New Mare

[Tassle]

Cream bay vix two-beated into the terr. Starless veil hung overhead, blotched out by the daunting trees. Deafening screetches fill the auds of the fem. Orbs look eerily through the foliage. Small figures dash across the obsidian air. Wings flutter, pulsing. Their sounds seem to create the beat to which the wind flowed. Leaves whistled along with the tune. No light shone. The only evidence of a new moon. Perfect darkness.

Interested, dial rose, observing the terrain around her. Sun-kissed bodice was the only light in the darkened wood. The only source of a color other than black. Belle dispised her coat. It gave her away, and shunned her ebon heart. It seemed to parade her Light lineage. It tried to coax her back to that alliance, but she wouldn't have it. One day, she swore to herself, she would stain her coat either black, somehow, or red with death and blood.

Crown turned, searching for the stag who had lead her here. Etienne! She called. Not nervously. She felt quite at home here. Just curiously. Where could that stallion be hiding? Oh Etienne! She called again, playfully.

Never learning from her mistakes, nose dug through the underbrush. Twigs found their way inside her nostrils, only to be quickly evacuated by a quick rush of air. Soft nicker broke free, a small laugh. This place was quite astonishing. Quite home-like. Darkness lurked in every corner. Death and hate seemed to radiate from the forest. A magnificent terr this was. If everything else she assumed about the brute was wrong, at least one thing was right: he was brilliant when picking a home.

[E t i e n n e]

Hellion moved through the trees as if gliding above the ground. Ivory dipped pillars shown ghostly white and moon stained dark chestnut pelt the color of warm blood. His blackened night-birds fluttered overhead. They screeched and swooped, eating there fill of the bugs that vexed him. Many had been in his homeland. They were a welcome attribute to his new domain, the stag thought. They eat all of the annoying insects and frightened some equine he had come in contact with before. He enjoyed watching them shiver upon seeing them, though to some it was the last sight they would see.

Onyx optics turned at the sound of his mare calling out to him. He smirked. Always a playful trick, he was learning, this one was. He hadn’t meant to get ahead of her, but he got carried away sometimes, forgetting that he was larger than most. Turning, Etienne started back to her. Spotting her creamy form in the night easily, he stepped out from the trees with his all to famous smirk.

“You called, my dear, Horror?” He drawled, accent thick, as he slowly approached her.

[Tassle]

Near-white belle trotted near to him, smiling pleasantly. Dial tossed, ebon banner lipping at her pelt. Talons dug silently in the terr as she approached, her arabian tail held characteristically high. There you are, milove. She cooed. Small muzzle rubbed against his nape, dark tassels mixing with a lighter, but still dark coat.

For a silent moment, Horror scanned the trees. Looming pillars of living bark darkened what light from the stars would have shone upon the pair. Quite a beautiful home you have here. Fae commented. Now that we are here, what shall we do?

[E t i e n n e]

"Amor futurus non." The stag breathed his Latin, knowing the fem probably would not understand, but he cared not.

“I am glad you like it.” He responded to her compliment to his territory. He was indeed, proud of this place himself. It was good that his new mare liked it as well. She was going to be staying here after all. “Even in the sun, this place is a darken paradise, meus puella. You shall see when light shows its face.”

Auds pricked at the Horror’s last words and onyx eyes studied the slender Arabian femme. The smirk upon his crimson kissers spread slightly and he raised his head in question. “My dear, was that a question or a suggestion?” He asked in amusement, though he did not utter the slightest of laughs.

Stepping closer, the hellion rested his head aside the she-devil’s. He took in her scent and muttered softly to her, “Tell me, venustas, what is it you seek?” His tone was smooth and seductive, but he backed away with nothing more than him muzzle brushing against her soft nape.

[Tassle]

Fae giggled softly. Innocently she looked to the sky, a soft smile radiating her muzzle. She had hoped it would remain dark. She was more a creature of the night.

Orbs looked at her stallion for a moment. His latin impressed her greatly. She had not been raised bilingual. In fact, she had never known an equine who spoke another language. Hearing the unknown lyrics was strange and exciting, in a way. It seemed to inform her that there was more than just what she was getting, and that thought comforted her for some reason.

You tell me. She teased. In fact it had been more of a suggestion, but she would allow him to believe what he wished. Deep optics became lost in his.

His question reached deep into her mind. What was it she seeked? That, she was not sure of herself. She wanted fun. She wanted to play with this brute's heart. But she could not tell him that. And now that she thought deeply about it, she wasn't entirely sure that was what she wanted any longer. Fem despised admiting it to herself, but she was beginning to fall in love with the stallion already. He was calm and caring...having no Dark air about him at all. And yet, in a way, she could sense that his motives, his thoughts, were that of a Dark. Quite a mystery this one was.

