Closed [The Sanctuary] Dirt is Dirt (Lysaea)

[Grace Lechar]

37th of Spring 514AV

Grace yawned, staring into the Groom's supply room. Her muckrake leaned against the wall in the corner, mostly clean and yet to be used that day. Grace sighed,Worst part of the day. She groaned to herself, snatching the tool from the corner. She had already brought in a wheel barrow from the corner of the barn and she placed the muckrake in the barrow ready to start on her first stall. Truth was this part of the day wasn't too bad. None of it really was. Grace was given and opportunity to be near the beasts she loved and she was paid remarkably well to take care of them. It was nothing Grace could really complain about.

The barn smelled of sweet hay and dust, and of course the drifting warm aroma of manure that was now Grace's duty to properly dispose of. Yumm. Grace could feel the sarcasm dripping in her own thoughts, but reminded herself she should probably put the horses out first. It was nearly noon and the ones in the pastures have been out for a few bells already.

"Lysaea!" She called to see if Lysaea happened to be in the barn. Grace set the wheelbarrow down by her first stall, where a mare named Kamsin. Grace let her hand drift up for the horse to smell it before resting her palm on Kamsin's neck. Grace leisurely ran her fingers through the horses mane. "You need your hair brushed. Yes you do! Maybe we can braid it for today . . ." Grace cooed, focusing on Kamsin's mane and pulling her thin fingers through the mess.

She decided she better go find the groom, they needed to take the horses out to the pasture. Grace hooked her right thumb on her left sleeve, folding the clothe up by her shoulder's as she walked. She did the same with the others before leaving the Mare's barn to check the Stallion's barn. It wasn't a hot day, it should have been, but the insane wind wasn't helping with the spring temperatures. Then again the snow at just barely disappeared on the ground and the nights were still chilly, so Grace couldn't expect too much. The weather that Grace was used to in Syliras was a lot milder, which made the city great for farming. Riverfall on the other hand, was not. As Grace remembered her home and her brother who was still there unknowing of where she had disappeared to, a pang of guilt hit her heart. Grace slowed, clenching her eyes shut to force the feeling away. She was starting a new life for herself and she was happy.

"Lysaea? Hey." Grace saw the woman in the Stallions barn. The two worked together, but only when it was necessary. They weren't rude to each other, Grace had just never really introduced herself to the other groom. So more often than not they would split the chores and work apart. Grace didn't mind the solitude, but she figured if she was going to smile at Lysaea everyday, she might as well get to know her. So today was the day. Lighting spike din her fingertips as Grace leaned against the stall."You want to bring some of the mare's out with me? We need to rotate the pastures."

Hopefully Lysaea would realize her attempt to be friendly and try as well. Grace obviously didn't necessarily need Lysaea's help, not did Lysaea need hers. They'd been working mostly separately and yet side by side since Grace started and there was never really a problem. Occasionally when Grace spaced out and forgot to tie a horse down properly for washing and it ran, or Grace was falling behind with her chores, Lysaea would always help her. But the two girls did talk much more than was needed.

Thoughts - "Common" - "PC Talking" - "NPC Talking"

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

Yet was another day in which Syna had graced her light upon Riverfall but chose to let the wind blow instead of carrying warmth. Lys had yet to decide whether she liked the sun's rays or not. She was standing in the barn where the stallions were kept and brushing the mane of a horse she deemed to appear quite scary to her.He was big, black and stood tall; the overall recipe for proud and fierce black horse.

Lysa often wondered why she had been assigned to work with horses. Her initial expression when faced with the job had been one of shock. Internally she bet she had been gasping, me? Oh no! Not me! Horses are the catalyst and the bane of my existence! But then, that would have been a big fat lie though since a) She always like horses b) She had no fear of horses (although she would admit she found the big ones slightly intimidating) and c) She'd always wanted to learn more about horses than the basic grooming things which she felt she absolutely sucked at.

Humming a tune to herself, she picked up the curry comb in her right hand and brushed it gently against the horse to get rid of any detritus. She had basic instructions with her on how which comb was which and what to use the combs for. For that she was grateful since otherwise, well...the poor horse however fierce he may be would have had the fright of his life.

