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!.
It took a lot of research, ugly threats, and coffee, but the young woman had finally figured out where one of her half siblings lived. She was still trying to get her head wrapped around the idea of having half siblings, well, unknown half siblings. Ones that were not poisoned against her and looking for a fight or a knife to stab her in the back with. The briefest thought of Santiago and Nino brought a bitter taste to Perdita Delgado-Orte-wait, no, Perdita Delgado-Vaughn, that's what she was called now. How close they had been when they were younger, but people sowed ugly thoughts into their minds and corrupted them against her. Perhaps if they hadn't been so stupid, she would have never made her moves to take over the family. Maybe she could have sat in the back like a good little supporter. Voicing the idea out loud sounded stupid, things would have still repeated.
Besides, that wasn't what mattered now. What mattered was that she was stuck in this little horse & sheep town with her cousins. And while they were aware of her, this brother was not and Perdita aimed to change that. The Vaughns were a mystery to her - she only had letters to go off of from her mother to her apparent father. Reading all of those letters, everything made sense as to why so many in the Ortega were against her. Not only was she the product of a cheating wife, she was the product of someone who wasn't even from Spain. The nerve. Shaking her head, she cleared her thoughts as her vehicle approached Blue Arces Stables. She needed a clear mind for this, Perdita knew she was about to swing a sledge hammer into Grey Vaughn's world and the young woman was determined to not be thrown out of it.
Stepping out of her car, brown chocolate eyes looked around before spotting what she needed. A car and trailer - the young woman was certain that it was an animal trailer retrofitted to accommodate a human. It was so strange and a frown couldn't help but to set on her face. This was the kind of offspring her birth father generated? Ignoring the curious looks she was getting, Perdita marched across the yard now and stopped outside of the trailer, at least the human looking part of it, and impatiently rapped her knuckles on the door. Her face bore a determined, willful look - it was time to meet this Grey Vaughn.
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
Wiping the sweat from his brow, his jacket slung over his shoulder, Grey shoved his tools into a bucket. It was never a dull moment in the stables, and whilst he was very good at what he did, he still found himself dealing with the odd lose shoe or even a lost one - though the later was rare. But today was just another routine check over of the next rotation, and everything was great. No injuries, no twisted nails, no infections - nothing.
Picking up his bucket of tools, he made his way out to his trailer, frowning at the sight of someone standing by his trailer. Then he heard them knock. What the fuck? Sighing, he closed the distance and dropped the bucket loudly behind them.
"You always knock on the back of trailers?" he asked, a brow raised as he moved to the back of the trailer and began sliding the pins to pull the ramp down.
Picking up his tools, he went in and sat on a stool and threw his jacket over into a corner. He was efficient, moving through his space, turning on his laptop to fill in his personal roster. As he waited to for his laptop to warm up, he grabbed out disinfectant sprays and began cleaning his tools.
"So, what are you looking for - regular trim, correction, therapeutic?" he asked as he worked away at his tools, moving the clean items to their places and set his knives on the bench.
What the fuck. Why wasn't this door opening up? And just like that, a voice came from behind her along with the loud bang of something dropping: "You always knock on the back of trailers?" Perdita whipped around fast, coming face to face with a man, who maybe had a year or two on her as far as age went. He had a brow raised, staring at her like she was one of the stupidest people on the planet. Her temper flared under the surface, "I thought someone lived in there." Saying it out loud made the reality of how stupid this was sink in though and now she was pissed that her half brother decided to be a hobo and make her knock on stupid horse trailers.
Chocolate brown eyes watched him suspiciously now as he moved and went to work, lowering the ramp of the trailer before he picked up his stuff and headed inside. She stared after him incredulously. This cannot be fucking Grey Vaughn. Unfortunately in the back of her mind, Perdita could kinda see some smidgen of a resemblance between the two of them. But she wouldn't jump to conclusions yet without that name leaving his lips. The young woman waltzed around the corner now to see him putting down some various torture devices on the bench located inside now. She cocked her head curiously at them, wondering what they could be used for before he asked her a question, "So, what are you looking for - regular trim, correction, therapeutic?"
Now it was her turn to arch an eyebrow, "What?" Her gaze moved to the instruments again, and it suddenly dawned on her that they were not human torture devices, they were used on horses. The very animal that lived on the premise, "Do I look like I ride one of those furry beasts?" She asked impatiently now. This was not going how she imagined at all and then it suddenly occurred to her that if this was Grey Vaughn, he must have been kept in the dark as well. What father was going to admit that he had an affair with a woman linked to a violent Mobster family? Normally, Perdita could outmaster and outwait the best of people, patience was usually her thing. Unfortunately, given that her world had been upended, she wanted to wreck someone else's life like her's had, "Are you Grey Vaugh?" she asked now, "Or if not, where is he? I know he lives here."
