Savor the Waterveil

Call of the Wild Hearts

Chapter 3

The next morning came the same as it did the day before, a peaking light edging it's way over the vast stretch of fields and forestry. The faint sound of beginning bird calls and chirps, followed closely by the sound of cicadas clinging to trees, all harmonizing with each other to paint a welcoming morning. Across the Marsh Family Farms had been no different, the sounds not quelled by the clearing of trees from the overlaying property. The wind was fairly calm this morning, not being a necessary oddity, but a change no less since the previous mornings that had followed. The sight of the almost still trees and grass, giving a sort of picturesque painting as the fields started to become barely illuminated from the slowly creeping sun. Though signs of the early morning were just barely showing, it was an even earlier morning an hour or two ago for the inhabitants of the farm. A shift could be seen from the north side of the farmhouse, with the rear entrance facing the north, being mainly fenced off with a few basic but healthy growing crops. The sound emanated again as a short cheer of satisfaction could be heard, the sound coming from a figure crouched down near a gathering of greenery.

"Hell yeah! looky there", Elise smiled as she was in a squatting position, hunched over a medium sized plant, using her hands to feel up the roots and finding a budding flower. Having felt the flower and it's splayed out nature she smiled as she felt a sense of pride. "They said ya' couldn't do it, not with this piece of land. Not in this soil, but look at ya' now girl, ya' did it", she talked to herself as she looked over her work for the last couple of months, having it finally coming to fruition. Standing right behind her with a flat look upon his face stood Knight, not seeming to have the same energy as his compatriot did this early in the morning.

"Are you really talking to yourself? I understand it's a big accomplishment, but we really need to get your head checked out one of these days", he commented with a slight hint of tiredness. As he said this he let out a short yawn, the early rise not doing much to keep him awake at the moment. Elise turned to look over her shoulder, hand still brushing the plant gently as she regarded him.

"Ya' know ah' think it would do ya' well tah' just let me have this moment. Ah' don't need no sass from ya' this early blue", she chipped over her shoulder, before lightly shaking her head and giving her full attention back to tending to crop, pinching of unnecessary leafs and odd sprouting stalks. Knight sighed as he stood there quietly for a moment as he watched her work to the plant.

"Sorry, I just don't take too well to this early of a day", he said as he looked over her to scan over the north and northwest end of the fields, his gaze passing over the newly named 'Glory', a light smile lifting onto his is face. Elise grumbled at his words as she came across a stubborn dead patch of leaves.

"Yea' well, since we decided tah' laze about and slack on chorin', we had tah' get up early and make sure we do our dailies before hand", she huffed in irritation, not being able to apply enough pressure with just her fingers. "Can ya' hand me the snips please?", she asked as she stretched out an arm behind her back, palm open at the ready. Knights gaze snapping back to her as he heard her ask for help.

"Oh! Yeah, hold up", Knight said as he turned his head, looking towards his back he looked down at his makeshift utility saddlebag. The saddlebag itself being a modified original piece Elise had originally picked up for him a while back. It was draped over his back as pockets hung from either side, a slot each containing a different piece of equipment. Looking over each pocket he quickly found the two pronged rubber coated handle, belonging to the gardening shears that Elise had requested. Using his teeth as he stretched his neck, he bit down on the handle of the shears, pulling them out from the lined pocket. Pulling them to his front and placing them on Elise's open hand, "There you go", he said as she grasped them and brought them to the base of the greens.

"Thanks Knight. Ah'm just about done here", she indicated to him as she was able to successfully get rid of the errant blemish from the plant, cutting it off as it fell into the dirt below. Using the back of her wrist, she wiped at her brow, removing some of the sweat and grime that had accumulated. Letting out a grunt as she pushed herself upwards from the ground, back into a standing position she arched her back until she felt a satisfying pop. Sighing in satisfaction she twisted on her heels throwing her arms around in circles, attempting to loosen up the stiff joints. Shaking her tired legs up a bit to get the blood flow back through them, she glance back towards Knight, "Ah' reckon we get tah' feedin' the animals early. "You game there buddy?", she asked as she started to walk out of the medium sized square rows of assorted home grown produce.

