Giving Apples ((Open))

[Xolek Hunter]

opening the Stable door Xolek stepped in, his horses stall was 6 stalls down the left he walked fetching the dried apple pieces from his pocket as he did he jumped to the sudden horse that stepped forward making sounds that spoked another horse in the other stall, it seemed restless. Who was the owner of such a horse? he looked around the stall people hadn't noticed he'd jumped or the horses reaction to him, htey continued to go on with their days, he shrugged and continued to walk until he reached his horses stall. his horse looked into yet another stall but there was no horse in it, there probably had been but it was no longer there now.

"Hey boy, long time no see huh?" Xolek said, the horses ears perked and Zyre turned to him, he stood there for some time before trotting over to Xolek who had by then jumped over the fence and opened the bag of apples.
"That's right I brought you some treats" he said stepping forward and petting him, Zyre picked the bag from his hands stepped back and through it to the floor it had always been his way of saying 'Hurry up already, open the bag I'm cravings these delicious sweets' he laughed bending over and picking it up, he opened the bag and took out a few apples in his hand, Zyre waited.

"Here you go" he said obvious that he was holding back a huge grin he put the apples on the floor and hurried behind his horse grabbing the saddle and reins when he returned the horse had finished. he brought the reins up to the horses head, every step of the way the horse quickly did what it was use to. After about 15 minutes Xolek had finally fitted Zyre with his equipment. he patted the horses side and opened the lock to the stall, without any help Zyre pushed through it and waited on the other side, he pressed his muzzle to the stall entrance as Xolek tried to open it.

"Hey Zyre that's no fair" Xolek laughed the horse backed up and he stepped out, he grabbed the horses reins and walked him out of the stable and into a small little area, nobody was yet on their horses. He quickly climbed onto the saddle and told Zyre to go. They circled the small area once twice, three times, Xolek wondered if there was a path in the forest he could take with Zyre, Zyre loved the forest as much as Xolek did.

[Semper Capone]

Everything had been happening too fast for me to keep up. My Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome was getting out of hand; I had hurt Chicago, the love of my life; both Becca and Sassifrass had found out that they were pregnant; Sitka had gotten here only yesterday; and other things I couldn't remember. Well of course I couldn't remember. I can't remember anything. The massive bruise on the side of my head proved that. When I had forgotten who Chicago was, her dad had hit me up the side of the head with his gun to bring me back around, but it certainly left its mark. Gave me a headache from hell, too. But now I just wanted to clear my head, so what better way than to spend time with Bell and Gatsby?

I had Bell out in an open area next to an arena; she had on no saddle, bridle, or halter, though her halter was hanging up on a nearby fence post (barefoot and bareback, that's my riding motto). I was trying to teach her leg yielding and how to respond to my leg movement without the use of reins or a rope, but things were going slow. Gatsby was trailing behind Bell as he always did, frolicking the way little foals did, dodging her big draft hooves as if it were some game. Bell, however, was too busy trying to figure out what I was asking of her to kick Gatsby the way she would any other horse.

When I stopped to let Bell graze and rest some, it was then that I noticed someone else bringing a horse into the area. The horse was beautiful, in my opinion. But then again, I think all horses are beautiful. I didn't recognize the horse and rider, though, so I watched them a while like a creeper before using my legs to ask Bell to walk over to where the other horse was. She didn't need to be told twice since she loves other horses and especially biting their knees, and of course Gatsby followed at a high-stepping prance. Oh, but before that, I directed her over so I could get her halter, coiling it up and laying it across her withers before redirecting her back to the other horse.

"How y' doin'?" I called out to the person, bringing Bell to a stop. She watched the other horse curiously, head raised up and ears perked forward. "I don't think I've seen y' here b'fore.... unless my memory's done failed me again." I added that last part in a low mutter. "You got a nice lookin' horse."

