[Flashback] To Seal Friendship with Ink (Bold)

by **Laria** on August 9th, 2011, 4:54 pm

2nd Spring, 510AV

The sun had been up for just over a Bell, Syna’s golden orb hovering over the tent city of Endrykas. Laria had been up to watch it rise, along with one of the stallions from her father’s stock. She had been lying on the horses back, head propped up on his neck, and together they had watched the orbs colourful ascent into the now, bright blue sky.

After a time, she slid off the ever-patient stallion, and led him back to the stable. She had then set about the morning task of feeding, sticking with only the young horses today. Her father had asked her the previous afternoon to leave the older ones, but he had not specified a reason. Perhaps he was going to change their routine? She hadn’t questioned his wishes, being the Ankal, his word was law.

The young horses nickered a good morning, and then proceeded to shuffle impatiently. They would nose her as she passed, demanding their feed immediately. She would smile at their enthusiasm and appetites, both signs of healthy young horses.

Her work was finished relatively quickly, and she found herself wandering back to the Pavilion. She wondered if Bolden was up yet. The boy had been with the Sunstorm clan ever since she had found him on that one day 4 years previous. Now she was 16, he 17, and the pair were nigh inseparable. She had cared for him while he was injured, hardly leaving his side, and after he was healed things just didn’t change. When they were seen together, her family would often smile and a comment about ‘being joined at the hip’ would usually be quoted.

She ducked into the Pavilion and glanced round, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. Perhaps he too had gone out early?

ooc :

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 9th, 2011, 5:22 pm

Laria's father had met with Bold a half bell before sunrise to have him imprint a new colt that needed a firm hand.

The young man used large but gentle hands to stroke the foal's waggling ears. The colt stepped on his foot to let him know what he thought about this man handling nonsense.

Bolden immediately pushed the heel of his hand flamboyantly at the colt's nose, not making contact, but rather to get his attention with movement. The animal quickly blinked and stepped off Bold's foot. He kept his left hand by the baby's poll and started over again.

"Just one full round little man, and you can race the wind! I promise."

He stroked the high spirited young horse over his face, neck, shoulders, legs and all the way down to the brush of his tail. He was calm, still and patient, letting the horse trust that a Drykas hand would never bring him pain or fear. To trust, to know, to love the touch of a Drykas.

The moment the foal moved into the touch of large hands on his shoulder, Bold stepped back, allowing full freedom. The colt waggled his longish ears and snorted. His scrubby little tail pumped up and down like a handle for just a breath and he ran off with smooth long legged grace to rejoin the herd.

'Where's my palomino?' He thought, missing her.

A nearby yearling was one of the horses scheduled for exercise and manners so Bold grabbed a bit of mane and hopped on the mare's back. The filly was energetic, high strung and very responsive.

He'd originally intended go find Palomino, but got caught up in the smoothness of the horse's gait. Bold could feel the sudden weight shift, anticipating that she intended to drop a shoulder on him. He nudged her firmly to change leads and shift into a rocking canter. The three beat gait was like floating on air and he smiled broadly.

http://www.mizahar.com/forums/post92099.html#p92099

by **Laria** on August 10th, 2011, 7:20 pm

Laria had walked all through the Pavilion, checking the places she suspected Bolden had never even been to. Where is he? There was only one other person in the Pavilion, and they did not want to be disturbed, judging from the way they eyed the girl. Laria had a feeling they would have been no use anyway, they never usually paid any attention to what was going on with the others.

With a resigned sigh, she headed back outside. She considered going back round to the stable to see what was going on; she was still curious about leaving the feed for the older horses. Laria decided against it though, likely she would be getting in the way of something important.

Instead she rounded the Pavilion in the other direction, near to where they let a few horses out for the day. Normally they would end up all over the Amethyst Clan's area, but since it was still morning, they were most likely still bunched together. Perhaps she could do some evaluating on them for a little while.

To her surprise, she came across Bolden. He was riding one of the yearlings her father had noted for training the previous day. The horse seemed a little flighty to her, and she watched with interest as Bolden corrected it over and over. She could tell he was enjoying himself; he viewed horses the same as she did. They were family.

She waited till Bolden noticed her and then smiled broadly.
"Having fun?"