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
His smile faded off very quickly at that. Who the fuck knew he lived in his car? He hadn't even told Cora about that. His good humor left him, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he began thinking over what this meant. He continued to work before leaning down and scratching at his leg, feeling the familiar six inch knife in his boot.
"What?"
"Do I look like I ride one of those furry beasts?"
He looked at her now with a colder, more reserved look, "With the number of women I work for that look like you, dressed to the nines, I wouldn't put it past you. And if I'm wrong, whatever."
"Are you Grey Vaugh?" she asked now, "Or if not, where is he? I know he lives here."
That made him stand up, tattoos rippling as he subconsciously flexed and tensed up, his eyes darkened over as he grabbed one of the hammers off the wall beside him.
"I am Grey Vaughn, and I don't know who the fuck you are coming here or what business you have with me, but clearly it's not related to my work," he barked, "And if those dead-end fuckers from London sent you, I will break your knees and get rid of you - I haven't lost my taste for blood."
He turned the hammer over in his hand, ready for violence. He felt justified in his reaction - she knew he lived in his car and trailer, she wasn't here for business, her tone was not appreciated and he knew that if anyone was going to learn anything about him they would've had to go taking to the London gangs, or dug their nails into cops. He had something of a life here, it was all he had and he had no intentions of letting some stranger walk all over the life he was trying to have.
Dark eyes noticed how as soon as she mentioned that she had thought someone lived in that sorry excuse for a trailer did something pass through the man's eyes. All of that fun and games attitude seemed to vanish from him, and Perdita felt her own senses crackle as he bent down to touch his boot and calf. Her eyes narrowed, a move she knew well, and immediately she felt her guard go up. The woman cursed herself for not packing heat, feeling stupid now considering what had been dug on on Grey Vaugh and the contacts she had maimed in her quest to find him. If this was him, that is. As cold blue eyes glared at her now, Perdita decidedly aimed her own cold, sour expression at him, "With the number of women I work for that look like you, dressed to the nines, I wouldn't put it past you. And if I'm wrong, whatever."
Ughs. How rude. Her head pulled back a little, taken aback from the attack on her attire, "Whatever." She muttered under her breath, starting to get annoyed. This Guiri was beginning to piss her off, but ironically enough, it had been Perdita who had finally struck a nerve by mentioning, apparently, his name, "I am Grey Vaughn, and I don't know who the fuck you are coming here or what business you have with me, but clearly it's not related to my work. And if those dead-end fuckers from London sent you, I will break your knees and get rid of you - I haven't lost my taste for blood. So what do you want? Hmm? Spit it out." The woman bristled at his threat, her fists clenching tightly as she glared at him. Her half brother was a fucking dick and acting like a jack rabbit cracked up on drugs while caught in a snare. This was so annoying, being talked down to like this. In Spain, she'd had ended people for lesser insults and now here she was trying to reason.
"Do I look and sound like I'm from London?" she spat back, "And I can assure you, it will take a lot more than a fucking hammer to end me." Wait, the woman realized that she had to reason here, not set off. But it was so annoying. She didn't want to back down, not from this motherfucker. And yet, Perdita relented. Her fists relaxed and she held up her hands in defeat, but it was hard to keep that bitchy attitude off of her face, "Listen Grey, I believe we're getting off on the wrong foot," her hand moved to her bag slowly now, "I'm pulling out paperwork. Do. Not. Fucking. Do. Anything. There's no need for a brawl to start out here. I'd hate to get you fired from this place." That was a lie, she'd fucking relish it right now. Her hands gripped the heavy stack and pulled it out before tossing on the work bench.
Dark brown eyes glared at the stack bitterly, neatly wrapped up with twine. Her birth cert - the real one - all of the corresponding letters between their father and her mother, one to two photographs, and then the rejected letters that daddy dearest had no longer answered to her mother. Time for someone's world to be wrecked just like her's was. Her gaze flickered back to his cold blue ones, her own anger rifling through her, "My name is Perdita Delgado-Vaughn," she said now, "And James Aiden Vaughn is my biological father." Fuck you, Gray, "So that makes you my half brother." Check and mate.
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
"Do I look and sound like I'm from London?" she spat back, "And I can assure you, it will take a lot more than a fucking hammer to end me."
