Lorenzo Biancci | Endurance/Polo Instructor | 28 | Open

Lorenzo dropped the lunging whip slightly, raising one hand to shield his eyes from the gentle drizzle. His face was silent, almost devoid of it's usual animation other than the small prick of his lips, hinting at a smile. He was dressed bearably well for the mild winter's day: a short-sleeved cotton polo shirt, dark grey jodhpurs, and very muddy boots.

"Easy!" Fairue kicked his legs up in a frisky buck, tossing his head playfully. Usually a pearly pale grey, the Appaloosa's ash-coloured skin was showing through his wet fur, giving him a dusty charcoal appearance. The spooky horse was managing quite well so far, but Enzo could feel the horse tense as a fresh gust of wind blew through the round pen. Fairue was notoriously fearful, and the current weather wasn't helping his natural bent. He shied violently to the middle, snorting as his nostrils widened fearfully.

"Whoaa. Easy, boy. It's okay now, relax." Enzo dropped his voice to a murmur, stepping forward to gently rest his hand on Fairue's neck. "Nothing's gonna hurt you. The wind's safe, don't worry." Keeping up his idle chatter, he began rubbing the gelding's neck and chest in an effort to calm him.

wip

Rory Charles | Hunter Instructor | FiVeria | M: Darwin, Brinley

The looming grey sky was unsettling. Vera, despite usually being calm, was acting frisky as the wind blew around her lower legs. Rory's deep blue eyes watched over the mare intentively, their small pale hands twitching ever so slightly. Their grip on the black nylon rope tightened as the slender legs of the mare raised themselves into the air. " Woah, woah Vera, " Rory cooed.

Her grey legs lowered slowly, a pleasent thump could be heard as they touched the ground. Rory pulled gently on her harness and the pair walked peacefully to the nearest empty pasture.

Upon arrival, Rory was devastated to see that the pasture wasn't empty, and instead was housing a small woman and pony duo, who were strangely ... well ... Rory had no clue what they were doing. " Hey, lady, I hope you don't mind but I'm gonna let this girl in! " Rory called out. " It's fine" They heard the woman reply. Rory opened the gate and unhooked the rope, grimacing slightly as the huge horse raced straight towards the small pair.

Vera skidded to a halt in front of them, nostrils blaring slightly, and slightly enlarged scleras. She let out a slightly distressed whinny before calming down and nuzzling the pony who seemed unfussed.

Laurence | Emily, Sam

Laurence had almost stopped, peering silently into Mickey's stall and watching Samantha brush him with a distant expression on her face. He wondered briefly what she was thinking about, why she was grooming her horse when the old her would have much preferred to send forth a staff member. He wondered how much she had changed, how much she had grown because he had left. The more time he spent to step away, stuck wandering the distant fantasy lands of his mind, the more he realized that he had been hindering growth in those around him--he had been holding people back simply by existing. It wasn't a painful thought, it didn't provoke any kind of emotion, it just was. It was factual, it held no emotional weight or biased connotation. It was the truth, and he accepted it, allowing it to carry him away from that stall, away from that barn, away from everything. He never once hesitated, knowing that any type of interaction with people would send him over the edge, and seeing his horses would ground him, forcing him to stay. He couldn't handle the consequences of that on himself or on others, so without any sort of closure, he got back in his car, turned the key in the ignition, and drove. Once he had gotten far enough away from that town and all the memories that kept him there, he pulled over, dialing a familiar number.

"Laurence?" She sounded slightly surprised. Her voice had been chipper before he had dialed her number. He immediately resented it.

"Emily, I need you to listen to me carefully. Do you have a pen and paper with you?"

[i swear, this RP brings the semi-lit out of me. I'm sorry this is so short! <3]

Emily | Chester, Laurence, Lara, Tim

Emily studied Tim's face with increasingly-pained eyes as he danced around the subject of the groom-to-be she'd just seen him arguing with. On one hand, she wanted to inquire about why he was acting so suspicious but pain and an uncanny sense of betrayal wouldn't let her get to the bottom of things.

"Tim," she started plainly, "I just saw you arguing with him in the parking lot, why are you lying-" Emily sighed, her phone buzzing. She pulled it out, recognizing from the caller ID that it was the only person she really, truly did not want to have calling her ever. With such a shy, nonconfrontational disposition, she knew something was gravely wrong if he was picking up the phone to call her.

