[PRP] A (Not So) Chance Encounter [Silver x Gentle Heart]

[Anhelisk]

The swamp was beautiful, in its own quiet way, teeming with life and nature and sounds and smells. Beautiful, but... always so drab, and damp, and a certain doe had traveled long enough to have seen most of its edges, and a great deal of the area around it, particularly the shimmering seashores.

Still, when it came to having company, good company, and plenty of it, there was no better place to be than here. And that was what had her wandering through, picking hooves daintily along the rocks to avoid getting herself soaked in mud again. Company! The company of one... specific... buck that had caught her eye, some several days ago, across a fast-running and deep stretch of water that was well known for being difficult to traverse.

Still, she'd figured out the direction he'd headed in, and after losing track of him a couple times (it would be entirely unprideful to admit she'd had to put her tracking skills to use to find him) she had managed to find, and follow, his trail.

Thankfully, he had been taking somewhat of a more leisurely pace than she, and after some time, she'd figured out her plan for interacting with him. Circle around to get ahead of him (but not too far, mind), wait for a good bottleneck, and happen across him there, possibly with some sort of gift of hunted prey to share.

Really, it was easiest to think of him as another sort of prey– one that had to be carefully tracked, and reeled in with finesse.

She was, rather thankfully, very good at finesse, even if she wasn't so good with romance.  

[Aria Starstone]

Sighing contentedly, he strolled close to the water he had been following for the past few days. It ran fast enough that he had no concerns about mosquitoes, a thing he most certainly approved of, and it kept the air a nice temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. There was always vegetation, and fish, to eat, and plenty of water to drink. Between that, and the weather being fine, as it had been for much of his trip, his mood was bright.

The only thing he could possibly wish for, really, was company! He'd been on is own for a few days, and was rather lonely. He missed his twin, but was not one to push his brother to do things that he didn't want to do. Clever Soul had his own life to lead, and that was fine. Nonetheless, these long journeys often got lonely, when Soul didn't want to come along. Still, it was a chance to meet new kin!  

[Anhelisk]

This was it. A river, slow, lazy, and clear– with fat catfish hiding in the mud, as simple as could be to catch. All she had to do was wait here... and hope he decided to try to take the easy path downstream, instead of climbing up the slippery rocks in the opposite direction.

That, and start to work on fishing up some sort of snack while she waited.  

[Aria Starstone]

He eyed the slope of rocks as he passed that area, thinking that he'd have to be a fool to consider trying that route. Hooves on the shale riverbank, with all that loose rock? He'd have to be crazy! No thank you, Motherfather, he was not going to be the fool to break an ankle out there. He continued down the natural path created by the river.

As he moved, he began to quietly sing, a song about the beauty of the river he was walking besides. Nothing anyone would know, for he was making it up as he went along, but... well he was alone, so what did it matter?  

[Anhelisk]

It took some amount of time watching the stream, getting used to how the water flowed, to finally see where one of the fish stayed, in a pool of calm, circulating water. It took longer yet to slowly approach it, and get to a place behind it, without really alerting it to her presence. Lucky was she to have a hide like she did– it blended in with splashing water and reflected her surroundings to some degree, making her harder to see, as long as she was careful about things.

And that was him coming up! Well, this was the important part. Find a bit of pondweed, carefully use her mouth to tie it around one leg... pfeh, it tasted awful! But it worked, she had a dangling lure, and she was set to go fishing!  

[Aria Starstone]

As he came around a small bend, where some trees blocked his forwards view, he saw a doe up ahead, by the water's edge. Ahhhhhh excellent, some company! He beamed happily, and moved towards her, his song dropping off in favor of his smile.

He noticed she seemed a bit focused, though, so he did not shout a greeting, or some such, in case he startled her. It wouldn't do to have her fall in the river in surprise, after all!  

[Anhelisk]

Patience. Patience, and focus. She didn't turn her head as she heard him come down the stream– he was singing something idly... something pretty and tuneless– probably made up, or only half-remembered–

There. As soon as the fish moved to bite, she pulled back, letting it surge forward... and grab a bite of her hoof. She was more than happy to feed it to it, stomping down surely– and doubtlessly crushing its jaw, likely also damaging its gills or fins.