As she continued alternating the brushes she was using on the stallion, she swapped the brushes continually until the last one she was supposed to use fell short of her hand. Eyebrows furrowed slightly, the huntress stooped forwards an inch and let her feet glide ever so lightly over the floor as she walked over to where the brush was.

Picking it up and standing up straight in one fluid motion, she brushed a lock of dark hair with a hint of violet behind her ear. Her hair was pinned up so it didn't become a nuisance to her but alas, it sometimes couldn't restrain it's naughtiness.

Breathing in deeply, Lys let a smile come over her face. She was in a good mood. She liked that. Taking in a moment to relish the peaceful silence, a voice calling her name waked her from her mind.

"Hi Grace!" she said cheerfully, a smile washing over her face.

As she listened to what the groom had to say, she walked smoothly over to the stallion she had been brushing and nodded her head as she agreed to help. They rarely worked together and since Lysa also did hunting for food, she sometimes wasn't working at all in the stables; especially if she had had a bad day of hunting.

"Sure!" she replied, quickly finishing the stallion's brush treatment before placing the brush back.

Lysa did find Grace's company on the occasion they worked together pleasant and thus, she would of course agree. She knew she had a reputation at the Sanctuary for being solitary and elusive and she hoped that maybe one day she could change it. There were some things that she would never under any circumstances tell the members about herself but she had decided she didn't need to lose her formerly open self anymore than she had already done.

"Shall we go?" she asked, a smile on her face as she gestured for the other woman to move first. She would soon join after and go with her to the Mare's barn.

[Grace Lechar]

"Alrighty then,"Grace grinned at Lysaea, unsure so to why she thought the woman would deny her. She had assumed the groom wasn't sociable, but Grace had assumed wrong. She started walked, her long strides pulling her quickly ahead of Lysaea, forcing Grace to slow down and measure her steps so that they matched with Lysaea's. Grace realized she had nothing to say, she despised small talk, preferring to have an actual conversation with someone, but decided it was necessary. The polite words that left her mouth were a quite rare commodity and surprised even Grace herself. "So how is life treatin' ya? How's hunting?"

Grace awaited Lysaea's reply as they walked. She had put the mare's out in the west pasture, so that walk wasn't far. As they neared the gate, Grace could see the line of halter's that lay in a tangled mess across the ground. There was only eight and Grace had hung them up on the fence neatly, so that they would be easy to grab when she needed to bring the horses in, but they had been knocked down. Grace frowned, wondering which horse was the culprit of such a petty crime. "Hmm, sorry 'bout that. One of these asses must've knocked 'em all down. These idiots are worth as much as their shit." Grace's realized her words and tone of voice could come across as rude. Not to Lysaea but to the horses, anyone would wonder why Grace worked with horses if she treated them like she spoke. She inwardly groaned, her words always betrayed her. She had a harsh love for the horses, she'd cuss at them regularly but she respected the beast's and tolerated most of their antics. Grace bent to grab a handful of the stringy leather, regretting her words but saying nothing to make up for them. She pulled three Halter's apart fiddling with the knot in the lead ropes. Lysaea would probably do the same beside her, so Grace hung the three halters back on the fence for when they came back. She snatched up two more, untangling them. She realized after she finished, turning to Lysaea with both halters in her hand and a guilty look coating her face. "I have no idea which halter goes to which horse."

A breathy laugh escaped her lips as she pictured Lysaea and her running around the pasture fitting each halter on each horse to find the match. It had to be done. She grinned at Lysaea, a spark of childish desires flashing in her eyes. "This'll be fun." Grace knew that if she kept forgetting whose halter was whose, then she would have to find a way to identify them. She debated putting nails into the sides of the pastures, but realized that wouldn't work. She decided one day she would have to paint or carve the names of each horse into the leather of their halter. Grace shrugged at her thoughts, it was a problem for another time. She flashed another smile at Lysaea, she had smiled too much at the woman today. Maybe it was a sort of reassurance that Grace wasn't entirely crazy, or it was just enforcing the idea of her mental instability. She didn't know how Lysaea would perceive her, but she was determined to make a friend today so she would have to at least try to be polite and level-headed."You ready to go catch some horses?"

