You'll Frighten the Horses (Ashen)

[Cara]

6 Summer, 511 AV Location: Frostfawn Stables Cara walked along the narrow path that led through the center of the stables, dividing the stalls on the left side of the building from those on the right side. In her hands she held a large metal pail filled with water. The handle dug into her hands, causing them to ache, as a slender red line made its way across her flesh. As she walked, she hunched over somewhat, as though sheltering the pail from the large wooden beams that supported the stable's ceiling. Every muscle in her back and shoulders ached, and felt as though they had wound themselves so tightly around one another, that they would spring at any moment. Cara's heart was pounding in her tiny rib cage; beating heavily, like a base drum. Her breath was catching in her throat, and her cheeks were growing red. Several beads of salty sweat had appeared on her brow, causing her skin to glisten. "Oh why can't the stalls be any closer to the water trough?" Cara complained as she continued down the line, ignoring the whinnying of several horses that she was not tending to. "Why couldn't they just make it easy on us somehow?" Another few horses stamped their feet on the ground, they seemed to be growing impatient with their owners for not coming sooner to feed them, and give them water; to groom their dusty coats. "They'll come tend to you soon," Cara whispered, not truly believing her own words, considering just how early it was in the morning, the sun now just rising. Cara continued another few steps, until she reached a stall marked with the number five. The door had already been left ajar, and she lazily kicked it open and stepped inside. There was an empty trough of water by the door, which she filled with the water in her pail. As soon as she had emptied the contents of it, Cara put the pail back down on the ground, and began gasping for air. "This... should not... be... so bloody... difficult," she muttered, ignoring the pain in her back and in her hands. The indents and red marks the pail had left in her flesh. Her heart was beating even faster now, and although her muscles felt a bit lighter, now that they weren't forced to support anything more than the girl's weight, they still ached. Lazily, Cara raised her right hand to her neck, and began pressing her fingers into her flesh, trying to work some of the muscle kinks out. She rolled her head back a bit as she continued digging, forming tiny crescents in her flesh. "Well that's a bit better," she muttered as the horse began to stomp its feet on the ground and swish its tail. Cara dropped her hand, returning it to her side, as she looked over at the horse. It was a dark chestnut color, with a white strip of fur on its face, and a pale pink nose. Its eyes were as dark as the night; like many of the other horses within the stables. "Growing impatient are you?" Cara asked with a small laugh, even though she still sounded rather breathless. "Well you have your water now love, but we had best work on that coat of yours, shouldn't we? Get it to really shine," she said as she walked over to the front of the stall and gave the horse's nose a small, reassuring pat. "It looks like you haven't been given a proper grooming for quite some time, doesn't it?" The horse snorted, and Cara chuckled, "but we'll be sure to fix that. Within the hour, your coat will look good as new!" The horse snorted again, and a small smile crossed Cara's lips. You'll see, Cara thought, as her eyes flashed a playful emerald green. A second later, she had extended her right hand towards the side of the stall, where a series of brushes and other grooming supplies were resting. She picked up one with fine black bristles, and an ovular back, made of a paler wood. A thin strip of leather was bolted to the back, and Cara slipped her right hand through this. "Alright, here we go," she whispered, as she moved her hands towards the horse's body. She placed the left where the neck and body of the horse met, and the right more towards the center of the horse's flank, just below its dark brown mane. She began to move the brush in tiny counter-clockwise circles, picking up tiny bits of dirt and grime, and trapping it in the brush, or sending it swirling into the air. OOCThis is not Cara's horse... she just looks after some of the ones in the stable sometimes.

[Ashen]

On the days Ashen would feel particularly lonely, she would go visit her horse at the stables. The mare, which she had named Freedom, always had a way of making her feel better. Even happy sometimes, though she’d never admit it. Her horse had been with Ashen for the past two years of her life and she had no plans of losing her any time soon. If it weren’t for Freedom, she would have been dead a long time ago.