"We might as well, seeing as we're already up. I don't have much planned today anyways", he said to her looking out over the farm, slightly giving an indication of being upset in his voice. Elise easily noticing this and deciding in her mind to play with him a little bit.

"Oh yeah. as apposed to what? Ya' got a date planned or something, ah' thought ah' saw you sneaking out at night", she smirked looking back at him as they walked towards the two storage sheds. Knight's eyes slightly widening at the implications she was insinuating, he began to wave a hoof back and forth dismissively as he started to speak in a raised volume.

"Wait, what do you mean sneaking out? I would never leave the farm, especially without your permission!", Knight barked back at her with a hint of hurt betrayal in his voice. Seeing and hearing this the smile on Elise's face fell from mockery, to one of genuine hurt as well.

"Hey hey, Knight ah' was just jokin'. Ah'm sorry i didn't mean to implicate ya', ah' was just teasing", she said as she opened the shed. Standing in front of it as she turned her full attention to him, trying to show him it was all in good fun. He stood there with a look of indignation on his face for a few seconds, before dropping it as his head fell slowly along with his ears. Elise picking up easily that he was sad or solemn about something.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just wound up is all, nothing more I promise", he confided with her at his quick triggered outburst. This exchange quite strange for them, their usual ribbing would always be picked up by the other, yet this had been different. Elise offered a weak smile, still looking at his sad form.

"It's alright, ah' shouldn't have been teasin' when ah' knew ye' were not feelin' well", she gave somewhat of a smile towards him, hoping that it would lighten the dreary mood that had fallen them. She watched him, hoping he would show a sign of getting out of the funk that he was currently in. Though, she had to figure out what had gotten him to that point in the first place, if she was going to try and fix it. She looked around trying to see if the farm would come up with an answer to help out. She used her hand to grab at her wrist, rubbing it slightly, a little tick she had developed when she didn't know how to solve a problem. They stood at the entrance of the shed like that for a period of time they didn't keep track of. Almost coming up with no idea on how to try and cheer up her friend, Elise started to get antsy at the fact that she may not be able to fix their little rut. Until her eyes widened for a second as she stopped rubbing at her wrist, it growing slightly red and irritated form her kneading. A small smile started to from on her face as she looked at her friends face, setting the idea in her mind as she spoke. "Alrighty", she said as she reached around his form, grabbing at the pocketed tools in the makeshift saddlebag, before setting them on their appropriate shelves. Turning back to Knight she kept that smile as she spoke. "Now let's get these chores done early ya' hear, I gots' a plan for the two of us for later", she said with genuine enthusiasm as she clapped her hands together loudly. The motion jolting Knight out of his stupor as he looked around then up to Elise, his face of shock quickly morphed back to flat sadness.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure, whatever you say", he said, not paying full attention to what his caretaker had said previously. Not caring whether Knight had heard what she said decided that it was fine for the moment, only fully putting her attention and drive towards her plan.

"Well then, lets get er' done blue!", she half ordered, half asked at the same time. Knight only giving a slight nod in her direction, his gaze still pointed slightly towards the ground. She walked away from the shed, looking over her shoulder she noted that he still had his head down. Looking forward she gave herself a nod, the aura her friend producing spurring her further to set her plans in motion as soon as possible.

The rest of the morning carried on with a certain dynamic from the two, to any onlooker it was quite a difference of emotions. With Elise at the forefront of all the activity and energy, along with Knight holding up the rear, who only gave a few nods of the head and grunts of approval when talked to. Having this set of emotions, coupled with the early morning start, the pair went on like well oiled machines. The two fell into a rhythm as they worked, a sort of flow that can only be achieved when having worked with someone on the same tasks for sometime. Neither had to speak to tell the other what they were doing, and in turn they kept a great pace, until it had reached a little after the sun was directly above them in the sky. They were both decently coated in a layer of grime and sweat, a great indicator of a hard days worth of work. Elise threw a bale of hay into a neatly stacked pile on the rear end of the barn, at nice pyramid formed shape of bales completing the stack. She huffed in exertion as it fell into place on top of the stack, she herself being stood upon the lower row, a set of pseudo steps being made with the pile. Wiping the sweat that had beaded upon her forehead, she gave out a big breath of air, shifting her attention down to her comrade from her heightened position. Knight himself having kept himself a good distance from the walls of the barn as Elise finished their combined efforts.