His expression didn't change. It would take more than a hammer? He knew, or assumed - that this bitch was talking out her ass. Whatever self-defense classes she thought would protect her was not going to stop him. When it came down to it, he was brutal and making sure someone stayed down was not off his cards.
"Accent means shit. And if a hammer isn't enough, I can make arrangements otherwise."
"Listen Grey, I believe we're getting off on the wrong foot," her hand moved to her bag slowly now, "I'm pulling out paperwork. Do. Not. Fucking. Do. Anything. There's no need for a brawl to start out here. I'd hate to get you fired from this place."
He reclined back a little, unimpressed. He could feel the loathing radiating off her, making the area all the more tense but he watched her pull out a large parcel and toss it onto his work bench, setting tools rattling. He tilted his head, observing the package lazily - was a ream of paper meant to impress him? He reached over to a desk draw, pulling it out and tossed up a packet of cigarettes and box of matches onto the desk. Bringing up his leg with the knife in it, he removed it and set the eight inch blade on desk before lighting himself a smoke. He was deliberately taking his time, trying to piss her off more. Then he slid the package closer and purposely cut the twine rather than undoing it. He didn't care for this.
"My name is Perdita Delgado-Vaughn," she said now, "And James Aiden Vaughn is my biological father. So that makes you my half brother."
He leafed through the papers, casting a cursory glance over everything, a brow raised.
"And why should I believe this?" he grunted, blowing a large amount of smoke, "A stack of love letters in a man's writing I don't recognize, a birth certificate that could be forged. The photos don't mean much to me, that is not a man I recognize. So, give me proof. Actual proof. Not this."
He gestured at the papers as he leaned back more against his desk, "You know, this is all amazingly coincidental - given how hard I buried myself, how much time I have put into avoiding contact from people. So you've had to dig and reach out to people I couldn't trust with a fucking paper clip. The fact you nailed me here means people talked, and that means trouble."
"Accent means shit. And if a hammer isn't enough, I can make arrangements otherwise." She rolled his eyes, if he was attempting to scare her, he'd have to try harder than that. While she was no longer the head of her family, she hadn't gotten there by being afraid of some men and their threats, "Ooooo, am I suppose to be afraid?" If he can mouth off to her along with bitch and moan, then the woman felt like that she should be allowed the same rules then in this relationship - whatever it may be. It was so annoying how unimpressed he looked with her, and it just made Perdita all the more infuriated. It reminded her of all the looks back in Valencia - like she was some girl to not be taken seriously. Joke was all on them though, since Perdita had gotten the last laugh.
Until she didn't.
Just like now. Dark brown eyes watched Grey as he barely looked through her package and her annoyance simply skyrocketed which was annoying, since she had to keep it in check. Her anger would get her no where with him, that much was clear. Her half brother appeared to be just as stubborn as she was, which was proven to be an annoyance in itself. Didn't he get the memo that only she was allowed to be like this? Guess not though as he spoke to her again, "And why should I believe this?" he grunted at her, "A stack of love letters in a man's writing I don't recognize, a birth certificate that could be forged. The photos don't mean much to me, that is not a man I recognize. So, give me proof. Actual proof. Not this." Oh my god, she wanted to ring his fucking thick tattooed neck, or better yet, take a garrote. And he wasn't even done with her yet.
Perdita watched as he leaned back, acting like he was the coolest fucking kid on the block. It was beginning to feel like he was speaking to her as if she were nothing more than a mere child, "You know, this is all amazingly coincidental - given how hard I buried myself, how much time I have put into avoiding contact from people. So you've had to dig and reach out to people I couldn't trust with a fucking paper clip. The fact you nailed me here means people talked, and that means trouble." Maybe this is why dear Sarah was utterly impossible to find, because she didn't want to talk to her brother again because he was utterly annoying.
She threw her hands up, feigning annoyance and exasperation over this whole situation. It made her feel like that stupid emoji. The young woman couldn't get over how she told him that she was his sister and all what he wanted to obsess over right now was that she apparently pulled off the impossible of finding him. Perdita didn't get what the big ordeal was to him, "Well, that was your fucking problem, Grey. If you didn't trust them with a paper clip, then maybe you should have killed them." She cocked her head now, feeling that bitchy attitude rising more within her, "It's not my fucking fault you sucked at disappearing. And if you really want cold hard proof, that we can go to a hospital and do a DNA test. I got nothing to hide." She crossed her arms now, "We can even go now, because quite frankly, I have all the time in the world."
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
He merely returned her look with one of his own, cold and devoid of emotion, "I don't care what you are supposed to feel, that's your issue."
