headin' to ylisstol [ o ]

[Alisone]

Dorian + any knights of cydonia + open

The horse that she had chosen to go back to Ylisstol was a inconspicuous chestnut colour, one that nearly blended in with her cloak and just so happened to blend in with the sunset that was quickly descending upon her. She'd have to stop for the night relatively soon, which meant that she had to make a camp. The next town was a good half day's ride away. She scanned along the forested area that she was walking in, before she saw a clearing that looked relatively generous for both shelter and firewood.

A half an hour later and Alisone was resting beside a healthy fire, laying on her sleeping cot and munching on a carrot while her horse fed on a bag of feed. She sighed and chewed, staring up at the skies as they started to turn violet. Maybe it was a little earlier than she thought, but to be honest, she didn't have to be anywhere anytime fast. She still had her hair in the short wig she wore, although the hat, cloak and mask were cast to the side, leaving only her tunic and trousers.

It also seemed weird that she would be right beside the road as opposed to somewhere within the forest. But really, what were bandits going to steal from her? She had a bunch of food in her pack, some clothes and albeit a really nice sword, but that was going to go in their gut before they could put a hand on her. She guaranteed it. The chances of someone just stumbling across her were pretty slim to begin with.

Right?

[Dorian]

Dorian clicked his tongue to the horse that he rode, a strapping stallion with a white coat and an ivory mane and tail. It wasn't his, of course, but in this occasion, being a noble was a perk, giving him a steadier seat than most might have who were unfamiliar with riding. He knew that he was a ways from camp still, and with darkness falling, it was a poor choice on his part - he should have left the village sooner, but he'd lost track of time, and since he didn't want to inconvenience any escort, he had insisted on traveling alone. In hindsight, it was probably a bad decision, but he didn't regret it; he could handle any threats that might be out there just fine, and this way he wouldn't make the village men who would have gone with him miss their families.

The road through the forest was a little bit winding, which was why he didn't see the fallen log before he was almost right on top of it. Not that that was ordinarily a problem, the lord didn't frighten easily - no, the problem lay in the fact that the moment the horse set eyes on it, the stallion decided it would be a good idea to leap over it, and the sudden motion had Dorian tumbling rather ungracefully from the saddle, landing in an undignified heap with his hair a mess around him and the horse trotting off before realizing that his rider was gone and then pausing and looking over his shoulder curiously. Huffing, he got up, trying to brush off some of the dirt from himself, and then blinked when he saw that he had managed to fall just in front of someone's camp, giving him the slightest niggling of self-consciousness before he pushed it away. "Er... I would hate to bother you, but would you mind helping me catch my horse? He tends to be a bit... playful when it comes to having someone grab him."

Words. -- Tags. Alisone and others Notes. Sorry about being a tad slow with this. I just ended up like... muse tanking yesterday for everything. I got half the post finished and then didn't want to write anything so I heaved my butt up and finished it this morning.

[Alisone]

Dorian

Her prayers for more excitement were answered but not in the way she'd typically expect. She didn't even hear the horse's hooves approaching, but she did hear the nicker of her mare, which caused her to sit up and look at her. The horse looked to be reacting to something or other, she wasn't sure. She started to get to her feet, but that was when the interruption happened.

A man tumbled from his saddle in front of her, and Alisone examined him. He looked clean and well-kept, a trait not normally found in a bandit but in a man of higher class. Immediately her eyes scanned over him. Did he look like he had any valuables on him? Well, save for his sword, no, but she already had one of her own and by the Gods, the first rule of thievery was to never take the large things that people would miss. He didn't keep his wallet exposed either, so she couldn't judge the weight of it. Damn. Oh well.

She was rather amused by his and his horse's antics though, so she straightened up and laughed. "Yeah, sure. Had a bit of trouble there, eh?" She said in her masculine voice, and she walked over to his side to get a good look at the horse. The horse seemed to have a nonchalant air about it; he was now grazing on some of the grass peacefully. She smirked.

"Seems like quite the personality, he didn't even come back for you." She noted in a jesting tone to the owner, and she rubbed her hands together. "Alright, how do you want to approach it, what do you want me to do?"

[Dorian]

Dorian huffed and pouted slightly at the sound of a laugh, instinctively reacting to try to circle the wagons around his dignity - it was something long since bred into him as a noble, and normally he wasn't so self-conscious about himself, but when he was rather ashamed of something like falling off his horse when he knew perfectly well how to ride and how to jump a horse, he tended to fall back on his old habits. "I wasn't expecting anything to be there. By the time I realized that I needed to be holding onto the saddle, I was already falling." The lord glanced over to the stallion that was grazing, already having a feeling that he was going to be far harder to catch than he looked.

