The Stables [early afternoon]

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

When Aravis had woken to discover that her dog was a rather affectionate and...all right, not altogether bright young man, it had been surprising enough.

However, it occurred to her that Trenor had likely gone through a similar transition, which was why she and Ata had made their way down after leaving a message for Karal and Altra.

"Ata, no!" Aravis said, wide-eyed as she yanked his hand to prevent him from going over to sniff and do god knows what to a tree. "Be good and I'll give you human food later."

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay," Ata said, beaming at her, all thoughts of the tree banished from his mind.

[specifically for the priest and the horsie, but open if you really wanna. SP after 4 EST.]

Comments

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor trotted happily across the grass, a big grin on his face, but he stopped short when he saw Aravis and the stranger. "Karal!"

Karal and Altra hurried up next to him. "You know Aravis," he told Trenor, "there's nothing to be frightened of."

Trenor tossed his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared, I'm with you!" There were definite overtones of 'duh' in that sentence. "I was waiting for you."

Karal reached out to pat his shoulder. "Thank you. Now, shall we go and meet her? And her friend." He had his suspicions about who the friend was.

Trenor nodded vigorously and launched himself forward, running up to Aravis to say. "Hi!" Karal, following at a more sedate pace, Altra by his side, lifted a hand in greeting.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Ata started to race over but Aravis snagged him by the hand. "Be good."

"Hello, Trenor," she said, smiling and waving. "And hello Karal, and hello Altra."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra sighed and gave Ata a longsuffering look. The 'cat knew who it was. :I liked you better as a puppy.:

Which confirmed Karal's suspicions. "Ata?" he asked Aravis while Trenor peered at Ata, shuffling closer to attempt to sniff his hair.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Ata nodded eagerly. "That's me! Hi!" he said, waving at Trenor. "Hi hi hi."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor grinned and went to bump Ata with his head. "You're usually smaller than me," he said. "Has anyone given you treats yet?" As far as Trenor was concerned, treats were the best part of being human.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Aravis gave me cake," Ata told him excitedly, jumping up and down.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor turned sad eyes on Karal. "How come you haven't given me any cake?" he asked, moving over to lean on Karal's shoulder.

Altra snickered and Karal sighed. "I'll fetch you some cake tomorrow, I promise," he said, patting Trenor's head absently. "And I think we'll sleep somewhere other than our room," he added to Aravis, remembering the trouble they'd had getting Trenor down the stairs last time.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that sounds wise," Aravis agreed, wide-eyed. "We can all stay out in the stables? Make a party of it?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal smiled. "If you don't mind joining us," he said, "and they might be a bit, umm, chaotic if they were inside."

Trenor's head lifted and he turned his big eyes on Aravis. "Can we still have cake?" he asked.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I will get us more cake. Would you like chocolate?" she offered.

"I am not allowed chocolate," Ata said, clearly reciting.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Yes, chocolate!" Trenor said happily, looking with pity at Ata. "I can share my carrots with you," he offered. "Or Karal could fetch us some chips. Chips are the best, and they come in a crinkly package." He looked around wistfully, wondering if he'd be able to find the girl with the chips again. "You can't eat the package, though."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Why?" Ata asked petulantly.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor shrugged, unconcerned. "The girl who gave me chips said not to," he replied. "That it was bad, and you have to trust humans. They know what's good and what's bad, and they take care of you, like Karal does for me."

He tilted his head, looking between Aravis and Karal. "Karal, why don't you ride me any more? Not that I don't like you," he added to Aravis, "you have good hands, but I miss Karal."

Karal opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, not sure what to say.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Karal is unable to ride you," Aravis said quietly, trying to explain as she shot a look at Karal. "I...he would not have offered me the opportunity to care for you without cause."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra leaned against Karal's leg as he thought. "Trenor, while I was away - you remember when I was away?" Trenor nodded, looking puzzled. "Well, something happened so I can't ride any more. Aravis--" He had a feeling this was not going to go over well at all. "Aravis is going to look after you from now on, and when it's time to leave, you'll go home with her."

Trenor looked back and forth between them. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked in a very small voice. "You don't want me?"

"No! Sunlord, no, Trenor. I still want you, but Aravis will be able to give you a better home, where you'll be able to have fun and run around, and go for rides."

Trenor didn't look convinced, and he hunched his shoulders slightly, staring at Aravis.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I have other horses at home," she offered softly. "Do you remember my friends Bree and Hwin? And other horses just like you. And Karal will visit," she added, which might be a lie but she didn't care. "And there are wide open fields and sunshine and many good things to eat."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor perked up a little at that. "They were nice," he said, taking a hesitant step forward, glancing back at Karal.

"It's all right, Trenor," he said softly, placing a hand on his back, and hiding his sadness. "Aravis will be your lead mare, now. You'll be happy with her, I promise."

His eyebrows wrinkled, but he nodded trustingly, and stepped carefully forward until he could lean against Aravis' shoulder. "As long as Karal visits."

"I will," he promised. "As often as I can."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"You'd better," Aravis said, and not entirely for Trenor's benefit. "I will care for you, Trenor. Don't be scared."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor chewed thoughtfully, then looked at her with huge eyes. "And we can still have cake?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"We can have lots and lots of cake," she assured him with a smile.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"That's okay then," he said, and nodded, to all appearances quite content. "And some chips for Ata."

"I will come and visit," Karal said quietly to Aravis. "Even if Trenor wasn't going to be there. And you can always come and visit me."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I definitely will," she promised softly.

"I would like to eat chips with packaging!" Ata announced.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Trenor snorted and shook his head. "You can't, the package is bad."

He huffed and nudged Aravis. "It's good I'm going with you. Altra can look after himself, but Ata needs someone to watch out for him."