Common

she was alone, and she liked it.

The grass here was not as sweet as that which she had grown up with, but it was entirely new to her, which helped to make up the difference. It had not been trampled by the anxious pacing of her mother or tainted by the acrid scent of boys who were, for all purposes that she cared about, her brothers. Even the majority of the road dust of other equines passing through had been washed away, leaving nothing but the sweet taste of fresh grass on her tongue.

As she grazed, her soft brown gaze roved over the outskirts of the Commons with curiosity. Her mother had only spoken of the land haltingly, parsing her caution through the lens of the stories that she'd heard. Sonorae's own experience had been surprisingly good, if her mother's version of events was to be believed. According to her, Rougaru had saved her on the shore of the Commons, and had treated her with gentle reverence ever since. It seemed like a fairytale to the young mare, although it was tempered by the warnings imparted by the rest of the herd.

The herd claimed that the Commons was the most dangerous, but her mother vehemently made the young filly promise to never go to the Falls alone, which made her suspect that the Falls was the truly dangerous territory. Either way, she wasn't particularly concerned.

She watched silently as the painted stallion detached himself from the forestry and ambled closer, but did not lift her head to greet him when he called out to her. She shivered again, but whether it was from the anticipation of company or from the chill that followed the storm's passing she couldn't say. In truth, he was the first stranger that she had ever truly been in the presence of, but it didn't feel any different from grazing with the rest of Rougaru's herd.

Other than the different land, and the open sky, and the fact that she didn't know him even a little bit, of course.

Quietly, without making it obvious or breaking from her grazing, she edged cautiously closer to him. He was handsome, she thought, without attaching any particular value to the observation. And older, she supposed, noting the way his body was rounded with maturity and muscle that she lacked. But he didn't seem unkind, and so as she edged ever so slowly into his space, she lifted her mottled muzzle toward him in greeting with a gentle smile on her lips.

Whether he lifted his head to brush against hers or not, she lowered her muzzle back to the grass, still wordless, and resumed grazing. Faelyn had no idea if this was how every interaction in the Commons went or not, but she wasn't about to force the issue when this gentle companionship seemed so… right.

mare - 2 - lusitano mutt - 16.3hh - dunskin roan blanket - tyr x sonorae - loveinspired