Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Emma hopped off the bus once it arrived at the Starbucks. The blonde was in need of a pick me up before she headed to the barn to ride. Once she opened the door, she realized that the place was quieter than normal - wondering where everyone was. After a few steps, she reached the counter and placed her order. She stepped off to the side as they made her iced passion tea lemonade.
The barista had her iced drink to her within minutes, Emma thanking the woman and heading off to an empty table. She set her drink on the table and swung her backpack gently off of her back and on the floor beside her. Emma sat down and pulled out her required reading, which was McBeth from Shakespeare. She found old English difficult, as it was her second language and there were things she still didn't understand.
She quickly got herself lost in the book, not realizing it when she heard someone approach her table.
There was nothing wrong with having Starbucks for breakfast, right? While Nash didn’t drink coffee he loved a good slice of lemon loaf, or whatever cakes were being displayed at the counter, and hot chocolate as a way to start his day. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that early anymore but he had slipped out of the house as soon as the coast was clear and was in dire need of food right now.
He looked around the cafe cheerily as he waited for his purchase and spotted Emma sitting at one of the tables completely absorbed and caught up in a book. Items clutched in hand he made his way over, a grin tugging slightly at the corner of his lip, ”Spoiler alert, all the Mac’s die one way or another." Did he read it? No, not all of it but he had a brother who excelled in English and literature so whenever he needed to know anything book related he’d just casually inquire Stephen about it. It was a hell of a lot easier than googling it and it came in words he actually understood. Win-win situation.
Nash smiled, letting his playful and mischievous eyes do the talking as usual, ”Please don’t tell me reading books in public places is like an indulgence for you?”
Old English was one of Emma's hatred topics. She struggled with English enough as it was, let alone the different spellings and meanings of the words. The blonde finally set down the book, pulling out her notebook and pencil case - setting it on the table in front of her.
She looked over to see who would be joining her, smiling softly as Nicholas approached her. "You know, thanks for spoiling the play for me." Emma shook her head, glad someone seemed to understand the language and meaning of the seemingly old text. She picked up her pen and began writing a list of words she didn't quite understand - wanting to ask Cara once she got back to Blue Acres.
"Is reading not considered cool anymore? No, I am trying to get ahead before show season starts." The teenager was slowly starting to get her assignments ready to hand in - not wanting to fall behind once her weekends were busy with riding her horses. "Did you want to have a seat? How have you been lately?" She glanced over at the other teen, realizing that he wasn't there to study as she didn't see a backpack or any book on him.
”Oh, come on,”, he smirked, ”don’t tell me you expected all of them to survive? it’s Shakespeare after all, more than half of all his characters kick the bucket somehow.” Christ, something was definitely wrong with him, here he was trying to get away from grief and graveyards and death in general and all he found himself talking about was just exactly that.
Nash spotted the list of words. Ah, right. She was not a native speaker and even to him those words were rubbish half of the time. They really needed to update pretty much half of all the books in the school library to more modern standards if it was up to him. ”Nah, reading is still plenty cool but those old books are boring as heck. They need some modern touches, imagine MacBeth walking around with a mobile phone, maybe he even read about his prophecy on instagram”. Wicked, right?
Emma asked him if he wanted to sit down and Nash put his drink and cake, that was now crumbling into the napkin, onto the table. He grabbed the chair across from her, turned it around and sat down. i’m alright, you?” There was no way he was going to give her the truth. ”Tell me more about this show season?”
"Uhm, no? I was kind of hoping it would be a happy one." The teen had far too much optimism for someone who as a baby watched her father kill her mother. Though she didn't remember, it came back to her in pieces through her nightmares. "Have you read all of them?"
Emma laughed softly, knowing she definitely didn't fit in with the cool kids. She would much rather spend her free time after school with her horses, or on the football field. The blonde hadn't been invited to any parties yet either, except ones with the rest of the team. "It would be cool, though something about learning how they spoke back then is pretty cool. I hear there are modern movie adaptations, though?" Sure she was currently struggling through it, but there was an unknown beauty to the language. Her foster sister, Cara had done a great job helping her out when she needed it.
