Of Horses and Men (Lucas)

[Khaled]

3rd day of Fall It had been a long day of arduous exploration for Khaled, mostly because his capabilities to talk to the average person was severely diminished, as his proficiency in the common tongue was not as extensive as he would've liked. He finally got back to where Nidal was stabled. Khaled would have normally taken the stallion with him, but the overflow of people just made Nidal irritable to the point where keeping him calm was a task in and off itself, so for once he had decided to spare himself a headache and leave Nidal by himself. But, Khaled wanted to make sure that Nidal wasn't without feed, so he had taken a break out of his exploration to visit his friend.

[Lucas Arias]

Over the past couple of months Lucas had slowly come to the conclusion that horses might not be evil monsters that were twice as manipulative as Sagallius after all. He hadn’t fallen off a horse since summer. He hadn’t been bitten or kicked. Of course he still had a long way to go before he was a masterful rider and completely comfortable around horses, but he had decided to make a peace treaty with them for now. They deserved a chance. In fact there was one horse in particular that deserved a chance, a black mare. Whenever he went for a ride, Lucas picked her. He didn’t know why, but he kind of liked her. As it happened the black mare was in the same stable as Khaled’s horse, and thus it wasn’t too long before the Benshira had company. A boy strode into the stable. He appeared to be somewhere in his teens, a little on the short side, with unruly red hair, bright blue eyes and a lot of freckles. He had very casual clothes and black riding boots on. Lucas had originally intended to go straight to „his“ horse, but then he saw that there was another person in the stable, stopped in his tracks and stared. The man was definitely not from here. He looked different from the people of Syliras. He didn’t look like a knight, and he was too old to be a squire. The squire’s curiosity was peaked, and thus he decided to let the horse be for now. He walked over to Khaled. „You aren’t from here, are you?“ he asked, and then he gestured towards the man’s horse. „That’s a nice horse. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice the mark on your arm. What does it mean?“ He talked very quickly. That the Benshira might not be familiar with the Common language and could have trouble following what he was saying didn’t occur to him at all. Neither did the fact that it was better to pose one question at a time.

[Khaled]

The flurry of words tangle inside of Khaled's ears. Such was the speed of the boy's speech, that he managed to cause a considerable amount of doubt as to what had been said. He prided himself on his skills in Shiber and loved the way he could make the words flow, but in common, he was a lumbering hulk in valley of glass, and he hated it. Normally, he would at the very least try to converse without making his lack in the common tongue too obvious. But for once, Khaled wasn't even going to try and comprehend the boy, or make sense of what had been said. ”I am Benshira, no good at common.” said he slowly, painfully. But even so, he refused to give up on the conversation. That was when the boy gestured towards Nidal, who neighed in response. Common grounds! The boy seemed to have taken an interest in his horse ”this is Nidal.” Said he reinvigorated, as a great smile spread across his lips, he stroked the horse's mane ”he very strong, but not kind to strangers. He bite.” To anyone more familiar with the common tongue, his accent was horrendous, but how would Khaled know. It was a little odd though, Nidal seemed to be a lot calmer around the boy than he usually did with others, Khaled could always feel the horse tremble ever so slightly, in what could best best be described as excitement. But there was no sign of it now, only the calm that he usually felt when the horse was focused.

[Lucas Arias]

‚No good at common‘ didn’t even begin to describe it as far as Lucas was concerned. Khaled’s accent was so strong that the squire had a hard time understanding what he was saying. And furthermore Khaled seemed to have just ignored half of what Lucas had asked. Or maybe he just hadn’t understood? Lucas narrowed his eyes a little and regarded the Benshira. Should he repeat it? No, he decided, it would probably confuse the man further, and while Lucas usually loved to confuse people and make fun of them, he didn’t want to do so when the man he was facing was a foreigner that hadn’t done anything wrong and had a nice horse on top of it. He would speak slowly, use as few words as possible and only talk about one thing at a time. „Nidal?“ he asked and looked at the horse. „Does the name have a meaning?“ Since he was feeling especially bold today, the boy decided to extend his hand. He wanted to stroke the horse’s mane as well, but as Khaled warned him that the horse bit, he abruptly withdrew his hand again and made a face. He had received a fair amount of horse bites since he had become a squire. Once he had tried to feed a horse an apple, and the evil animal had tried to bite his whole hand off! He looked at Khaled and then back at the horse, unsure of what to do. „Does he really bite?“ he asked. „He looks rather calm.“ Nidal didn’t look as if he wanted nothing more than to take a bite out of Lucas, but then again, appearances were deceiving, and not so long ago Lucas had thought of horses as monsters.