[/size][/blockquote]

[Xolek Hunter]

Zyre raised his head before moving it from side to side he ran faster but before he could begin to do a slow gallop Xolek pulled back on his reins to slow him 'You know better Zyre" he said but the horse didn't quite listen. 'Now now, I know your restless but you must behave yourself Zyre" he horse swished it's tail from side to side "That's my boy" he said, he still couldn't believe how anybody could treat this horse so bad, he remembered 5 years ago when he'd managed to buy the thing. It was a purebred, the breed was suppose to look more like a draft horse but Zyre didn't he was a year and a half and if nobody bought him he would be sold to be slaughtered into meat. If he'd met the actually owner of the farm would decided this he would've spat in his face like he deserved.

The horse knew Xolek was thinking and began to slow down a tad more so that there would be no chance of Xolek falling over, Suddenly the sound of someone speaking caused Zyre to hault to a stop he turned aroud stepping backwards to do so before facing the horse and it's rider. Xolek bit his lip as he spoke and patted his horses side telling him it was alright. Like Xolek Zyre was quite shy but of course, he didn't bother to get off Zyre but continued to look at the other without speaking even after the other had stopped himself, Finally he grinned.

"Pretty good, how 'bout ye'?" he asked leaning closer, Zyre lowered his head to let him. He nodded to the other part "I wouldn't be suprised if you haven't.. the name's Xolek Hunter, what about ye'?" he asked curiously he raised an eyebrow at the other "Isn't he? Purebred Byelorussian Harness Horse got him on a discount when he was a yearling, poor thang would've been sold as cow meat" he said lowering his voice.

Suddenly Xolek got the thought to see what his half-brother was doing, he didn't see him much anymore it was a shame really for they'd shared plenty of dorms with one another. He was probably fitting in much better then Xolek was, or so he hoped it. "Thanks a lot mother" he said under his breathe.

[Semper Capone]

Bell watched the other horse, though it was obvious that she wanted to go over and meet him. I wanted to let her, but the other equine seemed shy, so I figured that it would be better to keep Bell at a distance, just to be safe. I noticed Gatsby peering out from behind Bell's thick hind legs, with amused me to the point of a small chuckle. Ew, chuckle, I hate that word.

"Doin' good, doin' good..." It was a lie, of course, but he didn't need to know that. "Pleasure t' meet y', Xolek. M' name's Semper Capone." The guy had an odd name, but then again, so did I, so I guess we were even on those terms. "Never heard of those b'fore, but he's beautiful. 'n' I used t' work at a slaughterhouse.... only 'cause m' dad owned it.... but yeah, s'a good thing y' got 'im when y' did."





((I'm so sorry this post is so short. Dx I lost my train of thought when I had to quick go multitask.))

[/size][/blockquote]

[Xolek Hunter]

He nodded at him, but something told him the other was lying it wasn't his business after all, they'd just met but it felt good to have a conversation with another teen about something for once. He was of course shy. Zyre continued to look at the other horse but suddenly the peaking of a young foal came into his few, he raised his ears, lowered his head then raised it again. Xolek wasn't quite sure what Zyre was trying to say.

"Stepmother says the horse owes it to me, but I don't think so.. after all he's the only one I really talk to here" he said lowering his voice to a whisper at the end, he patted the horses side and it turned its huge neck to look at him before touching the same spot again and turning to look at the other horse. Xolek scratched the area he'd patted minutes ago. the horse raised one of his back legs once, then twice. He turned again to look at Xolek who now stopped scratching, patted the horse muzzle.

He nodded "They ain't that common, come from Norway ye' know? They're suppos' to be a draft horse but ain't Zyre look like one, he looks like any normal horse, still he's my boy" Xolek said the horse seemed to agree for he turned to look at Xolek again. "I mus' say it's a shame they people sell 'em horses as cow meat, good thang I don't eat meat, I'd hate to eat helpless animals" he nodded "Ye' my fath' tried to make me work in a packagin comp' but my stepmum talked 'em out of it" Xolek frowned.

((It's alright I'm a tad rusty myself))

[Semper Capone]

I couldn't help but smile at the guy. He had said the last bit quietly, but I had heard it, and it made me feel better about myself knowing that I wasn't the only one that talked to horses as if they were human and could answer. Bell was like my own kid, so I told her a lot of things, especially when things were rough and I didn't want to drag others into the situation. That was also mainly why I tended to keep emotions all bottled up and putting on a happy facade. I like to think that I've become good at deceiving people that way, but hell if I knew. Sage, mostly, knows when I'm distraught simply because we're best friends, so there's really no use hiding things from him. But I still don't like forcing him to listen to all my bitching and complaining about stupid stuff. Like when Chicago was going out with Kaleb, all I did was cloister up and tune out the world and scold myself for being a damn coward and not getting to her soon enough.

