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 Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:05 am
"Not anymore," Zahavah assured him. "At least, not that we could find. But we were attacked by one a few days ago. Fortunately, we were able to chase it away before it could do any harm to the little ones... You'll want to be careful, in case it comes back. Pavlov, my mate, and I are keeping our eyes open. We've been here for quite a long time and this is the first that we've encountered that monster, so I think it's safe to say it was just passing through." There was no telling whether or not it would decide to settle in the area, however. But she wasn't going to bring up the possibility with Nova standing right there. No sense in scaring the filly unnecessarily.
Once again, Zahavah made a seemingly unrelated leap in topic. "Since you went and made this wall, I'm assuming you're planning on staying here?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:10 am
This time, Midagi was able to keep up with the jump, mainly because it was closer to what he expected from a female. One couldn't expect a lady to maintain serious conversation for long. He nodded with a pleasant smile. "Of course," he confirmed. "I still have a ways to go, but this is the perfect place to build my domain. I promise, I'll do my best not to interfere with you or your family. I can certainly understand the desire for privacy."
He had originally been planning on finding a lady of his own and building a family in his palace, but that was way down the road from now. Plenty of time for the local family to get used to his presence. He could ease them into accepting his own clan in time. He simply had to convince Zahavah that he wasn't a threat to her way of life. It was on the edge of his tongue to offer his protective services for a time, in exchange for being allowed to remain in the valley unharassed.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:15 am
An plan snapped together in the space of seconds within Zahavah's head. This was exactly what she had been looking for. Well, maybe with a bit of attitude thrown in, but still. Here was a stallion who looked like he could handle himself. He was building a fortress on one edge of their border. If he was just skilled enough to guard it, then that would be one less front she had to worry about. Assuming, of course, he was willing to work with her. But what could she offer him to help her protect her family? Well, first thing was first. She had to discard this idea that he WOULDN'T become part of their life.
"Don't be silly," she told him, dismissively. She started walking around the wall, making a show of admiring it. "Of course you'll be welcome in our home any time you like. We'd be happy to have you. Nova certainly adores you. Tell me more about this... er... thing that you're building. What else do you have to do?" she asked, hoping to both buy herself time to think and to learn more about him. Perhaps she could figure out what to bribe him with if she could just get him talking.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 3:44 pm
Midagi brightened, more than happy to talk about his project. He went into great detail on how he had constructed the wall, and even why he had chosen this particular location for his home. From there, he began to explain all the things he had yet to do, which he hoped to have completed by winter. Of course, he wasn't fully certain he'd be able to get the main building up and livable before it turned cold, not by himself. There was little he could do about that, however. He would work all day and night if he had to. He could always hibernate like a bear.
Or maybe not, if a skinwalker was looking to settle in the area. That was certainly something he would have to look into. He wasn't much of a hunter, but he was most certainly a guardian. He was confident he could sniff out any threat to his domain.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 3:50 pm
The more Midagi spoke, the more Zahavah appreciated her mate. Pavlov wasn't one for chatter. Probably because he was more inclined to let Zahavah do all the talking. That was all well and good when there were others around, but she made a mental note to make sure he didn't mind it when she took over the conversations. She was finding it a little irritating listening to Midagi babble on and on. Of course, that was probably more due to his attitude than what he was saying. The actual topic was rather interesting.
As they walked, she kept one eye on her daughter, who was happily skipping along between them. Zahavah still wasn't comfortable letting both of her babies out of her sight for too long. She had Nova next to her, and knew that Pavlov and Grimm were watching over Wolfgang, but she could still feel the beginnings of separation anxiety. That... probably wasn't good. Another thing for her to worry about, later.
Midagi began to wind down when they had completed a circle around the walls the stallion had built. Zahavah waited until they reached the same spot where she had started before she noted, "It sounds as though you could use some help."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:02 pm
"Help... yes, that would be appreciated," Midagi admitted, sheepishly. "However, one of the nice things about this valley is also one of it's flaws. There simply aren't a lot of people here." Aside from Nova's family, anyway.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:09 pm
Zahavah grinned, rather pleased at having found something she could use. "How about we make a deal, Midagi. I will personally assist you in completing your home here. And, in exchange, once it's completed, you'll act as a sort of border guard here. Sort of a 'I'll watch your back if you watch ours,' kind of deal."
