...||an over dose of energy||...

[Daniel Tiger]

It wasn't his fault he had no self control. And really, it hadn't beed all him. Okay, so, Daniel had a slight ADD problem. It wasn't major, he didn't actually have it. Let's just say that he was close. Well, he got distracted easily. And really, he doubted there was s soul alive that could have resisted it. Well, at least not a horse lover.

Tiger hadn't gone to the stable to take his horse out for a ride. He just, did. He hadn't meant to. All he had been planning on doing was making sure the stallion was alright. But since when did Tiger do what he planned? never. He did what he wanted when he wanted. He was a spur of the moment kind of person. It was just the way he was. If anyone had a problem with him being that way, well, that just sucked for them. Or, the way Tiger liked to put it...... "Fuck off!!!!"

He had a slight tendency to curse a lot. Okay, so a major one. Everyone was always telling him to watch his mouth or bite his tongue. But he didn't. Cursing didn't bother him. It was just words. He figured there were damn few words that everyone understood to get your point across. Use all of them. He didn't get the point of avoiding some. He didn't know how many times he had heard his dad tell him, "If you curse all the time then you will have nothing to say when you really need it," well, he was wrong. If something really bad happened, just curse louder.

It was the way Tiger always operated. And he had no intention of changing that. He didn't curse all the time, just when he was pissed. And lets face it. Thats at least ninety percent of the time. But still, he tried to hold his tongue, or at least sometimes he did, but he couldn't. All his friends at home had a tendency to curse. It was what they did. It was just a form of language. The group of them had a contest to see who could go the longest without cursing.

Tiger usually won their little competitions. But let's just say he failed miserably. As in he lasted a total of three minutes. It was pathetic. But it wasn't his problem, and he really didn't care. If anybody had a problem with that they could just like fuck off. He really didn;t care. It was the kind of person he was. Or at least sometimes.

So, Dan wasn't in a very good mood right then. He didn't exactly know why. Okay, so he did. It wasn't is fault his father was a pain. He hated him. And now he was really mad because he had just gotten a letter from him. If you looked at his hand you could see a crumpled peice of paper in it. That was the letter he had just opened.....

Dear Daniel,

I hope everything is well there? How is that pesky stallion of yours? I hop he is doing well. And I hope you are doing even better. I hope life away from here is okay, I know you probobly miss your friends, and I miss you also.

Love,
Dad

There wasn't a word of truth in that letter. Couldn't he even pretend to care? That was the first letter he had recieved since he last saw his dad. He had been so mad that he hadn't sent anything. And now that he had he wished he hadn't. This was even worse then not hearing anything from them. Oh how he just wanted to kill him. And the thing was, that how ever often Daniel Tiger might be joking, or not carry something out. He always carried out a threat. He never dropt it.

First of all, he didn't hope that everything was well. That was just a down right lie. And Tiger knew it. He didn't give a shit about how he was. And he knew it. Oh, and also, Daniel, HIS NAME WAS TIGER!! But his dad refused to use it. That just bothered him. Above anything else. But he knew that would be the case. Hr never used his real name. But back to the actual content.

Pesky stallion? He had probably used those words because he was to lazy to lazy to go find something that would tell him. Not like he would know what his sons horse's name was. Why should he? It was just a horse. And he should know by now not to call the stallion pesky. Tiger couldn't stand that. He called him pesky all the time, but if someone else did it they were as good as dead.

He didn't care how things were with him. And it was his fault that Tiger was missing his friends anyway. Oh, and he didn't miss him. He was probobly celebrating having him out of the house. Well, that figures. He might not care about any of those things. But he might as well attempt to make it sound like he did. I mean come on. That was just plain pathetic.

So, that was why Tiger was so pissed. That was why he had stormed out of his dorm and walked down towards the stable. He knew how to try to calm himself down. He walked past the stalls of horses without even blinking. He didn't even slow his fast pace until he reached the stall he was looking for. The gold plaque that beared the horses name read Over Dose.

