Snips and Snails and Puppy-dogs' tails | [Private]

Leif grunted, feeling air rush out of his lungs as he collided with the unknown form. He quickly backpedaled away at the sound of a shrill scream that pierced through the quiet, afternoon air. Birds shot out of the grass, clearing the area after hearing the calls of whatever Leif had run into. The colt grinned happily as his blue eyes settled on another horse. Another colt just like him! Oh, this was so exciting! Maybe he'd be able to befriend the stranger, and they could go on all sort of adventures or something. Leif's mind rattled off a thousand different things they could do, but his train of thought was cut off at the blue roan colt's sharp tone. Leif pouted for a moment, frowning at the sudden loudness before giving the stranger a toothy smile. "Sorry! I didn't mean to run into you. I thought you were a grass beast or something." Leif explained, waving his short tail as he spoke. His curly mane was in disarray, sticking out at odd angles from his unexpected collision. At the roan colt's next statement, Leif's gaze fell on the scar on his face. "Oh wow! You're a Bachelor? Those  x scars are so cool, and they make you look so tough! I wish I had one too." Leif said excitedly, trying his hardest to remain still from all of his giddiness.

"My name is Leif by the way. I'm an Exile, but you probably already knew I wasn't from your herd." Leif introduced himself, raising his head proudly when he stated that he was an Exile. His parents and the guards he had stopped to talk to had taught him to be proud of his lineage, and Leif definitely wasn't letting them down on that. Plus, it wouldn't look very good if a -guard-to-be didn't think highly of his own herd.

He glanced down at the younger colt's puffed out chest where it appeared he was trying to intimidate him, but Leif remained oblivious to his obviously flustered demeanor. "So whatcha doing out here? Are you exploring 'cus that's what I'm doing. I couldn't find anyone to play with in my herd, so I thought I'd make my own fun." Leif grinned cheerfully, not thinking of any dangers there might be being so close to the Bachelor herd alone. Who knew what they would do to him if they caught him there? "Wanna come? I bet there's a ton of stuff for us to do together."

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Leif's ears perked up as Icarus introduced himself, trotting forward with a prideful skip to his step. He chuckled quietly at the younger colt's demeanor. Had he been that cocky when he was younger? ...Yeah, he probably had been and probably still was for a matter of fact! "Nice to meet you, Icarus." Leif said, practicing the rehearsed greeting his parents had taught him when he was little. They had said something about it being 'the polite and nice thing to say.' That and it was nice meeting another foal up to the same antics he was. It wasn't every day that he found someone as adventures as himself.

"I know! They can be so boring sometimes. I'd much rather find something fun to do than sit around all day long." Leif ranted, rolling his eyes at the thought of how boring it would be to still be with his herd. He'd still probably be playing some sort of baby-game that one of the parents had come up with to keep them busy. Blegh! "Good! 'Cus I'm the best at having fun in my herd. I'm sure the two of us combined will find something super awesome to do!"

Leif grinned widely, wagging his tail excitedly as Icarus asked him where he was going. "I'm going to this river not too far away that my papa showed me the other day. We saw tons of cool animals there like fish, and we even saw water dogs!" His tone was filled with enthusiasm and excitement that never seemed to dim with him. It seemed that Leif was always happy about something or another.

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Leif bucked slightly in excitement of the fun things they were going to do when they got to the river. There would be plenty of things that would be lots of fun to do. "Yeah! Maybe we'll be able to catch some of those fish or maybe some frogs!" He said as his new companion darted forward, calling back over his shoulder. "Hey! No fair! You got a head start!" Leif called out, smirking playfully as he shot forward after the blue roan colt. No way was he going to be a filly!

The grass was a blur on either side of him as Leif crashed through the vegetation. If he knew exactly where he was, the river that was serving as their finish line wasn't too far away. The bigger, heavier colt sped along after his feisty, little friend. His legs stretched out beneath him, and Leif was soon right behind Icarus. He panted as he pushed his legs to go faster. It wouldn't be much longer before they were there, and he was still a little bit behind.

The green grass fell away in front of him, and the river appeared, slowly trickling down stream. Leif skidded to a halt at beside Icarus, panting lightly from the sudden exertion. "Haha! You're pretty... fast! I'll... have to remember that the next time... we have a race." Leif joked between pants as he tried to catch his breath.