But anyway, I'm getting off track. "Norway, eh? Damn." I said in disbelief. Sheesh. "Musta cost a helluva lot t' ship 'im 'ere... er, did y' ship 'im 'ere or was he jus' 'ere already?" Importing horses cost a lot, and I figured that if he did, then he must be rich as hell. If only everyone had that kind of money.... no, actually, I'd rather stay as dirt poor as I am. Having money may be fantastic and all, but when it comes down to it, I always believed that having as little as I did made me appreciate things a lot more than I would if I had all that money to spare. You learn to love the little things in life that really counts. "N'I'll say. I ain't never seen one b'fore. Magnificent, they are."

I bit my lower lip just slightly when Xolek went on about not eating meat because he didn't like the thought of eating helpless animals. You see, my problem is that I'm used to dead animals. I've slit the throats of cows, pigs, chickens, and goats, hung them upside down so that the blood drains out of them once they're dead, and then slice them open with a butcher knife. I'm used to all the blood and gore and stink that's involved with it, so I don't really notice it all as much. And yet I still don't have second thoughts about eating meat. Maybe I just had a strong stomach... I don't know.

"I worked in one for eight 'r so years. But it di'n't really bother my mentality much..." I shrugged, leaning back and resting my hands on Bell's back, just below her hips, letting the lead rope dangle over her withers. Feeling me relax, Bell took this as an opportunity to go greet the new horse, so she slowly made her way forward, ears perked forward and nose outstretched, sniffing the other equine's nose when she could reach it. My multi-colored eyes watched her ears, waiting for any sign that should alert me and tell me to get her away. But for now, she seemed fine; only curious. It was only a matter of time before Gatsby gathered up the courage to say hello, and I doubted that'd go over very well.

"I forgot t' mention. This is Bell, 'n' the little one's Gatsby."

[/size][/blockquote]

[Xolek Hunter]

He grinned it slithered across his face like that of a snake but like the wind it was soon gone. Xolek loved the darn thing to death and wouldn't have it any other way, Zyre was the only well thing to count on to be on his side if he was down or mad.. never had he once hurt the thing except once brushing his fur to hard and the horse turning to tell him it had hurt. But it wasn't on purpose for he'd been talking to his old riding instructor and it had happened by mistake. When he began mentioning about shipping them over sea he had no choice but to grin again.. Yes he'd talked his parents into shipping them over. Along with a ticket from Norway to the US for himself. "Ye' my fam' shipped 'em over, when I came to the US from a boarding school over there.. took a lot of convincing though" Xolek said.

He patted the horses side before slipping his right leg over and getting off of Zyre, the horse turned to look at him before once again diverting his attention to the other horses. 'Ye' know in all they ain't that common back in Norway either, but ye' see 'em more then ye' do here.. ye' know?" The horse wasn't a rare breed thanks to the many breeding companies back in Norway but they still had a smaller population.. when you did see a horse barn you might see one or two in a stall maybe three but that was sometimes pushing the numbers.

"Aren't they? My parents wanted me to get eh' Fresian or somethin if I got anything at all.. I went searchin for one but I noticed the for sale on this one and just fell in love with 'em the minute I saw 'em" he listened as he spoke about working at a slaughter house he tried not to twitch at the thoughts of working at one, the smell would be the first thing to hit him "Well now, your much braver then I am when it comes to those thangs.." he said.. but if he had to fight for his life he'd kill without a problem.

Xolek noticed the other horse being interested in Zyre, he watched both of the horses expressions first Zyre then the other. When the horse got close to him Zyre stepped back but stopped before he did. Flattening his ears then perking then up again he curiously took to greeting the other horse "Well now.. Usually Zyre is a sy horse but he doesn't seem to mind this one" he listened as Semper spoke the horses names including the little one "Well they're simple adorable" he said.