"Ah' think that about wraps her up!", she half shouted in elated satisfaction at being able to finish their chores in record time. In her thoughts it had been record time, having only thought of the current time of day being the finish line, not the fact that it had taken them just as long but with an early morning start. Knight held these exact thoughts as he had found himself short of breath, the chores of the farm always giving him a good workout.

"Well, I'm glad I could help again. I think i'm going to go rest for a bit now", he said in a raised voice, having to speak louder from his distance. He then turned on his position and started to move in the direction of the outlying open fields, a quick shout catching his attention from behind him.

"Hold it right there partner!", Elise shouted after him as she jumped down from the mound of hay, breaking into a light jog in attempt to catch up with him before he left. "Ah' thought ah' said we had plans later? It's later so ah' intend to act on those plans of ours!" She said to him with a beaming smile, a smile Knight didn't seem intent on returning at that moment.

"Look Elise, I think I just want to go and rest for a while. By myself...", as he said this not facing her Elise's smile waned for a second, before popping right back into place. She continued to give the smile as she moved to his side.

"Oh come on now, ah' think we both need a little time tah' relax, and we can do it together! What do ya' say blue?" She asked as she delivered a couple reassuring pats to Knight's back. The action startling him and causing him to jerk forward slightly from the force of her hits, remembering how tough Elise actually was in that moment. Knight sighed looking back into her eyes, the face telling him he wouldn't have much of a choice, unless he wanted to tick off Elise. Knight sighed as he turned to face her, his eyes still unsure yet willing to go along with whatever she had planned for the two of them.

"Alright, what did you want to do", he finally relented, thinking it better to just go along her plans, rather than try to ignore her as she was genuinely trying to cheer him up. Elise gave a short holler of excitement as she gave a quick slap to his back, as she began to make her warm towards the farmhouse while walking backwards as she talked.

"Whoo whee, alrighty then! Just let me go in and wash up mah' head from this muck real quick. Oh and uh, keep the saddlebags on, we're gonna' need em' ya' hear?" She told him as she turned back around to walk straight again, moving to a light jog as she marched up the front patio stairs, disappearing into the home as Knight stood there. Knight shook his head as he watched her leave into the large home.

"I will never understand how she seems to function will I?" he asked himself as he slowly trotted himself over to the porch, laying himself upon it's wooden surface as he waited for his caretaker to return. Looking out onto the property, Knight found himself in a deep state of thinking, as he was for most of the morning. His thoughts continued swirling as he heard some slight shuffling and sounds of objects being moved within the home. A couple of more minutes passed before his ears swiveled to the sound of the screen door being pushed open. He turned to see Elise standing there, her hair slightly damp from being washed and cleaned out along her her face being cleared of any dirt or residue. Within her hands she held two small cold packs, a rectangular pouch that he knew to be designed to hold items in a ice cold environment. Elise had used the pouches in the past to hold bottles of water when they had worked out in the summer heat. She moved up to him, still smiling as she held the pouches in her hands, she shook both of them from side to side.

"Mind holding these for me bud?", she said looking down at his prone form, the smile never leaving her face. Knight shook his head as a tiny smile broke upon his face, before disappearing back to straight emotionless, standing up on his fours shifting to the side showing the saddlebags pockets. Elise chuckled as she open the latches in the bigger pockets before sliding in the pouches, being a snug fit they were slightly forced in before being held firmly in place. "Thank ya' kindly! Now shall we be on our way", she ushered as she motioned her hand out to a direction in the southern side of the fields. Knight followed her hand looking out to the direction she was motioning to, his brow furrowing as he looked at the normal tree line. He looked up at her trying to register what she meant, only finding that same smile adorned onto her face.

"I don't get it. What do you mean?", he questioned as he tried to gather an information on what she was trying to tell him.

