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!.
Despite how many words came out of Kara's surprisingly chatty mouth, she could see the stranger taking it all in, rapt with an attention that she admired - and was grateful for. Someone else would have told her to shut up by now or rolled their eyes, and that thought eventually brought her to her close. At the turn of a smile, Kara was quick to grin back - somewhat sheepish for how much she'd gone on and on at the poor woman. That was the thing about Kara and dancing, it was her passion and her life, she couldn't help but get over excited at times about talking about it, whatever that talking might be or lead to.
“No, no it’s okay! It’s much appreciated. I’m glad to hear that there are very knowledgeable folks here in town. Pinch isn’t too bad, but maybe that’s because I've danced ballet for many years so my feet are prone to some extra torture.” Kara gave a sympathetic smile, but she understood. She hadn't done ballet aside from the odd class to try it, but even as a ballroom dancer, your body took some beating - generally for her, her feet only hurt when she shoes were wrong, which was why she was glad she could help a girl out now. "There is a pretty decent dancing community here, much to my own surprise! I can't say I expected it when I moved here. We like to help each other out as we can though, which is nice. Some places can be so toxic." She added sadly, having seen it very much in the competition world before. "I hope your toes are doing okay." She added with a small laugh.
“I guess I should go for more stability first then. It’s been a minute since I’ve danced..my name is Leona by the way,” Kara smiled and gave her a small wave. "Nice to meet you, Leona - I'm Kara." She exchanged, unable to help thinking that her name was quite beautiful. "Are you local to here?" She asked, wondering if she was a stone's throw away or if the town was more of a trek.
"everything hurts.." Kara bit her lip, running a hand over her sister's head with tender care. "I know sweetie," She said softly, trying to support her as best she could. "i feel like i'm going to be sick.." Kara nodded, expecting this to be coming. If the pain was that bad, sickness was inevitable for sure. "okay, it's alright if you are don't worry. Let's get to the kitchen and the sink - if we can." She added, having no issue with being clean up crew if needed. She didn't want Heather to worry about trying to choke it down and making herself feel worse. Sometimes, up and out was the only way to get relief.
She bent down to carefully help her sister to her feet, expecting her to stumble and making sure she was prepared for that possibility. She would be light headed for sure, but Kara would be there for her. "I've got you," she promised, helping to support her as they started to make their way to the kitchen. "i think i'm dying.." She gave a quiet chuckle at that, "not on my watch, you're not." She warned, helping Heather to the kitchen and then into a chair. She kept the lights off, able to see well enough without and thinking it best not to make her sister's head and eyes feel worse. Once propped in a position where Kara wouldn't need to hold her anymore, Kara headed to the sink - grabbing a glass of cold water, a cool cloth and some ibuprofen to help with the pain. "Here, these should help, and then we're getting you into bed."
Kara was, admittedly, typically feminine in the fact that she liked to go shopping, and even more so when it was related to dancing. Growing up, she'd been lucky enough that her parents could afford to get her at least the barest essentials for dance, and when she'd started earning her own money and been able to splash out on herself, her favourite part of shopping had become about ballroom. She'd learnt early on that everyone had fancy outfits when competing, and she'd borne her way through a few before realising that she'd need to cobble something together if she wanted a hope in standing out. Now, she had a whole wardrobe full of them, and despite no longer competing, she hoped that one day she would get back to it, and if not... well, she couldn't bare to sell them. Perhaps Scarlet would try them on for size when she was older, if dancing was something she wanted to do. Kara didn't want to push the child into anything, it would be her choice what hobbies, if any, she wanted to start.
So, if not competing, why was she here? In this shop again, for the third time this month, staring at the somewhat limited dancer's options. They were still the best in town, though choices weren't exactly rife. She had stretched to buying online if she knew the store and seller were reputable, but it was hard not to get caught out by the sizing being off, or the colour not quite the same as the picture - or if it even showed up at all. Kara was still a dancer, though she spent a lot of her time teaching instead of competing, and she still wore out her shoes quicker than most people, and wanted new pairs of trousers or a new top or a dress. She just couldn't help herself. “Hi,” Kara glanced up in surprise, not having realised anyone had joined her. She automatically gave the stranger a quick smile. "Hey," She stood up a little straighter, realising more was coming than just a brief hello. “Do you by chance have any recommendations on entry-level ballroom shoes?”
