[IC] =Syrran and RadiantRuby's Teepee=

[Syrran]

Taima grinned. " Thankyou Ayita...I wish I had something to give you in return" She had gone and gotten him one of the last apples of the season...what could he do to thank her? Best to accept the gift first.

He dropped his head slowly and sniffed the apple before munching it happily, his tail swishing from side to side. She had been right, it was good. His gift must be extra special then.

Lifting himself once more he nudged her gently and nuzzled her right behind her ear. "It was very delicious thankyou."  

[Foalen]

Ayita watched at Taima accepted her gift and obviously enjoyed it. She wuffled happily at his nuzzle and returned the gesture. "You're welcome, and you've already given me something wonderful, your company. Thank you for watching the stars with me the other night. They were beautiful. Well, they always are, but somehow they seemed brighter than normall with you there."

Feeling a little more confident Aiya lifted her head to gaze about the leaveless trees being bathed by the morning's light. It was lovely dispite the sparceness and the painted mare leaned close to the silver stallion giving him another nuzzle. "It's lovely this morning as well. Would you like to go for a walk in the woods? Do you think your two foot would mind if we did?"  

[Syrran]

Had it not been for his silvery coat, Ayita may have seen Taima blush brightly. He still wasn't used to such remarks. It was hard enough saying them let alone hearing them.

"A walk? I'm sure she would be alright as long as I woke her and let her know we were leaving. I sort of have a history of wandering off and getting into trouble. I don't want to worry her." He turned his head and eyed Leqoia's teepee wearly as he remembered the bear attack when he was a colt....he didn't want to do that to her ever again.  

[Foalen]

Wuffling softly at the sad expression Taima wore, the painted mare nuzzled her friend tenderly. "I would not wish to upset your friend. You can tell her if you don't think being woken will irritate her more. Otherwise we can stay here and talk if you'd rather."

Smiling Ayita lifted her head her dark eyes bright. "It's not as if we have to go somewhere else to be together. I would understand if you didn't want to disturb her right now. I know my friend Foalen can be grumpy when I wake him unexpectedly so I'll leave the decison up to you. "  

[Foalen]

Falling silent Ayita looked up at Taima drinking in his prensence simply glad to be near him. A warm feeling wafted freely through the painted mare and she felt compelled to nuzzle the stallion's strong grey shoulder. She didn't mind the quiet waiting, she could wait all day so long as she was by his side.

After a while she filled the silence with a soft wuffle that sounded as near to a human chuckle as a soquili could get. "I don't know if you noticed, but I saw you training with Lequoia the other day, your movements looked really fluid and graceful. I can tell you must practice a lot. There are so many diffrent things to remember in your training rutine. What is your favorite?"  

[Syrran]

Taima had been quite taken up with his thoughts of Lequoia, Kourin, and Cihiru. Finally Ayita was able to break the spell and he turned back to her. He was all hot again. " You...you were watching?...well...uh...yes we do practice allot. My favorite part? I'd have to say it is the end when she rewards me for my good work! Sometimes after a good session she will take me galloping all over the Valley." He ginned and nuzzled her. " We'll have to teach Foalen don't you think?"

He jogged slowly to the edge of Lequoia's encampment. " Come on. We can go now." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lequoia's small frame peek out of the teepee and nod to him.  

[Foalen]

"Yes, we'll deffinatly have to teach Foalen about the training." The painted mare returned Taima's nuzzle her eyes shining with antisipation of that far off day when she too would carry her two legged friend over the swaying grasses. "It will be wonderful to run with him the way you and Lequoia do." She murmured longingly.

"And speaking of running," Ayita conitnued lifting her long neck to look around so she could get her bearings. "If you don't mind a bit of a walk I saw something out in the forest the other day that I think you might enjoy seeing. But it's up near foot of the hills leading up to the mountains. So It'll be a fairly long walk. But it's near the river so if we follow the river our way should be fairly easy going even if it is a bit of a trek. Would you like to try it? Or would you rather do something else?"