Inside the stall stood a stallion. He was tall, he stood at 16.3 hands. Just short of seventeen. Not only that, but he was pure thoroughbred. He bore the coat of a dark bay. And he contained solid energy. The stallion tossed his head in the air as he saw Tiger approaching. He quickly realized that his rider was not in a good mood. But that did not soften his energy.

Tiger swung his legs over the door not bothering to open it. Throwing himself down at the corner of the stall he spat, "THE NERVE OF HIM!" The stallions head dropped. It was now even with Tigers. HIs eyes seemed to calm Tiger down slightly and as the stallion let out a whinney he said, "kay, okay," Climbing out of the stall he headed for the tack room.

He swung the bridal over is right shoulder and grabbed the saddle with his left arm. With his free hand he grabbed the grooming bucket. Sliding open the door to the stall he reentered that. Hanging the halter from a hook and resting the saddle on the door, he began to groom the stallion. By the time he had finished the dark brown coat was spotless. Grabbing the black leather saddle he laid it carefully above the white saddle bad and tightened the girth only slightly. Then he proceeded to the bridal. The stallion took the bit with ease.

Leading the stallion outside he tightened the girth and swung his leg over the back of the saddle. Settling both his feet in the stirrups he squeezed the stallions sides slightly and they were moving. Soon the reached their destination. The eventing field. He walked the stallion around a little more but then asked him to pick up a trot.

The stride was far from collected. It was long and out there. But it was fast. And that was what Tiger liked. He knew if they were going to be jumping he should probobly collect him. But speeding was just too much fun. Though the stride wasn't smooth it was a good gait. the stallion and rider seemed to move with ease.

It might not be the effortless moving as one that many amazing riders were able to accomplish. They weren't at that level. but that didn't mean they were not good. Because they were. After a while Tiger sat in the saddle and allowed his horse to change the gait to a canter.

The stride was smooth. Still they were speeding, now they were going even faster. He might not be a racer, but that didn't mean they weren't fast. Finally Tiger collected Over Dose. Bringing the pesky brute back to a walk he looked around trying to decide on a jump to take first. The stallion bit at the bit with anticipation.

[Danni Trent]

Today hadn't been a good day, nor had yesterday or the day before. She'd been in a new place, avoiding everything possible, but riding was one thing she'd never be able to escape. She had to get out of the dorm and do something other than sit around reading old letters from her friends. Things would never change if she stayed in the past. There was no one to email or write to today, and a clear blue-sky overhead and an eventing course overhead.

Fox had been itching to get out of her stall and who was Danni to deny her horse, her responsibility, some exercise? From what she had originally seen the course had been free of any one and every one who she'd worked so hard to avoid. Now she was in the saddle of her elegant Hanoverian mare that was dying to soar and let go off all her pent up energy, and normally Danni could leave her worries and problems on the ground when she was on horseback, but something was different today.

It was easy for Fox to lope along, the mare had waited for this for several days, or since their arrival, and they really hadn't done anything. Danni asked Fox into a slow easy gallop and the mare sprang forward instantly. This was their favorite thing, to tear around a cross country coarse, free to do as they pleased. Fox had cleared several of the other jumps easily, and they were headed towards a large water jump when something caught Danni's eye. For a moment she lost concentration and the next thing she knew she was on the ground next to her horse.

Fox was laughing at her, and the other person probably was to. Quickly Danni pulled herself to her feet and dusted herself off. What a way to make first impressions, but maybe, if she was lucky, she could sneak away. Maybe he hadn't seen her. Hopefully he hadn't seen the stupid little mistake she'd made, god how she prayed he hadn't seen her.

[Daniel Tiger]

((why when ever I'm posting on a cross country course with Tiger does a girl come along and fall off...... this is not the first time that happened...... that is actually quite funny.....last time he fell off as well.....))

Collecting the stride Tiger headed Dose for the nearest jump. It wasn't high, nor was it low. The excited stallion took off way before he neede to and jumped way higher then he should have. the motion was seemless. They took off together and they landed together. Though Dose had taken off early Tiger had been expecting it and was ready. The steady canter began to pick up and this time Tiger let it.