"Well yer' gonna' have tah' see when we get there now won't cha'?" She chuckled heartily as she walked down the steps of the porch, not seeing if he was going to follow her, knowing full well he would anyways without her inquiry. Knight sighed as he began to follow closely behind as she marched forward towards an unknown to him destination. The walked together, Elise marching with enthusiasm, with Knight followed looking off ahead to the treeline. As they both broke the treeline Elise detoured opposite from the dirt road that lead into the property, opting to push through the weaving trees with outcropping branches. They walked like this for a minute or two before coming along a small ingrained path, the earth having seeming to have been walked through numerous times, creating a walkway deeper into the forest. Without a word Elise started to walk along this path in a normal fashion, making their heading deeper into a part of the forest Knight had yet to see. Deciding not to question to Elise where they were going Knight quickly fell back into keeping up the rear. A few minutes passed as they continued to walk, until suddenly without a word Elise stopped standing still and straight as she possibly could. Knight noticing this immediately slowed to a halt, a quizzical look on his face at what she was doing.

"Elise what's wrong, why did you stop?" He asked as she stood there saying nothing. She stood still for a couple seconds before her hand shot to her forehead, she fell into an about stance, saluting forward at nothing in particular. Knight was even further confused at this action from her, before he could speak she yelled out at an almost screaming level.

"Keepin' in step!" She hollered out in the middle of the forest, startling Knight as he reeled back from her sudden outburst. She turned only her head around to look at Knight, her smile at an almost giddy level. "Left, Right, Left-Go-Right!", she yelled back at him, she continued to smile before she waited staring at him, her expression slightly broken as she winked back at him. Knight's fell into one of knowing watching her display, he let out a chuckle of defeat shaking his head, before his own hooves fell into an about stance his front left hoof coming up into a mirrored salute.

"Left, Right, Left-Go-Left", he said with not the same amount of volume, but the reaction Elise gave to him was enough to let him know she accepted the effort. Her smile seaming to grow an even more greater level of happiness, seeing that her attempt to break his earlier mood began to take shape. With this confirmation Elise faced back forward, starting to march in time with her own cadence that Knight began to call back in tune. She began the call they both had come to know from the top, they began alternating as they marched in synchronization, slightly disturbing any surrounding wildlife.

"Left, right, left-go-right!"

"Left, right, left-go-right!"

"Left, right, left!"

"Left, right, left!"

"Keepin' in step!"

"Keepin' in step!"

"Go left, go left, go left, right!", as the cadence came to it's climax, Knight waited for his leader Elise to announce 'right', as she announced this at the same time he yelled out loudly.

"Dragons!", the cadence soon looped as they sang out again as they both marched, Knight giving a bit more energy as the continued on, a small smile beginning to form on his face. The sound of their foot and hoof falls resonating in tandem as they continued forward to their

----------------------- A Little Bit Later ------------------------

As the duo continued on, the air around them seeming to have changed, there was more conversation coming from between the two. A stark difference from earlier in the day, a few laughs emitting from the conversation as the two continued to walk. The sun having moved slightly towards the west half of the sky, the afternoon having passed an hour or two since they left the farm. Knight laughing loudly as he followed closely next to Elise, the conversation having moving along as Elise recounted tales from her youth.

"So wait wait wait, how did you get kicked out of whatever R.O.T.C was again?", he tried to inquire as he tried to calm his laughter down, but to no avail at the moment.

"Like ah' said, ah' got dared into sneaking to mah' lead officers' office, and slip some more than suggestive material into his desk", she claimed with a air of not caring for what she said she had attempted to do when she was younger. "And ah' would have gotten' away with it, if it weren't for that rat of an ass ranking who caught wind of my prank", she said as she shook her head, pulling a fist up into the sky grumbling before yelling out. "Damn you Leonard!", she cursed to the sky as Knight continued to cackle away at her past experience.

"Oh, that is just amazing, leave it to you to be thrown out in such a stupid way", he remarked as she turned to him with slight irritation, pointing into his face as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"Yeah yeah, keep at it chuckles, and ah'll show you why I was nicknamed 'Big Miss Mean' by my fellow attendees", she lightheartedly threatened to him as she herself let a laugh or two lose, turning her head forward again as her eyes lit up. "Hell yes! We made it bud", she happily announced to her partner as she rushed forward to a large growth of bushes, the mass of greenery blocking Knights sight any further than the wall of plants.

