Horses, Shinies, and Silly Things

[FennWenn]

Fenn was going to steal shiii-nies, Fenn was going to steal shiii-nies…

Parting his way through the brindled grass around the house, Fenn could still hear an echo of Jake's silly spiel by the time he reached the stables. There was a padlocked gate in the way, and then a padlocked door, but neither were a real match for Fenn. What were locks, other than ways for people to try and keep him out of interesting places? And nothing kept Fenn out of interesting places. With a pair of sturdy copper bobby pins pulled out from the fluffy whisps of his hair, the locks fell to the excitable thief's practiced hands.

Once inside, he wandered down the aisle on light feet, hoping to avoid spooking the horses. Without a slavering direwolf around, horses were far less skittish creatures, it seemed. One mare gave a soft whicker as it leaned over to snuffle the little Fae's frosty hair curiously. An unheard giggle welled up inside Fenn as he surveyed the inhabitants in their stalls.

Jake wanted one of the tinier horses, right? Yearlings.

There were a few spindly, bright-eyed creatures that were small enough to be yearlings, kept together in a larger stall at the rear of the building. One was sort of gold-whitish in color, one had a reddish tinge to the gold-white, one was just a creamy-ish white, and the other was kind of black-spotted on top of the gold-white. Both paced their confines with a boundless, impatient energy. They would probably do.

With a shrug, the boy unlatched the stall gate and peered in. The four yearlings perked up and peered at the stranger in their midst. There were supposed to be eleven of these, right? Maybe the mean merchant had sold some off already. Maybe they were elsewhere. Oh well — so long as Jake was able to get one, he guessed it'd be fine. Fenn tapped his chin and pushed the gate open a little further, thinking hard. Jake just sort of led the horses out last time. But how was he to get them out? Use a rope? Ride them like Daugi? Make those click-y noises with his mouth? Before he could come to a satisfactory conclusion, the boy was knocked flat on his rump as the yearlings made a wild bid for freedom and galloped out of their stall. Whump! went the door as it smacked him upside the chin, knocking him off his feet.

The boy's mouth dropped into a little circle of surprise as the little horses bolted out of the open stables and paddock, whinnying gladly all the way.

Oh dear. Stealing horses was not the same thing as stealing food or shinies. Fenn dazedly clambered back to his feet, brushing dirt and straw off of his clothes. That would have to do, he supposed. At least the horses were out of the stables now. And he hadn’t even had to do anything to get them out! Jake could probably catch them later, since he appeared to be a sort of magic horse whisperer. Right?

Fenn rubbed the bruise forming on his chin. His greedy green gaze glanced between the giddy runaway yearlings, and the door to the inside of the house. It was right where Jake said it would be.

He could probably still spare a moment to rummage through, if he was quick…

An unconcerned grin lighting up his face, Fenn pulled out his picking pins and set to work on the door. Shinies ahoy!