Acacia was on her own today. No matter how much she didn't want to be alone, she understood that everyone needed alone time. When she woke from her nap and Canyon wasn't there, she let him go. He would find her later. Her always did. They're was only one thing for her to do; pluck up what little courage she had and do some exploring of her own.

Dainty little hooves carried the tiny mare to a windswept plain. The grasses were a little sad looking, but they were still green. Acacia grazed as she moved along, eating only the sweetest blades of grass. She wasn't terribly hungry and could afford to be picky. As the speckled mare meandered over the plain, she caught scent of running water. Extending her neck to its full length, two toned ears pricked upwards. Maybe she would have a bath.

Acacia pranced along with high steps. The tallest of the grasses brushed her pale belly as she moved. Coming upon the babbling stream, the little mare scented the air, nostrils flaring. She couldn't smell any predators, nor could her blue eyes pick any out of the landscape. Moving forward, Acacia stepped into the cool water a ways before she lowered her velveteen lips down to drink.

The water wasn't terribly deep here. It didn't even reach her stomach. The young horse waded out, tri-colored tail flicking back and forth as it trailed along behind her. The world was mostly quiet and Acacia focused on that silence. Suddenly a big fish leaped out of the water, making a rather loud splash. Acacia, being the skittish thing that she was, leaped backwards and rushed out of the water, hooves sending sand flying as she escaped the water and dove back onto the grass. Her heart beat heavily and get blue eyes were wide. Eventually she would realize that there was no danger, but for now, she was on high alert.

Having a winged companion meant the stallion could generally relax fully. He was laid flat out in the grasses, Isolde circling above and keeping watch, Wangui huddled up against his forelegs, tucked between them where it was warm. A tropical creature, the lemur never really liked the cold seasons of the northern lands of the world. Isolde coasted in lazy circles, keen eyes watching the plainlands below, her glowing friend’s form an easy landmark on the ground. From up here, one might easily assume him dead. Another form moved, and she eddied on the wind, head tilting for a better glimpse. A small mare, jumpy and grabbing a drink from the small river. Taliesyn was, quite simple, enjoying the deeper sleep afforded by laying flat rather than standing. All horses needed to sleep this way for a little while to fully recharge, and he valued his two friends’ assistance in allowing him this rest. However when Isolde landed lightly on his belly and gave his hide a dig with her talons he bolted to his feet with a snort, blinking before the split second switch between sleepy and wakeful cleared and he looked at the hawk with some reproach… nothing compared to the glare Wangui cast both of them. The hawk tipped her head toward the mare by the river, right as the filly bolted like a zapped cow out of the water, clearly given a fright. But there was no sign that she was actually under attack, and no wolf, bear, or big cat chased from the water. The stallion stood watching, one ear cocked back slightly. What had gotten into her? Finally, curiosity won over and he called out, “Are.. you quite alright, miss?” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

The mare stood staring at the water until she decided that nothing was coming out of it to get her. She had just about settled when a voice rang out behind her. Acacia released a slight chirp of alarm and jumped again, spinning about to face whomever was speaking to her. Sky blue eyes were open wide. "Mares above!" She exclaimed as her heart yet again thudded in her chest. The world was out to murder her today. Of that, she was certain.

When she was finally able to focus her attention on the owner of the voice, her anxiety increased. He. Was. Huge. The pale stallion towered over her. He was bigger than Canyon as well. Acacia's gleaming coat began to shudder lightly as she shivered in fear. "Please don't hurt me, " she begged in soft, wavering tones.

Now, Acacia hadn't always been a coward. She was quite adventurous when she was a foal. More so than Canyon even. That was before her granddam was slaughtered in front of her by a rogue stallion. After that, she wasn't allowed out Iof her mothers sight, nor did she want to be out of it. On top of her fear, she'd grown up dainty and slender. Vulnerable, her mother called her. The herd had kept her close and protected her. She was used to having someone look out for her. Here, alone in the middle of nowhere with a giant, unknown stallion... mares above, where was Canyon?!

