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Post by queerly on Jan 22, 2015 1:28:12 GMT -5
We Are The Reckless
A roleplay featuring Queerly's Eden and Stray-Thought's Evalynn
[21 Years Prior]
A solemn truth understood across the world of Chevalin was that life and death were intimately entwined. It was three days before the Summer Solstice that bittersweet news broke across the herd. The birth of Russet's first daughter, Evalynn, had coincided with the death of his mate; the announcement was met with strained celebration. It felt selfish to mourn when a child had come into the world, for a healthy and strong foal was a blessing, but Liara had been loved and grief did not wait for an appropriate time to fester. Smiles and frowns seemed interchangeable over the following days, one slipping into the other with too much ease. Joy and sadness made for a poor coupling.
Anders was a friend of Russet, the stallion who had become a lucky father and mournful mate in the same hour. Their relationship ran deep and old, for they were brothers-in-arms, Knights of Olde who had sparred and fought and killed alongside one another. The bay felt his comrade's pain with potent clarity, but he did not allow himself to be swept up within it. Russet did not need misery for company. No, his friend needed support, a shoulder to offer solace and an extra set of hooves to help with his spirited filly. He and his mate Meredith had offered to foalsit her whenever Russet needed, for his own daughter was seven and no longer in need of constant attention. The hope was that the two would bond, and little Eden could take littler Evalynn under her wing. His buckskined prodigy wasn't perhaps the best role model, but having a peer to play with was important for a growing filly's development.
And frankly, Anders thought it would be swell if Eden had a playmate that could burn off some of her energy.
"Pick up your hooves, Edi." Anders chided as they made their way into the depths of the Silver Wood. He kept his ears perked and nostrils flared, ferreting out the scent of his old friend. The stallions had agreed to meet in a clearing, but newborn foals were quite capable of wandering off; Anders wouldn't have been surprised if they'd ended up somewhere else entirely. He could almost picture his haggard comrade squawking indignantly as he chased his tiny daughter, her focus on chasing a butterfly or bird. The autobiographical thought made him snort.
"I am picking up my hooves." Eden grumbled behind him. "You're just too fast."
"Am I? My deepest apologies." Anders replied agreeably, smirking as he slowed to match his filly's pace. She was more than capable of outrunning a grass beast, but her ongoing sulk had her dragging her hooves. "I didn't realize you were so slow."
The foal's cheeks puffed, outrage in eyes. "I'm not slow!"
"My mistake!" Anders quipped, playfully flicking his tail across her back. Eden's lips twitched as she tried and half succeeded to resist smiling. She was not going to smile for him.
"Dad, I don't want to play with Evalynn. She's a baby."
"You're not so old yourself." Anders pointed out, earning him a glower. "And you were more than capable of talking and boxing at that age. Give her a chance."
Eden threw her head back and groaned, a loud auuuugh that echoed through the trees and sent tiny silver birds scattering from their nests.
[Note: This post is largely from Ander's perspective, so Eden's pronouns are incorrect]
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Post by straythought on Jan 22, 2015 2:04:50 GMT -5
The pitter patter of tiny hooves clacking against random stones along the ground bounced off of the dense foliage along with the sound of an almost steady stream of underhanded, almost silent cussing. Evalynn, a whole week old, did not know of the tragedy that had accompanied her birth, and paid no mind to the mixed emotions the rest of the herd sent her way. All that occupied the little mares mind was playing, and trying not to stumble over her unusually long limbs.
"Evalynn look ou-!" a ragged cry from Russet called out too late and Evalynn crashed nose first into a bush, legs flailing as she giggled and tried to escape. With a sigh, Russet dipped his head into the bush, and help his unphased daughter out of the branches. Before he even had time to assess her to see if she had gotten cut or anything, she was bounding away, hopping like a rabbit as her limbs flailed everywhere.
Russet's eyes followed after his daughter, and he let out a heavy sigh. It had been a whole week that Liara had been gone, and he couldn't help but wish she were here. She had been younger than he, and this had been her first foal as well, but she was a hell of a lot more patient than Russet was. And Russet missed her. He would do just about anything to see her beautiful icy blue eyes sparkling with love and joy, just one more time. Why did the unicorns' decide to punish his family? Was there something they had done wrong? And why had it been Liara... She was innocent.
Another crash followed by a string of giggles pulled Russet from his unpleasant thoughts, and he trotted to where Evalynn was, the small filly on her back, with her legs kicking out in the air, as a butterfly perched upon her velvety muzzle. How in the world did this filly have this much energy? He didn't remember other foals being this high strung.. Except maybe Anders young filly. He smiled as he thought about his best mates young filly, about how unruly the little mare was becoming, and he hoped Evalynn wouldn't be as wild at Eden. Though, from how she was acting now, he figured that she would grow up to be entirely too spirited. Though, if she had Eden as a friend, it wouldn't be so bad.
Not too much after that, Russet had coaxed Evalynn to shoo the butterfly away and follow him. "If you come with me, you'll have a playmate that isn't a butterfly."
"Why would I want a play mate? I have you to play with.." Evalynn stuck her nose in the air as she crinkled it slightly. She had yet to meet another horse anywhere near her age, and all the other adults were too boring for her tastes.
"Just come on, Evalynn dear. You'll like her. She's a little older than you, but she's still a filly. Her name is Eden. You'll like her, you'll see."
Not more than a breath later, The pair could hear a young disgruntled voice ringing out through the trees, and Evalynn's eyes lit up and birds rushed away from the sound. Though she didn't want to play with someone else, the thought of another filly to play with made her will weaken..
"Well... Maybe.. Maybe we can play for a bit... But that doesn't mean I'll like it!" Evalynn snorted and held her head high, and a second later saw Evalynn tripping over a rock, and Russet shaking his head wearily at his daughter.