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 10th, 2011, 8:27 pm

He shifted his weight back and dug himself in deep, teaching the mare to slow down and react to his weight with as few leg aids as possible. She slowed down, but didn't stop until he clamped his legs around her sides firmly. Bold patted her shoulder and hopped down to let her move off.

Bolden flashed a big smile at the sight of his Palomino. In a few large strides, he grabbed her in a hug, swung her around and set her back down again.

"Hey Pal! How they runnin' today? Sorry I missed our usual sunrise together, but your father wanted a few horses worked with before the sale next week."

The well muscled young man kept an arm around Laria's shoulders, as comfortable with her as his own skin. She was his best friend. They competed with each other, shared their laughter and secrets and meals together. Palomino and Bolden swam, ran, played, sparred, rode, trained and worked with horses, day in day out with joy and alacrity. They hadn't spent more than a few bells time apart since the day they'd met. The clan joked that they must be twins joined at the hip.

Because they'd started as friends, closer than siblings, at thirteen years old, the thought of a male/female relationship hadn't quite occurred to him..yet. They walked easily beside each other that morning, each of them matching their stride to the other with unconscious ease.

"So did you get to feed the cherished foal from WindRacer yet?" He asked, looking fondly at Palomino, and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
"Your forelock's gettin' thick--it needs stripping." He teased.

by **Laria** on August 10th, 2011, 9:03 pm

Laria squealed in surprise as Bold picked her up and swung her round in a huge hug. She laughed as he set her feet back on the ground, leaning into the arm he left around her shoulders.
"Hey don't worry. I should have known he asked you to do something. He's gone mad with everything right now."
She rolled her eyes and grinned.
"I think he's putting the horses on a new feeding schedule on top of it all."
Her father was the same every year before his biggest sale. Every last person in the Pavilion would be found doing something at all times of the day.

She was more than comfortable spending time with Bolden. He was like an extension of herself. The pair were pretty much inseparable, and had been for the last 4 years. He was her brother, but at the same time it was so much more than that. They had a connection, and the only way she could ever think of to describe it was a ribbon that had tied them both together from the moment she had picked his battered body up and carried him all the way back to her Pavilion.

She nodded her head at his question.
"Yes I have, fed her just this morning. She's getting fussy already."
She gave him a look that said she had had enough of the little 'princess ponies' as they were often dubbed.
"She upended her bucket three times before she realized that she wasn't going to get anything else."
Laria shook her head a little before grinning.
"Hmm, maybe it does. But I'm not letting you cut it again!"
She recalled the last time her hair had gotten overly long. It had taken her ages to grow out the jagged section she had let Bolden try.

She nudged him playfully.
"My dad given you anything else to do today?"
Her father had given Laria no other jobs yet, so she was seizing the opportunity to go for a wander round the other clan stalls. If Bolden was free, of course he would be dragged with her.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 11th, 2011, 8:36 pm

Bold laughed, the humor turning his eyes almost gold.

"Palomino, I've yet to meet a weanling that ever enjoyed it! Don't worry about the little princess. You know they always learn best from you. Your father trusts your infinite patience with the precious foals."

The man pulled down his own curly locks over his forehead with a wry smirk. "Pal, feel free to shave off these annoying curls anytime! You know I hate girls calling it cute. And ya know I didn't do that bad of a job on your hair with the shears! ....Alright, Ok, I butchered it."

He couldn't help but laugh at his own boneheaded mistake and grinned at his best friend. It was a sunny morning, the horses were fresh and he had Palomino by his side. What more could ask for?

'My memory would be nice.' The thought slipped in like a dark cloud.

Bold looked at Laria and it took him a chime to realize she'd asked a question.

"Well your father doesn't have any more plans for me today except to exercise a yearling at dusk, 'because it will bring luck!' he says. Why? My palomino girl got something in mind?"

He asked, stopping to grab a wild flower and tuck it behind Laria's ear, before walking on again.

by **Laria** on August 11th, 2011, 8:53 pm

He was right of course. The weanling's always hated their food. They were usually fine in the evenings, but during the morning feed at least of of them would kick up an awful fuss. She looked sidelong at him, azure eyes meeting his honey-coloured ones, and she smiled thankfully. He always knew the right things to say. It still surprised the girl that her father would lay so much trust on her, especially as she knew that he considered her somewhat of a failure in other aspects of life. Like finding a Strider for example.