Her reaction was both familiar, and then confusing as hell. He was used to the initial shock of a seeing a glowing horse with a unicorn horn. He was also huge. He was generally mistaken for some sort of spirit, mythical creature, avenging deity to the stallions that tried to claim his last few harems and hadn’t heard of the horse who led the herd and experienced him barreling out of the blue at them. But he didn’t think he’d ever had a filly mistake him for something that would willingly hurt them. “I would sooner throw myself off a tall cliff than harm a filly, miss.” He was genuine in tone, ears flicking back. Shifting, he moved to give her a good distance, ready to leave if she needed it. It was clear he wouldn’t approach her unless she asked him to. Otherwise, his body language was peaceful, tail flicking over one hip. With winter’s embrace settling around the, his coat was wholly shaggy now, and he practically had a beard along his jaw with the thick winter coat. Wangui had plaited his mane carefully, a big feat for one lemur, considering how much hair was in that mane. It meant his neck was cold, but mats were rare. Isolde took to the sky again, circling higher and higher to keep watch on the surroundings, and Wangui moved to leap onto his withers, ensuring that if he moved off, she wouldn’t have to follow after him. Almost sympathetically, he added, "I take it you're newly pushed from your herd? It's always a bit scary in the first several months. I am Taliesyn, by the way. And by my honor, I mean you no harm." Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

His looks didn't even register at first. It was his size that got her. He was just so big in comparison to her! Yes his coat glittered, but so did her own. Maybe in different ways, but it didn't seem terribly foreign to the young woman. The horn jutting from his forehead was strange, but somehow it seemed like it belonged there and so that too didn't seem foreign. The stallion admitted that harming her was not on his agenda and the tension that held Acacia's body trembling, yet rigid, began to ease. She believed him.

The giant beast gave his name and, yet again, promised that he would not harm her. Clearing her throat, the speckled dame flicked her ears forward. "Acacia," she managed finally. "My name is Acacia." Lowering her big blue eyes, she absently pulled one hoof lightly back and forth across the grass. "Apologies for my reaction. I get extra jumpy when I'm on my own." Not to mention she had negative experiences with random stallions in the past.

Taliesyn asked whether she had been chased from her herd abs the slender mare gave her head a shake, tri- toned mane swaying. "No, I left voluntarily. My best friend left before he could be chased away and I went with him. I... don't know where he is today, so I went off to explore on my own." She sighed, an expression of sadness taking hold of her chimeric face. "I should have stayed at the oasis. I'm too much of a coward for adventuring."

Thankfully, his words seemed to help her relax. Eventually, she seemed to feel steady enough to give her name. Acacia. It wasn’t a name he knew, but then, there were many, many herds out there, even if it seemed as though Boreas, and perhaps Auster too, were barren of horses like them. “It’s no worry. You’re young, and any horse alone is going to be nervous—we are herd animals, after all.” Said the horse who appeared to be alone himself. He was more accustomed to the nomadic wandering life of a lone stallion these days. He did enjoy the freedom, even if his nature did sometimes bring him to bouts of loneliness. He’d taken to hanging around Maeva, though today he’d wandered back to his favorite haunt. He still had his “quest” of course. Searching for the wolves – or their descendants – who had given his mother a home and family for a good few years before she’d splintered off on her own. His ears did prick slightly as Acacia mentioned that she hadn’t been pushed out of the herd, but left with a friend who had gone before he could be evicted by the band stallion. Likely, that meant a young and inexperienced colt who might well be best off to find a bachelor band to roughhouse and heckle band stallions with for a few years, honing his fighting skills and endurance before he won a mare or two of his own. Taliesyn smiled, though. He knew the friendships that formed between his kind could be practically binding, with one fretting while the other was gone. His mother had told many stories about her life as a domestic horse among humans, and the fretful episodes of the herd bound and buddy sour. “It takes practice to be confident in exploration on your own. I’m large enough to be less of an interest to predators, and I’m decently well-armed, more so than most horses.” He was gently encouraging with his advice, and he still kept his distance, letting the filly decide whether she wished to approach or not. He was content to stand and wait. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

"Herd animals indeed," the young mare spoke. What had she been thinking when she left the herd? Most likely she would have been safe there for the rest of her days. Now, each new day was a blessing. Ah, but she would have withered away without Canyon. He was as close as a brother. They had always been together. So, when he left, she left too.

