sudden movement, and with the speed that was in his nature, Seydi turned a quick 180 degrees and faced his adversary (or company, but I digress). The stranger was certainly something, tall and muscular, and he held an aura of power that both interested Seydi and struck fear into him. Ever wary since submitting to his fate, the Tersk pulled back his ears in submission, but did nothing to show fear.

The stranger had paused a few steps away, and even that would usually have been too close for comfort. But the young Tersk still had a long life ahead of him, one that could not forever be kobbled by memories and false expectations, ideas that every horse and every stallion would act the same way his father had; ideas that every mare would submit and allow a torture and a beating, no matter how wrong the reasons; the knowledge that he was wrong, all wrong, and nothing would make him right. It would never do for the youth of today to think like they were damned - their lives had only begun.

Seydi was one of the few who understood this, and moved on faster than most of his kind could ever dream of doing. Speed was his forte, wether it be physically or emotionally, and he never missed a chance to prove it.

It was when the silence threatened to start screaming that Seydi realised he had infact been addressed, and that it would usually be proper to answer - particularly if you were in the presence of this particular stallion, whose stature was so large that one would not dare damage his similar ego. But the question he posed proved something of a difficulty to answer. Details are not needed - but when one is unsure about ones reasons for being, how is one to explain that to another? Seydi knew that 'I don't know' was not a suitable answer, and yet, he would have to pipe up pretty fast. Time was ticking.

"My hooves do, sir, but for what purpose they have not yet told me." Oh there it was again; he was the Clown with his unadjustable spice of wit, the Fool with his quick snips and remarks, the Jester with his amusing words. Seydi was unsure how this.. authoritive creature would react when faced with such an adolescent one, but relaxed somewhat in the knoweldge that, if worst came to worst, he would certainly be faster than his adversary (or perhaps, yet again, company - but that is not for me to decide).


ooc

[Katani]

Patience was never going to be Katani's forte, not by a long shot, not even if the sky tumbled down and smashed upon the earth and horses sprouted the wings of eagles. His impatience with the time it took for the grey to voice an answer to what had been, by the burly stallion's standards, a fairly polite inquiry for him. His hide twitched and an ear flickered from side to side, front to back, constantly in motion. The Clydesdale was not a horse who did 'still.'

Finally, was the impatient thought sparked by the newcomer's eventual response. However, relief plunged down soon enough into something resembling exasperation for it was an evasion he received, a nothing-answer. It was a pretty answer as well, but Katani had no use for the elegance of words when they danced around in their many and varied nuances of meaning and insinuation.

A snort made its gruff way from his nares and the solid clop of hardened ceratin against rock heralded the rise and fall of one back hoof. Never one to hide his emotions or to keep them from expressing themselves through the stance and suggestion of his body, his dissatisfaction with the answer on a whole was obvious, but at least he could be credited with honesty, perhaps? Or at least a distaste for veiling the truth and humouring discretion.

"Be that as it may, these lands are not free for lingering passage." His tone, as ever, was curt and deep as a mighty river. Seemingly still waters would always be treacherous, however, and his voice ran rife with the potential for great violence and great joy. "You might want to ask your hooves if they're planning on spending time here. If not, I'd advise them to take you swiftly from here. Soon."

The warning hinted at harsh, but in the way of equines, fair. A clear future was laid out and suitable warning given if this youth chose one of the two paths he faced at this moment in time. Katani was harsh and not given to bouts of sympathy or empathy, but his wrath was rarely drawn without cause and said causes were simple, easy to understand.

[Seydi]

SEYDI
sweet talking all the way to the top.

Ah - so he was that kind of horse, hm? Seydi watched him, tail quivering and green eyes more alert than his posture showed, as the far larger horse stomped his hoof irritably, and with the same manner as a spoilt little child. Seydi would have raised an eyebrow, had he not understood the complexity of his own situation, and noted (as should be fine well) that this new equine seemed far too short tempered for short and suggestive motions. Perhaps he did not take to humour too well - or perhaps, perhaps was not necessary. It was quite clear that the answer had gone down like a fish bone in a soft candy; rough on the enamel and spat back out.

There was speech, and Seydi caught it offhandedly, still not moving in the slightest and staring directly at the larger stallion, his contact with the other remaining entirely unbroken. The Tersk knew that he must look rather strange; seeming so on guard, but feeling so ready to move, and talking with a lightness that had been unlike him for the past few months.

Seydi felt a little sorry for himself, really - here he was with his internal troubles, the external ones still bruising over in a mirage of black and blue, and of all the horses in all the world, he had to meet the one who had got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. But, his mind retorted swiftly - you could never expect pity from a stranger, least of all one who had no need to care about your past. It was the present that mattered, and possibly the future. The young stallion could hardly blame the elder one for his harshness, but it never hurt to be a little less.. rude.

'You might want to ask your hooves if they're planning on spending time here.' Had Seydi not just announced that he did not know their purpose? He would have shook his head, but it was a motion that his stilled skeleton did not want to act out, and so he added pressure to the feeling and pressed it down, the way you might do if you were playing musical statues and suddenly got an itch. The Tersk rolled the words over his mind, considering the possible answers and coming up with nothing that was even remotely suitable.

Just what did the other stallion expect him to say? He could not repeat that he didn't know, because he'd probably just get chased away (and needless to say, that wasn't a very good first impression); he could not plainly say yes, he was staying, because in all honesty he didn't know if he was or not, nor did he know if he'd be particularly welcome, or if he'd even want to be in this strangers company ever again. Moreover, the dapple always felt rude asking for a place to stay, all the more so if he was unsure within himself to begin with.

