xx.new starts

[xx.shuffle]

FOX

So these were the lands he had chosen to house her and this Zilla she had yet to meet. From what she had seen of the lands so far, she wasn't impressed. In fact, the only area she particularly liked was the waterfall. The loud crashing of water against water drowned out the majority of everything, including her thoughts. And the water that it supplied to the basin was cooling and delicious. She spent most of her time here. It wasn't like she needed to know every inch of the place she was calling home now. Because, while this was her physical home, her real home had died. Died because she was a failure as a parent. She couldn't protect the only thing she had left, so here she was. Living with a stag she barely knew past his name. She knew more about his other mare than she did about him. Not that she was going to go fishing for information.

In fact, she didn't care one bit. He was a means for protection, because she knew she couldn't protect herself. So he was tasked with that. She wasn't a troublemaker by far, though. She was perfectly content with sticking to herself, not bothering any of the others in the lands, not leaving her mark on any part of his territory. This was his home. She was merely staying here. A means for him to further his lines, if she decided that she was willing to give motherhood another shot. She wasn't sure she was. If she were to carry another foal just to lose it the way she lost her first, there would be no coming back for her. She would find the nearest cliff, and leap from it. She wasn't stable from the first death. There was no way she was going to risk it any time soon, that much she was sure of.

[saetta]

Marauder was just doing one of his daily rounds making sure everything was in order and nothing out of place. If he even got a whiff of another stallion he would of followed it and so put a stop to the intruder before he got very far. Now he was really wondering just where Fox had wondered off to now since they both came here. After all this land was hers and so was meant for her happiness and to be content. He was drawn to the caves since they was perfect to protect against summer storms that came without warning and the long winters from the bite of the winds and blinding snows. This was the mares home he was just the care giver and looked after the place. He did have a sort of soft spot for Fox even though she did try to take his nose and lips off when he was trying to be nice and groomed her mane. That is when he learned a very valuable lesson, and that was don't touch the mare unless she wants to be touched.

He finally made his way to the falls area, yeah it was somewhat breath taking and was the other reason he picked this land with this ever present water source. That is when the small Mustang mares scent entered his nose she was close but just where was she at? He wanted to know if she was liking it so far around here and just what he could do to improve it if she did have a concern about the place. There down by the base of the falls was the little spotted lass. He quietly made his way down to her. He nickered just so she knew he was there and so didn't startled the young mare. He then spoke in a concerned tone.

" I have not seen you around to much Fox. You do know this is your home and so you are free to explore it. If anything you want or need just let me know and I'll try my best to accommodate  it."

The large sorrel roan stallion was just trying his best to at least make a connection with this mare. If that can happen then they could move onto other things. He really was hoping that Fox would at least tell him what she wanted and not try to keep it away from him.

[xx.shuffle]

FOX

Despite the crashing water, she heard the stallion approaching long before she saw him. She felt her chest swell in a sigh. It wasn't that his company was completely unwelcome, it was just that she hadn't really felt like visiting with anyone. She would much rather spend her time by herself, watching the water fall, or the leaves change, or anything else rather than spending it talking pointless small talk to someone else.

He was speaking to her, and she was forced to flick an ear in his direction to catch his words over the roar of the water. She felt as though he was pretty much telling her she needed to be out checking the lands over, instead of spending her time doing what she wanted to do. If she were anyone else, she would be angered by his implications. She knew all that she needed to know about the lands. She knew where to find food and water. She knew where she could go and where she couldn't go. She knew where his lands ended and another's began. But she didn't need to know the location of every rock, or the name of every insect that came by looking for nourishment. She was content to spend her time exactly where she was, by the waterfall that blocked out thoughts of everything.

She turned her head to him to reply to his words. "I don't want to explore it," she said, as nicely as she could manage. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by making it seem like she wasn't happy with his choice in lands. She would learn to like the place, she was sure. It would just take time. "I'm happy to be where I am right now." It wasn't exactly a lie. She wasn't happy, per se. She wasn't sure when she would be happy again. But she wasn't ready to end her life. She would stay where she was, and when the time came for her to start exploring, she would. But for now, she didn't want to see any more of the lands. These were her safe area. She knew what to expect here.

[saetta]

Marauder just wanted to do what was right, when it came to his mares and their happiness. If they was not happy then he would start to think he was a total failure at life in general. So when the small mustang appaloosa mare spoke and said that she didn't want to explore the lands and really just wanted to stay in the area where the waterfall was. This sort of baffled the large sorrel roan stallion. On just why she was like this but no problem what ever happened to her was her past and Mardy would not get involved unless Fox ask him to, he would respect her wishes on this. He just stood a few feet away giving the mare her personal space and not wanting to crowd her unnecessarily.

He raised his nose and sniffed the air fall was here and with it a drop in temperatures diffidently at night. So in a somewhat low tone he spoke.

" I just want you to be happy is all Fox, if you are not happy then I feel that I have let you down in some way."

He then let out a sigh as he didn't know what else to do, but if Fox said anything then it could help him on his way. He did decided though that he would offer a place for her to sleep at night, he was taking a chance but maybe if she seen that he was just trying to be friendly, Fox would accept it. But he was getting no where by just standing around not saying a thing. So he then spoke.

