The land was beautiful. Dark stud stood and took a deep breath. The grass was so green, the sky so blue, the clouds so white, and Kaipo didn't want to miss any of it. He moved forward, making his way to the river. It was nice. He didn't have responsibilities; he was just able to enjoy the day. A bird burst from near his feet, and he leaped to the side, using it as excuse to take off running. He let off a couple bucks, arching his neck and eying his surroundings with mischief in his eye. At another bird, he bucked sideways, bursting into another gear. He was running flat out, dark legs flashing. His thick mane flew out behind him; his tail floating softly behind him.

His chestnut hide glistened with the beginnings of sweat. Splashes of white dotted his coat, hinting at a mixed heritage. He was tall slender, fast, but he was also quite adorable. A white blaze softened his face, and the white patches softened the dark chestnut coat, and broke up the angular lines of his body. He was a powerful stallion, but his features softened the affect.

He saw the river ahead, thankfully a wide ford. It roared past, deafening him. He didn't check his pace, but instead plunged in, careful to keep his footing. He let the water try to force him over, but instead he played with it, putting his face in and tossing water onto his neck. It roared almost up to his back, but he taunted it. He turned to face the current, stretching his neck to get himself totally soaked. After he had stood in the water for a long time, drinking his fill, he made his way slowly out. He stood on the bank, dripping, and shook his whole body. He trotted until he couldn't hear the river, temporarily unable to hear the birds singing and his footsteps in the grass. He lowered his head, still dripping, and began to graze on the sweet, spring grass.

She didn’t know why she was here. She normally hung along the coastline or within the coniferous trees of Needle’s Edge. Heck, if she even traveled this far north, she’d go out of her way to hide within Ethas Cavern. But the meadow had been eerily empty, her stomach was gnawing itself in hunger, and her mouth had watered at the sight of the fresh, tender spring grass. So, grudgingly, Danica had given into the urge to come out in the open and graze. In stinking, broad daylight. She had thought of trying to wait until night time, but the stomach cramps had been too much after the first three hours.

Still, she hung close to the clumps of trees, sticking to the shadows best she could. She ate hastily, just enough to ease the stomach pains until tonight where she could have a proper meal. If she felt like it that is. She forced herself to remember why she was like this. Broken down, wretched. She gave a snort and tossed her tangled mane so her forelock fell over the right side of her face, covering the blacked, puckered skin there. Her jaw ached as she chewed the grass halfheartedly. She really should slow down least her jaw lock again.

The sun was beating down on her grungy back, causing the dirt clinging to her skin to itch painfully. She turned her head around to bite at a speckled flank, teeth scraping the poor hide there, but it did little to help her out. So with a snort of annoyance, Danica cast her cobalt eyes about, taking in the surrounding area. Seeing no equine with the immediate vicinity, she picked up a brisk trot, letting her legs stretch out in an extended trot to cover the ground quickly. The white limbs, albeit slightly dirty, flashed beneath her, like a beacon against the vivid verdant turf.

Her curved, delicate ears perked forward, following the roaring of the water as a guide. She turned left; head slightly tilted in that direction to better locate the water. Her sides were already beginning to heave quite a bit from the brief exercise. This weather may not be hot to many, but she had adapted to become nocturnal, and thus was used to cool night air. She wasn’t in the best of shape either. She was rewarded with her search when her eye laid sight to the rolling foam water.

Too intent on the water, she walked right up to it, letting her senses wander. She stuck close to the bank, knowing her weak body stood not a chance against the current. She dipped her muzzle in then slung it to the side, splattering a thin layer of water over that annoying itchy spot she so despised. It would do for now until she could return to her precious sea. She stayed there for a bit, picking out more irritating spots her sore neck would let her reach before she turned, snorting loudly. She left the roaring river, feeling more relaxed than she had in a while.

The sun was a lot friendlier now that she had cooled off a bit. She tossed her forelock away from her face and was promptly sent stumbling along with a tiny squeal when her poor depth perception, and head toss, blocked her sight of a large rock. She managed to catch her hooves beneath her, pinning her ears and turning her head to glare with her left eye at the rock that was now the cause of the throbbing pain in her left leg. She failed to notice not far off to her right, her blind side, the stallion who was grazing.

ooc- Oh poor, unsuspecting Kaipo... xD

Dark stud happily grazed, the soft breeze cooling and slowly drying him. It was a lovely spring day, and he couldn't help but relish in it. He flicked his tail, slapping the wet strands onto his body, probably stunning the poor fly with the weight of the blow. Dry hair could sting, wet hair could kill. Kaipo liked being wet, at least when it was warm enough to be worth it. He liked the rain, but it often brought with it a cool front that left everything wet and shivering cold.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a mare let out a soft squeal to his left. He shakily took her in, unaware that he had gone so far into his own world that he had let something as big as a horse sneak up to him. He took a deep breath, calming himself before walking closer. Hello. he said, letting her know that he was there. His voice was friendly and perky, but obviously male. She was glaring at a rock, so he wanted to make sure she knew there was a stallion near her.