As the neared a second jump Tiger sat back and forced Dose to jump it properly. Front hooves were off the ground, back hooves followed. The stallions front hooves struck the ground sending dirt into the air, his hind legs followed. The stride continued. Tiger sat deep in the saddle and brought the stallion back to a trot. He had been getting way to excited.

He circled back to the first jump asking the brute to canter. This time he kept it collected from the start and the stallions hooves just cleared the pole. As they landed they headed straight for the seconed jump. Tiger sat deep and Dose responded. Over the jump in harmony. He had been about to head for a third jump when something cought his eye.

He hadn't realized there had been someone else in the ring. And they had fallen. Shit, why did everybody fall off when he got near them. It was really anoying. He sat deep and slowed the stallion back to a walk and directed him over to the girl. "Are you okay?" he asked.

You see, even if as a rule Tiger could be a bastard. You had to do something to him to make him hate you before he was. And she hadn't. Generally when he was in this kind of mood he mood just be plain old rude. But feeling bad that she had just fallen off he had calmed down. And he had a small feeling she hadn't noticed him until she hit the ground.....

[Danni Trent]

Why the hell did she always get caught up by other people? She wasn't that insecure with herself, was she? Every time she got distracted she screwed up and of course he'd noticed her. Damnit! There was no way of escaping this time. Danni sighed and quickly retrieved Fox before she answered his question. She was overly embarassed and she must have looked like a jerk for ignoring him at first.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry I messed you up." How lame was she, apologizing. He could have just carried on but no, he'd decided to ask her if she was alright, it wasn't so bad, she just wish she hadn't looked like a little kid falling off her own horse. Quickly, the blond checked her saddle before swinging back onto her mount's back.

She finally got a good look at the guy and his horse, a nice looking pair. The stallion, as he obviously was, was a handsome bay, Thoroughbred no doubt. There she went again. SHe prefered horses to actual people, that may have been why she'd suddenly lost consentration. That had happened alot lately.

The guy wasn't bad looking either. He looked tons like her friend back in Ohio, but she'd prefer not to think of him. Danni smiled weakly and wondered if he'd say anything else or if she could escape. Why was she so afraid of being around people??

[Daniel Tiger]

"Why do I have the feeling that it was the other way around?" asked Tiger stroking the stallions neck. He tossed his head telling Tiger he wanted to be moving again. "steady," he said to the stallion, but that was obviously the last thing he wanted to do. He ban side stepping slightly.

Tiger kept his leg on him and was able to get him to stop moving. "You little Brute," he said jokingly. Over Dose continued to toss his head at the jumps. Tiger ignored him. He looked at the horse the girl was riding. It was a Hanoverian mare from what Tiger could tell. But he wasn't that great at judging breeds about horses.

"I'm Tiger by the way," he said looking back at the rider, "And this little brute is Over Dose." Over Dose was far from little. He stood at almost seventeen hands. But he was still Tigers little brute.The stallion snorted with the injustice of it all. He knew exactly what Tiger was saying, and he didn't like it one bit.

"You guys are a good pair," said Tiger trying to think of something to say. He always sounded like such an idiot. "She's probobly a better jumping partner then he is." At this Dos through his legs up into the air. It wasn't a large buck but it cought Tiger off his guard and almost unseated him.........

[Danni Trent]

Danni smiled slightly, she could handle this. Or could she? She needed to stop doubting herself, she always had since her parents accident and she needed to stop thinking about that. He seemed nice enough, and there was no harm in talking, at least not that she knew of.

"Nice to meet you Tiger, I'm Danni." She had to laugh slightly at the way he called the tall stallion 'little brute'. He sure wasn't little, but Danni always saw some of the monsters back home as little becasue she'd been around them forever. "THis is Snow Fox." Danni patted the mares arched neck. Fox was laughing at Danni for falling off and then being embarassed and shy, or she was eyeing the jumps and the stallion, sometimes Danni got mixed signals from her horse. The hanoverian sidestepped slightly, picking up her feet high like a trotter.

"Fox loves what she does, but she's quick to put me me in place should I lose focus. I bet he does that even more." She nodded to the antsy stallion who wanted to move, Danni knew a few horses like that. Fox was one of them. Danni was smiling now, little sheepish smile, she couldn't manage more around people she didn't really know. "We work well together, but I bet you guys are better than us."

