Anisha was not sure what to make of the strange creature before her. She'd had a strange encounter, once upon a time, with a violent rabbit shifter--and it was hard to forget, looking at a strangely innocent-seeming stallion with those long, loppy ears.
Surely--surely she was being ridiculous. Surely she was being paranoid. Surely such a thing absolutely could not happen twice, chased by a violent rabbit-shifter that had seemed thoroughly determined to...well, she wasn't sure. Frighten her? Kill her? Either? Both? She could only guess, really. And anyway, she'd gotten out of it, so it wasn't as if the intent of the creature mattered anymore.
What did was the intent of the stallion before her. A stallion that she found herself regarding with...well, caution seemed the least of it.
"Excuse me?" He said, and she jolted a little, wings fluttering nervously. She wished she wasn't quite so obvious about it--generally, she was better at keeping her reactions under wraps, but...well, the situation being what it was, a little nervous energy was only natural. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
He seemed so kind. But Anisha knew that a seemingly gentle persona could hide something far worse underneath.
"It's fine," she said, and if her tone was a little dismissive, well, that was also fine, probably. "Just a little distracted." She forced herself to relax a little, and she fluttered her wings in a way that she hoped looked like idle adjustment, which--she hoped--might cover her previous nervous wing-stutter.
He looked confused. A little doe-eyed, perhaps. Like he had no idea where he was or what was going on. But the more angelic the stallion seemed, the less Anisha trusted what was in front of her.
No matter how cute he was.
"Right, ah," he scuffed a front hoof against the ground, and he looked around them, like he was trying to take it all in at once. "I just...don't really know where I am?"
"You...don't know where you are," Anisha repeated, and she felt a little ridiculous for it. Honestly, what a strange thing to say. What a strange way to act. And what a ridiculous lie! There was no way he'd tripped into this particular desert canyon, unless he had been wandering for quite a long time. "Well, I reside not far from here."
"Oh, good!" He seemed so innocent. So genuinely clueless. Part of Anisha was almost starting to believe that the act was real, but surely that wasn't possible. It was just so obviously a trick, a trap, although...
Well. They had been standing here for a long while. It seemed he had been waiting quite some time to spring his trap, if there was one to spring.
"Would you be willing to show me around?" He asked, jolting her back out of her thoughts. "I--really, are you okay?"
As if he should be asking her that! As if his behavior wasn't suspiciously ridiculous! As if she wasn't reacting with a perfectly appropriate amount of caution to an empty-headed stranger showing up out of nowhere, spinning an absurd story about being lost and not knowing where he was or how anything worked! Really! The gall!
"I'm perfectly fine," she said, and if her tone was a little imperious, who cared, really. "I can certainly show you to water, at least. There's a pool not far from here, and it's safe to drink." She could lead him there, and then disappear before he sprang whatever trap he intended. That way, at the least, she'd shown some grace as a...well, host didn't feel like the right word, but it would have to do. Plenty enough to soothe any personal guilt about possibly treating a perfectly nice stallion poorly because of a bad encounter a year ago.
(But it really had been very bad and her resulting paranoia was certainly thoroughly justified. Wasn't it?)
"Thank you," the stallion said, and he bent his head to pick up his little plush rabbit, which honestly did sort of lend some credence to the idea that he was clueless and sweet. His ears pricked forward; a suggestion that she lead the way, she supposed. And so she did, trotting off towards the little pool.
The whole way, she glanced back every once in a while, but he followed, blithely taking in the sights around them, innocent as anything.
Well. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge. But she wasn't going to say that. Anisha was not one to admit aloud when she was wrong. Instead, she stopped by the pool and tossed her mane, nodding to the water.
"Rest a while," she offered. It would simply have to do.
[wc: 785 words]