"Same, pretty tired though. I've been having a hard time falling asleep." She shrugged her shoulders. It was something she was used to by now, her incarcerated father haunting her dreams. "Oh, do you not know what show season is? I ride horses competitively like many other people in town. It tends to start in the Spring, so I'm trying to get ahead before my weekends are spent either showing horses or playing football." She explained, as she set the pen down on the notebook in front of her.
Nash’ eyes started to glint as a chuckle escaped him, ”I’d suggest ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ if you want something happy?” Shakespeare had never been merry or fortunate to him, then again, he didn’t really like to read anyways. He had no patience for books and the fear of missing out on anything fun always won out. ”Um, no..” he admitted, ”I read the ones I have to?”or just google the summaries. Some were more important than others especially if they turned out to be test questions, ”Or I ask my brother, Stephen is like a walking dictionary. Did you read all of the ones on the list?”
There were modern movie adaptations? Interesting, something to look into if he ever needed to know more about one of those time period books again. ”I’d lose the plot if we all spoke the way they did back then” It was tiring just to think about that….wait….did people back then think in Shakespearian English too?! Mind blowing stuff.
He could relate to being up later than needed but Nash wasn’t going to say that out loud even if his eyes probably gave away that there was more behind his next words than he was admitting. ”Sleep is for losers anyways” he opted for, hoping he would make the girl feel better by making her smile or laugh. When in doubt, always resort to humour, that was his motto anyways. ”But it does suck…not being able to sleep” he added, not wanting to come across as a complete careless prick.
Oh, he knew what show season was, alright. His other brother Maverick was the one into horses and riding. He was pretty good at it too until the accident and Nash hoped the boy could go back to things the way they were before. ”Yea, I know what it is, my brother Mav rides too but figured every rider has a different approach to it? You excited?” And football, now she was talking! ”You play football? That’s ace! I love playing but mostly just kicking the ball around and watching matches” he shrugged, drama class mostly took up all of his time to invest in being on a sports team as well.
"What's wrong with Winnie the Pooh anyway? I think I've had my fair share of sadness and sorrow." She shrugged her shoulders. Books and reading took her to a different world - one where her father didn't kill her mother and where she hadn't been abandoned by her first foster family. "Oh good, I haven't read them all either. Except the ones that I have to read because of school." She didn't want to admit to reading outside of school, in case it wasn't considered cool. "Ah, you have a smart sibling too? Is Stephen still in school?" Emma was forever grateful she had Cara as a sister - even though she wasn't biologically related.
Emma laughed softly, agreeing with Nash. "I feel that way sometimes when someone speaks English period." She was much better about understanding it compared to when she first arrived. "Can you not sleep either? I do wish the ghosts haunted us during the day. I'd do anything for a solid nights sleep." She sighed, not wanting to admit anything more. It required more of a friendship than they had. "Two brothers? How many do you have anyway? Yeah, I'm excited. It's something I really look forward to after a long Winter. I hope my three horses enjoy it too." She was worried it would be her last season with Dakota, though she hadn't had a discussion with her family yet about what their plans were with him.
"I'm on the school team and I play midfield. Do you watch professional teams or have you come to watch a school game?" She took a sip of her lemonade before setting it back down.
He snorted in an understanding way as he leaned forward and nodded, ”Yea, alright. Good point” he told the girl across from him. ”Maybe if we all read some more stories that took place in The Hundred Acre Wood the world would be a much happier place?” Life could be tough and Nash figured he needed to be lucky even though the events at home and the aftermath of it all were rough at the moment but he still needed to count his blessings for having a family and for having known his mum as long as God had intended it to last. Maybe things at home would get better? At some point…someday.
Emma had obviously dealt with plenty in her life up until now too, her body language and words about sorrow and ghosts at night only emphasized it. Nash wondered if he should just out right ask her about it or just slightly get a feel for how far he could take it. He’d usually just spat out whatever he wanted to ask but somehow this felt like a different citation. He was an idiot, yes, but no fool. ”Some people really get dealt a shitty hand in life, don’t ya agree?”
