My Note: Yes, I know horses can't gallop all day long. I've worked at a stable for over a year, but remember please this is fan FICTION.
Tsanra managed to stay on D'Korr until about noon, when he politely slowed to a trot so she could eat her lunch in relative peace (but certainly not tranquility). He nipped at her boot until she fed him some, trotting all the while. When he turned to nip her again at around dusk, he also ducked his head so that she slipped right off the front of him onto her butt. D'Korr gave her a look, snorted, and walked off. Tsanra ran after him, but he shied away from her. She sighed and plopped down on the ground. The horse immediately ran over to her, nipped her, and darted back. She got up, and would have whacked him on the head if he hadn't shied away again. Then the damnable horse started trotting away! Tsanra let out a scream of frustration, and began to chase him.
After chasing the wicked horse over two hills, a small wood, and a farmer's corn, she finally caught up to him, dragging his bridle until he came to a stop. Tsanra began venting her frustration on his tack, shouting and cursing at the horse the entire time. He began to look very sad, and when she was done, he reached his mouth up to her hand. Tsanra flinched away, thinking he was going to bite her, but instead he lipped at her gently, tickling her. She gave him the most severe look she could manage, but soon started to giggle at the beast's antics. She laughed up until the horse butted her in the stomach and pushed her onto her knees. Tsanra yelped, and began to slide down a small, muddy slope. She turned around to see where to put her feet, and saw that underneath her was a stream.
D'Korr watched her antics, listened to her pleas for him to help her, snorted, and went a few yards upstream to get a drink, leaving his mistress clinging to a root protruding from the mud. Tsanra was suspended a few inches over the water, and was about to give up and fall when she heard a whinny from downstream. Both she and D'Korr turned their heads, surprised.
There stood a young man carrying a bucket and a fishing rod. He whinnied again, and Tsanra thought to herself Is he one of those crazy beggars who thinks he's a were-animal? Maybe he thinks he's a horse. But she was even more surprised when D'Korr whinnied back. It looked almost like they were having a conversation with each other. The boy and the horse seemed to be arguing with each other, judging by his facial expressions. Finally the horse snorted, tossed his head, and came over. D'Korr leaned over the mud, took Tsanra by the back of her shirt, and pulled her up, getting her as dirty as possible in the process. The boy rolled his green eyes and bared his teeth at the horse, but didn't say anything.
Now that she was up close to him, Tsanra could see that he was about her age. Tall and lanky, the boy looked like he was used to hard outdoor work. "Hello," he said, breaking the silence that stretched out between them, "What was D'Korr trying to do by getting you all muddy, I wonder? I'm sure you look positively gorgeous when you're not caked in stream muck."
The horse snorted; he had other ideas about Tsanra's looks.
Tsanra blushed. At home, she hadn't had more than polite conversation with the boys her age, and none of them had ever even looked twice at her. Now here was a perfect stranger flirting withher!
D'Korr chomped his lips and sighed.
The boy replied with a snort, then blew into the horse's face.
"My name's Tal the Horseman. Who're you?"
"Erm… My name's Tsanra," whispered Tsanra.
"Sorry, couldn't catch that. I know you can speak up; I heard you cursing like a sailor at D'Korr. He really didn't deserve that comment about his parents, you know. It's not his fault his father's been gelded, now is it?"
Tsanra laughed. "I'm Tsanra."
Tal smiled. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"No." Catching something, Tsanra asked, "How do you know my horse's name."
"He told me."
"He told you?"
"Yeah. I am a Horseman."
"Uh-huh. So what does that mean? Are you a roadside lunatic, a carnival freak, a con, or what?"
"Probably a mix of carnival freak and roadside lunatic," Tal joked.
"What?"
"I travel around from town to town looking for work. I have this… gift… of talking to animals, but I mostly deal with horses. I mean, really, conversations with cows and sheep are usually pretty one sided. They're not the sharpest knives in the drawer, if you get my meaning."
"Oh."
"It's getting late, want some fish?" offered Tal friendlily.
Tsanra started to decline, but D'Korr came around behind her and nipped her butt. She squeaked and glared at him. He snorted, and lay down in the grass next to Tal. Despite all her valiant efforts, she couldn't even get the gigantic beast to shift his weight.
Tal laughed. "Well I guess that settles it. If you get firewood while I gut them, we can have a good meal soon. Do you prefer bass or trout?"
Tsanra sighed. It looked like she wouldn't be dining alone tonight. She shot a murderous look at D'Korr, who nibbled at the grass innocently. Then she replied, "Trout, please," to Tal and went off to get the wood.
