Inspiration in strange places

Religiously the stallion came down to this point on the pier to wait for thunderstorms as they began to build. It was a strange magic that fascinated him, and although he'd taken away the mystery himself by deducting what it was that caused these strange reactions in the sky, he still enjoyed pretending it was as new and exciting as before. Spindle had a notepad sitting next to him and would, from time to time, dip his muzzle down towards the paper and write things that were probably quite illegible to both humans and fellow Serians alike. However, he could read his own writing, and had picked up the skill from his bonded.

He'd also picked up reading books from her, much to her surprise and slight dismay. She'd always been worried his bookworm ways would isolate him from the other Serians. It did, but that didn't matter. The endless realm of magic in his mind kept him more than happy. He wanted to understand the strange powers of this realm and others like it, there was an explanation for everything just waiting to be found if one tried hard enough.

Tossing the custom made writing utencil aside (a clever birthday gift), the young stallion seemed content to watch the brewing lightning behind the dark and heavy clouds. Silver tribal designs glittered off of his form, complimenting his mane which shimmered with the colours of the murky water only inches below. He felt like he belonged here, it was nice. Sounds from the shoreline brought one ear around, was someone approaching or had the winds sent something spiraling down the hill? It didn't matter, he was quite convinced whatever it was would want no business with him.

She was tired. Tired of fighting, tired of running, tired of everything. Her Mistress was expecting too much of her, Web, too little, and now that new one had come. The male. Lucid. She had been fine when it had just been Web and her, but this stallion, this stallion was unsettling. And not only because he was eerie and quite possibly insane, but for the fact that he reminded her, all too clearly, how much naivete she still had.

How much of a child she still was.

So Hellion did what she did best, which was running away. Ran away from strange things and found herself wandering aimlessly down the stretch of sea and land, head low. The wind was colder, and she could see the storms on the horizon. Hinote had told her in passing that the shore was the only place he could ever find peace. She snorted in fond derisivement. Whatever her firebrand brother felt here woke not in her. Maybe they weren't really of the same blood at all.

A flash of lightning caught her eye and she raised her head, poising still in midstep to watch the broiling clouds. The golden shafts of her earring tinkled together in the growing wind, catching the distant illumination, while the tide swirled around her hooves like catching fingers. With her eyes trained on the storm, her thoughts on herself, it was no wonder really that she didn't notice the stallion a mere few feet away from her. She might have been a breathing statue, the way she froze so perfectly, dead to the world around her.

It was a strange sixth sense that finaly made his back ripple as if scratching an itch below the surface using only the liquid movement of muscle. It was like having eyes on his back, but more awkward, almost like a living shadow were following him. He knew instantly that whatever noise he'd heard had been alive and probably not something to be ignored. Suddenly wary, he turned only slightly to be able to glance from the corner of his eye around to what was behind him. He didn't want to draw too much attention to the fact that he knew, somehow, that someone was behind him, in case they meant him harm.

But the figure he saw would mean him no harm. Instantly a warm smile crossed his features, a familiar face, and one he didn't mind taking time out of his day to indulge in conversation. She was bright and pure standing up on the hill, he'd always thought her a real lady. But even if he hadn't, he was a gentleman, and wouldn't act in any different fashion. He placed the customized writing pen atop the pad of paper, hoping that he wouldn't forget about it entirely when the rain came. Frowning, he accepted that this would probably be a bit of a sacrifice, but he was truly curious as to what the mare was doing down here. To his knowledge, it wasn't a popular spot, mostly because the pier was falling apart slowly.

"Greetings, my lady." He offered gently as he began to rise up the hill, one careful step at a time. The grass was still misty from the last evening's downpour and he didn't want to slip and make a fool of himself. He realized then he rarely called Hellion by her name, probably because he didn't think it suited her. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought, or maybe he just could only see the best in her. It was in his nature, after all. He was curious to see if there would be a spark of recognition, or if she had forgotten about him entirely. What a strange meeting, but he felt it was good fortune. She tended to inspite his creative drive, and he even had his trusty notebook with him this time.