Thoughts - "Common" - "PC Talking" - "NPC Talking"

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

As Grace grinned and strided away from Lysaea, Lysa had to do a quick jog to catch up to her before the woman slowed down. Walking in sheer silence at first, Lysa wondered whether she should start a conversation. She absolutely sucked at doing so and couldn't figure for the life of her how she did it before.

Did she go around jumping and popping in everyone's faces? Maybe she just spoke a loud greeting everywhere she went. Wait, her next idea was hilarious (at least in her opinion). Maybe she radiated talkativity?

Somehow she didn't think she did any of those things (especially the radiating talkativity one...it was just a bit too unrealistic for Lys)

Floating in the mindset of half there, half not, Lysa jerked her head towards the other groom when she spoke. Letting the words register, she pondered the question for a moment in her head.

"Life's treating me....fine I guess, I can't recall doing anything that interesting previously" -this was certainly true; Lysa didn't have much of a mind for remembering previous events at a whim's notice- "and hunting's pretty good. It was hard at first because I'm used to snow, with Avanthal, but now that I think I've got a hang over the hunting here, I can tell there's a lot more game than in Winter,"

About to continue on her explanation, she caught sight of the untidy line of halters in slight disarray causing her voice to come to a stop just as Grace started to apologise.

Finding amusement in the other woman's choice of words, Lysa ducked her head slightly and stuffed her hand in her mouth to suppress the slight giggling sound that managed to emerge.

However keeping her amusement on the down low, the huntress started to watch Grace untangle the leather of the halts and soon became to imitate her. She was no genius in being a groom and thus improvised greatly in her tasks. Therefore, she enjoyed watching people do the task and then copy them soon after.

Intent on finishing her last entanglement, Lysa barely registered Grace turning to face her.

Turning around to see the other groom's guilty face, she tilted her head to one side and bit her lip as she tried to remember which halter went on to which horse.

"To be honest," she said, starting slowly and nodding her head at the same pace, "I'm not particularly sure either,"

Lifting her face a touch, she finished up the halter lying limply in her hands just as Grace grinned at her with a childish fantasy a light in her eyes. It was almost as if she could read her thoughts.

Internally, Lysa began to think lovely thoughts. She didn't do chasing after horses but...the prospect of running around like a child again was somewhat..appealing. To her, it was mildly entertaining to see the other woman become excited about the fact too. She did seem a touch eccentric but Lysa didn't care much less mind the quirkiness. She knew she had her random moments at times too.

"Certainly!" And with that, she gave a quick stretch before flashing a grin behind her.

"You can go first!"

Gesturing forwards to the other groom, she would soon give chase shortly and figure out that the theory of chasing around mares to find their halters was much more pleasant in one's imagination than when put into practise.

[Grace Lechar]

Grace let her grin drop as she closed the gate behing Lys'aea. The actual running around didn't happen right away. It never really did until the mares caught wind of what the groom was doing. By then it was a competition to see who could get to their halter first. The only dilemma was that Grace could not just find the horse she needed immediately.

"The thing 'bout leather halters, is that you can't just throw 'em on any horse, not like a rope halter." She unclipped the lead rope from the halter, coiling it around her shoulder. "The horse's break them in, like you d'with your boots, and so it can sit funny on their heads. It shouldn't be too much of a problem for a short while, but if they keep the halter that isn't theirs, it can give'em some nasty blisters after a few weeks, until the re-break 'em in." Grace turned to Lys'aea, feeling the need to explain their somewhat silly expedition. Grace stopped beside a rather pretty buckskin horse (Kamsin). She wasn't too small nor too big, and Grace wasn't quiet sure what type of horse she was, but she was fast. "This gal, isn't going to fit this halter," Grace held up the one she held, clearly meant for a larger horse. "It's gonna get very loose very quickly, and she's ain't gonna do what you ask 'cause she can't feel it. And a larger horse can't take her bridle for obvious reasons, it's won't fit."

Grace walked a little ways to another horse, a larger one (Glacier). This breed Grace knew about, the blodbane. She had to know about these viscous horses, because they were handled differently. Less commands, but also less slack. These horses could walk right over her if they got it in their minds not to listen to her. That didn't mean she wasn't kind to the horse, she had done nothing against Grace, but Grace was careful of the breed in general. "This girl, is going to fit the halter . . . maybe." Grace nudged her boot in front of the mare's nuzzle so that the mare would pull her head up. Grace cooed at the horse, slipping the halter onto her face. The horse reared her head, pushing nuzzle against Grace, who struggled to keep her footing.

