Valentine had spent the past few days solely in the Prairie, concerned that Sirius might return at any moment to try and take his home back, but it was finally starting to drive him a little stir-crazy with no one else there to talk to. Although his paranoia was beginning to settle now, he still did not wish to leave Luthien for too long, and so he had declared today the day to visit the Forest. It was almost noon by the time Valentine had finished walking the perimeter of his land, and the dark clouds that had hung over him all morning finally began to leak their heavy burdens of rain. The droplets ran down his skin like tiny rivers, leaving behind darker tracks on his red and white pelt as he rushed for the shelter of the treeline that marked the place where the Prairie ended and the Forest began. Beneath the thick canopy of leaves the ground was dry and so was Valentine, touched only by the occasional splash that slipped through the foliage or poured through a gap in the trees. The rhythmic pattering of the rain against the treetops was oddly soothing, and his hears pricked up to listen to it as he wound his way aimlessly through the trees. He had come to meet the stallion who lived here of course – he knew that it was sensible to get to know his neighbour, so that he could decide whether he needed to watch his back more or less closely than he already did – but there was a second purpose to his visit. His hooves pounded noisily along the earth, and fallen leaves crunched underfoot as he searched for signs of some sort of well-worn path or an open clearing. Valentine knew that his loud arrival and eventually his scent would alert the stallion here to his presence, but he did not announce himself verbally just yet. As he brushed through the trees his dark eyes searched the shadows and his ears swivelled at each passing noise, looking for the golden girl he had met in the Falls. He hoped that he would come across Dock before anyone else. She was the real reason for his visit, after all – even if he wouldn’t admit it. |