Entering the stables, her eyes immediately started scanning for her beloved horse, feeling slightly uneasy. Ashen had this paranoia where she always thought she was going to lose her, just like her parents. She never felt safe and reassured that the mare was in fact still with her until she saw her with her own eyes. She spotted the pale coat she knew so well and relief washed over her for a moment before she locked the emotion away. A grin made its way onto her face as she hastened her pace, eager to reach the closest thing she had to a friend and her only companion.

When Freedom spotted her, she gave a small snort of happiness and nuzzled her large head into her shoulder as Ashen tried to open the stall door. “Hey girl.” She said softly to her, rubbing her snout with her free hand while unlatching the door and walking into the stall with the other. As she moved her hand down to stroke the horse’s neck, she paused when her heightened sense of hearing picked up the sound of someone talking. Curious, she followed noise and located it to be coming from a stall down the row a little ways. Getting closer, she make out that it was a woman speaking, and that she was addressing someone else. Ashen felt confused. How did she not hear them when she walked in? Coming to a stop just out of sight, she noticed the woman was talking to a horse, which she was currently brushing.

Ashen observed her work for a moment before making her presence known. “Need any help?” she offered, seeing as the woman looked a bit worse for wear, despite not knowing what exactly she could do. She shrugged mentally. How hard could it be?

[Cara]

Cara looked up from the horse's pelt, although her hands were not kept from their work. The right kept making tiny circles with the brush, pulling away any dirt it came into contact with, while the left rested on the horse's side, helping it to relax while the woman worked. Her eyes ran up and down the length of Ashen's body, making note of her long brown hair, and silvery blue eyes; her slender frame mixed with great height, for a woman. So frail she seemed, that it was as though the wintery winds of Avanthal could blow her away. By the time she had finished scrutinizing the poor girl, Cara had determined that she was certainly not one of her kind; which left her only slightly curious as to what she may actually be. "Need help?" Cara asked, a hint of laughter in her voice, "no. Want it... perhaps." There was a slight pause as Cara looked back down at the horse she was working on, "it is unlikely that you will find another brush in this stall, so if you wish you can look elsewhere for one and return. If not, you could always try taking the comb off the wall. Morwen knows this poor horse could use its tail and its mane being brushed out... they're rather tangled and mangy looking right now, don't you think?" Cara asked, her question posed in a colder tone than when she had been speaking. "Or you could try for a pick, and clean the gravel out of the hooves... surely those are disgusting too," she began to ramble. "It makes me wonder if this horse even belongs to a Frostfawn. Surely someone of the Hold would not let their companion fall into such a state of disarray." "Just look at your poor coat," Cara went on. "It's positively filthy. Just the upper-most portion that falls just below your mane took more than half and our to rid of dirt and grime." She gave a small, irritated cluck as she kept on working, "but that's no problem. You'll look positively radiant when you're all clean." There was a slight pause, "and then, when that's all finished, you must mention who keeps you, for surely you do not belong to a Frostfawn... no, definitely not a Frostfawn," Cara said with an irritated shake of her head. "It must have been one of those pathetic Snowsongs," Cara spat, "sneaking into our stable and tethering their companion as though it were one of our own," she continued, getting angrier and angrier and more and more red in the face as she spoke. But luckily, not quite loud enough to truly frighten the horse, or the others in the stable, although it did stomp its hooves on the ground from time to time. "Petching Snowsongs," Cara growled. "Bloody, good-for-nothing fools who think they are capable of playing harmoniously with one another when they can't so much as play a note. Always keeping everyone up at night; making us want to break their bloody instruments in half," she continued, as she dug the brush a little more forcefully into the horse's fur as she worked, drawing only a few snorts out of the beast. "Don't they play as horribly as the bloody roosters and songbirds when they try to sing together first thing in the morning?" Cara asked. "Isn't that just the most frustratingly annoying thing in the entire world?" Suddenly, Cara sharply inhaled, and stopped what she was doing. "No! You must belong to one of those petching Whitevines, like Darren!" she guessed, before returning to her work, pulling even more dirt away from the horse's fur. So much dirt, that it seemed as though, this entire time, she had not made any progress at all. It must have been dug in deeply, before Cara got there to remedy the problem. "They can't even bandage a wound properly!" Cara scowled, "how are those petching fools going to take care of a horse for crying out loud? In the name of Morwen, no Hold other than the Frostfawns should be caring for animals," she continued. "Don't you agree?" Cara asked, as the horse snorted again. Well that seems like a yes, the young sorceress thought with a satisfied smile. "So tell me love, is it a Whitevine that is supposed to tend to you?" Cara asked. The horse snorted, and Cara emitted the coldest, cruelest sounding laugh that the beast had ever heard. "Is that so love? Well don't you worry then, whomever it is could always be reminded that is best not to let their companion to go unattended for so long." Cara's eyes began to sparkle as she took a step to the right, closer to the horse's tail, so that she could work on the next patch of matted chestnut-colored fur. Through it all, it seemed as though Ashen were alone. Or at least, not worth acknowledging. After all, the Vantha spoke to the horse as though the Kelvic were not around. As though she were not standing only a few feet away... OOCI am assuming Ashen comes back to listen to Cara rant... if not, the end of this post could be adjusted so that you are not back in the stall. Or at least, are not alluded to being back in the stall.