But now was not the time to dwell on that.
She laughed, the sound light an airy as Bolden tried to deny messing up her haircut.
"I did tell you not to use shears!"
She poked her tongue out at him before continuing.
"You don't want your adorable little curls any-more?"
She put on a mock sad face before grinning.
"I can cut it later if you really want me to."
The smile was still on her face though, as she knew full well that Bolden liked the attention.

She didn't notice the pause from him, and she almost clapped when he finally did answer. She pulled up short as he stopped, and obligingly let him decorate her hair with a flower.
"I was thinking we could explore the other tents, see what's being sold."
Since her father's selling season had started, she had hardly had any time to go and find nice things to buy.
"And if you get bored we could go and see some of the dogs over at the Emerald Clan Pavilions."

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 11th, 2011, 9:29 pm

"Oooh she sticks out her tongue like an impudent filly does she?! I ought to put a yvas on you wild one!" Bold put her in an easy one armed headlock and ruffled a large hand through her hair to tangle it up, before releasing her again. It always felt great to laugh with her.

"Brat!" he laughed at mockery. "I'll promise to grow the curls as long as you promise to keep grooming them so I don't have to!"

He raised an eyebrow at her in interest and grinned like a little boy.

"The tents? You bet! Ooo I mean I'm bored too so we could go look at the dogs..if you like.." Bolden smirked, knowing her fondness for puppies.

The young man didn't like to rub it in Laria's face that he had a strider while she still didn't, so he played their usual game.

"Alright then, hop on lil Palomino and we'll run to the tents before we're roped into more chores!"

He half crouched waiting for palomino to hop on his back and get a shoulder ride to the nearest tents. It always made her smile and he wanted to make sure to keep her that way. No one smiled like his Palomino.

by **Laria** on August 11th, 2011, 10:47 pm

She should have known it was coming. Teasing Bolden always ended up the same way. She fought futilely against his headlock, squealing in protest as he ruffled her hair. When released she put on a pretend grumpy face, succeeding in keeping it for all of a fraction of a chime before she grinned.
"Oh good! In that case I'll cut them for you!"
She smoothed her own hair back down from where it had fluffed up.

"I meant the dogs later. We don't even have to go see them! Lets just go see what's being sold first."
She grinned, she knew what Bold would do next.
She climbed onto his shoulders and then held on, waiting for him to set off to the tents.

As soon as they reached the first of the market tents, she scanned the open ones. Laria was like an excitable child when it came to shopping. So rarely did she have the time to buy things, that given the chance she tended to go a little overboard.

Almost immediately she spotted somewhere, and she tapped her fingers on Bolden's head, trying to wriggle down from her perch. When he let her down, she made her way to a tent selling jewellery, mostly bracelets. She 'oohed' and 'ahhed' over a multitude of ribbon bracelets, each with a single gemstone attached to them. She would hold them up for Bolden to see usually spouting things like, "Hey, look at this one!", "Ooh and this one's pretty too!"

She put them all back where she had picked them up from, frowning and trying to decide on just one. In the end she left them altogether, dragging Bolden over to another tent. This one turned out to be a tattooing place, and she peered at the designs covering the tent walls, occasionally pointing one out to him with an appropriate exclamation.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 11th, 2011, 11:04 pm

He grinned and popped her down to the ground. He bore it all with good nature, letting the slender girl drag him around by the wrist with both hands. Bolden didn't really care about the shopping--he was just glad to see palomino smile.

Bolden knew about Laria's father's disappointment; that she hadn't yet attracted a strider preyed on her mind a lot lately. He grinned and nodded at her enthusiasm but didn't truly show any interest until they reached the tattoo place.

"Hey you could get the rearing mare one--it's you all over Palomino." Bold suggested, pointing to the design just to her left.

"Or maybe I could get the sword one on my arm? Oh hey there's some crossed daggers to make into matching tattoos!"

Together they exclaimed over each one as he stood by his Palomino girl, hip to hip as always.