And like Pygmalion, Spindle's voice brought life back into her statuesque form. In an instant her eyes snapped downward to focus on the stallion, and her muscles pulled taut in preparation for retaliation. But these were all instincts, instincts that Web had honed in her and not quite her own. She relaxed as she recognized him, vague though it was, and inside cursed herself for not being more aware, for being so lost in herself that, had it been someone other, she might've suffered dire consequence.

'But you're not in the Mistress's land anymore,' she reminded herself with a smirk. 'There's no need to be guard, to know whose eyes are watching and what they're thinking...'

"Spindle," she greeted, her voice low but touched with a distant warmth. She did remember him, if not the specific place or time of their meeting, but his name, his form. He wrote, she recalled suddenly, that was why. That's why she had been able to recall him so clearly, linking him with old stories, fairy tales that Web had sometimes spoiled her with as a child. There was a princess, there was a spindle...a spinner of tales. How strangely her mind connected things.

Her pondering, however, did not rob her of the observation that the slope was a bit precarious and that the stallion moved slowly. "Careful," she added, a bit awkwardly. Concern had never really had a place in her under her Mistress's hand.

The stallion didn't outwardly display any discomfort when the mare moved as if to defend herself. It was hard to tell if he had missed it entirely or if he had been expecting the reaction. They'd only met once, but Spindle was... frighteningly observant, and his memory could not be rivaled by anyone he'd met thus far. He smiled up at her when she greeted him, the smile widening to a grin when he realized she truly had remembered him. How, he had no idea, perhaps she simply didn't meet many Serians? This was true for him, but he couldn't see it making sense for her.

"What brings you down here this exciting evening, lady Hellion?" It was a strange contradiction of words, but he wouldn't refer to her as anything other than a lady. She had done nothing to disprove that opinion, and so it would stick. Even if she had, it would probably stick, Spindle was one to forgive and forget rather easily. It made him more than a bit of a pushover. Chime had always warned him that someone was going to play him for a fool, but he was convinced he'd see through it. As much as Hellion realized how naive she herself could be, Spindle felt the same realization happen upon him a lot lately.

"Ah yes, it's a bit wet out already." He chuckled as his strides brought him up steadily to her side so as not to obscure her vision of the growing storm. He considered asking her down to the pier with him, but with how unsteady it was becomming he didn't want to risk causing her injury. As the winds picked up, he sat back on his hind legs in the grass, though his small form was low to the ground, he was also rather slender and light weight. Large gusts of wind had been known to get the best of him. He shook strands of iory mane from his eyes and glanced up at the mare.

"It's been too long, I believe." Another genuine smile was given as he waited for her response.

Lady Hellion. She snorted to herself. A lady was Mist, Eve, or Mirage, mares who knew how be gentle, to be...[i]feminine. Mares who knew how to behave around stallions, didn't get that awkward stir in their stomach, flutter in their chest. Either innocent or wise, not confused like she was. Not rough, not bitter. Not anything like her at all.

"I was...just trying to clear my head," she answered, lying a lie blunt enough to be truth. She didn't shy away from him as he settled at her side. Funny, that. She had come seeking solitude, after all, and she had never invited closeness before, not even with her siblings. Maybe it was the way he seemed fragile, almost like Avalir, almost like Mist. Web has often teased her, gentle and malicious all at once, that she had a hero complex. Need to protect, to prove that you're strong enough.

Heh, strength. To tell the truth her own form was not that much different than that of the stallion's, small and light, like an imp. Only her stubborness to give in grounded her. She would tear the wind apart before she let it knock her down...or at least, that's what she told herself.

'...too long, I believe.'

"Really?" Her voice was tinged with a muted form of shock. She had never thought anyone would care about time spent away from her; her whole life had been abandonment and distant relations, those eager to get away from her attitude, her spite. He was being polite, that's all, a gentleman after all and she was just being a naive idiot, looking for an emotion that wasn't there-

Except, she looked at him and saw that the smile was true, and suddenly she wasn't sure what she should be thinking anymore. She tossed her head, hiding her eyes behind the violet strands of her forelock. "It's...I'm glad you still remember me, then."[/i]