Kara nodded, moving carefully over to the section the other woman was standing by - Kara had been looking at a particular pretty navy blue dress that seemed to be made of silk and was exceedingly pretty. "Sure thing," She promised with a warm smile, remembering those days of having no idea and not wanting to screw up. She tilted her head in consideration of what was on offer before pointing out a couple in a higher row, "these are super comfy, and the heel is nice and low so you can get used to dancing with one, without being on your tip toes," She explained, and then her hand moved to a few pairs lower down, "these have a little more heel if you want it, and I found they have better support than some others - for both your ankles and your arches." She looked over the whole lot of them. "Most dancing shoes are more comfortable than your regular going out heels anyway, but say, these ones, they're just a bit pinch-y in the toes, and these seem to wear out a bit quicker. Oh, and those have quite a smooth sole, so they're wonderful for turns but they won't give you much purchase if you're just starting out and not balanced yet." She laughed softly, "sorry, I'm talking your ear off." Like some kind of damn sales-person.
She watched the way her sister attempted to lift her eyes, the way she seemed to shrink away from the light like it hurt. That was never a good sign, clearly she was light sensitive, and that usually went hand in hand with a migraine or serious headache. Kara touched her sisters shoulder in concern when her head dropped to her hands and then returned to her knees. This wasn't like some silly hangover or a cold, this was clearly something a little more than that. She had to ask what was wrong, if it was something serious, if her sister knew what it was or if she needed to get seen by the local Doctor. She watched Heather for a reply, her brows furrowed as she waited, not pushing her to answer quicker.
"my head, it's splitting." well that was a given, she had no doubt her sister's head was some cause of the problem. "Is it just your head?" Kara queried, thinking that it could be solved easily enough with some pain medication and going to bed. Perhaps a stress related response, there had been a lot going on recently, it was why Kara had had some time to herself - which had intended to be a day but beggars couldn't be choosers. "it feels like everything's going to split open." She nodded to show she had heard, shifting Scar a little so she could go to stand properly and also offer her sister some support to get her to her feet too. "Alright, to the kitchen for some water and pain meds and then I think it's best we get you to sleep. Rest is always the best medicine. " it didn't fix everything but it damn well helped the body to get what it needed. What couldn't be solved with sleep the other meds would help with at least and then if things were right in a day she'd get Heather down to the doctor's to see what they could do to help.
She heard the groan and frowned slightly, her sister could sleep but this was an unusual response to someone waking - it was more like the noise someone made when they had passed out and where coming to. Sadly she knew that quite a lot, despite not being a nurse, Kara had an extensive knowledge of first aid thanks to her family. Not even with the situation of the war and running from it, but just from boys being boys growing up and their mother dusting her hands of them when not in the mood. "scar?" Kara shifted and sat back a little to give her the space to rise. "It's alright," She said, her voice low and soft, concern filling her gaze as she looked Heather open. "i'm sorry kara." Kara shook her head, sure in the first moment she had been frustrated but that had rapidly disappeared in place of worry to see something was wrong with her little sister. "Don't be sorry, what's wrong?" Because something quite clearly was.
Scar settled easily enough and gurgled slightly, and then reached up to start tugging on a couple of strands of Kara's hair. Her attention was on Heather however, the child was fine and already over being left to her own devices for a few minutes. "fuck. is scarlet okay?" Kara nodded and nodded her head toward the youngster twirling Kara's dark locks around her chubby fingers. "She's fine, see? All okay. But you're not, so what's going on?" She asked, her main concern was Heather in this moment and she needed to know what was going on. Whether she needed to go to the doctor's to get checked out or even A&E if things were bad; was this contagious and did she need to worry about Scar catching it too was another thought that crossed her mind.
Kara smiled to herself as she strolled out of the hair dresses, fluffing her newly trimmed hair she decided to stop for a quick bite to eat. It had been a while since she'd treated herself, and it had been quite a surprise when Heather had kindly offered to watch her daughter for the day so she could do just that. She loved her little family, but she had to admit she'd been really looking forward to some 'me' time and intended to make the absolute most of it whilst she could. She'd booked a hair cut as it had been quite a while and her split ends were beginning to look depressing, and she'd popped in for a facial - because her pores were looking gross. Retail therapy was next on the list, as there were a few things she needed to grab and then she'd figured why not just take a good look in general and treat herself. To top her day off, she'd booked in a massage for later, to go home fully relaxed and mellow for the evening - hopefully dinner, a movie and an early night with Jasper. By then they would have had Scar gifted back to them, but she was fine for that.
