come out of your shell

Caprica D'Angelo · 01-29-2012, 03:17 PM

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WC:5+ A Raze thread? MINE.

Since the bear attack earlier this month, the woman had seemingly been allowed to retreat back into her wintry torpor. Like a bear herself, Caprica preferred to hibernate in the cold season, spending all her time in her den with her bags and baskets of clutter and crafting materials, feeling a bit like a spider in the midst of a very disorganised web. After the first thrill of the novelty of having a horse wore off, she continued to ride most days, but not with great intensity, merely using the mare as a faster manner of transport about her usual border and trap related chores - the end effect being that the woman spent more time indoors than before. Whispers of the festival had reached even her mountain-hidden ears, though, and the vague idea of bringing a travois of items to trade tugged at her attention until she could ignore it no more. The fact of building the travois, though, was going to take some days, and she wanted to check the trade fair was really worth the effort, and set a day aside, planning to head off at first light.

A little later in the destined morning, dressed for travel rather less-than-simply with a black velvet wrap-around skirt, necklaces, bracelets, bangles and a dark purple beaded shawl, Caprica tacked her horse up with newly-learned efficiency, and set off, allowing the mare to pick an easy lope as her pace of choice. The thoroughbred was fast by nature and the route towards the Sugarwoods familiar, for the lake was one of Caprica's most favoured haunts and had been for months. When she arrived though, she barely recognised the once-tranquil shores, covered with the canvas marquees and what felt like herds of luperci, animals and bustling wagons. She rode slowly through the makeshift alleys and cleared areas where all manner of things were happening, recognising nobody. From what she could see and hear, though, there was enough wealth here to make it worthwhile bringing her own surplus items back in the future. Caprica wanted to be certain, though, that there would be a market for her wares, and although this was mostly just a scouting trip, she didn't plan to head straight back - what would be the fun in that?

She dismounted near a corral, thumping her mare's red-brown neck with vigorous affection. "Hey look, you don't have to be tied to a tree today! Pretty cool, ain't it?" and, leaving her saddle and bridle propped against a fencepost, turned the mare loose in the fenced area. As she closed the gate, though, her eyes flew wide open to hear a mysteriously noise - an almost shriek, that she'd never heard from a horse before. Turning with dread in her eyes, Caprica saw her own Rohan, having completed one lap of the corral already, now nose-to-nose with another horse, who pawed the air under her nose and gave out another high-pitched squeal. By the looks of him, it wasn't just a friendly introduction on his mind, but then Caprica was very inexperienced with the animals and had no idea that most horses were a little rambunctious on first introduction. Another thought hit her then: was the stallion not being unfriendly, but over-friendly? Did Rohan appeal to him... in a romantic sense? Caprica's hands flew to her mouth: the mare could not have a foal - for a start, Caprica had no idea how to look after baby horses, nor did she have another steed to take her place. "SHIT!" she exclaimed, but as she let herself back into the corral and hurried towards Rohan, the stallion saw her coming and high-tailed away - followed by her own horse, kicking up her heels as she went. Caprica skidded to a halt, staring in horror. What the hell was she gonna do now?

Image courtesy of Ant Jackson@Flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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