"Huh, this is it?" He openly mocked as Elise's smile was wider than a mile. She huffed as he looked at her like she was out of her mind, moving to the gathering of bushes, and slowly parting them for herself to begin to slip through.

"No! ya' blue pile of ungrateful dung", she said as she shoved the rest of her form through the patch, it completely engulfing her as she disappeared from Knight's sight. He motioned to follow, hesitating as he came to the cusp of the large gathering of bushes. He stood in front of it for a few more moments, before he sighed and began to push his form through after his seemingly crazy friend. Pushing forward he brushed past rough leaves and thin branches for a few feet, before breaking out free from the confines of the foliage, slowly shaking his head and eyes free from and small twigs and leaves that had pulled off and were now stuck to him. As his gaze drifted upwards his eyes widened, along with his jaw opening slightly in genuine surprised shock at the sight before him. Knight watched as Elise was turned to face him as he came out of the break, opening her arms wide as her still present smile stuck to her face.

"Welcome tah' my little oasis blue!" Elise announced as she watched Knight step forward out from the brush, watching as his eyes lit up in amazement, she knew this would have the desired effect she was hoping for. Knight said nothing as he walked slowly up to and slightly past where Elise was standing, taking in the immediate area his jaw hung open. Before the both of them they stood in front a fairly decent sized lake, a kidney bean shape to it, it looked to be completely encompassed in a tree line. The tree line itself only a handful of feat from the waterfront, where upon the opposite side they were standing was a decent sized rock formed beach bed. It's entire picturesque scene completed with near transparent water, which at the moment was still, save for some ripples across the top of the water from the light breeze being let through by the trees. It was also at this moment that Knight took in their current position, as he glanced downward at the near twenty-five foot sheer drop into the deep parts of the lake was held before him. Their place being held up at the top of a cliff face, the cliff ending into s smoothed side of a rock formation that held them high above the water, the surrounding bushes hiding this previous truth until he was too close. Seeing this made him back up a bit at the sheer height he was near to slipping off into below. Once he felt a safe enough distance away, currently standing rubbing near against Elise, he took a greater appreciation for the image that held within his eyes.

"Wow! Holy shit Elise!", he gawked openly in amazement as they stood there. "How did you know about this place, 'when' did you know about this place?", He asked as he turned his head to the slightly smug Elise, knowing full well that her earlier developed plan was working.

"Well, when ah' bought the property from the owner of the land, he let me in on a little secret location of this here hidey hole! So naturally ah' decided to make a trip out here ma'self, and lo' behold, here she is! Ain't she a beaut'?" She asked as she looked into her friends eyes, noticing the color comeback into them as he came out of his earlier funk.

"Absolutely! I've never heard of something this incredible before, let alone see with my own eyes!" He exclaimed as he turned his attention back to the scene before him.

"Yeah well, usually it's better just to take a truck from the nearby dirt road, but ah' thought heck! We don't live too far away, it might have been a little bit of a trek, but ah' think it was worth it!" She admitted as she herself took in the sights, even though having seen the beautiful lake once before, the view still having the power to impress her immensely.

"Definitely!" Knight said with a genuine happiness that had not graced his features in the last two days. Elise smiled as she sighed, turning around and inching her way back into the bushes, speaking as she made her way through.

"Yeah, you keep on gawking, but ah' gotta' hit the little ladies room. Be back in a sec' ", she called back as her form disappeared from where they came through. The only response coming from Knight in the form of a slight head nod and a grunt.