The river was a pretty cerulean blue, and the sunlight reflected off of its surface, making it almost look as though it was sparkling. "Come on! Let's go find some fish." Leif said, walking toward the river bank. He scanned the water for any signs of the silvery scaled creatures. His eyes scanned the water's surface, trying to spot some for them to chase, and a playful smile pulled up the corners of his mouth as he spotted the water ripple not to far away where a small school of fish swam. "Look! I found some!"

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The fish broke the surface of the water with their fins as they swam just below the surface. Leif giggled with delight at the sight of the scaly critters. They had found some! How cool was that? Leif's ears swiveled toward Icarus as the colt trotted up to the bank, and when he leaped forward after the fish, Leif was quick to follow. His hooves splashed water around him, creating more ripples of disturbance on the surface of the slow-flowing river. As the fish darted away from their hooves, Leif giggled, chasing after them until they swam into the deeper parts of the river. "Oh yes! Be very afraid of the mighty Leif and Icarus!" Leif chanted in return, turning back to look over at his new friend.

The cool water swirled around his legs where he stood. He could easily spot the smooth, river stones under the crystal clear water. It was hard to beat a nice, cool swim in the river when the water was this clear. "Wow! The water is so clear today. I wonder how far you can see if you went into deeper water." Leif pondered aloud, trotting through the shallows and splashing water with each step. When he got close to Icarus, Leif reared up on his hind legs, coming down hard on the water beneath him. Droplets of water cascaded down on both of them, and a fit of laughter erupted from Leif as he darted away.

Leif plunged into the deeper water, feeling it soak through his pelt. His legs paddled below him, taking him around in small circles. Looking down, Leif could see his lower half all the way down to his hooves in the clear river. A smile crossed his face as an idea popped into his head, and Leif ducked his head under the surface, opening his eyes once he was all the way under. He could see the fish that they had been chasing swimming not too far away, swimming in a small school in their underwater home. The grey colt stuck his head back above the water, taking a deep breath before looking around for Icarus. "Icarus! Come look at this! You can see so clearly down here." Leif called out from where he swam.

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Leif had learned at a young age how to swim. Both of his parents had a love for water, and they had found it useful for him to learn this valuable ability. Plus, it had been a lot easier for him than some foals since his father could manipulate water at will. Ryder had made sure Leif's head had stayed above the water as he learned the movements he needed to make to do it himself.

Paddling around in the slow-flowing river, Leif had absolutely forgotten that he might not have been taught how to swim yet. In fact, he wasn't even sure how old Icarus was to begin with. His waterlogged ears flicked toward the other colt, hearing him splash into the water close by. Leif noticed Icarus's slightly awkward movements as he tried his hardest to swim.

Just as Icarus hit the deeper water, Leif spotted the fear on his face and swam forward, kicking his legs hard through the water to get to him. "I'm coming!" Leif shouted to the struggling colt. Once he reached Icarus's side, Leif pushed him back toward the shallows with his muzzle. Thank goodness, the bank wasn't too far away. He might have been a strong swimmer by himself, but Leif didn't know how well he'd be able to swim if he had to make sure Icarus's head stayed above the water along with his own.

With one last shove, Leif felt the ground beneath his hooves, and he quickly clambered up until it only touched his knees. His expression filled with concern as he turned back to look at Icarus. "Are you okay? I didn't really think about if you knew how to swim or not. I'm sorry."

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Leif grinned, seeing a smile on Icarus's face after he had caught his breath. He climbed out of the water and shook himself off. Water droplets went flying around him, leaving his mane a curly mess. "Yeah! Swimming is lots of fun. Your dad can walk on water? Mine can move the water with his mind too!" Leif said, remembering when his father had shown him his gift for the first time. It had been an amazing thing to see, but it wasn't as cool when his father chased him around to be bathed. Leif would much rather go swimming than be forcefully scrubbed with floating orbs of water.

The grey colt frowned at Icarus's words, looking around at the lack of animals to harass. This had been more boring than he had thought it was going to be. 'Where had those waterdogs gone anyhow?' They had just been there the other day. They couldn't have gone too far, right? "Ummmm." Leif mumbled, frowning in concentration as he thought of something they could do next. It had been a lot of fun chasing fish, but it was hard to chase things when you were all alone. "We could go look for those waterdogs if you want. I bet they aren't that far away. Unless you want to do something else. I'm totally up for anything." Leif said with a toothy grin.

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