[Ashen]

Ashen frowned at how harsh the woman's words were, but merely shrugged it off. Not everyone was friendly. She walked over to the first stall that caught her eye and entered, spinning around to come face to face with a very large and very annoyed looking horse. Her eyes widened slightly. How did she not notice it before? It huffed and looked at her suspiciously. If horses could glare, that would've been the strongest one Ashen had ever seen. The thought made her feel slightly uneasy, but she quickly drew herself up to her full height and leveled the horse with a look before she started looking around the giant animal. She spotted a brush, but it was hanging on the opposite wall. Behind the horse, which was most likely not going to let her pass. Gulping, she started to edge around the animal, keeping a cautious eye on the somewhat-threat.

Thankfully, she made it around to the horse's flank without injury, but she didn't want to step behind the animal's powerful hind legs. She wasn't stupid. She had seen what happened. After sending a quick prayer that the horse wouldn't kick her, she slowly took a step forward and reached out her hand for the brush, flinching when the steed flicked it's tail. Ashen breathed a sigh of relief when her nimble fingers clasped around the brush, the bristles digging painfully into her palm, and pulled back. Scurrying out of there as fast she could, she headed back to the woman.

When she arrived, she could hear her talking to the horse, sounding very angry. She was cussing out the Whitevines, which the Kelvic knew to be another hold of Vanthas. Ashen stood awkwardly in the doorway, tossing the brush back and forth in her hands as she waited for the woman to stop her rant. She cleared her throat in an attempt to catch the other woman's attention. "I found a brush. Umm..." she trailed off, looking very out of place. "What- what exactly do you want me to do?" It was very clear the girl had no idea what she was doing.

OOCSo sorry it took me so long! I completely lost track of time. Not very proud of this post, but I suppose it works.

[Cara]

