when we're dancing,

[lamb ♥]

a l b a , How the wind wove the scent of sulfur into her hair, how it shrouded her in billowing, inconstant sheets of white that rolled off of the water and collided with the sunlight: she might have been a ghost hiding behind veils of smoke, eyes a soft but eerie gold as she sifted through the steam carefully, small feet sounding dully against the colored stone. Alba had not been here in some time, not since she was very small, clinging to her father's legs in the way that fillies will. The world had seemed so large then, and, strange, how it seemed only larger now that she was taller, more foolish than ever before! For every face she passed and every word she had heard on her journey spoke to her of countries beyond the sea, beyond the slate-gray mountains cloaked perpetually in snow, until she felt so very insignificant, playing a small role in an expanding universe. She supposed she was more or less content with it, however. She liked the secrecy of her existence, the easily-overlooked aspect to it; without anyone's scrutiny, she was free to do as she pleased. Of course, thought she, it's rather difficult to be alone – and just as the thought crossed her mind, she became aware that of the fact that another had ventured into the Springs, their hooves clicking audibly on the rock. Her ears flicked as she traced their movements through the haze, eyes large and bright and alert; and as they broke through the final pale curtain she called out a hushed, “Hello,” smiling faintly, apprehensively.


for padfoot and kartik ♥

[Padfoot]

Kartik

Paloosa Springs. It was a wild, disorienting place, intent on distorting the vision and trapping the feet of its wanderers, yet also an amazingly beautiful and mysterious place to find yourself in, if you were able to navigate the tricky, half-hidden paths. The great clouds of white drifted over exposed rock that clicked out his hoofsteps as he walked, then onto the lakes of orange and blue, green and yellow, shrouding the shapes of mountians and rocks until they were nothing, nothing more than insubstantial wisps on the horizon. It was a good place to escape, think, and watch your step.

Then, there she was, emerging from the sulfur like an otter slipping from the water, another suprise in the alien landscape. She seemed to fit into the intriguing air of the landscape, her coat similar to his; a light fawn color with a dark chocolate mane, at least half splashed with white, so much so that her tail was almost entirely cream. She was a bit smaller than him, more finely made, without the feathering around her cornets and posessing a refined profile that matched perfectly the kind voice that followed out of the fog. She had obviously been standing still; any footsteps would have rung out too clearly to be missed in the flat and rocky landscape, but she moved forward now, clearing the fog easily, making it very hard for the dappled stallion not to notice that she was rather beautiful.

"Hello," Kartik replied in his turn, drawing a bit closer to the mare before stopping at the respectful distance and bowing his head slightly to the mare, his thick dark forelock falling into his eyes as he did so. "I am Kartik."

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , She did not know what to expect when she had first heard him walking behind the mist, and she still did not know what to expect once he had finally stepped out and into the open. Was everyone so tall beyond the confines of the Wood? Heads and shoulders taller than she (which was not difficult, so small and carefully-wrought as she was), he was nothing short of a monolith, and Alba gasped delicately in surprise, one soft breath tumbling off of her lips as he crept a little closer, pausing some ten or so feet ahead. Geysers hissed at his approach and only more loudly as he paused, and she leaned forwards to better catch his name, swan-necked and cat-eyed; he had politely bowed as he spoke, speaking to the floor, and with the bubbling, the loud whispers of the springs, she could scarecely pick out the syllables, the letters that defined him. Kartik, she thought she heard, and she looked at her feet almost anxiously. If she had heard wrong, it would easily be the most embarassing moment of her life. And so she spoke very, very quietly, just barely audible herself, as if she were learning a new language: “Kartik?” Such a blushing smile! But she swallowed her anxiety and tipped her head quaintly, raising her voice so that he might not face the same dilemma. “My name is Alba!” Her voice was a carol, cut off just barely by a sharp jet of water behind her, the resultant laughter bubbling on her tongue as she stumbled towards him. “Alba,” she sang again, hardly a yard away, the distance between them trifling. “And it is a pleasure to meet you.”

[Padfoot]

Kartik

Alba. Kartik could the heat rising to his face as she came closer, closer, her song-like voice growing stronger through the fog and smoke with each dancing step she took toward him. She was like a ghost, seeming to have no stumble in her stride, nor catch in her voice, moving forward with the assured grace of a queen. In her presence he felt too tall; bumbling and clumsy.