Another little shiver closed through the slim lady's frame as she continued to fight for calm. She knew that Canyon would grow and learn. Eventually he would take mares and start his own herd. She didn't see him that way, however. To her, he was just Canyon, her friend. In her short life she hadn't been attracted to anyone, least of all her best friend.

Taliesyn spoke of being able to protect himself and Acacia believed that he very well could do that. He was large and he had that fancy horn. His hooves were gigantic in comparison to her own. "You're lucky, " she spoke in her soft, gentle voice. "I couldn't protect myself against a rabbit." She's knew this to be a fact. On their journey, a rambunctious hare had been startled and reacted by jumping up and kicking her with its clawed hind paws. She still had the remnants of those scratches on one hind leg.

Far off in the distance, the spine chilling call of a puma met curled ears. The cat was nowhere near, but that didn't matter. Terror clenched around her heart like a fist and she found herself drawing closer to the giant, shimmering stallion. "I wish Canyon would come back," she admitted, blue eyes roaming the horizon. "I really am hopeless by myself."

He smiled slightly at her words. Clearly she was questioning her decision to leave her natal herd with her friend. She was still highly anxious—he could practically feel her anxiety from where he stood, and that was a good forty or more feet. He did his best to impart serenity to her, letting his weight shift and head lower, a hind hoof cocking, visibly relaxed. She spoke so certainly when she noted that she couldn’t have defended herself against even a rabbit, and his horned head tilted slightly with some curiosity, a half chuckle whispering through his nostrils, rippling them as he remembered a moment as a foal, racing his twin sister in circles, until a hare had been shocked out of the brush in front of them, sending both younglings scrambling and bucking back to Obsidian’s warm sides. “Those rabbits can be frightful when you’re not expecting them.” His large eyes twinkled like warm blue pools, reminiscent amusement evident in the wrinkling around them. As she startled at a distant caterwaul of a mountain cat, he lifted his head a fraction, listening, before dragging in a deep, lung-filling breath and letting it out in a long sigh. “You are welcome to stand by me and use my steadiness to steady yourself, Acacia. It’s up to you, and I won’t harm you. Perhaps your Canyon will return soon.” He’d be able to gently coax her nerves down and give that hammering heart a rest. She might even be able to lay down fully and grab her own deep sleep, which would do a wonder for her shot nerves. He didn’t know if she’d had a chance to relax that far. It was his nature to take care of his fellow horses and keep watch while they did what they needed to do in order to care for themselves. To emphasize the calm, he let his head drop, teeth cropping lazily at the grass. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Within her grey and white chest, Acacia's heart thudded harder than it should. There was no doubt in the mare's mind that she was going to die young. Either from being killed by a predator or her poor heart giving out just like it had in her uncle. When Taliesyn invited her closer, she took the invitation, high stepping through the grass to reach his side. She couldn't lower her guard immediately, but she was feeling a bit more comfortable. When he began to leisurely crop at the grass, she shot one last glance at the area around them before lowering her own head. Her tail flicked back and forth behind her. She still felt nervous, but then again, she always felt nervous. "You have a... thing on you." She was talking about the animal sitting on him. Or it had been sitting on him. Acacia didn't really want to look right at it in case it made the creature angry and decided to attack her. She'd never seen an animal like that and had no idea what it was. They didn't have such things where she came from. Even if they did, why was it sitting on him? To Acacia, companions were a foreign concept. All her herd had needed were the horses within it. None of them had outside species around. Again the loud caterwaul of the puma sounded and the mare went rigid, head darting upward and swiveling about with wide eyes. "Maybe we should go?" She suggested. Or maybe she should go. No doubt she was a burden on Taliesyn. She was definitely a burden on Canyon, so she had to at least be an inconvenience to the horned stallion. "Speech"