I want whatever you want, milove. She insisted. Instantly her mind and old habbits yelled at her. What he wanted?! Since when did she care what another wished for? Her only motive, her only love, was her herself. Never had another's wishes mattered to her. Why now? Why this stallion?

[E t i e n n e]

“Whatever I want, eh?” He mused, letting a bit of his normal emotionless tone sink through the Etienne he had made for this mare.

He backed away from the mare, putting a comfortable space between he and she with a sigh of what some could perceive as sadness, but those whom new Etienne would know was frustration. He could no longer tell if the femme was trying to get to him. Was she still playing with him, or was her intent a true one? Did he even care? He was playing with his heart before, he was sure, but she didn’t know it was hard to work your way into Etienne’s heart. It took time and much effort. It showed in just how easily if was for him to give Tain to the cougar. But now, the she-devil was sending him a mixed message… or was it he was starting to believe her? No, he told himself. Many years with his previous herd had taught him better.

“Illic es quoque plures res huic terrarum ista Volo.” Etienne settled upon saying, murmuring it more to himself than to the bay femme in which now shared him home.

His gazed fixed on her again and he smirked. “Come, love, there must be something you want. Something you’ve longed for? Just tell me and I will give it to you if I have to journey through the depths of hell to get it.” He cooed, shifting his weight with a tilt of his head.

* There are too many things in this world that I want.

[Tassle]

Uneasiness tremored through vixen's bodice. What did she want? She had never known true contentment, and had never truly learned what she desired. The only way fae had been happy in the past was to hurt someone else, or allow someone to use and abuse her. And even then, the high had only lasted until the end of the "activity". All her life...or for the first half anyway...she had been spoiled with love and care. She had been surrounded by those who would die to protect her, but she had not been truly happy. Her immature mind told her that there was more out there to be happy about, and to be content with.

Then the stallion had come. That Dark. He made himself her first lover. And after just once, she decided that this was what joy was. So she had left with him, only to be tortured and abused by his actions. She left, before she was killed. But it was too late. Her image of peace and serenity had been stained. Her thought of love and contentment had forever been lost. She thrived on the idea that all good came from an evil, and all evil was just good in disguise.

But...was that true? Was happiness always accompanied by evil, or could one live the good life without feeling guilty...without being hurt? She could only hope that this stallion would show her the answer. From this moment on, until proven otherwise, she would believe that there was something wonderful without a price. That you could be loved unconditionally, truthfully, forever by one equine.

I want...I want to be happy. She admitted, near a whisper. But I don't know how to be. Ashamed, she lowered her dial, pressing her tiny muzzle into her shoulder. How would he react? Scolding? Pity? A simple roll of the eyes? She hoped not. She didn't want any of that. Especially pity. But...what did she want, exactly? Love? Perhaps.

[E t i e n n e]

“To be happy?” Etienne asked raising a brow, interest asserting itself in his words, as if this had been one of the many things he had been searching for as well, but just couldn’t seem to find no matter how long or hard he seemed to look.

It was true in a way. He had sought out happiness to what seemed like the ends of the earth. He had almost followed what he thought was happiness to his death, leaving the ordeal so beaten and bloodied it was hard to believe he did survive.

Happiness was just one of those things that avoided him. Many a times he had contented himself with his surroundings and told himself, insisted that is was, indeed, happiness that he felt. But something was missing, something very important, but something he just couldn’t figure out. Still to this day, the concept of happiness perplexed and frustrated him to no end. He supposed that was why so many he had come across before had called it a pursuit. A mindless pursuit that would only lead very few to the real thing, but something every equine, every creature, strived to track down.

A wave of determination washed over the hellion and he raised his crown high. “Then that, love, is what you shall have. I am not sure, myself as to how to reach happiness, but I will give it to you. I swear it on my brother’s grave and on the bats that join us in our fight for survival in this land. You shall have it.” He promised with a stomp of his scythers for emphasis.

[Tassle]

Stunned, fae stood still for a moment. He was actually offering to help her find happiness? Wow. All she could really think was Wow. No stallion had submitted himself to helping her. None were that trustworthy. But, with her permiscuous behavior, it wasn't surprising that none would give her a chance to change...give her a reason to change.

Thank...you... She said hesitantly. A fleeting thought passed through her mind. Was this just one big joke? Was he just trying to make her bend to his will? Was he trying to make it easier to use and keep her? If so, he was doing a fabulous job. He had her. She would listen to him, submit herself to him, no matter what happened. He had promised her something she wasn't even sure existed anymore. Something even he didn't have yet.