Having found the right direction Ayita turned back to her mate and nuzzled his shoulder as she waited for his decison happy to just be in his presence.  

[Syrran]

Taima nodded vigorously before throwing up his head and rearing into the air. With a loud whinnie he stomped back down and pranced up to his mate, nuzzling her neck before trotting along in the direction that she had chosen. " I'm not sure what it is exactly you want to show me, but it must be worth the walk."

He had completely forgotten about everything else now. Lequoia included. They could have that conversation later after all. This adventure seemed a bit more important at the moment.  

[Foalen]

"Oh it is." Ayita nodded excitedly pleased by his reaction. Picking up her hooves she troted forward leading the way though only slighly ahead of her mate for she loved to be by his side as he ran. She loved watching the power and strength of him wich matched well with her more subtle enurance and grace. She held the pace down as strong as Taima was it would be a long trek and she didn't want to be so exausted at the end of it as to not be able to enjoy the view.
Whinning in happyness she gently nudged the great shoulder to show the handsome stallion how she felt. It was good to be out and running with the ones that you love.  

[Syrran]

" Of course it is" He grinned and stayed behind her, shaking his head now and again with anticipation. It was rare that they went out like this and it was quite a treat to him. He watched his beautiful mate trot out in front of him which such light foot work. The sun shone down between the sparse leaves on the trees and glistened on her multi-toned barrel. Her tail swished this way and that and it made his spirits soar all the higher just to watch her in motion.  

[Foalen]

Ayita looked back over her shoulder as they walked together, the soft chatter of the birds and little animals that lived in the forest adding a soothing background sound to their journy.

As she watched Taima she wondered what he would think of the news she had to give him. It wasn't every you found out you were going to be a parent after all. He would make a fine father of course. As caring, strong and playful as he was. But she was a little uncertian how he would react. Well hopefully he would be as happy as she was, though se was a little nervious about the whole thing herself.

"Say, Taima. What do you think about foals?" She asked as they walked hoping to get some idea of the stallions thoughts on the matter.  

[Syrran]

(( why don't we make this one BEFORE he finds out...perhaps up to him deciding to "try" with her...then the other is the offical thing))

"Foals?" He gulped. She wasn't thinking about...no...this was just a mare thing just a random hypothetical question. Yes that was it entirely. He pranced up beside her to look her in the eyes before he answered.

" Foals... well I suppose they're fun, but allot of work. Lequoia raised me, and she was human, I'm not sure I'd even know how to react if you mean foals of our own. I guess it would be alright after a while, because I wouldn't be alone in the adventure. I would have you by my side."

At that he smiled and nudged her wither gently " I'm not sure if we're ready just yet though. What do you think about them Ayita?"  

[Foalen]

((Sure, though I deleted the other post from my teepee so I'll have to go post it again. But that's not a big deal. Also I am going to go for lunch shortly so If I dissapear suddenly that's why.))

Taima seemed suprised at her question and Ayita wondered if it were reluctance or simply being worried about the new resposablities. If it were the latter she also had thought about the difficulties they would encounter as parents. But together with their new herd about them she felt they would be equal to the task. Still she would miss the freedome of being able to go where she wished when she wished.

Like this walk for example. Still what was done was done and it wouldn't be long before the bulge she carried was blatenly obvious. For now she wouldn't press the matter. It would be better to let Taima grow into the knowlage of his impending fatherhood. Perhaps it would be easier for him that way.

"I agree that foals are a great deal of work, but they bring much joy as well. I've been helping tend some of my friend's foals and it's been very educational. I hope I am as good with our future foals as she is with hers."

 

[Syrran]

((That's fine ^^))

Taima sighed and turned to her once more, looking deeply into her eyes. " You really want them don't you." He had slowed his pace a bit now to enjoy the scenery and have a bit more of an in depth conversation with Ayita while they went on their way.