The filly accepted his invitation, and Taliesyn stood steady as she took a spot beside him and settled enough to lower her head. He could still hear the hammer of her heart. She made note of Wangui and he chuckled softly. “Her name is Wangui. She is a lemur, a kind of primate. She’s one of my friends. The other is Isolde. She’s a hawk, and she’d keeping watch above up in the air. It helps to have friends like these. I can fully relax, and know I’ll usually have forewarning of any predators trying to sneak up on me.” Again, the puma sounded and he listened, judging the distance by the sound. He raised his head to gently brush her shoulder, instructing, “Breathe in slowly, and out slowly. Let your head lower. It will help your heart settle.” But he moved forward as an easy pace, essentially ponying the girl in a large, slow circle if she was willing to keep at his hip. The stallion was utterly patient, having had much practice in settling the anxieties of young horses new to the un-banded world, out on their own. Usually it was young colts freshly pushed from the herds. He was a guardian and guide to them, a teacher. Sometimes it was even his own sons. Occasionally a flighty filly like this one would be his pupil for a time. He never kept them to himself once they found a herd they felt happy with. Of course, this was between his tenures as band stallion, when he wandered a nomadic life, exploring his world. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Taliesyn explained the creature that was sitting on him. Wangui. Strange name. Lemur? Never heard of one. It was his friend and he had a bird friend as well? Acacia tilted her head, searching the skies for a bird circling above, but the sun was too bright to see anything clearly. Giving her head a shake, she gently mused, "I wonder if I could have such friends some day." Having a bird keep watch would be incredibly relieving to the young horse. It would most likely help with her great anxiety. When the puma screamed and Acacia panicked, Taliesyn was with her, giving instruction just as Canyon might. Her blue eyes met his blue eyes and he suggested that she lower her head. But... if she lowered her head, she'd never see the puma coming. With her heart thudding and her breathing becoming rough, she was willing to trust the horned stallion. Acacia lowered her head, trying to breathe deeply so that the little spots exploding before her eyes would stop. When he began to move her, she went along, not entirely understanding his process, but willing to give it a try. With Canyon gone, she needed to rely on someone. "I'm sorry to be such a bother," she spoke softly. A shiver ran through her metallic coat. She really was useless. "I have something wrong with my heart. I panic easily. That was part of the reason that I left with Canyon. No one can calm me down like he can." Taliesyn was doing a decent job of it though. Her heart was still thudding and adrenaline was still coursing through her, but she was slowly calming. "Once I can breathe again, I'll go. I've been enough of a nuisance to you." "Speech"

The stallion smiled gently, one shoulder twitching in a shrug. “Perhaps you might.” As they circuited the area, he kept steady, occasionally glancing to the sky for Isolde, still circling lazily above and unworried. Acacia’s soft words brought a soft huff of dissenting amusement. “You are anything but a burden, Acacia. You’re just young, out for the first time from your herd. It’s not your heart that is giving you issues. It’s your mind. Every rock, every tree, every bush, might be holding danger, and your mind focuses on that. It just means you’re highly intelligent and alert. When there is danger, you’ll be the first to warn the herd and thus, get them to safety faster.” His deep voice was smooth and low, settling into a cadence as he offered, “Not a nuisance. Just learning the world.” His steps were measured, grace and rhythm in each hoof fall. One ear was tilted toward her, the other forward, or flicking aside at small sounds in the grass. Likely another rabbit, or a small bird. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

The stallion seemed to be overly patient with her. She almost felt like a child again, but she was a full grown mare, dammit. Well... small... but still full grown. And a mare. Acacia tossed her head lightly, glimmering mane reflecting the light as she did so. She almost wished she was part of a herd again. She'd felt much less anxiety with others around. Perhaps they could find a new herd to join or Canyon could get on forming a herd of his own as he'd always dreamed aloud about. Either way, she couldn't wait to feel safe again. Taliesyn mentioned her alertness keeping them safe and she nodded. "I've saved our hides several times since we've been on our own." She never wanted to see a puma up close again. Bears were the stuff of nightmares. Even coyotes thought she might be a good meal. Coyotes! Again Acacia tossed her head, this time stamping a hoof along with her thoughts. She needed a herd. They needed a herd. "I should probably head back in case Canyon is looking for me." Mismatched ears swiveled forward. "Do you think we'll see each other again, Taliesyn?" The tiny mare's head tilted slightly. She would like to meet him again for certain. She flashed a charming grin, blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "If I don't get eaten by a puma or a bear in the meantime, that is." She joked playfully. "Speech"