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Anelisse stood once again on the bank of the river, staring at her reflection. It was strange to consider, how very many times she had done this exact same thing, stood and stared at her reflection; too many times to count, but almost every time had been for the same reason. Each time, she had stood and admired the graceful curve of her neck, the proud tilt of her jaw, the beautiful coppery orange of her eyes. She was a vision, and nothing had pleased her more than admiring that lovely visage, up close and in person.

Then her world had turned upside down and her reflection had come something to despise. Her eyes had become sunken and red-rimmed from crying, her face gaunt from the weeks of poor eating habits and restless inactivity. Eventually, she had stopped caring, but prior to that each glance reminded her just how low she'd sunk.

Sighing, Ane turned abruptly away from the water and started to pace along the bank; the obvious agitation in her body caused Raccoon to first look up in alarm, then relax; there was no one around to cause this upset, so obviously Mistress was mulling. And a mulling Mistress, especially an actively mulling Mistress, was a great deal better than a moping one!

Pacing down the bank, Ane narrowed her eyes in intense concentration as she reviewed the debacle that her life had become. It was all so messed up, so shamefully convoluted; her own physical imperfections had been merely the tip of the iceberg when compared to her own disgusting depression and antipathy. Yes, it was a sorry state of affairs, and something that definitely needed to be considered. She just wished she could focus on that and fixing it. Instead, only one thing was on her mind these days: Fenghuang.

It was silly, really. She had only met the stallion twice, but in those two brief meetings he had managed to leave such a powerful imprint that she was starting to believe that he was a vengeful spirit or some sort of imp from the spirit world. There was no other logical explanation for how one stallion, no matter how insufferable, could leave such a powerful mark on her life.

The first time had been bad enough, but was more notable for the after affects. It was after that meeting that she had sought out her mother and seen the happy home life that she now had, resulting in her descent into despair. But the second time...

He had appeared out of nowhere, looking for all the world like a wild Soquili from the wastes. Between his fluffy coat, long mane, and the woolly pelt of that dearly departed Reindeer, he had looked less like a Soquili and more like some sort of...well, otherworldly imp!

Things hadn't necessarily straightened out once she'd adjusted to his appearance, either. He had been rude and sardonic, splashing mud at her just as before and baiting her to anger not once but twice. However, he had also displayed brief glimpses of kindness, most noticeably offering a shoulder for her to cry on.

Musing on that, Ane unknowingly came to a stop as she remembered the experience, his gentle voice and woolly shoulder providing a welcome and much needed comfort. Beyond that, though, she had been aware of several things; the warmth of his body, the gentle support of his neck as he hugged her, the strange, musky smell of stallion, sweat, travel, and far-off places...it had been totally unique and unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Indeed, her first instinct was to snuggle up against him and just stay like that until she was as warm all over as her neck.

A few moments had been enough to calm her down, though, and then the moment was gone. The effects had stayed with her, making her a bit more agitated than she would otherwise have been as she tried to figure out why a smell was so...interesting. The excitability hadn't helped her any, though; she had snapped and yelled at him not once but twice, provoking anger of his own at the second occurrence. It had been honestly terrifying, having someone yell at her, more because up until that point she hadn't really taken him seriously. Indeed, she couldn't say that she had ever taken ANYONE seriously, seriously thinking that they could or would hurt her.

But hurt her he had, by the cruel yank of her mane and the more pointed bite of his words. Insult upon insult he had heaped on her, until she couldn't take it anymore and once again dissolved in tears.

Everything was a blur after that, for the most part; just rambling meditations and trite chitchat. She had fallen asleep wrapped up snugly in hide, musing to herself on the murderous habits of humans.

When she woke up, it had been to no hide, no other Soquilis. Just Raccoon, snoring against her side. However, that had proved to spark yet another mystery.