”Stephen’s at Oxford!” he beamed before twisting his lips, ”Well, he was…he’s home now but I’m sure he’ll go back at some point.” Nash wasn’t sure about that at all but he really did hope so for his older brother, the one Breckah who was certain to go places if fate didn’t go and mess things up as it seemed to be doing so at the moment. ”You have a ‘smart’ sibling too?” he wondered as he laughed while airquoting the word smart. ”What does that make us?”
Nash took a bite of his lemon loaf and grinned, not caring if his mouth was still full or not, ”Your English is pretty good though, what’s your native language anyways?” It wasn’t French or Spanish, that much he could tell. He question about his brothers made him laugh even more and he quickly swallowed the rest of his food before he chuckled it all out, ”Two, God, I wish I only had two. I have six older brothers….and a younger one. I’m sure you’ve seen some of them around school?”
”Woah, horses and football, you’re pretty active!” Dang, this girl kept busy for sure. ”I watch most of the footie on TV during the weekend and I’ve watched some school games. Oh, and any sports game my younger brother Creven plays”Well, he used to. Before.”I mostly hang out in the auditorium? he shared
"One would hope. Though I know more than most people that the World can be a cruel place." Which is why when she had free time to read that wasn't something required by her teachers to read - she often chose something happy. Anything to distract her from her nightly nightmares. She set down her pen and nodded. "Though I feel like it wouldn't be life without some challenges though, right?" It was her weird way of thinking positively. She was lucky that the ghost of her past was locked up for life and that she had a wonderful foster family who took her in when she needed it most. "Wow that's impressive. Is he taking a break from it now?"
Emma laughed softly, finding his joke funny. Cara often told her that her intelligence was a blessing and a curse. "Not the dumb sibling, if that's what you mean. The creative ones, maybe?" Though the Arts of any kind weren't her strong suit either but that was the first thing she came up with. "Thanks. I started learning in school and I've learned a lot since moving here. I grew up speaking German." She was thankful that Cara also spoke her native language - being able to practice and keep it up. "Yikes, all boys? I don't want to know how messy your house is." Part of her wanted more siblings, but Cara and Casey made her feel at home.
"Maybe? I'm pretty young myself if your brothers are older than you." Other than being in class, she often went home right after - not wanting to spend much time at the school unless she was necessary. "It's pretty fun. Keeps my mind busy though I only play football in the Spring and Summer." Which made it more difficult to decide on which horse shows to do, though it was really only until June - which is when School started their holidays. "Do you do any Sports?" She looked over at her book and continued to read the Shakespeare passage.
"That's nice. Do you usually watch the men's teams though?" She hadn't seen him around, though the women's team didn't get many fans out to watch - if her entire family had time - they often came out and watched her. "So, you do plays then?"
Nash shifted in his seat as he looked over his shoulder back at the display full of sugary goods and contemplated getting another loaf of the lemon cake. He really needed to start eating breakfast at home again if he wanted to save up on money, but it would mean sitting down with hs family and he wasn’t sure he was up for that most mornings. Money was a thing at home at the moment even if he knew his brothers were trying to keep that piece of information from him and Creven. He knew Stephen and Mav had been using their own; trying to scrape together anything to pay the bills. Derek even sent money over as well and Keith had been helping in his own way.
”Yea, the world doesn’t seem to take feelings into consideration, right?” Nash had no idea what Emma had gone through but by the way her words carried the emotion it was definitely something traumatic and heartbreaking. ”That sounds like some hot motivational quote but I guess you could be on to something?” He really didn’t see all this as a challenge but more as a ‘your life will never be the same again, so get used to it’-kind of thing.
