Well, today was certainly not going very well, not at all. He'd lost all his spare coin in his wild betting today and it wasn't even all that dark yet! His horse? A valiant steed stripped of all his adornments. Those too had been lost. First, the bridle, then the saddle, even the gorgeous little tassels! All that was left was the handsome, dappled beast himself. Well, that and a dirty, old halter and rope he'd found to take him home with. For this, he was forced to walk, and Zane truly wished he were capable of kicking himself for it.
Light was fading quickly, and he still had such a long way to go. Miles to walk, miles to berate himself for his stupidity. Before he knew it, it was practically pitch black. Plodding along, he patted his stallion's neck. The creature just snorted at him before lipping at the hood of his cloak, as if to tell him he had no need for it. "Ugh, fine, fine," he grumbled, sweeping the thing back to rest at his shoulders.
Soon, the road was hitting a bit of a rocky spot and, by the feel of it between the soles of his boots, was filled with little potholes. "Careful, Riley, it's all messed up here," he warned, though he knew the horse was just going to do whatever he wanted anyway.
Suddenly, though, the stallion spooked. Throwing his head up and snatching the rope cruelly from Zane's hand in the process, the horse snorted, huffed, and showed the whites of his eyes as he stared at something just off the road. Snapping his wrist about, wringing his hand in pain, the young man yowled as he reached out again for the animal. "Steady, boy! What is it, hm?" He watched, but the horse didn't move his gaze away.
Turning, he stared intently out into the darkness, but he saw nothing. "Boy, I...I don't know what got you, but, come on. No, come on! Oh, for goodness sake!" The stallion was ignoring him and cautiously walking over the outcropping that Zane had missed. Letting the horse sniff about as he would, he just stood there waiting with crossed arms, tapping away at the packed dirt with one foot. "We don't have all night, can we please get going?"
The stallion sniffled and snorted at the girl he'd found. After a few moments of blowing hot air at her face, he began lipping at her hair, curious if she would move as he nudged at her.