"Yeah uh huh, you do that", he half answered as she made her way back into the shrubs, Knights focus held fast as he continued to drink in every inch of what he could see. He stood there for a minute or two before he heard light rustling come from behind him. The sound enough for him to turn his head in the direction of the bushes behind him, seeing nothing come through immediately as he waited for what he expected Elise to come through. "Had fun back there, took ya long enough 'Big Miss Mean' hehe", he chuckled as the rustling continued but no sign of Elise had yet to show. "Alright come on, you're not gonna get the jump on me with me hearing you from a mile away", he jeered towards the moving bush, attempting to get Elise to stop her teasing, but to no avail. "Come on Elise, just hurry up and get out of the bushes already!" His earlier confidence starting to wane as he got no answer from his friend, his mind starting to race at the possibility if it wasn't really Elise. "Elise, please come out?" His final attempt to get her to come out, not seeming to work, before he moved towards the bush very slowly before the bush stopped moving. He himself halted in his movements, the silence crept for a few seconds to long, he attempted to speak again before a figure burst from the dense foliage and charged towards his direction and past him sprinting.

"Yee Fuckin' Haw!" The figure of Elise yelled out as she bolted past Knights shocked stupor, having only been dressed in a pair of her gray toned women's briefs and soft hold cover bra, her caramel hair being held back in an abnormal ponytail. Sprinting past as she stuck a bare foot out and planted it as she gave one final push, leaping off with a great distance from the rocky edge, hurtling down and tucking in her legs into a cannonball position towards the calm undisturbed water. Hollering all the way down as she connected with the surface creating a great splash of liquid shooting upwards. As he had fallen Knight had rushed to the edge of the cliff, watching after her as she fell, gasping as she hit the water. He waited for a second as he sighed in relief as she re-emerged, taking a breath as she wiped the water from her eyes, laughing and hollering out as she looked up to see Knight stood there shocked still. "What?" she yelled up to him as he stood there bewildered.

"Elise, what the fuck?!" He yelled down at her as he was still trying to comprehend what she just did. "You could have gotten hurt idiot!" He continued to yell down to where she was currently treading water.

"Come on now, ya' think ah' would have done that if ah' knew ah' would have gotten hurt", she yelled back up to him. The only response she got was a look of knowing smirk, to which she in kind gave a middle digit salute right back. She laughed as she called up to him again, "Can ya' do me a favor and toss down the pouch in the right side of yer' bag", she asked him in a shout. Knight looked back at her with a questioning gaze as he did what she had asked and reached behind him to retrieve the secondary cold pack. The other in the left pocket having been used to hold bottles of water for them, as he had discovered earlier when she asked if he was thirsty. Using her teeth he pulled out the secondary cold pack as he looked down at his swimming compatriot, shrugging before whipping his head out letting go of the pack and sending it sailing out a couple of yards. Elise watched it as it sailed towards her, waiting as it slapped down a few feet from her, not worrying as it had begun to float due to the make of the pouch being somewhat buoyant. She wadded over to the pouch and reached out to grab it, holding it close she pulled back the zipper as she procured one of the contents from inside. Elise pulled out a certain type of bottle, with a certain type of liquid held inside, the bottle still cool to the touch. Elise smiled as she still was wadding let the pack float as she zipped it back up, twisting the top off with a pop, and depositing the cap of the brew into her holding bra. Taking a extended drink as she gulped down the liquid, before removing the bottle from her mouth with a satisfying "Ah! That's the stuff!" Knight continued to look down and watch her as he shook his head in disappointment at her display.

"Real classy there Elise, real classy", he remarked as he watched as she used her underwear as a trash collector of sorts.

"Well ah' am a lady after all, ah' gotta stay in proper primp form", she said proudly with a hint of mocking, as she took another generous sip of her drink.

"I'm glad you're having a grand time down there!" He hollered down to her as he shook his head in joking disapproval.

"Whatever, now come on ya' blue sack, it's yer' turn now!" She hollered up to him as she beckoned him down, waving her hand in a 'come on' motion, the other hand still holding onto her beverage of choice. Knight looked at her as if she was genuinely crazy, shaking his hoof back in forth between his face.

"Actually I think i'll sit this one out, thanks for the offer though", he said as he turned to make his way to the shore line below, before the all too familiar sing song voice called out to him from below. The voice calling out like a siren to a sailor on old adventures tales, waiting to bring him to his ultimate demise into a bed of sharp deadly rocks.

"Are ya' sure, not even for a nice cold batch of Jerry's?" At that last word Knight came to a screeching halt, his head turning slightly as he slowly peered back over the ledge.

