Common

Honey awakes to the sun across half of her face, the other obscured by a shadow. She isn’t sure if she is roused from sleep by brightness of the sun (it had been overcast when she had arrived) or by the natural end of her nap, or perhaps…

Perhaps because of the stranger standing close by.

Honey’s head jerks upright. She knows little of the dangers of the world, and is completely oblivious to the laws of the Common, so she has no appreciation for how lucky she is today. She slits her eyes suspiciously, but her apprehension is of the anti-authority variety rather than fear for her own wellbeing.

He speaks, but Honey doesn’t much listen to what he says. She hears the words, but they glance off of her the way a parent’s concerns are deflected by a child’s overconfidence.

“I’m fine, thanks,” she responds, her tone tentatively rebellious, bordering on rude. She hasn’t so much as spoken out toward her parents before, but this is what adventurers do, right? They’re tough, they take care of themselves, and they’re prickly as hell. It certainly doesn’t help that… well, that the stranger is a handsome one, and Honey is small and plump and not very pretty just yet (in her own mind, anyway). It makes no sense for him to be polite with her, so he must be up to something.

The buckskin mare’s ears swivel for a brief moment in uncertainty before she rolls to her feet and stands. She is a little wobbly from sleeping in such a cramped position, and one of her legs buzzes as it wakes up again. She shakes her tarnished silver coat before beginning to groom it self-consciously. She knows the stranger is still there, but she ignores him for a minute, sure he’ll leave her alone when he realizes she’s not worth the trouble.

Still, she watches him out of the corner of one pale golden eye, and when he does not leave, she ceases grooming and turns to him again. “Can I help you?” she snips, her voice portraying far more confidence than she truly feels.

2 | sooty buckskin tobiano | 14.2hh | bacardi x soraya