" I'm still worried about it," he said honestly. "Even if you are ready yourself, I don't know if I am, but I won't ever know unless I do it. I just don't want to mess up is all." He turned from her then and looked forward down the trail.

It was funny how metaphoric this trail had become. The journey seemed so long but in reality it wasn't. There was an unknown surprise at the end of it that Ayita was happily wanting him to join her in seeing. She was by his side, and while he could turn back around in theory, his spirit wouldn't let him.  

[Syrran]

Foalen

Ayita stood slowly rising awkwardly up from the shady spot under the great old oak she had grown fond of as the sound of hoofbeats came pounding along the trial near the edge of the clearing. Lifting her head to look down the path her ears swivling to catch the sound the painted mare nickered a welcome upon seeing the famliar face of her mate.

She was delighted to see him, this would be the first time he had seen her since her body had started to change and Ayita wondered what he would think of the change or if he knew what those changes would mean.

"Taima, it's good to see you. Have you been out running?"

Syrran

Taima nickered softly as he came to a sudden stop upon finding his mate resting by the large oak tree. He smiled to her and nodded " Yes, I have been running, but I'm a bit tired now and it seems a g ood time to rest."

He nuzzled her muzzle gently and sniffed her in greeting, a twinkle in his pale blue eyes as he looked her over, starting with her own eyes, which were such a lovely shade of amber.

Slowly looking her over he noticed a couple things we off. She seemed to be very happy today. Not just happy, but serene, and sort of...what was the word for it. Glowing? Yes, glowing. Then he noticed the width of her barrell had grown quite a bit. At this he tilted his head in uncertainty.

" Ayita..." He streached his long neck and gently touched her side with his nose, questioning it's reality. " What..." Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew what was going on, but he was still in so much shock that he couldn't really bring it into full clarity.

Foalen

Giving her mate a nuzzle in return Ayita wuffled softly a little bit uncertian now that Taima had discovered her secret. Not that it had really ever been a secret. It was just that she knew the stallion wasn't too comfortable with the idea of fatherhood and she didn't really know how a way to soften the news. Feeling her face warm the mare ducked her head a little though her happy expression stayed in place.

Clearing her throat she decided to plunge bravely forward. It would be more than obvious shorly anyway when the little one arrived and was settled into his or her basket. "It seems we are going to be parents a little sooner that you had first hoped. I hope you don't mind?" She added in a soft voice as she looked up into his eyes.

Syrran

"Parents....us?" He swallowed hard rememember their walk on the trail. " Oh..." His face flushed of color and his eyes buldged slightly from their sockets, body very stiff. He wasn't sure how to take this information. Was he ready? Were they ready? What was it going to be like? What was he supposed to do?

He hadn't quite expected it so soon...but after a few moments his mind stopped racing and he was able to calm himself down enough to look back to his mate. Her smile made everything else melt away. "Mind? of course not Ayita."

He nuzzled her neck gently, hugging it with his own, resting his head on her wither. " Of course not," He repeated, " It will be fine, better then fine. Wonderful." At this he broke away from the embrace and turned around, rearing on his haunches, his forelegs flailing as he let out a mightly call as if announcing his love for Ayita to the world...then silence as he came back down to earth.

Turning back to Ayita he grinned. " We're going to have foals of our very own."

Foalen

Feeling reassured by Taima's reply Ayita danced a little herself as the stallion called out though she was careful in her new rather ungainly state. She was pround of her mate and proud that they would be having a family even if it was sooner than he had expected.

"I'm glad, I was a little worried that you would be unhappy, because of the extra work and responsiblity. But there are a lot of other mares who are expecting foals soon, or who have just reicently had little ones so we'll have a lot of help from the others. I'm sure someone will be able to give us some advice if we have a question about our new state. On top of that our little one will have lots of friends to play with."

Stepping up close to her mate Ayita gave him a playful nuzzle. "I don't know what the future will bring, that is more Foalen's area than mine. But I can say for certian that it's not going to be boring."

(( to be moved after RP))