As Raccoon finished dressing her hair, she had triumphantly shown Anelisse the gem. Even in her languid and confused state, Ane had been dazzled by the shining jewel, but equally quick to ask where it came from. The last thing she needed were any more aggrieved stallions showing up to reclaim lost hair or other items, thanks much. Raccoon had been quick to deny that, though, scampering over and showing Ane exactly where she had found it. At that, Ane had narrowed her eyes in confusion; there was no doubt that the gem had been placed there, because she would have seen it if it had been there the night before. And it being placed on her hair tie...

It had to have been Fenghuang. But why?

That was the question she was grappling with, three days later. The gem was tucked neatly into a low braid at her neck where every movement caught the light; she loved the sight of it, but couldn't help suppress that niggling question and concern. She wished that he would show up again, she HAD to talk to him; but that was spirit creatures for you, always there when you didn't want them, never there when you did.

Still, that second meeting had been productive. Since she'd woken up the second day, the languidity was gone, replaced by, if not energy, focus; she was eating again, and resolved to be a credit to her family, even if she WAS a failure. That was the way to do these things, after all.

One of these days, Anelisse really needed to work on her habit of utterly ignoring the world around her. It couldn't be healthy; Raccoon despaired every time Mistress failed to notice she had company, because just because RACCOON new that Mistress was wonderful, not everyone did. It would be terrible, absolutely terrible, for something to happen to Mistress because of her own extreme inattention. And maybe one of these days, Ane would come to embrace that thought herself.

Today was not the day, however. The footsteps and rustlings of the stallion had been nothing; she hadn't even glanced up until a very peculiar voice caught her attention, causing her first to frown, then look up at the source.

A stallion, and a strange one. Lovely, she HAD to be encountered by stallions now when she was looking disgusting. Her first instinct was to swell with indignation at the unfairness of it all, but before she had gotten too puffy she reconsidered. She was a daughter of Angelique, she could represent, even when she looked like this. Just because she wasn't perfectly made up didn't mean that she couldn't dazzle, thank you very much; hadn't Fenghuang said that she looked ravishing in dishabille?

...Ok, she was NOT going to think of that imp right now. Mentally warning any mischievous spirits to stay away, she raised her head and gave the stallion a "Good morning" and a nod, raking her gaze quickly over him as well. He was of a rather unfortunate color, more like mud than anything else; however, his coat was glossy for all it's color and he had a decent physique. Definitely an athletic sort of stallion, or else one naturally buff; very acceptable, indeed.

Never let it be said that she couldn't persevere, even in the face of insurmountable odds! "You aren't a local, are you? I can't say I've seen your type around before." There. Polite conversation of which to be proud!

Bugger. He might look presentable, and the fact that he had checked his reflection had automatically raised him a couple clicks in Anelisse's estimation, right up to the point where he opened his mouth again. The first greeting could have been written off as slurring his words or some other such thing; by the time he had finished his first full sentence, Ane was wilting inside from the seemingly insurmountable language barrier. Damn, damn, damn.

Though she rethought that as he started to try and "clarify". THAT was an insurmountable language barrier, she'd really be better off trying to decipher his somewhat garbled accent. Really, where had he come from where they spoke with such a tone? And what, oh what, had happened to all the stallions that were handsome and deferential and spoke clearly?

Still, she did a decent job of masking her confusion, after the first blank stare, though she had to interject. "Please, stop trying to repeat yourself. It will make this a lot easier if you just talk like you normally would, if perhaps a bit slower?" Adding 'please' to any statement would make it polite; that was an important element of conversation. In Ane's case, she sincerely meant it that way; after all, why wouldn't he want some advice on how to speak so she could understand him? He HAD to be repeating himself for her benefit, so the least she could do was reassure him of that.

And to prove that she was paying attention, after her 'request' she offered, "So you're a mountain Soquili, then? You're a lot less hairy than I would have thought...or is that because you haven't been there for a while?"

