Pepper
Pepper propelled herself up the mountain with her strong legs. She was just a few feet from the top. She had had a wonderful time running the plains and was more than happy to be home in the mountains. "Hopefully I'll get my wings soon. It would be so much faster to just fly up the mountain."Arthonen
The air was crisp for summer, a breeze from the north implying that fall might come to the mountains slightly early this year. No matter, every year the seasons came and went, and though the ferocity of the storms may wax and wane over the decades, the mean never strayed far enough to become truly uncomfortable.A white and steel stallion stood at the peak of a mountain, surveying the lands he so proudly laid claim to. Everything was right in the world between the Solstice and the season of growing. Yet, he felt anything but content.
A female voice reached his ears, startling him out of his reverie. The words were in his language, a further shock for the solitary stud. "Good day, madam. I daresay you are correct," he intoned after several moments of stunned silence.
Pepper
A little shocked that she received an answer, Pepper slipped and fell a few feet back down the mountain. She easily caught herself and looked around at who the voice belonged to. She could have sworn these were her mountains. Did she climb up the wrong one? She decided to be friendly anyways. "Hello fine sir. Is this your mountain?"Arthonen
Her voice was very pretty, and quite sweet. It was like honey with just a hint of spice, and to someone who had spent the better part of a century without the beautiful chime of another Quirlicorn's vocals, it was like water for the horse trapped in the desert and dying of thirst. He drank the sound in, reveling the the beauty of it.Her words, however, caught the stallion slightly by surprise. Is it his mountain, indeed! If she weren't the first equid of his own kind he had seen in so many years, perhaps his words would have been harsher. As it was, he simply chuckled. "Of course it is my mountain, my dear girl. All mountains belong to me."
Pepper
Pepper didn't know what to think. All mountains were his?! She didn't think so. Jumping up to his height she looked him in the eyes. "They can't all be yours! Because I live here too ya know." As much as Pepper wanted to be mad at him she was kinda interested in him. She hadn't met another of her kind in the mountains before and he was kinda handsome. She tossed her head to clear that thought.Arthonen
She lived here? That couldn't be right. Arthonen had seached every inch of these peaks for another Quirlicorn and had found absolutely nothing. Had he perchance misheard? Nonsense, he never misheard. Even if his ears ceased to work he would still understand every word spoken within a mile radius. Dialogue was an idea long before it was intoned. "I beg your pardon?" he finally said, shocked out of his usual stoic and somewhat irritable demeanor. If it was true...if there really was another Quirlicorn living in the mountains, then perhaps he wasn't as alone as he had always believed. She was the first equid he had seen in so long...It dawned on the stud he hadn't even asked for her name. Hoping to rectify that atrocious breech in propriety, he cleared his throat. "What is your name, if I may?"
Pepper
"I'm sure you heard me. I live in the mountains too. Granted I don't always stay up here." She said in a soft and smooth voice. "I'm Pepper. You are?" If he did live here there was no reason to be rude. Besides who wanted to live among grumpy neighbors? Might as well make friends.Arthonen
"I did hear you," he replied, careful with his tone. Showing the full scope of just how obnoxious her first sentence had been would probably not be conducive to a decent aquaintanceship. "I was simply..." Arthonen searched for the right word. "Surprised. It has been three centuries since I last spoke with one of our kind." For a moment, but only a moment, there was a deep loneliness saturating his voice. Steel gaze wandered toward the ground in a depressed spiral of pain.As soon as it came, however, he forced it to pass. Showing that level of emotion was not within his norm, and he found it entirely too discomfitting.
Afterall, she had given her name. He could at least respond to that. "I am called Arthonen, but you may shorten it to Arth if you wish."
Pepper
"Well, It's nice to meet you Arthonen. You wont mind if I move in here? I kinda travel all over, not really staying in one spot but this place looks great." She said walking on around the trees and looking up through the bright canopy. She saw the slight change in his eyes and it reminded her of how empty she felt when she traveled alone. But that was before she met Charles and all the other horses at his stable.Arthonen
It was not lost on the stallion that she chose to use his given name as opposed to the shorter version. She didn't seem to be the type to be particularly formal, but perhaps he had misjudged. Granted, such occasions were so rare, he was confident in one of his favorite lines: I thought I was wrong once, turns out I was mistaken. He pushed musing about her reasons behind not shortening his name from his mind though as her following thoughts drastically changed the direction of their conversation.Hadn't she just said...? Arthonen cleared his mind. The mare had asked a question, and he would answer. First, however, he would study her. There was no question as to her namesake: the pretty burgundy speckled pattern upon her back attested. She was quite beautiful, and would certainly be a welcome adornment in his forest. "Of course, Mistress Pepper. I would be honored to see you brightening the mountains."
Pepper
"Great. Now since this is 'your' mountain mind showing me around? I am quite thirsty from the long trek up here so if we could head in the direction of water that would be most lovely." She said looking back at him and tossing her head to shake a strand of hair that had fallen in her face.He was quite the gentleman, she'd give him that. So as to be polite she would do things his way. The way he said her name had a nice ring to it. It brought a warm happy feeling that made her simile.
Arthonen
Ah, there it was--the disdain was back in her voice. She truly did not appreciate the idea of the mountain belonging to him. Perhaps he should stop and consider...no. No, the mountains were his. He had lived here since the forest was still young. They blonged to Arthonen just as Arthonen belonged to the mountains.Was it possible, though, that he had grown complacent with age? He had overlooked her claim to a piece of his home? The stallion shoved the thought out of his mind, refusing to acknowledge that he may have made a mistake, and brought his attention to the present. When she had first arrived was irrelevant, Pepper was here now and clearly his hosting skills were rusty.
"Yes," he cleared his throat. "Rightly so, I'm afraid." The stud gave a gentle twist of his tail, dispelling the moss and leaves that had collected in the long steel tresses over the course of their conversation. "Walk with me?" he asked, indicating that he would like to accompany her down the mountainside.
Pepper
Pepper had her mind set on living here. Everything was perfect. She was going to move on in if he wanted her or not. Of course she'd respect his space and his word. In fact she planned on getting to know him better.It may have just been being back in the forest but she felt revived almost. Fresh, fired up. It could have also been that fact that she had yet to meet another Quirlicorn. She would enjoy every moment in his presence.
"Of course." She replied tossing her head and flicking her tail as she walked on proudly. He might be the king but everyone knew a king didn't rule alone.
Arthonen
The nearest stream was in the valley between this peak and it's northern neighbor. Granted, if t'were springtime, there would be rivulets so aplenty one would be hardpressed to avoid stepping in them. When the snowy peaks began their melt, everything was wet for over a month. It was late summer now, however. Water certainly wasn't a rare commodity--as it could sometimes be in the dark winter, but it could be a hassle to attain. No matter, perhaps the walk would do them good."Marvelous," Athonen replied with genuine delight. It was no secret that he detested other races more of than not, but when paired with one of his own breed, saying he was rather elated would not be too much of a stretched truth.
Walking with the mare, carefully and gently steering her toward better footing, the stud mulled over his next words. He wanted to know more about this peppery fae, but hadn't the slightest clue how to ask it.