"Laurence? Are you okay?"

Silence. Labored breathing. That was all that met her on the other end of the line."Emily, I need you to listen to me carefully. Do you have a pen and paper with you?"

"Not at the moment, do you have a second? What's going on? I'm terrified right now for you and about you."

"I'm leaving town for a little while to clear my head," he explained. "The place that I'm going is...inaccessible...I need you to have my coordinates. I don't want you to come find me, I just need peace of mind that someone knows where I've gone. I know that's selfish and arrogant and a lot to ask..."

"Laurence, stop. Take a breath. Where are you?"

"Nevermind," he replied shortly, "I'll just text them to you. Do with them what you will, I don't really care. Goodbye, Emily."

...

She was breathless and her legs burned from exertion as she swung open the office door. Her eyes were full of fear and concern, the adrenaline coursing through her veins the only thing keeping her going.

"Lara," she spoke directly with not even a hint of a smile on her face. Emily being dead serious was the most terrifying thing Lara had experienced in her life. "There's an emergency, I wouldn't ask unless I really needed the help."

"I've got him covered," she replied without letting Emily finish. Emily nodded, thanking her graciously and apologizing to Chester as she exited as quickly as she'd entered. As she got in her car, she called Tristan, asking him to watch Camden for an indefinite amount of time. In the rush of things, she decided against texting Tim, realizing that between their unresolved conflict and his nerves, it would be better for him not to know what she was doing. In the same fashion that Laurence had hours prior, Emily turned the key in the ignition and drove away from White Oaks, but with more speed and more fear of the future. All she had were a string of coordinates and a prayer to God that this wouldn't end the way she expected.

Lara | Chester, Emily

Lara was just about to deliver a life-ending retort when Emily came in, eyes blazing with fear. She had never seen Emily that way, and it scared her almost to the point of trembling. That blonde woman was one of the few people she could depend on to be steady and consistent in her disposition and seeing her any other way was nearly traumatizing to the young lawyer.

Clearing her throat, Lara returned a sobered focus onto Chester. The joviality in the room had left with Emily, replaced with tension you could cut with a knife. "So are you staying here, or did you get a place off property? What exactly am I supposed to be helping you with? She's never been one to clearly define objectives."

[another short one. lo siento!]

Olivia Lancewood | 16 | Cirrus/Oasis | Open

Olivia sat up straight on Cirrus's back, her wild auburn hair exploding out of the messily-tied bun. Her hand rested on his shoulder, the other holding the nylon lead rope loosely in her palm. Despite the somewhat busy yard and Cirrus's notoriously acclaimed tendency to spook, she was riding bareback with nothing more than his turn-out halter and the lead. A passing onlooker might think it was a trust exercise, or something to help boost confidence - unless they knew the rider. Livvie was outrageously unexplainable and, generally speaking, never wanted to do things the usual way. Why would ride walk to the pastures if you could ride?

Cluckily cheerfully, the Irish teen nudged Cirrus into a prancing collected trot, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Good boy!" Giggling mischieviously, she glanced around with a devlisish glint in her sparkling green eyes. It was definitely against the barn rules - Kholo had already reprimanded her serveral times about this specific misdemeanour - but it was in the name of fun, and that made it alright, naturally.

At a loud 'ha' from his rider, Cirrus lengthened his strides into a fast canter, motoring up the slope to the pastures. Hair and mane intermingling, Livvie leaned forward, her face frozen in an excited grin. If the pony had stumbled now, or something had leaped out of the shadows - she would go flying off onto the grass. But the point of it was that there was the possibility, the risk, the adrenaline rush brought only from the trhill of possible danger. "We're here, Cirrus!" She began to bring him back to a slower pace, alternating between tugging on the lead rope and squeezing her knees. After a few uncomfortable strides, he settled into a bearably bouncy walk.

As she leaned over to open the gate to the pasture, though, Cirrus's ears pricked forward. He let loose a longing neigh, eyes following the two horses' movement. Olivia's face leapt back into a friendly smile, her body visibly lifting in excitement. "Hey! Who are you guys?!" Her happiness was uncontrollable, absent-mindedly clucking Cirrus into a trot to get closer to the strangers. "I'm Livvie! Where do you come from? What are your horses' names? Do you two, like, know each other?" and "-oh my freaking gosh that pony is adorable!"