"Forgive me, sir, but you do not exactly seem to welcome newcomers. Am I to ask to stay under the reign of a stallion who threatens me before I have even given him reason to?" Seydi gazed back at the other with an air of sincerity, blinking carefully, somewhat doubting that his words would even touch the rough exterior of the stallion he was faced with. "One would think you shun company." His language was suddenly far more formal than it had been, his words became too flowery for his age, and it was almost as if he had switched the roles of elder and younger; the Tersk was preaching to the choir, dangerously.

[Katani]

Finally, something that the younger wretch voiced out loud wrought something other than a natural brusque attitude in the older stallion and Katani let out a deep sound of amusement.

"Stranger, if that's what you count as a threat, then you must have walked some rather gentle lands since you were born." Aye, the brute could be ill-tempered and his impatience with frippery usually made itself known through irritation, but that had been mild by his standards. A capricious lad, he was still nowhere near as violent as some of the males in the area. Katani was and always would be a happy (or unhappy) medium, unpredictable as he could be.

As easy to read as an open book, the Clydesdale visibly relaxed, ducking his head down to unconcernedly rub his splotched muzzle against his shin. When they rose back up once more, his eyes held a spark of interest that they hadn't before.

"I am Katani."

It was true that he was very much a horse of the moment and that he cared not for whatever had fallen before in another's life - callous, maybe, but it also worked in some's favour when he had no qualms about accepting one whose past was less than...savoury.

Never one for too much formality, Katani made no secret of the fact that he was looking the younger male over, starting at those black stockings, moving up over the dappled grey majority and ending on those oddly green eyes. This one clearly didn't look like he'd win in a fight of pure weight and force, but there was something about his frame that promised speed...

...well, it was something.

Katani made a decisive noise and cocked his head to one side, dark eyes sharp and questioning. "I hardly shun company, but a newcomer who expects a stallion to welcome them in with open arms has a limited choice of abode."

[Seydi]

SEYDI
sweet talking all the way to the top.

'Stranger, if that's what you count as a threat, then you must have walked some rather gentle lands since you were born.' Seydi could almost have laughed, but the most he managed was a small smile, twitching as it curved the edges of his lips ever so slightly. "If they were gentle, I might still be there." He muttered quietly, more to himself than to anyone else. The younger stallion almost wished that the violence in his home had been verbal rather than phsyical, and thoughts of the place flooded his minds eye, threatening his sanity.

Even so, he did not move his gaze from that of the other, and his heart rate slowed somewhat when he saw the huge stallion relax a little. Perhaps he had said the right thing for once - or perhaps the word 'perhaps' was the wrong choice, and he should have used 'certainly', because as he watched, this huge beast bowed. Seydi was a little surprised, but pleasantly so. Returning the gesture, Seydi's foreleg was extended as he lowered his head respectively, closing his eyes for a moment before returning to a stand.

"And I am Seydi." He returned, to the now idenitfied Katani.

Remaining still, the Tersk was silent for a moment, watching the other as if expecting him to reply, before he realised that Katani was no longer meeting his gaze and was taking the opportunity to.. what was word? Inspect, inspect his newcomer. Subtle, Seydi thought lightly, but he continued to stand still and did not object.

At his follow up comment, Seydi did not change his expression, nor did he move (though his tail twitched lightly, but that was not a concious movement). "A stallion who waits for a newcomer to beg for a home has little variety in his herd." The younger horse replied swiftly, playing on the words Katani had spoken and twisting them to his own will. Seydi was quick witted and intelligent; perhaps those qualities were quickly becoming noticable.

[Katani]

The kid had an answer for everything, didn't he? Smart aleck.

Katani resisted rolling his eyes, if only by a bare margin. No, the large lad definitely lacked patience - a trait apparent since he'd been a rambunctious colt all those years ago. Already he was tiring of this dappled grey twisting his words and throwing them back at him. It showed a decided lack of originality in his eyes.

And now it seemed the other was bowing. While not adverse to any show of respect, the large titan allowed a certain amount of bemusement to settle upon his strong, Roman features. Then it hit him that this stranger had mistaken his casual scratching of an itch with some formal greeting. A smirk traversed his lips and a thick, heavy tail moved comfortingly against his rump. Oh, the formal ones were always the funniest...

Seydi.

Katani now had a name for a face and he nodded approval, committing the title to memory.

"Variety is a luxury, not a necessity," came the clipped, haughty respone. In all honesty, he was tiring of this interchange and sought to end it as soon as possible. His interest was waning as this Seydi proved himself a pedant and it was most tiresome. "It may have escaped your attention, but we are not what we once were." In this case 'we' represented the horses in their little world. "Numbers are down and times are hard." A dry wind moved his bicoloured mane against his muscled neck and his skin twitched against the tickling sensation.

Time to round this off. "Stay or don't." The sigh the Clydesdale emitted was a hefty one and he fixed the Tersk with a steady gaze. "A lone horse will hardly do well on his own and this herd is small enough to need more members, but I am not about to waste time on those who need to be coddled and cajoled. A disparaging noise. "We don't have the luxury of time in which to court you."

Until a horse owed its allegiance to him, they had no right to glimpse Katani's better nature. Strangers weren't worth it, but herdmates were and the large stallion was loyal to a ferocious degree. But Seydi wasn't a herdmate, was he?