"He's not my horse, so I'm not surprised he didn't," Dorian replied with a shrug, running lavender-painted nails through his lilac hair and trying to adjust it back into place. Or at least into a look that wasn't quite as undignified as he likely was coming off. "I'll try to sneak up on him from the far side, and he'll likely bolt towards you. If you could grab his reins when that happens, I'd be rather grateful." A few loose strands of purple fell from behind his shoulder next to his face, curling around to frame the crystal eyes, but he just brushed them aside, instead moving to start making his way through the brush, not flinching away from it despite his noble upbringing. What was a little dirt in the great scheme of things? Though most of the nobles were sure to disagree with them there, Dorian always had been his own noble, and he'd never seen anything wrong with getting a bit dirty if it was honest work. He could see the way the stallion's ears were twitching, so it was aware of him, but that was the point. The animal liked playing games when it came time to be caught, so it was best to indulge for as short as possible to get things done.

He just hoped the other traveler didn't begrudge him for the inconvenience of being brought in on the game, no matter how short of a time it was.

Words. -- Tags. Alisone and others Notes. Cheshire Cat is a wonderful muse-booster, though I just like most of Gakupo's songs and it's amazing muse fodder for Dori so lmao.

[Alisone]

Dorian

Alisone was wishing that there was some way she could exploit this situation. She scanned the horse for the packs that it had on it; none of them looked as glamourous as the one who had been unceremoniously hoisted from its back. She smirked a little, however. This was probably going to be a lot of fun, really. Although, on the flip side, she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with being the one that caught the reins. She didn't know this horse, she didn't know how much it would kick, and frankly she didn't feel like breaking any bones to a horse. None the less, she offered, and so she would oblige.

She sighed through her nose with a bemused smile and gave him the thumbs up dramatically. Then, she started stepping the opposite way of Dorian, at an angle away from the horse. She would round about it, coming in from almost parallel to it, and then go to catch the reins. Frankly, if she could get a good enough grip and hop onto its back using the movement of the horse, she'd probably be able to guide it to at least a tree so that the pretty nobleman could tie it up.

She kept her eye on Dorian and on the horse at the same time, making sure to regularly look between the two of them. She straightened herself out so that she was standing up straight, and then took her hands out of the pockets of her trousers. She held them up in a parley position, as if the incredibly human gesture was going to help, and she slowly approached the horse.

She made sure to watch its eyes and walk as slowly as she possibly could. Her footsteps were barely making a sound in the grass; an obvious sign that she was trained in some kind of stealth. She also carefully placed her feet, as if the slightest bit of pressure on the ground would send some kind of shockwave that would scare the beast. Her eyes flickered to Dorian again, and she gave a slow nod.

[Dorian]

Dorian waited in the trees for the other to be ready, his crystal eyes picking up on her movements, and when she finally nodded, he smiled at her. "He won't kick, he's not that kind of horse. He knows better than to kick out outside of battle. He's well-trained, this is his one quirk." Hoping that he'd managed to reassure the stranger enough that the stallion wasn't going to be trouble - which he wouldn't be, the lord had already caught him once in a pasture once, but that was fenced in, thus making it a little easier to corral the horse than what was afforded by the current situation - Dorian then stepped forward, making sure to make just enough noise that the stallion would know he was coming.

And, as planned, the horse snorted and picked up his head and lazily started trotting towards the other, walking right by her with the reins dangling. Dorian laughed softly, striding over with his hand open. "Thank you," he murmured before blinking, his crystal eyes flashing. "Oh, and here I am forgetting my manners." The noble swept as elegant of a bow as he could manage without looking horribly cliche, straightening quickly. "My name is Dorian, and before you even attempt to give me the pleasantry, I assure you that it is entirely my pleasure to have fallen off of my borrowed horse in front of you. I don't know what I would have done to catch him again if I hadn't. Probably made camp here and given up with the whole thing." The noble glanced up and chuckled. "I still might end up doing that. I don't think there's enough daylight to get back to where I was going." He shrugged. "What about you though, if you don't mind me asking? What's your story?"

Words. -- Tags. Alisone and others Notes. Yes, rather short and rambly, but catching the horse wasn't supposed to be amazingly difficult, lmao, just something to provide an opening for the two to meet and have a reason to be talking to each other.