Yes, she certainly was a far better mare than most, and she WAS kind. Nice of this stallion, for all of his odd speech patterns, to notice that. And she WAS trying to show that, concentrating very hard on what he was saying. Nae? What was 'nae', exactly? And o? It was almost like he was cutting off half of his words when he spoke, VERY confusing.

But she was reasonably sure that she got the gist of things, brightening a bit as she finally figured out that 'nae' meant 'no'. She was SOOOO on the ball today, it was delightful!

That was the thought anyway, before his comment about visiting family brought back the moroseness. It was so nice to hear about family, or it HAD been so nice to hear about family; hopefully HIS family was pleased enough with him that they didn't feel the need to go out and replace him with five new little hims. That would be a heartbreaking thing, to climb all the way back up into the mountains only to find that he'd been replaced.

However, after a moment she shook her head, steeling her resolve once again to NOT slip into that depressed state again. She was better than that. "I'm sure that your family must love hearing about the things you see, it's a big world out there. Not that I've really seen much of it firsthand, it's so very awkward to up and relocate all the time." She had to agree with his point about being seen by the world, though...at least when she was in better form. And she really DID mean to get out and about...one of these days. She'd have to talk to Raccoon about that, in time.

Not now, though. "I suppose you can call me a local. This specific spot is home, home for both me and Raccoon. But I can imagine that you would like being down here this time of year, your coat doesn't look too warm." Not like some woolly Soquilis she could think of....but she was NOT going to think about that. "So, do many Soquilis in the mountains wear the pelts of other creatures for warmth?"

Oh, he had not just said that. Anelisse had been listening patiently, doing her best to decipher the stallion's odd accent (which, thankfully, was getting easier with repetition) when one name out of nowhere caught her by surprise. Unable to hide in the incredulity in her voice, she interrupted, "Did you just say Fenghuang? As in, reddish-orangey unkempt mane Fenghuang?" There really couldn't be two of them in existence with that name, but these days nothing was certain until it was certain. "You're COUSINS?" Then, after a pause, she commented more to herself than to Biscuit. "Odd, they don't really look or sound alike at all..." So much for trying not to think about that, fate was just laughing at her today it seemed. Stupid fate.

Well, she would show it. With the determined air of a mare on a mission, she squared her shoulders and blazed on in conversation as though her previous statements had never been said. "Well, I suppose if you're used to the cold its not such a big deal; I've never been in the mountains and never had a chance to grow a long coat. I imagine that such a coat would look gorgeous on me, but I don't think I'd like to look 'fat and fluffy' if I could avoid it. And I suppose it takes time to grow and that's why you're down here, right? Until things get warmer, or something like that?" It WAS spring, after all, and early spring at that...very cold, indeed.

In spite of her best efforts, there was a pronounced agitation in the mare now, one that would be obvious to even the most oblivious of Soquili. She wasn't going to acknowledge that, though, and instead asked, "Why do you say your relation is like a plank? That doesn't seem very complimentary."

Well, wasn't that just special. Her Fenghuang was the same as his Fenghuang, meaning that the odds were very good that he WASN'T some mischievous spirit but an actual flesh and blood creature...which just made things more confusing. Ooh, she just didn't understand stallions at ALL!

Convinced of that fact now, it was easy for her to focus on the rest of the conversation. She was not going to waste any more of her time with these musings, she'd already given that muddy stallion more thoughts than he deserved, him and his confusing behavior. Giving the brown stallion her most becoming smile, she nodded her head in seeming understanding. "Well, it's very good that you have a large family that all gets along, even if you don't all look alike. It's all rather strange to me in theory, but that will happen when one has a small family like mine." Not a very detailed explanation, but that was about as much detail as she would offer to anyone at this point. Her family was NOT an open book, after all!

"But I should think that the desert would be awfully warm this time of year, and getting warmer. With a coat as dark as yours, I'd think you would be in danger of sweating to death out there." She could show concern, believe it or not; she just chose to save it for worth individuals. "But you're looking for jewels? I just got a jewel myself a few days ago, isn't it lovely?" Turning her head, she allowed the stallion to admire both her elegant neck and her gem-accented hairstyle.