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Post by queerly on Jan 22, 2015 2:53:15 GMT -5
The little filly's stumbling led her right into Ander's path, nearly causing a collision. Thankfully though, the stallion had some experience avoiding rambunctious foals. "Woah there!" He laughed, sidestepping her trajectory with surprising grace. "Be careful, Little Miss. The quickest have to pay the most attention to where they put their hooves." He warned, giving her a wink. His gaze was all mirth.
"I'm quick too." Eden protested hotly, scruffy tail flagged in a show of righteous indignation.
Anders tossed his daughter a long-suffering smirk before his attention shifted to Russet. The stallion looked absolutely drained, and Anders couldn't blame him. If he had lost Meredith in the same way... no, he shuddered to think of it. Even what ifs made him feel sick to his stomach. That his comrade faced such a thing as reality made him send more than one resentful thought towards the unicorns. Empathetic, he ducked forward to gently bump the Knight's shoulder and offered a warm, small smile. "Good to see you on your hooves, Rus. Foals have a habit of running you ragged, but you seem to be keeping up marvelously."
As the adults talked about boring adult things, Eden took the time to observe his new playmate, and he wasn't sure he liked what he was seeing. Evalynn was pretty in a way that he wasn't, somehow avoiding the substantial bulk of their shared stock horse heritage. She was compact but sleek, and her face was more delicate as well, no fat quarter horse cheek to make her look ridiculous. Worst of all, she was nearly the same height as he- and he had seven years on her! What sort of bullshit was that? Eden pursed his lips, waited for Evalynn to look away, and sucked in his gut. He could be sleek too.
"Sizing each other up, are we?" Anders asked. Eden looked up to see the stallion grinning at him, one brow arched knowingly. "Why don't you introduce yourself? Go on."
Eden blanched. Anders rolled his eyes, leaned down, and gave his foal a forceful push. At the same time, Eden dug in his front hooves, and what followed was a comical sight as Ander's muzzle slipped between his hind legs and the forward momentum lifted his rear end right into the air, sliding him forward on his front hooves. When he came to a halt and his back legs hit the ground again, he was less than two inches from Evalynn's face.
"Uh." He grunted, leaning back a bit. "... Hello."
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Post by straythought on Jan 22, 2015 3:48:38 GMT -5
As Evalynn tumbled right into Anders' path, Russet just shook his head, watching as his old friend side stepped the calamity-on-hooves with ease. He watched as his little painted filly just bounced back onto her hooves, and looked up at Anders with a sheepish grin. His ears pricked slightly as Anders spoke to Evalynn, and a smile slid across his face. Anders seemed to be a natural around Evalynn while he himself felt like he was floundering in an ever rising tide of the unknown.
"Yes sir! I'll learn to pay attention, you'll see!" the chestnut painted filly puffed up her chest as Anders spoke to her, prancing on the spot as he winked at her. A small, but hot-headed voice drifted out from behind Evalynn, and she noticed the foal that was standing, indignant at Anders words. An immediate smile lit up Evalynn's face, her eyes radiating her innocence, and she stood there, and tilted her head slightly as she took in the other foals appearance. Eden, as Russet has said her name was, was thicker than her, in a way that made her look more powerful than Evalynn could hope to be with her lanky legs and thin body frame. She noticed that she was almost as tall as Eden as well, and she waggled her short tail happily, her previous hesitance for a friend, gone. Finally she would have a play mate who wouldn't take it easy on her! As they stared at each other, Evalynn noticed Eden puff up slightly, and she giggled.
Russet stood beside Anders, a warm smile as Anders' bumped into his shoulder and he nodded slightly. "Not sure how I'm managing to stay on my hooves, to be honest. Evalynn is like a maelstrom. She never quits moving!" As Russet talked with his friend, he noticed the foals just standing and staring each other down, one with an indignant look, the other with a radiant smile. The stallion watched at Anders moved behind Eden, and pushed his child close to Evalynn, and he couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle at Eden's discomfort.
Evalynn watched as Eden moved closer and closer, until their noses were nearly touching, but she did not move away. As Eden spoke, Evalynn grinned, and she bumped her nose against Eden's nose.
"Hello! Wanna play?" and without waiting for an answer, Evalynn bounced to the side quickly, and lurched forward, overtaking Eden in a rush of lanky limbs, and highstrung energy.
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Post by queerly on Feb 3, 2015 2:25:07 GMT -5
Eden's little pink nose scrunched as Evalynn booped him (HOW DARE) and with a grunt of disgust he gave his head a shake, black-tipped ears flopping. Of course he didn't want to play! Evalynn was just a dumb baby who likely wanted to play dumb baby games like 'mates' or 'brood and foal'. Eden wasn't about that life. His idea of an adventure was playing dragons, going on quests and saving queens from the clutches of the evil Bachelors. He didn't have time for-
Before he could finish his train of thought, the filly tackled him. The buckskin colt squawked as they went tumbling, rolling head over hocks in a tiny ball of furious foal energy. Anders was quick to sidestep their trajectory, head craning as he watched them skid and tussle. The pair didn't come to a halt for several feet, at least ten by his wager, and when they did it was with Evalynn on top.
A clear winner if ever there was one. Anders resisted the urge to roar with laughter over Eden's wholly indignant expression.
"I wasn't ready!" He insisted, squirming and kicking beneath the filly. "We gotta do a do-over!"
Anders snorted. "A true knight is always prepared for battle."
Eden shot his father a withering look that he was certain the stallion felt all the way down to the marrow of his bones, and then returned his attention to Evalynn. "Get off! I'll pin you this time."
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