A Day Just Begun

[Mira Nightingale]

It was midmorning, and the sun has just crested into the sky. The day promised to be a good one. There was a light breeze, a few fluffy clouds in the sky, and a bright, sparkling sun. It was the perfect day for Mira to get out of the house where she was continually kept confined and to spend her days elsewhere.

This wonderful day brought her to the stables. Her mare had gone lame after tripping over a pothole on a trail in the forest, crashing down with Mira on her back. Mira was lucky that she had survived with only two crushed ribs and a broken leg. The injuries had healed finally two months ago, but ever since then she had been timid to get back on a horse’s back and go for a long morning gallop- one of her favorite things to do before the accident.

Mira jostled herself out of her thoughts and entered the stables, nodding absently to a few stable hands that were there. They knew her well enough, since her family was one of the most prominent in Avaren. She was friendly and courteous, and flashed them all a nice smile before starting to wander and look at all the horses. Her parents had constantly berated her for having such a bold laugh and smile, saying that it wasn’t proper for a lady of nobility like herself, and that she’d never be married properly. She just told them to shut up and stop telling her what to do, which always earned her a swift berating and several hours of servant’s chores.

Mira continued to wander around the stables, not seeing any horse that really caught her eye, until she entered another row of stables and saw a beautiful chestnut colored mare with her nose against the door of her stable. Mira gazed at her for a moment, and then wandered closer, reaching inside to scratch her nose. The mare snorted and jumped back, pawing the ground angrily. Mira followed suit and stepped back, not sure if there was anything wrong with the mare.

[David Augustine]

"It'd be best to leave that horse alone." a young man replied. He wore white armor and a cloak that was attached. His hair was brown and a bit untidy. He had calm blue eyes and stood at about 7' which made him almost as tall as the roof of the stables. Though his body was of height it didn't have much size to follow suit. He had a decent build and nothing more.

His name was David Augustine. Few knew of him and his family could be traced back to the fundation of Avaren. He wasn't really famous or popular. He was known by some, but if known for anything it was his father, Jonathan Augustine, who had disappeared in the last Crusade that he went on with the Crimson Brigade.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira turned around at the sound of a voice. She hadn’t realized that anyone else was here other then the few she had seen already. But that was a ridiculous thought, since the stables were so big. There could be many more people in here right now and she wouldn’t know they were here unless they came up and spoke to her.

The first thing she noticed about young man who had spoken was that he was about a foot and a half taller than her. He was wearing white armor also, along with a cloak attached. His attire contrasted sharply to her own- which was a nice, but not too extravagant, dress of navy blue satin with a modest neckline and hem.

“Yes, I think I found that out a little too late.” she replied, gazing at the horse again. It was a shame for a mare so pretty to have such a bad temper- if that was what was wrong with her. The horse just standing there gazing at her with sharp eyes made Mira shiver. Would she ever be the same around horses again?

“What brings you here today?” she asked, turning back to the young man who had spoken. She was simply being polite and trying to spark up a conversation with this stranger, who already had her quite interested by just simply being so tall.

[David Augustine]

"Well, nothing really." David responded, "I don't own a horse and I thought I would come and look around." He turned and opened a bag. He scooped his hand inside and cupped some grain out of it. "Here try feeding her. It might help." he said as he held out his hand.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira nodded softly at his explanation. It was an obvious reason for people to be coming to the stables. Her mind just couldn’t focus and ask a decent question now, especially when she was around horses. When she was around them, she couldn’t focus and her heart always pounded nervously no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

“If you don’t own a horse, then how does a warrior like yourself travel around the lands?” she asked him curiously. “Assuming that you are a warrior, of course.” she quickly added in case she was mistaken. Somehow she doubted that she was, since he was wearing armor, but one could never be certain. Him walking to get around never occurred to her, simply because the walk just to these stables, which was around two miles from her home, had nearly been impossible. Her leg had burned annoyingly after a mile and she had actually considered turning back home to accept the carriage her parents had offered, that she had turned down bluntly.

“All right.” She replied again as he mentioned her feeding the horse. As he held out his hand Mira took two steps forward and took some of it, then walked slowly over to the horse. She gazed at the mare for a moment before slowly extending her hand with the grain threw the bars- palm flat. The horse gazed at her for a moment and plodded slowly forward, sticking her nose in Mira’s hand and eating the grain.

Mira smiled. It seemed like the horse had finally calmed down. She was proven wrong a split second later, however, as the mare neighed loudly and attempted to bite her hand. Mira withdrew it quickly and took another few steps away with a soft sigh. “Looks like she still doesn’t like me.”

[David Augustine]

"Well, I walk or jog." David simply replied. He scratched the back of his head when he replied and chuckled as it seemed to be the most obvious reasons. "Well, most of the time anyway." he added as he remembered another mode of transportation at which he was not willing to speak of at the moment.