She shook her quarry off after a moment, and cursed as it started flailing, moving to jump after it. She couldn't leave the thing in pain!  

[Aria Starstone]

He stopped, very suddenly, surprised at what she seemed to be doing. What on earth? And then he saw the glitter of scales, and it occurred to him she was having an issue with a fish. He pondered trying to help, but decided to settle down nearby, out of the way... Because if he tried to help, he had far too high of a chance at doing the exact opposite.

And that just would be rude on his part. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the doe's dinner! That would be a bad start to a potential new friendship.  

[Anhelisk]

It didn't take too much long to follow the flash of splash and dull brown-gray scales. A couple neat stomps, and there it was, dead as driftwood. The doe moved to step on the tail– just in case it decided it had a few twitches of life left in it– and turned to regard the pretty, pretty buck.

Oh. Now what to say? "Must be hard to catch dinner for yourself, with a coat like that." A veiled compliment. Smooth.  

[Aria Starstone]

He relaxed as he watched her kill the fish, his eyes half closed. His rose was tucked into his hair, at the moment, so he wouldn't lose it. When she succeeded in killing the fish, he smiled in pleasure at her success, for he was always happy to see others succeed.

At her remark, though, he tilted his head to one side, and lifted a brow. "Mmmm sometimes, but I often find ways to make things work. Fish, for instance..." And he nodded at the one under her hoove. "Don't seem to notice as much, as long as I stand in shadows, and move minimally. And there are many nutritious, and tasty, plants around. But I would say you have more skill with fishing then I do, and that is a thing to be proud of." He paused, then added "I am Gentle Heart, lady. What might you be called?"  

[Anhelisk]

Well, it looked as if she hadn't botched things completely– this buck was either oblivious to the accidental insult she'd directed his way, or had decided not to mind. Either way, the doe relaxed, and inclined her head thankfully at his praise.

"I am Streams of Silver," the doe said, with no small hint of amusement. And then, after a hesitant moment of regarding the fish she had–

"What do you say you show me how good you are at finding some of those tasty plants, and we can share the spoils?"  

[Aria Starstone]

"Streams of Silver... A fitting name for such a bright beauty." He smiled warmly at her, and then carefully heaved himself up. "I can do that, certainly." He eyes the area she'd been fishing, critically, then walked over to the plants lining the water, carefully examining each one as he did so.

After a minute, he made a muffled 'Ah!' sound, and gripped a green plant with pale white flowers with his teeth, and carefully pulled it up so that the root system came up with it. He then set it down and used his hoof to break off the top part, before rinsing the roots in the water. "Some marshmallow, to start with... let's see what else is around." He murmured as he began to examine other plants.  

[Anhelisk]

Hah. Flattery... flattery would get one just about anywhere, on a willing doe or buck... and Streams found herself more than willing to let herself be plied by the compliment. Really, a stiff breeze blowing in his diretion would have been more than enough to keep her by his side, but she didn't need to let him know that– she'd just continue to play slightly-aloof and pretend she wasn't internally prancing like some addled filly.

Well, there he was, wandering along– that meant she had to pick up this heavy lug– by the jaw, it was easier to carry it by that than the tail– and follow behind him.

Not a few moments later, he found something– a white plant she would have passed by herself, or just eaten the blossoms from. "Off to a good shtart," she managed, around her mouthful of fish-lip, in what she rather hoped would be interpreted as a complimentary tone of voice.  

[Aria Starstone]

He had no idea how she was reacting, internally. He was just pleased to meet a lovely new friend. He was gazing about happily, trying to find good things to eat, when he realized she was following along, and he blinked at her, surprised. "Oh! You could wait there for me, I will bring things to you. You don't need to follow... Unless you wanted to learn how to recognize the plants I am searching out?"

He pondered that, then shook his head a little. "I could teach you, but it would be easier to do without hauling a fish along. It would be something I could do after the meal, or on the morrow, if you wanted?" He said this with completely earnest honesty.  

[Anhelisk]

The doe shook her head. "S'sh no problem. S'sh eashy." It wasn't that big, and she was sturdy!

"'Shides, we need t'find shomplache nishe to eat."