Romping in the Woods | [Private]

Ryder rose early the next day, having spent the night with the small group of loners who he had been living with since the passing of his mother. The sun rose over the trees, and the young stallion was quick to wake up. He had a new friend to play with later, and he knew just where he wanted to take her on their little adventure. He traveled through the thick forest, tripping occasionally on vines and other debris that blocked his path. Ryder snorted quietly to himself, silently cursing his clumsy hooves as he trekked toward where he had last seen the Exile herd and his new friend, Pandora. His blue eyes flicked up toward the sun that was almost at the highest point in the sky. A wide grin spread across his face, and he took a deep breath of the air around him, sniffing for one scent in particular: the scent of a herd. Ryder stopped in his tracks on the edge of the forest, sticking to the shadows that the large trees provided. The Exiles were certainly a huge group. He couldn't imagine being around so many horses all of the time. He shrugged his shoulders, looking around to see if he could spot Pandora. The sun was high in the sky, and he didn't think that her father would make her train for that long, would he?


Word Count: 232

Ryder's ears flicked forward as he spotted Pandora's golden pelt. He watched from the edge of the forest, eying her carefully when a stallion, who he assumed was her father, instructed her to buck the logs that he placed on her back. It was certainly an interesting sight to see, but Ryder was sure that her father knew what he was doing. Pandora had said that he was a guard after all. 'I wonder if she is going to be a guard for the Exiles too. That must be an awesome job to have. Protect and defend the herd.' His mind wandered while he waited, mulling over this, that, and whatever else a young stallion might think about.

Ryder snapped to attention as he saw Pandora walk away, taking the long route through the herd before moving toward the forest. The brown paint smiled, darting toward her through the trees to meet her. A wide grin appeared on his face as he walked toward her. "Hey! I saw you training with your dad. That was pretty cool." He said, flicking his tail in greeting. "Wanna go exploring today, or do you want to stay here and play some games?" Ryder asked, turning his blue eyes on Pandora.

Word Count: 207

Ryder chuckled softly as Pandora trotted up to him, a wide grin appearing on her face when she called his name. His ears flicked toward her as she spoke about her training session. It all sounded really interesting, and he wondered if it was something that he should be learning. He was a colt after all. Didn't colts and stallions do those kinds of things all the time? "I bet you can buck a grass beast a whole horse-length away from what I saw." He praised her with a wide grin, wagging his tail happily. A giggle escaped him at her pleading. "Alright, alright. I'll take you exploring. I just wanted to make sure that that was still what you wanted to do." Ryder said, giving her a smile. A small blush worked its way onto his face when he noticed her closeness and how her purple eyes looked up at him from underneath her long lashes. The young stallion chuckled lightly, walking forward as Pandora took a step away from him. Was that a blush on her cheeks as well? "Let's go. We're wasting daylight." He agreed, trotting forward and turning his head to make sure she was following after him. "The place I want to show you isn't that far away. Come on." Ryder called back to her, finding a decent path through the trees for them to walk on safely without having to fight through the vines and other crawly things that liked to grow in the forests there.

Word Count: 252

Ryder nodded, turning his attention to the path before them. It wouldn't be too long before they had arrived at the place that he was planning on taking her. It was a spot that he had found during one of my many excursions of the island, and he'd been to it several times since he had discovered it. Ryder turned his head to look at the golden mare, listening intently as questions seemed to pour out of her mouth. He frowned in concentration, trying to grasp all of her questions so that he could answer them. "It's a secret. You'll see it soon enough. I've never seen any grass beasts there, so we shouldn't have to worry about that." He said, glancing behind him as Pandora stopped to sniff one of the many flowers that grew this time of year in the forest. Turning his head to pay attention to the terrain in front of him, he trusted that Pandora wouldn't fall too far behind. "I've been there before. Several times actually. It's one of my favorite places here on the Southern island. I'd say it's a secret, so yeah!" Ryder grinned happily, having a best friend was so new and foreign to him. It was awesome to think that he had such a close friend. Little did the colt know that his best friend was placing flowers into his tail, trotting sneakily between the bushes and his tail to place more and more flowers into his brown hair. Ryder walked on, oblivious to what was going on before he came to a halt, a wide smile appearing on his face. "We're here!" He said excitedly before pushing through a patch of brambles that hid his little hideaway. A waterfall bubbled in the background, splashing water on the other side of a small pond that sat in the middle of the forest. Ryder grinned happily at the sight of the small body of water. The clear liquid looked warm and inviting as he turned back to look at Pandora. His gaze caught the sight of something colorful on his tail, and he suppressed a giggle. "When did you put all of these flowers in my tail?"

