Come on in out of the cold -open-

[salem]

M I C K A E L

The sun was setting slowly, ever so slowly. This was the time of day that was Mickael’s favorite; the sun sinking down over the land, setting the sky on fire with reds, pinks, and oranges. It was peaceful and cool and there was barely any sound in this barren, rocky place. He was alone and, for once, he sort of liked it. He was beginning to understand this land and its ways. He was beginning to understand the way people worked around him, and he was beginning to accept his solitude. He would take it for what it was. He was completely alone, and with this solitude came a freedom that he loved.
The large stallion paused, cocking a back leg and shifting his weight comfortably. He released the air from his lungs and closed his eyes, feeling the setting sun on his dark pelt. All around him was filled with the pink/red hue of the sun. It was warm and soft and filled him with a comfort he had never felt before. It was a comfort that reminded him of the easy life of infancy. What did you have to worry about when you were just a foal? You had everything served to you. If you were hungry, you ate. If you were tired, you slept. You did what you wanted. You had no cares, to responsibilities, no worries. That was how Mickael was right now. He had no burdens in his life, at least not now. But in an odd way Mickael was bored. He wanted a challenge.
There were two conflicting sides of Mickael. The first was the bachelor stallion who wanted to enjoy his freedom for as long as possible. The stallion who didn’t want to answer to anyone, who didn’t want to have any responsibilities aside from himself. And the second side was the bored stallion that ached for a challenge. His mind was idle and it was causing him despair. He wanted to be responsible for someone, something, other than himself. He wanted a project. He needed something to do with his time. He wanted the challenge.

Mickael emptied his lungs, filling them up again with the sweet air that clung to his body. His heart stirred inside his chest, and a familiar homesickness filled him.

Mickael, Mickael.

The wind seemed to whisper his name as it blew through.

This is not who you are...

It tugged at his mane, lifting a strand and carrying it at it went.

Do something.

The words lingered, and then were gone. Mickael snorted, tossing his head, ridding the words from his ears. It was as if the words were never spoken, and the stallion stamped a hoof impatiently. He was quite familiar with the feeling of insanity.

[galadriel]

P A R A D I S E

"If I go crazy then will you still call me superman?!"

Darkness was arriving. Paradise's long blond white mane and tail fluctuated with the wind bending and twining itself. She, however, continued to graze in the meadow, minding her own business as usual. She stopped suddenly and flicked one ear to the side lifting her head which was covered by her long forelock. The Peruvian Paso swished her tail letting out a silenced nicker as she watched a stranger walk midsts the dark. her amber eyes flickered in the fading light catching glimpses of the figure. She sniffed the air and caught a breeze from the horse that drifted into her nose: A stallion.

She snorted, stomping her hoof twice. Paradise wasn't one to attack stallions but she was willing if they started something. She lifted both ears back, pinning them against her head as she thrashed her tail alarmingly. Not wanting to cause attention but she was just being alert with the stranger wandering around the primacies, she just wasn't sure. She snorted again but lowered her head after a while continuing to graze eying the stallion once in a while through the side of her eye as she moved to get more grass. She waited for something, anything to happen..

[msshardy]

Satian walked happily into the grassy area. He found some dark wild grass and grazed on it for a few minutes. Then the air blew a scent he knew well to him. A mare. He jerked his head up. His black eye flashed red and his blue flashed green. He was a wall eye. He went back to grazing, pretending he didn't see her. He would slowly... slowly move closer.... Pretending to get better grass. He suddenly tasted the bitter lime green grass and spat it out. He hated the taste of it. It had been his Mother's favorite kind of grass. He grumbled about something and searched out some dark green grass again.

[salem]

It didn’t take long for Mickael to realize that he wasn’t alone. He could tell by scent, by the way the wind brought to his nostrils the musty scent of another equine. It seemed funny to him how peaceful the land was when he was alone, and how as soon as he could feel the presence of another equine, the air seemed to shift. His surrounding seemed to open up with the presence, and nothing felt quite right. Odd.
Mickael’s hazel eyes flashed open, sweeping the brush laden surroundings for the source of the smell. He was hoping for just one horse, one lone equine, but no. He saw the mare first, petite and feminine. And then his eyes caught a glimpse of another horse. A stallion. A large stallion and Mickael groaned. Why a stallion? Why must he always have run ins with stallions? He could see the way this would play out. The way any creature with a penis acted around their feminine counter part was ridiculous. The way they acted if another male came around that they would consider a threat to their manhood and dignity, even worse. Mickael sighed deeply, lifting his head upwards as he did so. He glanced from mare to stallion. He was too close to disappear without a sound, to sink back into the darkness from which he came. And what made this worse was that the mare had already spotted him and made her displeasure known. Pinned ears, swishing tail and all. He was pinned. There was no escape. He would have to be friendly and deal with the consequences later. This should be interesting.

