「 meet me in the woods 」— open.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 375px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7pt; line-height: 1.5;"]･ﾟ✧ — Check martingale. Tighten girth. Hold onto the reins. Ellie stood in the barn, fussing over Juniper carefully as she followed the instruction she'd been given so many times from more experienced riders. At her time at the Lodge, she slowly but surely began to learn the ways of horsemanship, though riding was one of her last priorities due to the abysmal weather conditions over the especially harsh winter time. But, as she peered out of the open barn door, the day appeared to be kind to her today. With the other horses taken out to pasture, Juniper the elderly mare was the last in the barn, being prepared to be ridden out by the young blonde woman. After all, the more experience Ellie could get, the better.

Climbing into the saddle, she wriggled her hips until she felt comfortable in the seat before urging the mare to walk onward. For the time being, Ellie was smart enough to know that Juniper was the best choice of horse to start out riding with. The chestnut mare was calm and collected, gentle and difficult to spook - the mare had seen it all in her long lifetime, and she was the perfect mentor for Ellie. Cinders would have been another good choice if the mare wasn't pregnant, and Buchanan if he wasn't so strong. Leonidas and Ringo were two stallions that Ellie knew would take some time before she could gain the courage to try ride them. Ringo was cheeky, but Leonidas was completely unruly and green.

Juniper trod onward, hooves shoveling snow aside as she wandered. Ellie's body shuddered, the cold biting as her face as her nose and cheeks flushed a rosy shade of pink. The more she'd hack out through the forest, the more this Lodge began to feel like home to her. She'd only been at the Lodge for three months, but she already had a feeling that this was where she belonged. After spending years trying to find her place somewhere in the world, it seemed as if she'd finally found it. Juniper bobbed her head as she walked passed the Lodge slowly, on her way towards the forest. And, Ellie couldn't help but feel pride swirl within her.

[tomorrow]

JUST STANDING WAITING FOR THE PUNCHES

Tomorrow had lived with the Lodge for the better part of three, fourish months? He'd spent the majority of the winter on the mountainside with these people, so it was safe to say he was much more comfortable here than he had been when he first arrived. He was no longer a stuttering, uncertain mess; he was now just a stuttering mess. Progress.

He sat back on the steps leading up to the Lodge's front door, contentedly watching Jeremiah frolic in the snow. He'd spent a lot more time indoors lately, so he was happy to spend a bit of time enjoying the outdoors; despite the snow and general cold, he liked it out here much more than inside the Lodge.

He blinked, hearing the tromping hoofbeats that signaled the approach of someone on horseback. He tensed, reaching for his rifle momentarily before seeing Ellie riding one of the older mares. He was vaguely aware she was attempting to learn how to ride better, and to him that was a good skill to learn. He ought to learn how to ride better as well, but he'd been busy as of late and didn't have much time for it.

"Going for a walk?" Tomorrow asked, standing up and stretching as she passed. He jogged over to her to properly greet her, Jeremiah wandering behind him in a way that implied he was following but also extremely distracted by digging up the snow to find sticks.