Word Count: 366

Ryder grinned happily at the look of astonishment on her face as her gaze swept over the small, forest oasis. "Yeah, I was really surprised when I first found this place. I didn't think that there were any waterfalls on the Southern island let alone one this pretty." He said, turning his blue eyes on the water for a moment before looking back at the bouquet of flowers woven into his tail. His face and ears grew warm as a blush found itself on his face, and Ryder chuckled sheepishly. "Um.... thanks. You must have been working on this the entire walk over here." Ryder joked, giggling about her prank before taking a step into the cool water. Maybe swimming around in the water would loosen the flowers' grip on his tail. He didn't really want to take it apart himself. It was obvious that Pandora had spent a lot of time on it, and he didn't want to make her mad. He'd have to remember that little prank though for future reference.

Swimming was a favorite past time of his. Something about the water washing over his pelt was incredibly relaxing. Not to mention that playing games was a lot of fun too. Ryder stopped when the water was up to his chest and looked back at Pandora. "Do you know how to swim? I can show you if you don't. It's pretty easy." Ryder smiled widely back at the golden filly on the shore, feeling the cool water flow around his legs.

Word Count: 254

Ryder chuckled lightly at her hesitant tone, and he was forced to bite his tongue in order not to laugh as Pandora dipped a hoof into the water only to quickly retract it. "Yes, I'm sure. The water isn't that cold today." He assured her, remembering in past months when the pond had been near freezing cold. He definitely wouldn't be going swimming in the winter ever again that was for sure.

Ryder walked further out into the water, allowing the cool liquid to wash over his back. The colt soon found himself paddling in small circles as he patiently waited for Pandora to join him. His head turned toward her, seeing her puff out her chest in a prideful manner before braving her hesitation and trotting into the water. He blinked in surprise, seeing a look of shock cross her face before she quickly darted out of the water, heading back to the safety of the shore. He couldn't hold his giggles back any longer, and a small fit of them escaped him as he emerged from the pool. "It's not that cold. It gets warmer in the summer though." Ryder shook off the remaining water from his pelt, making sure that he was far enough away from Pandora that none of the droplets fell on her. A playful smile appeared on his face once he was done. "So you really don't know how to swim? Or was the water just too cold?" Ryder asked curiously, tilting his head at the filly. He'd never met anyone who hadn't known how to swim before though he had to admit that he hadn't met too many other horses.

Word Count: 277

Ryder's laughter was cut off by her angered snort, and a shy grin crossed his face. He watched as she kicked a pebble into the water, disturbing the calm surface and sending ripples around the pond. Guilt flooded over him for having laughed at something that she was clearly upset about. His ears swiveled backwards, and a concerned expression crossed his face. "I'm sorry for laughing. I didn't mean to make you mad." Ryder apologized, taking a step closer to her.

"I'm sure your father will teach you how to swim someday. I mean he's teaching you all those other cool things. If he hasn't taught you by the end of the summer, maybe I could teach you? The water should be plenty warm by then." Ryder offered her a small smile, trying to comfort her. "Horses might not need to swim, but it's a lot of fun. Plus, it's a really good way to cool off when it's hot. There's no need to be scared." The paint shook out his curly mane, feeling water still lingering there.

Word Count: 179