She smiled up at him, rather proud of the exchange. She wasn't exactly a master builder, but she was a tough little imp, and she knew the valley better than he did. She was sure of that much. She could find better building materials for him, easily. She could also get to places that were too small for him, or climb higher than he could. She was a very good climber. Almost as good as a goat, she was proud to say.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:20 pm
Midagi was so startled by the offer that he spoke without thinking. "You?" he blurted. "How could you possibly..." His common sense caught up with his mouth and he quickly tried to backpedal. "Ah, pardon. What I mean to say is that this is difficult work. A stallion's work. It involves a great deal of heavy lifting and wading around in the muck. As for the offer of protection... of course I intend on keeping my side of things under guard and protected. But I couldn't possibly expect a fine little lady like yourself to get hurt trying to protect me. It would be ungentlemanly."
A smile began to curl on his face as he tried to imagine the mini defending anything. He wasn't blind to the bandage on her chest. No doubt that was there because her mate wasn't strong enough to protect her properly. That wouldn't happen with any mate of his. Though, it was understandable considering that both she and her mate were minis. The smaller races were not, in Midagi's rather limited experience, very adept at anything other than running and hiding.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:23 pm
Little Nova stumbled a bit and scampered around her mother, getting out of the way. Even as young as she was, she understood enough to realize that Midagi had just said something that her mommy wasn't going to like, and Mommy didn't tend to react well to things she didn't like. Nova wasn't certain why Midagi was acting like Zahavah was someone to be protected. It seemed rather obvious that her mother was awesome and could do anything.
From a safe distance behind her mother, Nova settled down to watch Zahavah explain exactly that.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:58 pm
Zahavah's temper finally snapped. Maybe he didn't mean anything by it. This wouldn't have been the first time someone had mistaken her size for weakness, though it hadn't happened since she met Pavlov. Usually, she could just let the misunderstanding go. Not everyone understood that big things came in small packages. But not with Midagi, not with the condescending tone he'd been taking with her since they first met. Not with his poorly veiled implication that females couldn't provide support. Distantly, she noted that Nova had gotten out of her way. The girl had always been smart.
With a soft growl, Zahavah lowered her head and rammed her horns into the tender muscles of Midagi's leg, only barely remembering to pull back to avoid breaking his skin with the sharp points of her horns.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:06 pm
Midagi yelped as pain flared up from his leg. He stumbled back and found himself on his knees before he realized what was happening. He blinked back tears and found himself at eye level with the mini. "What..." he gasped, still scrambling try catch up with what had just happened. Sluggishly, he realized that the mini had, rather effectively, attacked him. And now she was glaring at him and doing a rather fine imitation of a very scary little monster.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:11 pm
"Let's get a few thing straight," Zahavah snapped. "I am not a dainty little damsel. When I was younger, I took down blockheads like you as a warm up for the REAL fights. I traveled all around this land before I met my mate and we decided to settle here. I may not have been in as many brawls since Pavlov and I settled down to start our family, but I haven't lost my edge. I'm strong, quick, and have no time for your sexist idiocy. Right now, I need people, RELIABLE, people, to help me protect my mate and my baby. Next time you insult me like this, I'll put you into the ground and IF you get up again, I'll see you out of my territory."
Zahavah huffed a bit and closed her eyes as she struggled to rein in her temper. "Now... do we have a deal, or not?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:16 pm
Midagi stared at the mini mare, his mouth hanging open. This... was not what he would have expected at all. In that moment, he had no trouble believing her claims. She seemed so much bigger than she had earlier. Shakily, he nodded a bit. "A deal... yes..." he stammered. He would have agreed to nearly anything to get her to stop glaring at him like that.
Later, maybe, he'd be able to think rationally. Later, probably, he'd rationalize away the intimidation. Right now, however, he vowed not to get on the little mare's bad side ever again. She was a force to be reckoned with, clearly.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:25 pm
"Good," Zahavah huffed. She shook her head and glanced around until she spotted her daughter. "C'mon, Nova. We should get back before your brother and father start to worry about us. Midagi, I'll be back in the morning to help you with... whatever you need assistance with.... ah, and you might want to soak that leg in some cold water."
Now that she had calmed down, she actually felt a bit guilty about losing her temper with him. She tossed the emotion aside, however, reasoning that he had provoked her. Right now, she doubted his ability to be a useful guardian for her family. Still, a pair of eyes on the border would be better than no eyes at all. She'd have to keep an eye on him and see how helpful he would be as she upheld her side of the bargain.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:29 pm
"Yes, Mama!" Nova chirped, moving closer to her mother. She'd never seen Zahavah lose her temper before, but then she also hadn't really seen her mother interact with anyone outside of the family before. From what Zahavah had told her of her youth, however, little Nova decided to take this whole thing to mean that her mother liked her new friend. That was cause for being cheerful.
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