Her phone sounded in her pocket just as she was at the till to order and she took a quick glance at it, on the off chance something was wrong or it was important. 'can you come home? scars fine but i can't watch her anymore. i'm sorry.' Kara sighed. Well, that was short lived. She couldn't help the slight wave of disappointment, but she supposed at least she'd managed a couple of hours of time to herself before being called back to reality and the job of being a mother. She didn't like to assume but she couldn't help but wonder if Heather might have gotten a better offer - not that she was like that, but having already had Scar for a morning, sometimes when you were young it was easy to be tempted by a boyfriend or friend offering to take them out. She fired off a quick reply to say she'd be home in ten, and changed her order 'to go' instead of eat in.
Once she'd paid and grabbed the sandwich and coffee, she hurried home. She knew Heather had said Scar was fine but as she mulled it over during her walk home she couldn't help but begin to worry that something was wrong - then again, it had been a text and not a call, so nothing urgent. The house was still empty as she let herself back in, calling out "I'm home," to let Heather know she was back, wandering through the house and leaving her bags in the hall to try and find her sister. "Heather?" She called out, concerned by the quiet that following her words - the crying of her daughter alerted her to which room and she frowned, pushing open the door to the lounge and taking in the scene. The mother in her automatically sent her rushing across the room to her child to sooth her, but as she rushed she took note of Heather - seemingly asleep on the floor nearby. An odd place for a nap. Picking Scar up as the child raised her arms, she shifted her to a hip and then knelt down next to Heather, shaking her shoulder gently. "Heath?"
Kara had been thinking it over all day; well more like all week actually, but it had drifted in and out of her brain in the week - but today she'd really been mulling it over. Holly and Av had recently hitched themselves and gone off in a new property down the road - it wasn't far, which was sweet, but the leaving of one family gave the others a little bit of breathing space. Not much, but a little. It felt off not to have her brother around, since his arrival home from the army she had gotten used to seeing his ugly mug almost every day, and the house felt a little quiet without their two yelling their lungs out or Levi barreling through the corridors.
It had made her think though. Her and Jasper alternated between her place and his, though they tended to frequent her home most because it was larger, and they had the garden. Jasper's was closer to work, but with Holly and Avery gone, she had decided to ask him to move in. It made sense, to be able to raise Scarlet together properly, and to avoid ferrying back and forth, for them to live together - they basically did anyway, so it wasn't too much different. It would just mean the moving of stuff - if he was happy to move from his flat. She knew he liked having his own space and freedom, her family could be a lot to handle - especially with what was going on right now. Things were messy and complicated and the mood in the house flip flopped from cheerful to downright miserable and chaotic angry.
She smiled as she bathed Scar, the activity helped her to settle - her brain had been a hive of buzzing arguments back and forth about everything going on, not just her idea for Jasper and her, but as her daughter giggled and splashed her hands in the warm water, the worries melted away. "Yeah sweetie, duckie," She encouraged with a soft smile, reaching into the bath to wiggle the rubber duck, making it move through the water. "c'est un canard." She murmured in French. She deliberately spent her time flipping between the languages, wanting her daughter to know both languages fluently.