"A pleasure to meet you, as well." The shy stallion managed, holding his head up just long enough to smile--slightly embarrassed, before his forelock blew over his eyes again and shrouded them from view. He'd always felt safer that way-- if only he knew the way it made his eyes shine like coals from the shadows. "It is a beautiful place, isn't it?"

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , He had the darkest eyes she had ever seen, glinting beneath the shadow of his forelock like a pair of polished stones, or maybe the spaces at the bottoms of canyons and wells. They were intense in a way, mysterious in another, an intriguing combination that drew her gaze like magnets of opposing polarity; she often found herself peering over their edges like a curious child, something that made her look away abashedly – and then look back only a few moments later. Alba was sure to turn her head slowly and naturally, however, though for what reason she could not say. “Yes,” she murmurred smilingly, bright eyes wandering in the pools of thick and tangible color, through the vapor rising and dancing to some strange and graceful choreography. “It's exactly the way that I remember it.”

[Padfoot]

Kartik

He could talk to her all day, every day for the rest of his life, if only to hear her answers come to him again in that lovely voice. It compelled Kartik, who was more often than not the silent one, the stallion of few words, to think of new, exciting things to say; if he could only capture her interest another moment, then another, then perhaps it could go on... He shook his head a minute amount, sending his rippled mane just barely waving about his eyes, then gave a small, slightly crooked smile in her direction. What a freak he was.

"You have been here before?" He asked, the shy half-smile remaining as he looked at her curiously. She seemed young, at least a little bit younger than him, but she seemed like the kind who had gone to many places, a bit like him in that respect. Where else had she possibly been in this world? He couldn't help but wonder if they could at least travel together for a while...

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , They had always said she was uncharacteristically careful for someone her age, never the one to take a risk, never the one to speak before thinking. Alba took after her father in this way, quiet, reserved and pragmatic. But even Casimir had had his moments of spontaneity, and naturally, so did she – she thought only of the romantic qualities of wandering open roads, of seeing places she had only dreamed of, and so she left; she did not think of what Kartik thought of her or what he might do within the next five minutes, the next five years. For Alba was a young thing, quick to pass judgment and bestow trust, and she had made up her mind about this man. “A long time ago, yes.” She liked him. “I was born in the Wood, you see, and my father would bring me.” More than she should have after just meeting him, more than she should have when she was so small, so fragile, so naïve. “What about you?”

[Padfoot]

Kartik

It was something small; a change in her tone, a shift in her demeanor, that alerted him something... something had changed. He wasn't sure exactly what, only that he had always been an observant stallion. He noticed things, small things, about people and the way they acted. "I have never been here before." He told her, shaking his head slightly, looking at his hooves again for a moment. This place was a stop on his trail to the Rorah Hills, then onto the mountains. That is, unless Alba wanted to go elsewhere... Then the rest of something she had said trickled through and something clicked.

"Oh, hey, you were born in the Wood!" He said, his voice brimming with glee at his discovery. His crooked grin grew. "Me too." Even though he had always been a traveler, he still loved the Wood; the dark trunk and ferns felt like... well, home. He wondered if she felt the same way about it.

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , It might have been a bell that changed her, the solitary chime of a bell behind her eyes that warned her. But a warning against what? As much as she puzzled over it she could not figure out the reason, and so she resolved to settle it later, a glance flying back to Kartik's dark, dark eyes with a shy, whimsical grace. Yes, and they were nearly black, she thought again, fringed with thick eyelashes that did nothing if not deepen that darkness – they reminded her of the Wood, deep and mysterious as an ocean might be. 'I have never been here before.' How long had she been looking at him without speaking? “Shall I give you a tour?” Such a child, Alba, smiling uncertainly as she gestured through the mist with a hurried flick of the head. “There's much more than this, though you couldn't tell with all – ” she began, growing more and more quiet with each word, trailing away into the ambient noise as she took several halting steps forward, and so it was not a surprise that he overtook her dissipating soprano. “What? Really?” 'Too', he said, and her eyes were the size of the moon as she turned, hair mingling with the wind. “Really?”


sorry for the late and ultra crap response! D:

[Padfoot]

Kartik

She was... close. Exceedingly so. Kartik wasn't entirely sure to be overjoyed that she trusted him (at least? It seemed to be coming increasingly obvious that he wasn't so good with these things) or be simply nervous--which was what he was really feeling at the moment. The sooty stallion nearly took an involuntary step backward, which would probably offend her in addition to a host of other social implications that it would bring on. He instead contented himself to let his dark, wavy fringe fall around his eyes and looked at his feet again--evidently it was becoming a nervous habit for him.