When Ashen returned, Cara looked up, finding it somewhat surprising that the girl would choose to open her mouth, to speak. Her hands had stopped instantly, stuck in a spot in the center of the horse's hide. The dust particles she had lifted off the horse with the brush seemingly suspended in mid-air, now that the Frostfawn had been caught off guard. She paused for a moment, simply staring, her irises taking on a bright orange and red edge. Was that honestly a question? Cara wondered, starting to think the girl more and more incompetent, just like every single member of every single Hold other than her own. "Well what do you think?" Cara asked, her voice icy. "You are holding a horse's brush. Brushes are used to brush things, to untangle fur, and rid tiny, icky dust particles off of a horse's coat. Out of their manes and tails. They are used to keep a horse clean, to groom them with, much as we would use a brush or a comb to groom ourselves. To keep our hair shiny and attractive." Dumbass. "So, if you'd like to be of any use, why don't you pull your scrawny little behind out of the doorway, pick your jaw up off the floor, and get over here so that you may work on the other side of this horse? After all, its fur coat could surely use a comb," Cara continued. "That's if you even know how to use a brush..." she went on, honestly starting to wonder about the state of Ashen's mind. After all, if she needed to ask, how bright could she be? "Now, you can make yourself useful, or get the heck out. Horses don't tend to appreciate being crowded you know," Cara growled as she looked back down at the horse and resumed her grooming. Moving her hand slowly in small, counter-clockwise circles. Digging up particles of dirt and sending them swirling into the air before they floated down to the bottom of the stall, where they were stamped into the ground beneath the horse's foot. It was swishing its tail and snorting, wondering if Cara was done ranting, and if Ashen was going to help her work. OOCSorry my pc is so mean. >.<

[Ashen]

Ashen knew she probably shouldn't have asked that question when the woman froze in place and stared at her. The look on her face clearly said she thought the Kelvic was an idiot. Her anger flared as the woman ranted on again and she narrowed her eyes. "I know how to brush a horse." she spat with venom, glaring at the woman. How dare she accuse her of being incompetent? "If you took the time to get that stick out of your backside, you would be able to see that I was wondering if you wanted me to do a certain area of the horse, not that I needed instructions on how to do something everyone knows." Ashen hissed before she straightened and approached the side of the horse opposite the woman and began to brush the horse, still silently seething.

[Cara]

A satisfied smile crossed the Vantha's lips. "Testy, testy, little one," Cara commented, her voice betraying the heightening level of her amusement. She was winding down now, completing the small circles she made with the brush less frequently, as she lazily kept working on the creature's pelt. The horse swished its tail and stomped its feet angrily against the floor of it's stall. "Easy now love," Cara cooed as she gave the horse several soft pats. "No need to get angry with those who are only trying to help you. Only trying to make you look presentable again." There was a slight pause as Cara continued working, moving onto the next small section of the horse's pelt now that she had finished with the previous section. Cara glanced up for a moment from her work, and stared at Ashen. Just what is she doing? Is she trying to peel of this horse's fur? Is she trying to make it bleed? To attract every last fly and mosquito in creation to its exposed flesh? she wondered. "If you knew how to brush a horse," Cara growled, "then you would know that you are working him a little too furiously, and are hurting him. If you knew what you were doing, you would not be acting as such, because all it is doing is pissing myself and the horse off all the more," she finished, as the horse snorted several times and continued to stomp his feet. "If you would like to redeem yourself, and prove that you are of some use, no matter how small, then you should try to be a little less rough," Cara hissed at the Kelvic, before she walked towards the horse's nose, and rested her free hand upon it. "Shhhhhh," she whispered, "no need to be angry. Cara is going to make sure you are taken care of," she cooed, as she traced the horse's head from its nose to the area between its ears, slowly. Repeating the process when she made it from one portion of its body to the other. When the horse began to calm down again, she gave it a light scratch under the chin before returning to her section of dirty pelt. Cara glared at Ashen as she began to brush the horse's pelt again. Softly, just enough to slowly pick out small portions of dirt. Perhaps her ruby red irises and cold gaze would teach the girl not to mess up again. For her own bloody good. OOCSorry, I needed to find something else for this pc to bitch about. >.<

[Mutt]

Cara

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Grooming	4
Intimidation	2
Horsemanship	2

Lores

• Lore:Buckets of water are heavy
  
• Lore:Animosity, while enjoyable, does not make friends.
  

Ashen

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Grooming	1

Lores

• Animosity reciprocates
  

Notes

Sorry for the delay. Ran into problems... Expect speedy grading in the future !.