He inhaled another lungful of smoke and held it, letting it rest in his lungs uncomfortably before letting it out again. He stood up, pushing his seat back under the bench with one foot as he scratched his chin and reached for a whetstone on one of the shelves behind him.
"Well, that was your fucking problem, Grey. If you didn't trust them with a paper clip, then maybe you should have killed them." She cocked her head now, feeling that bitchy attitude rising more within her, "It's not my fucking fault you sucked at disappearing. And if you really want cold hard proof, that we can go to a hospital and do a DNA test. I got nothing to hide." She crossed her arms now, "We can even go now, because quite frankly, I have all the time in the world."
He let her rant and rave. In all honesty, he didn't care enough - even if they did a DNA test, it only confirmed that his sperm-donor of a father was rotten from the start, to have willingly screwed another woman whilst married. Guess that didn't bode well for the future... Grabbing oil and an old rag from the bench, he picked up one of his pairing knives and set about sharpening the blade edge. He had plenty to hide, to keep to himself so that his reputation remained as mar-free as possible.
"Maybe I should've," he shrugged, "But I'm not about needless bloodshed," he briefly glanced at her, basically ignoring her as he stood there, working on the knife, "Even if I suck at disappearing, most people wouldn't have bothered looking -which begs the question, why? What are you looking to get out of this? Because I don't see the benefits - you should've gone looking for daddy-dearest before me. Hmm? Why not go find your other sibling? The step-mother you never knew huh? Everyone has an angle, even you."
He held the blade up, feeling the edge with his thumb and wiped it free of oil, then put it in its sheath and hung it on the wall.
"If you have all the time in the world, why haven't you gone and done that huh? Or stayed with your parents, hmm? Your mother. Undoubtedly you have siblings, I find it hard to believe otherwise," he snorted, grabbing a spray can and the hoof nippers, spraying them down, "Either you were disowned, kicked out, or lost everything are my guesses, and now you are looking for a new landing strip. Right, wrong - doesn't matter. I'll do the DNA test, it'll just have to wait until later, I have things to do. And whatever the outcome may be - doesn't mean much. If you are my half-sibling, well-done on finding this dead-beat. If not, well-done on finding this dead-beat."
He really liked to go for the whole cold and callous look, she would give him that. Perdita supposed it was a look that had served her half brother well during his time in London. It did however, make her ponder, if that look was permanently glued to his face, then how on earth could he carry on simple relationships such as friendship or even romance? To her, Grey did nothing more then give the impression he just hated everyone and everything, to include her. Along with that, he voiced his own opinion that he didn't care what she felt. Dark brown eyes rolled, "Really? You're the one who was ready to brandish a knife earlier in our conversation." And yet, Perdita was certain that she knew what his answer would be: I don't care.
To Grey's credit, he shockingly let her rant to her little heart's content without any interruption but perhaps it was simply because he found her childish verses actually caring. Somehow, the young woman was willing to believe it was the former. It was beginning to dawn on Perdita that maybe there was a reason that Sarah Vaughn was hard to find - because clearly, they all were crazy. And then came the follow up question: Why? Why was she here? Perdita supposed that that was the million dollar question, because truth be told, she was certain either. Yes, she was curious, it was hard to not be. There was a whole half a family that she never knew about, not really, and after the 'adopted' half for a lack of better word, turned out to be a piece of power hungry shits, then perhaps she thought, the Vaughns would be different.
Yet, it was becoming clearer and clear, that they, or at least, Grey Vaugh, would be just as unwelcoming to her as her own Ortega half siblings. Grey wasn't done with his questions though, or his attempts, to possibly make her feel like shit. Dark brown eyes narrowed as he continued to talk, ignoring that constricting feeling coming up in her throat and the burning feeling in her eyes. She would not cry. Mobsters don't cry. Only the weak cried and showed any emotion other than anger. Vulnerability was earned, and Grey clearly didn't have it earned. He didn't want it either. The man simply wanted to chase her off, just like the Ortegas did to her out of Spain. Maybe it was good that the Delgados come through to her because her cousins might just be the only ones who truly end up being her family.
She crossed her arms, and leaned her shoulder into the wall, casually standing there to avoid feeling rigid, even though her body wanted to fight it. Breathe in, breathe out, "You're right," Perdita said flatly, "I did loose everything. My mother and adopted father have been dead for a while. But my half siblings pushed me out, so I have nothing to go back to." Other than to reclaim an Empire, but that was a long game, and that might be on the back burner until she could figure her shit out. Perdita carried on, "As for Sarah, I couldn't find her. You were the easiest to track down, simple as that." But why did she want him? Deep down, was it that she wanted to be loved instead of feared? The young woman didn't know, and that was a question she didn't want to deal with right now, "As for...Aiden...I don't know." It felt too silly to call someone else 'father' when he hadn't wanted to deal with her and her mother.
