Sibling Rivalry

Inigo watched quietly as his sister went through her stretching routine to prepare for the day.  Hoofball had been a large part of her life and still was, according to the updates they sent back and forth, and while he didn’t get why there was such a big importance about warming up for the day, he didn’t question the superstitions of his sister.  He had his own after all and time around family was better spent actually with family and not questioning things that didn’t harm anyone in the long run.  He gave his sister a quizzical look as she finally shook herself and grabbed her scarf off the hanger next to her door.  She used a bit of her magic to settle it around her neck and then readjusted her posture and gave a grin back at her brother.

“How long are you in town for this time?  Last time you passed through barely saying hi.”  She stuck her tongue out at Inigo, obviously just lightly joking with her sibling.  She opened the door, and stepped out, Inigo following quietly behind her.  He had chosen to leave his standard attire in the house this time, not wanting to spook too many others in daylight at least.  Skulls sometimes sent the wrong message after all, and his sister was popular in town.

“I think, a few days this time?”  Inigo answered quietly, as was his own standard.  As kids, they were equally curious and full of questions, but time had differentiated them to opposite sides of the social spectrum.  He much preferred the calm and quiet of the forests and his wandering, and Buttercup thrived more in the cities.

“So enough time to have a nice night in with board games, and story swapping!”  Buttercup seemed pleased with this news, and her ears perked forward.  “We’ll need to head out shopping though.  I only have enough for myself, wasn’t expecting the company, welcome though as it is.”

Inigo nodded, not looking forward to the crowds, but following along.  His hooves dragged a little, knowing exactly what kinds of things his sister would be buying.  Buttercup liked spicy foods, and while he could tolerate the heat, the amount of spice she added needed to be watched, lest she burn his tongue off.  He side eyed Buttercup, and then sighed a little in resignation, to which she laughed.

“I’ll be careful not to overspice the food, I promise.  Festival’s over, and I’ve had my share of spicy food for now….”  Her voice trailed off as she started to grin.  “Seeing as you don’t like crowds, how about we race to the market?  You go one way, and I go another, and we meet up at the fish market?”  Buttercup snerked a little as Inigo’s pace picked up slightly.

“You’re on.  It’s been awhile.”  He started plotting out his route to the fish market, ears tilting to discern the right direction to take.  As if on cue, both siblings spoke in unisom.

“Three, Two, One, GO!”  They both started off at a dash through their chosen directions.

Inigo pulled left into a side street.  He had heard only minor scurrying in this direction, which meant mostly smaller critters would be in the way.  If he timed his jumps well, they’d be no problem at all.  The cobblestones were more slippery than he was used to, and while he had taken a few corners with ease, the speed he had been maintaining, slid him side long into a barrel.  The barrel wobbled, spilling rain water around the area, before settling, and leaving a dry spot where it had been.  Inigo stood, shook himself off from the minor drenching and took a couple of limping steps back into the race, this time trying to account for cobblestones, and watching his speed around turns.

Buttercup took off straight ahead, at a trot.  Her paces were long enough to not need as much speed this race, but being careful would be a boon.  She was used to the cobblestones, and the morning shoppers weren’t all awake quite yet, but the streets were still more or less busy with Enivi heading out to jobs, and putting out the street lights.  A cart pulled by a small Lunaesi started to pull out in front of her and she balked, taking a forced break as they passed across the street.  She felt she could have jumped over the cart, but also didn’t want to cause trouble for the Enivi pulling said cart to wherever they were going.  She picked her trot back up easily, this time dodging the morning traffic without any hassle on her way to the fish market.  The home stretch came into view and there wasn’t any sign of her brother yet.  She slipped into more of a power walk, savoring the victory in her mind, before a flash of orange picked up the pace next to her.

“Counting chickens are you?”  Inigo’s voice spoke quietly, but with a touch of a smug note as he pulled ahead.  Not to be outdone, Buttercup launched into a canter, attempting to outpace her brother.  He also picked up speed, taking bounding, almost jumping strides to keep up with his sister.  The pair continued on the race, both arriving at the fish market with rather delighted grins on their faces.  Spying an Enivi sitting and watching them from one of the stalls, Buttercup gave a smile.

“Did you see who won?”