" As you probably know fall is here Fox and so it is getting colder. If you want to I would like for you to come to my cave and so get out of the weather. As no horse should be out in the cold without a roof over it's head."

He took one step back just for a precaution, he was taking a very big risk with this. Marauder had no idea just how the small mustang would react it could be anything from, ok I'll accept to down right wanting to rip his head off. So he waited and held his breath waiting for Fox to answer him in what ever way she would towards him.

[xx.shuffle]

FOX

He was persistent. That she had to admit. But it was equally annoying and endearing. He clearly cared enough about her that he wanted to make sure she was settling in fantastically. But he didn't - nor did she believe he could - understand why she didn't want to do anything, and why she wanted nothing to do with the lands. She was perfectly content to stay where she was, waiting for the day to come when she would be happy again.

He lifted his crown to sniff the air, and she feared he was about to bring up a foal. Her heart thudded in her chest, and her tail clamped against her hindquarters, hoping to dissuade him. But to her relief, that wasn't what he wanted to talk about. Instead, he blamed himself for her listlessness. It angered her, for reasons beyond her understanding. Her teeth clacked, her ears pinned, she snapped out her words to him. "No one has let me down but myself." She forced herself to calm down before she answered anything else he said.

True to her suspicions, he was talking again. This time, he was offering her a place to get in out of the cold. But it was the beginning of the season, and the nightly temperatures hadn't dropped drastically yet. She wasn't ready to spend the next few months tucked away in the dark, away from the outside. "I'm fine where I am, Mardy. I'll come to your cave if I get cold. It's still pretty warm at night."

She noticed he had stepped away from her as he spoke. It was almost comical, that a horse so much larger than herself feared what she would do to him. She didn't think she had been that mean to him, but she could understand his reaction. Of course, the day that they had met, she had come relatively close to biting him when he touched her. Maybe she was being a little mean to him. It wasn't intentional, and she wasn't quite sure she could stop herself from doing it again.

But he had done a lot for her. Even just giving her a place to stay was adding weight to his shoulders. Another mouth to be sure was fed, another body to protect. It was a lot more on him than it was on her. All she had to do was be happy, and she couldn't even do that. If anyone was letting anyone down, it was her letting him down.

[saetta]

Marauder was just wanting to help Fox find her way to being happy once again. There was one thing he was not going to do no matter what and that was try and pry into Foxes past. The big sorrel roan stallion knew it was a sore spot and best that he didn't go and try to dig it up to have Fox live it all over again. She then just reinforced it by saying it was herself that was to blame for her being unhappy. Again it hurt Marauders heart on hearing this come from the smaller mare. He was at least a little more prepared if Fox decided to lash out again. The pinning of the ears and bearing of teeth was still very fresh in the big Belgians mind. So he would always trade space so as to be ready to react to what ever Fox might try and pull with him. He then listen and heard Fox say that the nights was still warm and if she got cold she would come see him. Marauder then spoke in a sarcastic tone

" If you are not in my cave when the first frost is on the ground, I am coming and dragging you to my cave kicking and screaming. I don't need you sick if it can be avoided Fox."

Mardy then let out a playful chuckle before walking up to the smaller mare. He then moved quickly so as to not allow her to back up, he put a light kiss between her eyes and then added.

" And I mean what I say Fox I can't afford to allow you to get sick, the future of this place depends on it."

And with that he was about ready to trot off to complete his patrol of the border to make sure no stallion was here that shouldn't be here. He would so love to get a few foals from his two mares. They would keep the mares busy and yet also show that this place had life and was growing. But Marauder was the type that it was totally up to the mare if she wanted a foal or not. After all she was the one that had to put up first by carrying it for almost a year but also look after it for another two. He done one last look behind him to watch Fox and to make sure that what he said had sunk into her mind. And that was he very well wanted to make sure she was looked after and that he deeply cared for her. Now it would be Zilla's turn for his attention.

[xx.shuffle]

FOX

He was keeping his space, and respecting hers. She was glad of that, because she didn't want him close right now, no matter how nice he was being in the face of her hatefulness. She knew he didn't deserve her bitterness, but she didn't think she would be getting any better any time soon. There was just too much pain she was harboring, and she wasn't quite ready to let it go yet.

The sarcasm in his tone annoyed her, and frightened her at the same time. He was much bigger than she was, and knew that he could easily make her do anything he wanted her to. A hind hoof lifted and moved farther away from him, as though he were going to do what he had said jokingly that very moment. The hoof touched down in the water, and she hoped he didn't notice the slight splash. It would open a new round of inquiries, and she really didn't want to answer any of his questions.

Her eyes snapped shut and she almost flinched away when he darted forward, completely unsure of what he was planning on doing to her. When his mug touched her dome, right between the eyes, in a kissing manner, she was astonished. Never before had anyone done such a thing, and she wasn't prepared for it in the least.

"It does not depend on me. It depends on you." She turned back to the pond as he made to leave. Finally, she could be alone again. Even though her heart had an ache to it at the thought of him departing - she wasn't sure where that came from - she wasn't going to stop him. He had other things to do, and another mare to tend to. She wasn't going to spend all his time letting him try to glue her pieces back together. She could do that on her own.