"Yeah," He said quietly, feeling too loud around her quiet voice and tripping steps, bringing his vaguely Indian-accented voice down a decible until it was a low rumble. He lowered his head slightly, leaning a little bit closer to her. "But what about that tour?" He asked, grinning, not wanted her to feel like she'd been overridden.

ooc Always take all the time you need. It's beautful. And I dropped the font thing. Too much work. xD /VOID

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , She felt two things when he confirmed it, that he was from the Wood as well: disappointment that the world was so small, for one, but also the faintest pulse of something else, something more – Alba thought it felt a lot like comfort and something like wonder. “Well, imagine that … ” she breathed, streetlight eyes glowing as she peered up at him, much like a mouse, or a very small bird. Infatuation made her oblivious, and so perhaps she lingered too long there, hardly a yard away. She didn't quite sense his discomfort, or the squirming feeling in his gut that wanted him to take a step back, away – but she fluttered away like a breeze, didn't she, and just in time? Hardly a moment had passed since his boyish grin before she took another of her dancing steps forward, her signature laughter pealing over her shoulder as she turned and paused on the edge of a low outcropping. “The view is best from above, I think. Coming, are you?” Oh, Alba.


nooo, i promise i won't ever take so long again, haha I:<

[Padfoot]

Kartik

"Of course." Katik answered her inquiry immediately, though he hesitated before taking the steps-- not because he didn't want to be close to her, but for the same reason he hadn't moved since the moment he first spotted her. Her steps were so light and tripping, like a dance, it made him feel coarse; like the way he had simply stepped was suddenly and inexcusibly inadiquate. But it was only a moment he rocked back on his heels, and soon he was moving toward her at his own steady, realiable gait, over the loose rocks and around the mineral-rich waters of the paint pots, reaching her at the foot of a small cliff. The great clouds of sulfur were still thick in the air around them, and he was suddenly seized by the thought of losing her forever in the banks of mist. Then, surely, she would be impossible to find. So he stuck a little closer by her, looking for the quickest way up to the vista.

ooc Do you want to have a foaly before or after Kartik leaves (he'll come back of course, but she'll probably have the foal before he finds her again...)? /figured out the font/

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[lamb ♥]

a l b a , There was an odd feeling of lightness in her stomach when she watched him lurch forwards, climbing in a sure-footed and much less excitable way up the rocks. It fit him completely, she thought, or from what she knew of him, at least. Kartik seemed to be a kind and reliable person, sincere in a boy's way and honest in a man's. Alba reveled in his presence, she realized. Whether it was due to infatuation or some semblance of love at first sight, she did not know; she only knew that there was comfort in standing next to him, that she felt much less alone against the vastness of the world that stretched all around them, and stronger despite her small framing. It was a feeling to climb mountains on, and that was exactly what she did. “I rather like it up here,” she called back, scattering small rocks from beneath her hooves as she lit atop a higher ridge and gestured towards the view that fanned out below them. “It's so unreal, don't you think, Kartik?” The landscape looked to her like something out of a dream, wild with vibrant colors that steamed and boiled into thin white clouds that undulated in the air currents; it was surreal and otherworldly, far different from the Wood that lurked not far away, or the road that she was so fond of.


ummm, how about he sort of one-night-stands her? -made up a new verb!- he can leave before the baby is born and when he comes back, he'll meet the foal? it makes it more difficult for him to get back on her good side, but. XD

[Padfoot]

Kartik

The view was absolutely incredible, almost enough to distract Kartik from the beautiful mare standing beside him. The great white clouds obscured the smooth rock and mineral springs of all colors, and occasionally from the opaque banks a great spout of water would shoot up, fanning out to join the mist with a sound like a great sigh."It's... amazing." He agreed quietly, very aware of her proximity, but becoming more used to it as the moments went on, until he almost welcome the closeness she offered.

Karitk could already feel it, somewhere around his stomach. He loved her. At least from this most glancing of encounters, if he had been asked how he felt about her and forced to answer honestly, that was simply what he would have said. Yes, it was true that, with people at least, he had a tendancy to jump into relationships, be quick to find the best in people. It was in his nature. But that was far from his mind as he gathered his courage and took a step closer.

ooc: That's perfect! :'D Want to make a babeh thread in Dery Hollow? -loves new verb- I'm totes using that. xD