“Hello,”

He nickered cordially, nodding in the direction of the mare as he did so. He strode out from the darkness, his long, dark legs carrying him like a ghost into the fading sunlight. Mickael smiled once, his dark lips pulling back and revealing his straight, white teeth. His smile was friendly, but not overly so. He wanted to give the impression that he did, in fact, mean no harm. Not only did he pose no threat to this mare in any way, shape, or form, he wasn’t interested in starting conflict with her. He wanted to make this clear to her by the light of his eyes, by the humor of his smile, and by the easy way he maneuvered his body. Everything about him, his stance, his looks, his smile, screamed “No threat.”

“It’s a beautiful evening,”

He struck up conversation, typical and cliché, the weather. He hoped to put her at ease; however he didn’t assume that it would. He did, however, feel no threat in her presence, thus allowing him to relax a bit. He cocked a back hoof, lowering his head. His dark ears flicked backwards, catching the sound of the stallion close by crunching on grass. Mickael smiled again, this time humor reaching his light brown eyes. No matter what the stallion did, Mickael was here first. The thought in itself was comforting. He welcomed any confrontation with open arms, however he hoped it wouldn’t make it that far.

[galadriel]

Paradise watched the stallion as he walked over to her. Though not entirely at ease yet, the roan chestnut mare lowered part of her guard after hearing him greet. "Hello. Who might you be, If I may ask?", asked the mare as she studied him more closesly, not bad not bad at all, was what she was thinking. Noticing also how he was trying to make her calm in some way, even with a useless question such as about the weather, it made her relax if just for a bit. "Yes, It is a fine evening. I like to be out in the dark at night though, I prefer it.", tohugh her words her harsh sounding, she ment no harm by them.

The Peruvian paso suddenly turned her head around and locked eyes onto a white stallion that had sneaked up on her osmehow when she was caught off guard. Paradise quietly turned around and stomped on a rock making a loud thudding sound with every impact. She was trying to get this stallion's attention but also keep him off. Thing with stallion's is that they're possessive over mares and since Paradise had two, she wasn't about to let both get the best of her. Only one may win the prized cup.

She turned her gaze back onto the stallion that had tried properly introducing himself and she flipped both ears forward, concentrating more on him than the sneak behind her. One things for sure, Paradise didn't want these two conflicting with one another. if they did, she'd be long gone, not one to stick around argueing stallions. Just stake it out I guess.

[msshardy]

Satian saw the younger stallion talk to her. He snorted and swished his tail. He finished mowing down the small circle of dark grass and wondered over to another, further from the mare. The younger stallion had staked his claim and Satian respected that, for once. This younger stallion seemed to be a nomad like Satian. Satian heard a rock and jerked his head up, ears forward, nostrils flaring. He was frightened for a moment that the black stallion he had pissed off was back for more. Though older, Satian was no experienced fighter.

[salem]

Mickael noticed the other stallion backing off. He was glad, in a way. Confrontation wasn’t on his agenda for today. The mare before him was pretty, petite, and responding to his greetings. That must mean that she didn’t feel threatened which was good. Good for him at least. For the other stallion, Mickael wasn’t sure.

“Yes, you may ask. I am Mickael. It is a pleasure to meet you,” He smiled kindly, genuine warmth covering his features. Her words were kind, but lacked true conviction. At least in his opinion they did. Perhaps he was taking them the wrong way, or perhaps he had been alone so long that he didn’t really know what true conviction was anyway. He had been alone for long, but perhaps he could take company in this pretty mare. If not forever, at least a for a little while. There was no harm in striking conversation. His conversational skills didn’t need to suffer for his lack of companionship.

“I would have to agree with you. I most definitely prefer night over day. And sunset is my favorite part.” He smiled again, pulling his eyes from hers and glancing above at the quickly darkening sky. The sunset was nearly finished.

“And what might your name be? Surely you aren’t nameless” Mickael chuckled, his smile large. He liked to smile. He smiled a lot. Or at least he tried to. There was no point in going through your life without smiling. Smiling made others happy, which made it worth it for him. The smile was the most beautiful and meaningful feature.

[galadriel]

The mare made a small smirk still uncertain but seemed to let her guard down somewhat more. "Thank you for asking, Mikael. I'm called Paradise.", it did dawn upon her that her name matched what she looked like: Long slender body, roan chestnut cherry coat, long tail and mane. Appeasing looks for any stallion, maybe that's why her mother had named her Paradise.

She was twisting her ears around, most mares greeted by nuzzling or something right? She'd never done it before, worth a try though but she would have to know him better before any of that happened. Paradise sighed and looked up watching the last of the light die out s night came into faze. It was a beautiful blue, black, and purple light raining over the heavens and the world as she stood there immersed in the sky.

ooc{{Bad muse, I'm tired.

[msshardy]

Satian realized it was only the mare and went back to munching to grass. He finished the dark green of this spot and looked around for more. The only one he hadn't grazed was near the mare and younger stallion. Satan sighed. He was hungry and didn't see any other option other than eating the horrid lime grass. He was unhappy about scaring the mare, but if that was what it took, then so be it.
Making his wants known in his gaze and walk, Satian walked slowly toward the next green spot and started munching on the grass. He watched the mare's reaction out of the corner of his eye.