"What did you just say?" He said all too seriously, any form of joking manner gone from his current face. On the other end, Elise smiled a smugness that had only ever appeared when she knew she had him bested. She didn't say a word as she pulled from under the water, a pristine homemade copper colored bottle. On the side with a plain gray label, that read across 'Jerry's Homestyle Apple Cider'. At a visual confirmation of the bottle Knights eye twitched. "You bitch", he whispered to himself as a slight heat rose through his form. "You said he had made his last batch for the season!" He yelled down at her a genuine irritation, his eye twitch increasing as the seconds went on.

"It 'was' his last batch, but ah' didn't say ah' didn't grab the last two or three that he had!" She smirked up to him, playing and toying with his emotions for his own form of guilty pleasure in liquid form. After a few more moments, Knight slowly backed up while staring her down until she was out of eyesight. Elise chuckled to herself as she wadded back a few feet, knowing full well that the coming splash would be much larger from Knights dense form. All that could be heard was quick hoof falls as Knight came into view, throwing himself over the edge much as Elise had minutes before.

"Haw Fucking Yee!" He yelled out as he fell, tucking all four of his hooves close into his barrel as he plummeted and impacted the water rear first. The splash was immense as even though Elise had taken the precaution of moving away, she was still assaulted by the rush of water, obscuring her view as the water came down upon her. As she wiped the moisture from her eyes she came extremely close to Knights face, the warm air from his breathing hitting against her face. His drenched and matted mane comically over parts of his face, but he wasn't laughing, as the look of ever present death and dread exuded from his eyes. Within an inch of each others faces Knight spoke, "Give me that bottle", he commanded as if it was her life depended on it. Elise took but a moment to recover as she gazed into his very persistent eyes, knowing full well that he got like this with his special drink. She also knew full well that it was her fault originally for getting him scarily addicted to this simple form of apple juice. Elise held her slightly shocked expression before it returned to it's original smugness.

"Fuckin' make me blue", she challenged him as she pressed her forehead into his. Her gaze hardening as well in this tense situation. Knight simply smiled as his teeth bared as if he was a meat eating predator.

"It will be a nice funeral, I promise", the water had settled as the two of them held close. Then, as if the flag had been dropped, the scuffle began. A flurry of arms and hooves inter-tangled with one another as a battle for the bottle held within Elise's grasp waged on. Starting out as a serious fight of shoving and grappling, quickly turned into one of playful roughhousing. Laughter soon fell between the two as they grasped at each other, trying to both one up each other for control of the glass object. They went on like this for a couple more minutes until eventually Knight had successfully wrangled the bottle free from her grasp. "Haha, I'am victorious, kneel before the victor she-witch!" He proudly announced to only them as he happily caressed and held his precious gem close.

"Yea' yea', whatever. It's only because you cheated", Elise accused as she brought her empty bottle that she had topped of and chucked it near the shore, making sure it wouldn't break as it hit the soft grassy area.

"Cheat, how could I have possibly cheated in that situation", he barked at her in their classic bickering style that Elise had oh so missed. She chuckled to herself as she made her way to the shallow parts of the body of water, Knight closely following as the sat in the shallow water.

" 'Cause ya' just did, ya' grouchy blue sack, doesn't matter though ah' need a rest", she huffed out in slight exhaustion at their little wrestling match. Knight and herself fell into a relaxed mood as they both sipped on their respective drinks of choice. Letting the water of the lake soothe them in the now late afternoon sun, they talked a bit about random things as the makeshift swimming day dragged on. Soon Elise's face fell into one of deep contemplation as she looked over at Knight who had topped off the second bottle of cider, she sighed as she decided to talk about what had been on her mind since yesterday. "Yer' scared... aren't ya'?" Elise asked as Knights whole form went rigid at the question, his gaze shifting to her as he saw her serious but soft gaze. He sat there looking at her before his eyes closed as he gave out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah... How did you guess?" He questioned, yet knowing the answer to his own question before hand.