What can we do to...become...happy? Fem felt like an idiot asking such a question. Was "happy" even a verb? Can one find it like an object, or does it come on so subtly you don't even know you are happy until you look back on how you used to be?

[E t i e n n e]

Hellion sighed and looked to the specks of sky through the obsidian trees, ebony tresses falling in a dark waterfall around his crimson neck. That was a good question. How was he to make her happy when he himself couldn’t reach the blasted thing? Etienne looked from the sky out into the depths of the forest, hiding his thought-filled eyes from the vix, as he realized something. If he were only to make her happy, why was it that he heard ‘we’ in her last sentence? We? Did this femme mean for them both, she and he, to become happy? Or was if just a slip of words? Something she said without a thought or meaning behind it?

“As of yet… I am not sure. But I will make you happy.” He vowed again and looked back to connect his gaze with hers.

She was truly a beauty to behold as she stood under the moonlight steaming in from the trees. The gentle caress of light against her creamy hide gave her an ethereal glow, he thought, daring not to say the words aloud. She looked like a goddess. He stilted his head with not a smirk, but more of a small, contemplative smile upon his kissers and sighed.

“What are the things you enjoy, Horror love? What has made you content with life in the past?” He asked, trying to find some place to build off of. “And what do you think I could do to make you feel happier?”

[Tassle]

Content? She had never been really...content. But, she had not lived her entire life in disapointment. She had, at several points in her life, tasted a sliver of joy. Femme thought back, thinking deeply. Orbs wandered steadily through the wood, thinking back. This place...it made her happy. The secluded, misunderstood darkness seemed to make her feel more complacent than she had in a while. This stallion, who seemed to truly want to fulfill her dream-and appeared to have the same one as well-made her feel satisified. It was not the exact happiness she sought, but it was more than she could dream to have in such a short time.

Well...I do enjoy, Wait. Did he just call her...love...? Did he mean it as just a pet name or...did he like her, as she believed she liked him? Train of thought coming back on course, if only for a moment, she continued.I enjoy places like this...dark and secluded, yet peaceful and welcoming. I suppose I have never felt content in the past, but when I had come closest to it, I was either with one whom I loved or in a place I loved.

His second question made her think harder. What could he do? Well, if he was going to go through with the task, his promise to journey through the depths of hell to get it might just have to be kept. After all...who would love a seductive, worthless witch like her? One with a purified, stained past of a Light. One with the dreams, hopes, and sometimes attitude of a Light. One who probably would have been a Light had it not been her desire to find appeasement.

That, I suppose we will have to find out together, milove. She admitted. Fae was stunned by her words. She hadn't meant to say "milove", and yet, she did. She did consider him her love, but wasn't sure if he considered her, his. And if not, how would he react? Would he believe she was still being her old, flirty self trying to seduce him? That was not the case...at least...not anymore. What was happening to her? She sounded like a blundering, childish filly falling in love for the first time. She was thinking like one too. That was it. She was sure she was going insane. Since when did she fall in love? She had already learned the punishment for doing such a foolish act. Why was she doing it again?

(OOC: holy crap! i actually have a muse! lol)

[E t i e n n e]

“You must stop calling me that, love, I think I’m falling for you.” Etienne’s voice held a light, joking tone, but his deep obsidian eyes were the utmost seriousness. He was falling for her. That was something he never expected to do. Ever. He had not even thought the femme me made his queen and partner, the one he chose to care his seed, he would ever love, but this fem, this fae he just met, his Horror had begun to win over his heart. How did that happen? How in such short a time?

He studied her again. He had been doing this compulsively, he noticed. But she looked like a celestial being and he couldn’t help but think that, he, of all equine and creatures, was very unworthy of even being in her presence.

“Tell me, Horror…” He paused for a moment, wondering how she would react to his next words, “I am going to need a queen eventually…” He trailed off again, wondering whether or not he should really be asking this or if he should really be feeling this when he asked it, “Would you be interested in the part?”

Etienne couldn’t help but scold himself for making it sound like he was trying to get her to audition to a part in a play like the ones the fillies of his homeland did when he was a young colt. He snorted softly to himself and shook his main, clearing his head, and looked to her in curiosity, waiting for how she would react.

[Tassle]

Bruja giggled along with him for a brief moment. Mind reeled. Was he telling the truth? Could they really be a match? He was a tall, brusky, handsome stud, and she was a small, dainty, beautiful (or so many had said) fae. Opposites attract, as she had heard, and in appearance, he certainly was opposite. But in heart, they seemed quite similar. Both searching for something many before them had spent their entire lives without.