Praiseworthy or not, Anelisse probably would have been more than content to avoid Biscuit's congratulations if it meant the end of confusion. Praise was all well and good, but it needed to be suitably balanced with the REASON for the praise; being upset, confused, or frustrated were not suitable exchanges in any definition of the word.

However, praise for herself and her beauty were always acceptable, and she smiled in a self-satisfied fashion at the double praise to herself and her gem, as brief as it was. Raccoon had really been outdoing herself with her styles lately, showing off the jewel in numerous flattering ways. She really ought to get some sort of appreciation gift for Raccoon...maybe find some new shiny things, or a pretty shell. Yes, that would do nicely.

"So they have jewels on the edge of the desert, then? That seems like something that would make them more likely to be all found and taken away already, if you ask me. I mean, deserts are unpleasant regardless, but if you're talking about a less hot and disgusting side, then wouldn't most travelers be going that way?" It would be a pity to walk all that way in such disgusting conditions to find nothing, she would think; and really, he couldn't be serious about sights in a desert. Sand, sand, more sand...hardly something to admire.

She was quick to jump after him when he changed the subject back to families though, with greater animation and intensity than she'd shown yet as she replied, "I never said that a small family was something to be ashamed of, I happen to think that very small families are ideal. The problems come when they get too unwieldy for their own dynamic and are forced to splinter under their own weight..." As she'd spoken, she had started to speak faster and more angrily, but caught herself quickly once she realized what she was doing. "And thank you for your opinion, but I'd really rather not 'intrude' on anyone, especially not to gawk." Nicely said, if she did say so herself.

The rustling she took no note of; as Raccoon was not in sight, Ane didn't doubt that she was the cause of the noise, scrounging through the shrubs for some new shiny or something like that. Naturally she wouldn't go far, not when there was a stranger around, but there was no reason for her to dance attendance when Ane had something else to distract her. Such was Ane's opinion, anyway...

"Not as much as some, no." There was no hardship in admitting that fact; Anelisse saw no shame in being a constant mare. Then again, it wasn't true that she was a COMPLETE homebody; she had made her way through a large part of the forest before settling in this spot, chosen for its somewhat secluded location, cozy feel, and easy access to foodstuffs and water. On top of that, it was close enough to the Kawani villages that Raccoon could make occasional raids while, more importantly, being far enough away that they weren't likely to have any humans stumble into their territory. While she'd never had any firsthand experience with them herself, Anelisse viewed the humans and their hides with great suspicion and had never liked the idea of being anywhere near them.

Obviously this stallion didn't feel that way, if the animation in his face and his tone were any indication. It was rather peculiar, seeing someone so enthused about a desert, but it took all types. She herself would never see anything so interesting in a sandy, overheated wastelands; cold was easier to deal with than the concept of melting away beneath the sun, her body reeking of sweat and her mane becoming tangled, gritty, and windblown before she finally keeled over from sunstroke. No, thank you.

Shaking off that disgusting picture, she gave Biscuit a majestic nod. "Firsthand, no, but I think I understand what you're saying. You do it because you live for the thrills, or something like that. It's like a game with you, see seven things in seven days." Which was, in all honesty, an oddly whimsical way of living to her. It wasn't deciding whether they were having grass or leaves for supper, it was whether they were going to climb a mountain or cross an ocean. Though really, that didn't make any sense either...

"So then, do you and your cousin travel together much, or meet much and talk about your travels? Seems like it would be a companionable way to roam, having someone to roam with who had similar experiences. I suppose you two must chat a lot, and talk about the pranks you pull or the Soquili you meet." She'd kept her tone casual, trying very hard not to seem as though she had an ulterior motive. This brown stallion just seemed so very open and chatty, she couldn't resist the chance to find out a little bit more about her strange acquaintance. That wasn't weird, was it?