"C'mon girl, just let my try this on ya." Grace reached up to buckle the halter by her ear. Grace was going to secure the buckle at the third hole, to fit the horse, but the second hole was clearly more used. Not her bridle.

"This could take a while," Grace turned back to Lys'aea, realizing she hadn't been paying much attention to her. Grace was actually trying to be social and so far she was forgetting her main task. If anything she could come across as rude, telling Lysaea things she may already know. "Are you out here with the horses alot?"

She stood with the groom in the middle of the field, her beloved beasts grazing around her. But they were starting to take wind of the two groom's, knowing it was time to go in to their stalls, where they would find their beds cleaned and their hay and water refreshed. Then one by one the mare's would expect a thorough grooming. These horses were practically pampered, and yet to keep them healthy, it was necessary. This routine was expected by the mare's, and they liked to fight over who got to go in first. If they stayed out here too long it could get very hard to find the right horse with eight crowding the two grooms and nipping at each other to get in front.

HorsesIf you need to describe horses would you mind logging them at the end of the post so we know who is in the pasture? I've already got Glacier & Kamsin out.

Thoughts - "Common" - "PC Talking" - "NPC Talking"

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

As soon as the gate was closed, Lysa found herself sticking to Grace's side like a nervous child despite her first initial dash-to-a-horse of the day. And one would think she was the one who knew how things worked around here. Then again, her experience with horses before coming was zilch whereas she predicted Grace knew at least more than a few things about horses.

That was why she listened to Grace's words as if it was gold. So she couldn't just throw a halter at any random horse unless she wanted to take a bet. Well, she had figured out that much. Still she continued to listen taking in every bit of information. The things she took from that sentence: Horses were like shoes (funny comparison), they would look like idiots with wrong halters on their heads, they could get blisters (imagine that) and that they could adapt to another halter. Gosh, the knowledge she was gaining about horses! And she wasn't even being sarcastic, she learnt more from the woman then she had ever had from reading some stupid book about horses.

Lysa's eyes were trained on the halter Grace was currently holding up. She deduced Kamsin wouldn't fit it before the words left the other woman's mouth. Score one for Lys.

It didn't help that she felt useless while watching the groom walk to Glacier (the scary one) and said the mare would fit the halter. Lysa hadn't done anything of use yet either then stay put and feel inclined to take out a piece of paper and jot down notes like a student.

Anyhow, she stayed there standing, just examining what the other woman was doing and seeing how she could improve (as in herself). It appeared Grace was struggling. She wondered why. Lysa took a step forward to examine what was going on. The woman was trying to get the buckle at the third hole but Lys could tell it wasn't the right one.

She was about to say so when Grace turned back and said it could take a while causing her to murmur in agreement. By then time Grace had continued asking her a question, her mind had floated off to each of the mares to see which one seemed bigger than 'the scary one' aka Glacier and in all her expertise in recognising the horses' dimension, she actually managed to think of one. As a result, she ended up saying 'I got it!' to the question without actually listening to it.

Of course she realised so and shook her head out of her thought bubble.

"Sorry what? I wasn't listening. Sorry...but I think I know which girl might fit that bridle,"

Instead of mentioning the horses' name, she merely pointed towards a spirited pale palomino Sungold happily roaming around freely. Kusutra. Definitely less scary to her than Glacier. She wasn't writing off Hurricane, another bloodbane, to be the one whom the bridle belonged to. They were the other 16hh horses she was seeing outside and their head size was roughly the same as Glacier's.

It seemed, though, it would be a bit hard even with just two others to check out. She noticed all eight horses' were beginning to look towards their nice stable. It was almost as if they were saying 'is it time?' before sending death glares to one another.

She pursed her lips and held out her hand towards Grace.

"Fancy yourself a fast runner? Cause if you don't, I'll make a dash to Kusutra and Hurricane to try on the bridle while you find out the rest,"

Horse Log- Glacier
- Kamsin
- Hurricane
- Kusutra

Sorry about the 2 month wait but here it is