GENDER: lady AGE: twenty-four D.O.B: 31st august SEXUALITY: straight STATUS: dating PLAY-BY: carla ossa HEIGHT: 5ft5 HAIR: brown EYES: hazel
"LYRICS"
TATTOOS:c'est la vie on her ankle SCARS: none DRINK: socially SMOKE: nope DRIVE: yes GLASSES: nope HOME: oldaker avenue, number ten BORN AND RAISED: autoire, france
"LYRICS"
happy-go-lucky, persistent, motherly, maternal, responsible, graceful, good at subtle, tactical, calm centered, genteel, light-hearted, kind-hearted, determined with she puts her mind to something, puts others above herself, pacifist, non-confrontational, peace maker, sweet, honest, can get hyper focused when she's working on something, driven when she's got a target in mind
LIKES: Hot Mocha's , salted popcorn , trying new things , cosying up with jasper , seeing her brothers are okay , dancing , listening to music , reading a book in the quiet , meeting new people , having something to focus/work on DISLIKES: conflict and confrontation , war and death , sad movies , sleeping through her alarm , blood , not being able to get something - like a specific dance move , seeing people she loves in pain , feeling helpless , not understanding something due to the language barrier STRENGTHS: fluently bi-lingual - french & english , dancing , cooking roast dinners , graceful and has quick reflexes WEAKNESSES: wants to help even when she can't , can get hyper focused when dancing and forgets to take a break , stubborn , a good book - can get sucked in and not want to put it down FEARS: an injury that would stop her dancing , one of her brothers not returning from war SECRETS: creepy crawlies - spiders in particular
"LYRICS"
STATUS IN SOCIETY: working class OCCUPATION: dancer/dance teacher at the university EXPERTISE: dancing WEALTH: moderate PROUDEST MOMENT: scarlet's first steps - it would have previously been the first dancing competition she won with luc but her daughter makes her proud every day. she can't believe her and jasper made something so perfect and watching her get to her feet felt like a miracle. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: falling in front of the judges and the regional finals for an important competition back home. she had a wardrobe malfunction which had never happened, her heel got caught and she went down. luc managed to save her from hitting her face, but the dress ripped and she gave everyone a good flash as she went. luc covered her up and everyone was nice but it was televised locally and super embarrassing.
Kara grew up the eldest sister in the household, the third of the bunch, and had a pretty wonderful childhood in her eyes. She spent her life running around the neighbourhoods with her siblings, playing games and laughing. She did well at school, she made an effort and kept her head down, never causing any trouble and making sure to look out for her siblings. She made a cluster of friends, but her true friends were her siblings - with only a couple of years between them, it wasn't difficult to get along; aside from the odd usual family scrap.
When Avery started hanging out with a slightly older lad called Luc, Kara's interest was piqued. She didn't have much interest in dating as she hit her teenage years, though she found herself the attention of a few boys in her year, she just wasn't interested. Then there was Luc. She welcomed him into their little family bubble without any reservations and though she wasn't sure what her feelings were, she loved having him join in their games. When her older brother, Dustin, announced he was going off to join the army at fifteen, it was like a kick in the teeth. It was the first time the family truly argued. Her parents refused to let him go, he was underage, but Dustin and his stubborn sense of duty to his country wouldn't let them stand in his way. As he left, Kara found herself turning to Luc, terrified for the safety of her eldest brother.
She had been dancing since she was a child, and she put everything into it when Dustin left, pouring her heart and soul into dance to try and alleviate the worry. When Luc's little sister died in a horrific accident, it was her turn to take care of him, and the way that he had supported her when Dustin had left, she supported him through every moment. She shared her love of dance with him and found him to be a natural. Before long, they were climbing through the ranks and entering competitions - and winning. It was tough going, but Kara's family were always supportive and cheered the two on from the side lines. Somewhere in amongst all the lessons and support, Kara fell in love with Luc, as did he, and they seemed to fall into dating. She thought her life was set - dancing with the love of her life, married with kids a few years down the line, and a little house in the village she grew up in.
It all fell apart when the war came. (( no relation to real life )) Their little village was caught in a line of fire and invaded. They didn't have time to run, they didn't even know it was coming. Luc managed to get them to a safe space, though Kara's parents refused to come, saying they would cover their tracks. There wasn't much time, but her and her siblings made it out, hiding away for several days until Dustin and some of his fellow army crew found them, and got them out. She will never forget the terror of hiding in the abandonned hay shed on an old farm for those four days. It was cold and damp, they'd have barely anything with them, scared to fall asleep in case they were discovered, scared to look outside in case they were seen.
Dustin gave them no choice, and Luc encouraged them to leave. They were set to escape to England, until the fighting stopped. Kara hated leaving France, her world was in turmoil, Dustin told them that their parents had been found but were killed but wouldn't let them go home to see. She didn't want to leave Luc behind, but he wouldn't let her stay, promising that he would come and find her, but that he had to do his duty to save his country. She left with the rest of her siblings, taking up the role of mother to her younger siblings, wanting to look after them. It felt like her family slipped through her fingers - Dustin returned to the army to send home money, Avery then went and joined him, and before long Joe was off as well. Leaving the sisters behind. She did her best, pulling herself together to get a job teaching dance at the university and making their new house a home. When her brothers slowly returning in various degrees of injury, she did her best to look after them.