His mane and tail still stuck to him with the water that had yet to dry, giving him an unusually ragged appearance. It was clear he was in good health, with a shiny coat and good muscular structure. He was a young stallion, but that didn't mean he wasn't exceptionally fit or unscarred. Unfortunately, most of his scars had come from his mother in terms of abuse, although there were definitely scars from sparring with the other colts in his herd.

However, as he got closer, he couldn't compare to the visible scars on this mare. Her coat was grungy so he couldn't be sure of the extent of the scars, but her skin hung on visible bones, marred with slashes. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them, knowing that more often than not, a mare that scarred would rather run than face another horse, especially if it was a stallion that had inflicted those wounds. He carefully wiped every ounce of compassion off of his face, unwilling to let her think that he pitied her. He felt her pain, just a little bit of it, he knew, but he wanted to reach out and comfort the emotional scars he knew she probably hid as best she could.

The mare glared at the rock for all its worth, silently imagining its screams while she gnawed it to pieces. Well, if she was as psycho as that, she’d actually do it. But no, she’d go ahead and let her imagination take care of that. With a snort and a final pinning of her ears, she grabbed a mouthful of grass irritably next to the rock, running her snout delicately against her sore foreleg. She heard the grass rustle to her right and before she had a chance to ever react, she heard it. A voice. Not just that.

A male voice.

Adrenline rushed through her veins, pumping the blood in her ears. Without a single warning, the mare rocked back, centering her weight on her hindquarters, and pirouetted quite gracefully despite her obvious poor condition. Her white enamels were bared like a canine’s as a pure guttural sound, not at all equine, grumbled from deep within her hollow belly. Her eyes were wild, whites showing, eyes rolling. She fell short of the stallion, on purpose. It was a warning charge, but it had been a close call. She actually wasn’t in much of a mood to actually fight, but she would if he didn’t get her message.

Run? Yeah right, this mare looked more than willing to fight, even if poor friendly Kaipo obviously meant no harm at all.

The mare turned her body to the side, dropping her head and gathering herself beneath her, swelling her barrel with air in an effort to make herself bigger, more intimidating. If she were possible of doing so, this stallion could practically imagine her bristling like a hissing cat. Her forelock had moved from covering the right side ofher face and there, standing out amongst the deep golden fur and white blaze, was the puckered black skin of extensive scarring. It started just below her eye, almost touching it. It was wide and traveled down sharply, deep, wide gouges showing that it wasn’t a mere mishap with a cougar. No, it looked vaguely like the scarring of a hoof mark from a large horse. And staring back above that scar, as equally enraged as its partner, was a deep cobalt eye, the color of the clear night sky.

As soon as she heard him, she visibly tensed, spinning around and charging. Having not expected anything like an attack, Kaipo nearly fell over his own legs trying to retreat. However, she fell short of him, giving him a brief reprieve. He hadn't yet met a mare like this, who turned her abuser's aggression on others that came near. He should have expected it, seeing as dark horses usually twisted those they abused. She turned sideways, blowing up her barrel and staring at him with undisguised hate. From the scarring, he couldn't blame her. But he wasn't here to hurt her. He had done nothing against her.

He lowered his head, tense enough that if she wanted to attack again he could spring away, but also showing her he wasn't looking to attack. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you." His words were soft, sincere. His dark brown eyes looked pleadingly at her, begging her to believe him. He wasn't the horse who had repeatedly attacked her. For all he knew, he looked exactly like him or her, but he doubted it. However, he couldn't change his size or his gender to make her feel more comfortable, which would probably just end up with a failed meeting.

"Just calm down, please." His eyes were worried. She wasn't in good shape to be attacking any horse that came along. She needed an ally so that she would be able to eat enough without fear of other horses or predators. Right now, she would be seen as an easy target. Kaipo wanted to help, always wanted to help, so that she could get some worry free rest and some good food.