"Well, kinda' obvious with ya' moping around and such buddy. Ah'm sorry yer' nervous ah' am too, but, ah' want ya' tah' know. That no matter what happens, you will always be my best friend, understand? Ah' don't care if mah' own brother doesn't accept you, ah' accept you for who ya' are, and that's all that matters", she told him, a feeling of truthfulness to her words. Knight gave another light sigh as he looked up to her, a small smile creeping onto his face from her comforting words.

"Hehe, thanks Elise. I really needed that, I appreciate everything you've done for me, I mean it", he thanked her as he gave a full genuine smile, the first one that felt like it wasn't forced in days. Elise gave her own smile back as she scooted closer to her compatriot and draped an arm around his neck, pulling him close to her as they sat in their personal little escape hideaway.

"No problem at all good buddy, what are best friends for", she said as they spent another hour or so relaxing in the water. The sun starting to dip late into the sky, with them starting to head back along the way they came. Walking and trotting respectively side by side, bumping into one another playfully as they happily chatted all the way back to the farm. A new confidence washing over them as they continued on, prepared for the newcomer to make their way to the 'Marsh Family Farms'.

------------------ Elsewhere Earlier That Day ------------------

The plane had landed in the state's international airport, being guided safely by the control tower. The intercom system being heard by the figure as they pulled their earplugs out as the plane was taxied into the terminal.

"---we will be arriving at the gate momentarily. Please remain in your seats with your seat belt securely fastened until the aircraft has come to a complete stop at the terminal gate. The staff including myself would like to thank you for flying with us today. Have a great rest of your trip ladies and gentlemen!"

The figure stood up as they went to receive their luggage from the overhead above their seat. Retrieving their bag they turned into the aisle as they made their way through the aircraft. They passed the flight attendants and the pilot who had made his way to the side exit and was waving to people wishing them goodbyes as they left the plane. Without much acknowledgment the figure nodded their head as they made their way through the raised unloading platform into the airports open windowed terminal, the figure made it about a minutes walking distance before the sound of running and shouting could be heard from behind them.

"Miss! Miss I think you dropped this!" The figure turned around to see a young man, about in his mid twenties rush up to them before stopping in front of them huffing in quick breaths. Dressed in a business suit the man took another few quick breaths as he looked at the figure holding up to what had seemed to be a wallet of sorts. "It was left where i saw you were seated. Sorry if i'am wrong but you're Miss--", the man stated as he opened the wallet to peer inside. The picture of the figure held within on their drivers license, as he searched for the name to identify the figure his eyes scanned over the info, and paused upon gazing upon the information of the individual. Freezing as he held the identification, glancing between the two, before the figure grabbed the wallet and whilst looking at the man deposited the wallet in their back pocket. A smile had graced their face at the situation the kind man had found himself in, as the figure gave his hand a gentle shake with both of his soft hands.

"June! June Marsh, thanks so much hun! That was really sweet of you, see you around maybe?" They said as they gave the man a wink as they turned on their heel and walked away with a sort of swaying strut as the man stood there stock still in the middle of the tiled airport terminal.

"...That was a guy..."

Chapter 3 End

Author's Note

Oh man, that was something! I really had a set plan and direction for this chapter, then it kinda spiraled away from me, yet i had so much fun the entire time! I'll keep this brief in the fact that this took it out of me. I'm having a blast create this little story of mine as i continue on, plus it really lets me try out this new type of setting and themes.

And the peices are falling into place, we finally got a little glimpse of June! He will be something that a good friend of mine came up with, and i'm taking him in a direction that I will try to give the best love and care for... Along with some more great times with our awesome duo, Knight and Elise! They are my huge joy to write right now...

Anyways the next chapter will probably take a little bit longer to come out due to the fact that i'am creating from scratch as i go from here on out, though i have set plans for things that are going to happen. How we get there, nobody knows, but hopefully it won't be filled with as much grammatical and sentence structure trash! One could hope!

Also I would love any form of critique and or support, as it gives me my fuel, whether good or bad to keep this adventure going! Thank you all to who are reading along, I appreciate you so much!.......

Fine fine, you convinced me... Next Chapter Title Preview!

Coming Soon

--------------- It Rained Today ---------------