Nash nodded when the girl asked if his brother was taking a break from his studies. It was easier to just acknowledge that instead of going into everything that had led to this point. ”Creative….” The fifteen year old pretended to be pensive, ”I like it, I like it. Maybe we are the smart ones after all? Languages are definitely a creative way of expressing yourself. I only know the big car brands in German,..” he said before he started ticking off a few on his fingers, ”...ya know, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz”
”Ah, okay, yea they are all older besides my youngest brother…obviously” Gee, well spotted, Breckah. ”Mess is a lifestyle you have to commit to” he joked, things were definitely more chaotic and less organized now that mum wasn’t there anymore. ”That’s cool, probably smart too before the field gets all moist and wet. I will have to come check it out sometime.” He looked at the book that Emma was eyeing again and nodded, ”Hmm, we’re actually working on Hamlet at the moment, can’t escape Shakespeare anywhere these days it seems.”
Emma watched as Nash was glancing over at the bakery case. She wasn't sure what it was about, maybe he was hungry? Thanks to her family, she could never forget to eat. With both of her sports she was always hungry - though she knew she was lucky with the family situation she was in. "Are you hungry?" Emma was going to offer to buy him a snack, though she didn't know how he would feel about it.
"I mean, there are happy moments though. I'm learning to let the emotions appear as they want." Emma shrugged her shoulders, she tried not to cry in public but bottling her emotions wasn't helpful either. It was a tough act to balance. "I guess I've watched too many shows where people get therapy." Actually, Cara was full of idioms like that so she was used to hearing it. "You do know there is a difference between smarts though right?" Yes, school was important but you learned a lot by having experiences as well. "Definitely not an easy language to speak but neither is English. Though I imagine acting in plays isn't easy either?"
She wrote down some ideas for her essay as they came to her, still listening to Nash as he continued on. "Well that's a good start. Most people only know the bad words." Emma laughed, it was something anyone wanted to learn when they heard someone spoke more than one language. "All of my siblings are older, though there are younger family members as well." Their family was a bit complicated, though she was the youngest sibling out of the three of them. "Is it nice not being the youngest?"
Emma shook her head, she couldn't imagine her room being a mess. She tried her best to keep her room clean so that Cara wouldn't feel she needed to clean her room for her. "I like knowing where my things are." Losing her homework wasn't something she wanted to do if she could help it. "That and it's when the competitions start for Eventing so I find it hard to juggle both sports." Her practices tended to be during the week and then she usually had a game on the weekends, which left just enough time to ride her horses. "The game schedule is online on the school website, so whenever works for you." Usually, it was her family that ended up being her cheer squad during games. "Fun! What character are you playing?"
”Hmm?” He wondered almost in surprise as the girl asked if he was hungry, nobody ever really asked him that. Food was a necessity, preferably at any moment in time and he knew he had his head stuck in the fridge at home way too often, just rather not when the tension was extremely high. ”I’m always hungry," he laughed and pointed to the crumbs on the table, ”but that was breakfast, I’ll be good and wait for lunch.” If it was up to Nash he could eat all day, maybe it was the fact that he was a growing teenage boy or maybe it was just boredom. "Couldn’t you just eat all day?” he grinned at Emma, not sure if he would understand or not.
The words that followed were ones that struck Nash as he didn’t expect them. This girl was smarter on a different level, maybe emotionally wise was more important than being booksmart. ”Dang, yea..” he said, at a loss for words since he was nowhere near that point yet with his own emotions from the tragedy at home. ”Stop being so smart early in the morning” he joked, it was easier than not knowing what to say but he was impressed all the same. ”Plays are fun though? I dunno, I guess I find that easier than history or math class”
”Yea?” he grinned, probably having been the one reciting the bad German words if he actually knew any. ”Teach me one so I can pretend I speak German?” Nash asked before he snorted and scowled, ”Being the second youngest out of eight doesn’t really make a difference, they still refer to us as ‘the babies’.” Older brothers could be a blessing as well as a curse at times. ”Oh! I’ll definitely check that out, would be fun to watch some action going on” Nash would make time either way, anything beat being at home. ”No role yet, Mr. Gallagher is putting on the auditions soon”
"Isn't that a guy thing? I definitely know if I eat way too much food, I'll get sick." She was also now used to having access to so much food, she wouldn't ever be hungry. Cara did most of the cooking and everything she ate was gourmet now - she got a stomach ache just thinking about it. "Nope, honestly some days I'm too busy to eat. Blame my athletic lifestyle." She shrugged her shoulders, food was something she needed to fuel her body and nothing more.