Chasms scanned him softly. His bulky build was stunning. He towered above her, her tiny dial barely reaching his nape, auds and all. Stag's deep coloring made her heart flutter. She had always admired deep-colored coats.

The question he asked, interrupting her thoughts, surprised her. Optics scanned his expression closely. Could he be telling the truth? She had never been a...queen...before. Did he really know what he was doing, and did he really want this, or was it all one big joke?

Deciding to take the risk, femme answered. I would love to serve as your queen, milord. She answered. Vix bowed deeply.

[E t i e n n e]

Etienne tossed his head in approval of her answer, but he snorted when he saw her bow and shook his head before stepping up and nuzzling her soft, bay nape.

“You needn’t bow, love. You are my queen now and as such I consider you my equal.” He bellowed, accent thick.

He would have to teach the mare a thing or two, but otherwise, she was perfect. A temptress and beauty that, the stag was most certain, would bring about great things. Healthy, strong offspring as well. He would consult her about the matter of offspring later, perhaps. Yes. Etienne longed for an heir, a son and perhaps some daughters. This femme would produce beautiful daughters, he knew. A darken herd like him home they would have, but this one not sharing land with lights. The lights would not get to the members of the herd, would not convert them or confuse them as they had with Tain. Etienne would not forgive them for that. They turned his twin brother against him and for that, he swore he would make them pay.

Pushing the past out of his thoughts, Etienne looked again at his mare with a new, unknown softness in his eyes and he realized that he had, in fact, just met this mare and knew very little about her besides the here and now. He wondered what secrets she could have, for he knew one such as she, and he even, had them. What could lay in her past? Tragedy? Love, perhaps? Betrayal? Abandonment? There were so many things that could have happened to this vix before he came to sight her and he wanted to know.

“Tell me about yourself, Horror. I want to know more about you.” Hellion said.

[Tassle]

Fae smiled, appreciating his curteous comment. An equal, eh? That was more than she had been called in over 2 years. Stallions usually had only refered to her as a toy or a trophy. Something that could be won, traded, discarded. Her coloring, too, had vexed her throughout her life. Since when were Darks a light cream? Since when were their parents Lights? And since when did they care what others thought of them?

Though she would never admit it, one of her greatest fears was rejection. She had suffered being used and abandoned too many times. Fem didn't know how much more she could take. This game she pretended to play. She acted as though she were just one space from winning, but in truth, she had barely started. Many punishments and few rewards seemed to lie ahead before she met Etienne. Then, she had landed on his space. She had caught up with him. And he had shown her, in less than a day, what could be ahead for her. Life as an empress. Wonderful foals. The chance at happiness.

He wanted to know about her past, did he? Her history was not one she often visited. Though, she could spare one trip. For him. Anything for him. Deep breath was taken, and vix began.

My life has been...interesting, to say the least. I was born to a pair of Lights. Thus my coloring. My mother was a palomino, my sire a cream bay like me. I lived in my father's band of three mares (including my mother), and a colt. For two years they spoiled me. They treated me like a goddess, givng me what I wanted when I wanted, as long as it was right by their standards. I wasn't happy with them, however. I didn't know what was missing, I just knew that something was out there that I didn't know.

When I reached two years of age, a group of bachelors came 'round. My father tried to fend them off. As he was speaking to their lead, I wandered off to inspect just why he was so mad about their arrival. I was greeted by the second brute in charge. A black five-year-old. He asked me what a pretty little lady was doing amoungst them, Darks as he called themselves, and I told him that I wanted to know why my daddy was so mad at them. He told me to turn around, and he would show me. He mounted me, and I'm sure you know the rest.

Anyway, before my father could find out what I had done, I left with the stallion. Eleven months later, I gave birth to his filly. She was a cream like me. But, apparently, he wanted a son. He beat me and abused me, then killed my daughter in front of my eyes.

Belle paused, a chill crawling down her spine. All that blood...the deep red with little rivers of off-white...she would never forget that image. Her little one screaming, crying, then silence. Deafening silence.

For seven months I contunually snuck away, having fun with other stallions. A different one every week. Quite a lot of stallions. Most of them were bachelors. Then, my lord found out, he, obviously, beat me. I lost the baby, and he disowned me. So for a month I wandered aimlessly, escaping other stallions and dangers and such. Then I found you...or...you found me.

It was out. For the first time since her first lord, she had spoken to someone about her past. It felt...good. As if some pressure had been taken off of her shoulders. She felt more free, and not as afraid. Now, it was his turn.

Now that I have bored you to tears with my history, what about you? What was your life like? She asked, smiling softly trying to hide the tears that had threatened to flow.