At least he agreed to the DNA test, if nothing else, Perdita wanted to prove a point to his stubborn ass. But it was curious how he told her that he had stuff to do. The young woman cocked her head, "Stuff to do? What kind of stuff?" Surely, it was stuff that he deemed none of her business, and Perdita was already prepared to have that thrown back in her face, "Maybe I can help you..."
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
"Really? You're the one who was ready to brandish a knife earlier in our conversation."
He shrugged at that, "When you have a bounty hanging over your head, you tend to fight first, ask questions later. It's much more simple that way."
He didn't look up from what he was doing, continuing about his ritual as she went on and on.
"You're right," Perdita said flatly, "I did loose everything. My mother and adopted father have been dead for a while. But my half siblings pushed me out, so I have nothing to go back to."
At that, grey eyes flickered to her for all of a second before he snorted through his nose, "Welcome to the club."
"As for Sarah, I couldn't find her. You were the easiest to track down, simple as that."
"As for...Aiden...I don't know."
"Tells me a lot," he said, setting his tools down and flopping in to his seat, tapping away on the keyboard of his laptop, "The fact you can find me, but not them. Kinda funny actually. They aren't even trying to hide. They still live in forty-two Ridgeview Street, London. Sarah still lives with them, too fucking dumb to move out that cow. Pretty sure her number is the same, working in the same small corner store, four days a week. That bastard Aiden, well, he's still drinking himself into the grave as far as I know. And my mother, well, she can rot whatever she does now. You can go looking for them, but I can assure you - they aren't going to welcome a dark past. I was too much, so whatever you might've done, rest assured they'll kick you in the guts repeatedly."
Just talking about them left an unpleasant taste in his mouth, face screwed up like he just licked a battery. His tone even reflected how sour and bitter he was towards his family.
"Stuff to do? What kind of stuff?" Surely, it was stuff that he deemed none of her business, and Perdita was already prepared to have that thrown back in her face, "Maybe I can help you..."
At that he looked at her completely, brow raised, "I run a business and I also work here. I have clients. I have another ten horses to go out and shoe. I don't think you'd be all that willing to be stood around horses as I trim hooves. I'm just taking my break before I go back into the stable and do that."
When Grey had pointed out that life wasn't exactly simple when one had a bounty on their head, the vaguest of memories popped into her head. That's right, there had been a bounty on him. In all of the bewilderment to discover that she had half siblings thanks to her real father, and then the excitement of figuring out where one was, the rest of the information had been chucked out of her brain, "Oh, right. Well, I'm not a bounty hunter." But her cousin was. Best to not bring that up, not today at least. Her mouth did twist in thought though, wondering if Zahira somehow had the connections to make that disappear. Note to self, Perdita thought.
It was funny listening to Grey bitch to her now about his own half of the family, given that he had displayed a complete disinterest in her own bitching. Whatever, she could let him bitch about his father and Sarah. Perhaps what bothered her more was that she hadn't figured out their whereabouts even though it had been so simple - per Grey that is, "So, what you're saying is don't bother." Perdita didn't know what to think of that, it was rather annoying to discover that the other half of her genetics came from a drunken gutter rat and that her adoptive father had been truly the best of everything. A frown sat on her face, "What did my mother see in him then..." It was more for her own musings than Grey's, he'd just say something insulting.
Rounding back on dark histories though, a sigh escaped her, "Well, that's disappointing. I thought that since you were so connected, well, I guess no longer, but I thought our father would have been the same way." So, the woman was going to be on her own unless she could sway Grey. Chocolate brown eyes stared at the man across from her, looking utterly indifferent to her. It was frustrating, how differently they were treating this situation. Perdita had lost everything, while Grey had lost nothing as far as she was concerned, "Well, good thing I found you first then and not them." What did he have to loose though? Surely not this truck and trailer.
She noticed how his brow raised at her offer to help, and he went on to explain his business. And then mentioned how he still had ten horses to do. Perdita kept her face mutual, shit, that was not the type of work she was offering to help with. But damnit, she wasn't going to back down now, especially if this was an attempt to get to know him, "I can help," Perdita reiterated stubbornly, "How hard can it be to hold a horse for you?"
My knuckles were bruised like violets, sucker punching walls