Emma let out a laugh, clearly her foster sister was starting to rub off on her. "Sorry, I do live with someone as smart as Stephen Hawking. She is rubbing off on me. You do understand what I mean though right?" She was becoming more and more confident with her English. "Are you in the school play this year? Or do you do it on the side?" She tried to be interested in all the subjects, but Gym class with Miss Cassandra was by far her favorite. "I'm not teaching you bad German. Ich heisse Nash would be my name is Nash. It's always a good place to start." She didn't understand why people wanted to know the bad words in each language - it was much more interesting to learn other words.
"See your parents love all of you. I'm the youngest. Do you feel they give you enough attention though?" She had been on different ends of the spectrum with her various foster placements - though living with the Thorne-Clarke crew was by far the best. "The game times are usually on the school website." It was obvious to tell between the home and away games, so she didn't need to explain that to Nash. "Oh fun, what do you think of him? I don't have him for any classes."
”Wow, too busy to eat?” Was being always hungry really a guy thing then? Nash couldn’t remember ever getting sick because of eating too much food. Oh wait, he could, but it had been on candy floss at some local fair he attended with his family. Him and Crev had eaten so much of the sugary stuff that they had both been sick to their stomachs for the rest of the evening. Good times. Man, he missed those days with his younger brother. ”Maybe I really need to start working out more too?”
As smart as Stephen Hawking? Damn, sounds interesting! My smartest brother is just Stephen Breckah” he replied, the irony in it all making it funny, even though Stephen really was the smartest of them all when it came to academics. ”But yea, I get what you mean. I’ll definitely be in the play, just hoping for the lead this time around.” He had a very important supporting role in the Christmas production but now it was time to shine again in hopefully the title role. ”Ich heisse Nash” he tried and grinned, knowing he sounded nowhere near a native speaker. ”Thanks, Emma. Now all I have to do is fly to Germany and try it out.”
”You come from a big family too?” There was enough attention alright, if it wasn’t from his father or oldest brother who was terrorizing their family, it was from teachers and school counselors. ”Yea, no worries, there are a lot of us” he said, it was easier than explaining what had happened to his mother last year. ”I’ll definitely come to cheer you on then” the promise was a good way to not have to continue the conversation about families. ”Yea, Mr. Gallager is cool as long as he doesn’t start to pry or make you stay after class to rehearse lines for the audition”
"You aren't the only one to give me that look. I'm lucky my sister makes sure I take something to eat while I'm on the go." If it was a riding lesson or a hack, she could easily stop at the house for a snack or a quick meal before she got her horses ready. "Isn't acting enough of a workout?" She knew she wasn't into theater, but she knew how much physical and mental work it was from watching the school plays.
Her eyebrow raised at the mention of his brother. "The name sounds familiar. What year is he in?" Maybe he went to the same school as them. "Nice, what play are you guys doing this year? I might have to come buy tickets." She knew for their English class, they sometimes required them to write a report on the school play. "You'll get there. It's not an easy language, though honestly neither is English." Most people who wanted to learn German from her wanted to know swear words, though it wasn't something she wanted to teach - so she avoided it. "You may need to know more than that before you fly over." The blonde let out a laugh. It was a good place to start though.
"Right now yes. I have a sister and a brother." Growing up however, she was an only child, which required quite a bit of adjustment. "Are you the youngest then?" There were younger children in their home too, though they weren't her siblings. "Thanks, I look forward to it." Emma gave a smile and a nod - always glad to have a few more people to cheer her on. "He teaches drama, right? I think I'd rather have a teacher who pries or makes you stay later. Is he your favorite teacher?"