When she asked him that he was a warrior, it seemed like a dumb question. Though he didn't say anything like that. He nodded his head slightly after she asked. "Yes, I'm a warrior." he started, "And I'm working on becoming a dragoon. So I guess you can say that I jump every once in a while." This was also true. When a small wall that a normal person would walk around, he would simply jump on top of it and then jump down. However, he had to use his spear for a clean vault.

When the mare went for her hand, he chuckled lightly. This was how untamed animals behaved. However, the creature would soon enough like Mira if she continued to feed and visit the horse everyday. "Ah, don't worry about the horse. It's freshly caught. So all you'd have to do is come by everyday and feed it. It will eventually like you. Oh, and you should try petting it while your feeding it. It prefers to know if you have a gentle touch or not." David explained. He knew a few things about animals and mystical creatures as well.

[Mira Nightingale]

As he said that he usually walked or jogged, Mira was impressed. “You must be doing a lot of walking then.” she replied with a slight shrug, but then as a he replied to her second question about him being a warrior, she blushed slightly. “I’m sorry. You must have thought that that was a pretty stupid question. It’s just that… I’ve never really spoken to many warriors or mages or anything of the sorts.” she told him softly, glancing down at her feet. She truly felt like quite an idiot.

“A dragoon?” she asked him, even more impressed. “That’s amazing. How much work do you put into training?” she asked him curiously. Being a warrior was one thing, but training to be a dragoon? That was completely amazing. Once again, Mire felt like she held a completely sheltered life. When he mentioned that he jumped every once in a while she laughed. She at least knew what a dragoon was, and thus understood the pun.

“Thank you for the advice.” she replied gratefully, focusing her blue-gray gaze back on the horse. She wasn’t sure if she would come by every day… but then again, maybe helping tame a horse would help her get over her fears.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she replied suddenly, turning back to the young man she was speaking with. “I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Mira… Mira Nightingale.” she told him, extending her hand.

[David Augustine]

"Well, that's understandable." David replied to her first comment. He found it odd that she didn't speak with that many mages or warriors. The city was filled with them and if you didn't bumb into one it was more of a shock. Of course, he was wearing armor and mages tend not to do that.

He had to think about the question she gave him. It was an interesting thought. It just seemed to come to him naturally. However, he did put some effort into the training. He constantly tested his body even in harsh conditions. "It depends on how you look at it." he answered, "To me it seems to come naturally. But to others it seems that I'm out of my mind."

David smiled when she thanked him for the advice. It pleased him to be able to help others. He was taught that his whole life and thus is what he has tried to do. "Ah, it's alright. It wasn't that big of a deal." he told her, "Almost anybody could of told you that."

He accepted her hand and shook it. He gave a small bow as well. "It's nice to meet you Lady Mira." he responded, "My name is David... David Augustine."

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira shrugged slightly. “My parents have tried to keep me sheltered my whole life, so that’s why I haven’t met any.” she told him, knowing that he must have been thinking something along those lines. “Are there a lot of warriors and mages around? I’d be amazing to meet even more…” she added, trailing off slightly at a loss of what she add after that.

“It must be easier if it just comes naturally.” she replied, looking around for someplace to sit. She found a stack of around four hay bales on top of each other, and hoisted herself up on them so she could get off her feet. “I tried fencing once… but only managed to slash my own clothing apart. That definitely didn’t come naturally.” she told him with a slight laugh.

“I guess that’s true.” she replied with another small shrug. “I’ve just… forgotten a lot about horses.” she confessed. She hadn’t been around them willingly for over a year, ever since the accident.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” she replied, shaking his hand as well. When he called her Lady, however, she shook her head. “Please, no formalities. They drive me insane sometimes.”

[David Augustine]

"Well, that all makes sense." David replied to all of her anwers. She answered all his questions that he currently had. He didn't have much to say and tried to think of something else to say. He didn't feel like sitting down. He planned to leave relatively soon. He watched her jump up and sit down on the bales of hay. He closed his eyes and nodded for seemingly apparent reason.

He looked at her quizically when she told him that she hated formatlities. "I'm sorry, Mira." he responded, "It's just the way I was brought up." His hand found it's way behind his head and he started scratching it once more. He put his hand down and sighed. He then let a yawn escape his mouth. "Well, I'm leaving. Good bye." he told her as he turned and left the stables.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira shrugged slightly as he answered all her questions and answers with the same thing. It didn’t seem that he was one for conversations. Oh well, some people just weren’t big talkers… unlike herself.

“Then your parents must have raised you well.” she said with a small smile. “Occasionally is nice, I must admit, but when someone constantly calls you Lady if can get a bit annoying.” she replied with the small smile still on her face.

When he said goodbye however, Mira looked up and gazed at him with her blue-gray orbs. “All… all right then.” she said slowly, not sure what had made him decided to leave so quickly. “Goodbye.”

After he had left Mira sat idly on the hay, twisting a few pieces between her fingers. After almost five minutes of that she was bored, so she walked over to the untamed mare and gazed in at her again, determined, for some unknown reason, to make this mare like her.