[Khaled]

”Yes...” said Khaled as he glanced at the boy, he relished the thought that someone other than him might be able to talk to Nidal. ”...Trouble.” trying not to sound ominous. Meanwhile, Nidal was looking as impassive as ever, leaving little credence as to the nature of his name. Khaled was astounded, he only ever saw the stallion like this when they were out in the desert together, with nothing but them and the sands. As the boy pointed out, that Nidal was indeed very uncharacteristically calm, all Khaled could do was shrug, this was a first for him, ”maybe he like you?” Mused he out loud, Nidal didn't really look like he was going to bite, and he didn't really feel like he was going to bite either, so maybe, just maybe. It was a little strange though, Khaled could see the boy's hesitation and it wasn't just because he had been told about Nidal's temper. He patted Nidal on the back, as if to indicate that the horse wasn't about to be doing any sudden movements. ”He usually upset when other people are close, but he pretty calm now. Plus, he has not tried to bite you yet, good sign.” Said he cheerfully.

OOCWhether Nidal bites Lucas or not, I'll leave up to you to decide. I'll roll with whatever happens.

[Lucas Arias]

„Trouble?“ Lucas asked and glanced at Khaled’s horse. The name sounded rather ominous. „Did you name your horse Trouble because he bites?“ He made a step towards the horse because Nidal still didn’t look as if he wanted to eat him. He was just as calm as the black mare he rode regularly. „Maybe he does like me“, the boy murmurred, although he couldn’t help but wonder why. Most people couldn’t resist the urge to beat him up and do all kinds of other unpleasant things to him. So why didn’t this horse want to hurt him? „May I?“ He pointed at the horse, and then he looked at Khaled questioningly. If the Benshira nodded or otherwise signalled him that he was allowed to touch the stallion, the boy would reach out to Nidal after all and stroke his mane. He really didn’t want to be a coward today. He wanted to make a good impression. He just had to try it. And if Nidal decided to take a bite out of his hand, well, then he would at least have an excuse for missing his training sessions for a while and could just go to the tavern to drink or do other fun things.

[Khaled]

As the boy asked him about why Nidal had been named as he had, Khaled thought about it for a little while. It wasn't just because he bit people. It was because of his general mean-spirited nature regarding anyone that wasn't Khaled. He had personally prevented the horse from trampling, stamping and otherwise running over several people in the horse's relatively short lifetime. No words in common regarding the ill nature of his mount came to Khaled's mind, so he simply nodded and said ”yes.” As the boy voiced his doubt, Khaled could not help but agree. But even so the stallion was not showing the slightest hint of agitation. Nidal might be nasty, but he had never shown any signs of being subtle about it. If he didn't like you, you would very quickly find out. ”May I?” said the boy, and Khaled simply nodded.

[Lucas Arias]

Since Khaled answered his question with a simple „yes“, Lucas assumed that the horse did indeed bite. It didn’t occur to him that the man simply couldn’t find the right words in Common, and it didn’t occur to him that he had talked much too fast again either. He looked worried, then he looked a little more worried because according to Khaled’s statement Nidal did indeed enjoy taking a bite out of somebody occasionally, but then he realized that Nidal still hadn’t bared his teeth. He still didn’t show the slightest hint of agitation, and thus Lucas slowly let a hand run through his mane. „You are a good horse, aren’t you?“ he whispered into Nidal’s ear. „You won’t bite me.“ He patted the horse a little, and then he let go again and turned to face Khaeld again. „He’s a wonderful horse“, he said. „How old is he?“

[Khaled]

Nidal gave a little whinny as the boy patted him, and no other response came from the horse as he retracted his hand again. Khaled stared at the boy for a little while, halfway between flabbergast and joyous disbelief. He had been expecting Nidal to at the very least object a little, but nothing, absolutely nothing. Then he broke into a great smile, he remembered something about the northerners being a little weary about hugs, so he settled on giving the boy a vigorous handshake, ”this is good sign, we must celebrate! What is your name my friend?” said he with ecstatic determination, the boys other questions forgotten after his display of courage and Nidals apathetic, but by the stallion's standards good, reaction. ”A friend showed me Rearing Stallion, I buy us drinks, yes?” his voice brooked no argument, but in the friendly way of people who are going to be terribly sad if their request is denied.

[Lucas Arias]

As Nidal whinnied, Lucas grinned. The horse really hadn’t bitten him! He looked at Khaled, and his eyes shimmered brightly. „That was amazing!“ he remarked and shook the Benshira’s hand. „We must indeed celebrate. My name is Lucas.“ He realized that the man hadn’t answered his questions, but since Khaled had just offered to buy him a drink, he decided to overlook that. Lucas could be very forgiving when a trip to a tavern was involved. „Let’s go to the Rearing Stallion! It’s one of my favourite taverns!“