[Daniel Tiger]

"If he listens to me long enough to do anything," Joked Tiger . He was smiling now. It wasn't a common sight. Tiger didn't usually smile. The other thing was kind of amusing him was the fact that her name was Danni. He assumed that was short for Danielle. He always thought it was funny to meet someone with such a similair na,e. His name really was Daniel.

"The lowest he'll take a jump is a foot higher then he needs to," this was true. The stallion refused to take anything at it's actual height. He just sprung into action. But that was the way he was. It couldn't be helped. That was how he had gotten his name. Well, sort of..... Tiger had named him as a colt. He had quickly spotted that the colt had far to much energy. That was where the name Over Dose had come from.

Of course, that wasn't what anyone thought. Dan knew that everyone beleived that the name came from the fact that Tiger did drugs. Well, he didn't. He might seem like the type, but he isn't/ He doesn't smoke, he doesn't dring, and he certinly doesn't do drugs. But there will be rumors about everybody. And he just got the worst of them.

[Danni Trent]

She found it a little funny, how his horses name really related to him. Over Dose was the perfect name for a thoroughbred who jumped to high and liked to move. "Good name, it really fits the horse." The same thing couldn't be said for Fox unless you knew her story. Danni had thought she'd looked like a fox romping in the snow as a baby, and the name had just stuck. Other names could have been picked, but nope. Every one called her Fox and the papers said it to.

"If I can stay focused Fox will jump anything, wiht or without me, in fact. She's done that before." Danni rolled her eyes slightly and Fox dnaced on her toes, tossing her head, still laughing at Danni. She was a funny horse, but one who always knew her job. Fox had once jumped the four foot paddock fence, that hadn't been fun. There were other times too, but when she had a rider in her saddle Fox was all buisness.

"Easy little miss." Fox was still sidestepping and eyeing the jumps. Once she got started she really didn't like to stop or be pulled up. "She overjumps when she knows I'm not paying attention. She's always pushing me around, aren't you?"

Fox turned her head to look at Danni with one amber eye, as if saying: Who, me? She was always innocent, even after proven guilty. Why was Danni always around funny horses? It was like they followed her, but she'd been rambling, just a little, and was probobly really anooying Tiger.

[Daniel Tiger]

Tiger listened to her. Yes, Over Dose was the perfect name for the stallion. At least she didn't think it meant that he did drugs. It just bugged him when people thought that He Daniel Thomas Tiger would never do anything of the sort. He thought drugs were stupid and only idiots would take them. He looked down at the ground for a minute. He tried to clear the thought from his mind.

He was running out of things to say now. And once that happened he started to get all nervous. He wasn't good around people. Horses, they were better. So were dogs. But people, they stunk. Obviously they weren't all bad. But some of them were.

Some of them like his father. He hated him. The crumpled peice of paper was still in his pocket. He wasn't planning on keeping it. No, he would have gotten rid of it all ready but he decided burning it would be much more satisfactory. So that was what he would do. He hadn't had a chance yet. But later that day the stupid letter would be up in smoke.

Pyro? Tiger was no pyro thank you very much. Okay, so maybe a little. But, not majorly. So, he liked to burn things..... Just things his dad sent. It wasn't like it was a babbit of his. But yes, every letter he had ever received from his dad had been burned. He had also burned a couple pictures of him. It wasn't his fault.

[Danni Trent]

For once she'd met some one like herself. Some one who ran out of things to say and couldn't talk any more. She patted FOx's neck and looked aorund at the jumps, or at the surrounding area, wondering which way would be best to make her escape. She was terrible around other people, he seemed like felt the same way, but Danni wasn't really a good judge of character. Fox danced a little more, telling Danni she wanted to more.

SHe had to think of something to say, they just couldn't walk off. SHe had to say something, anything that was a closingto the ir conversation, then she'd be able to escape and go back and hide in the stable. She never left people hanging, and he could tell his hore was just as eager as hers to get moving.

"I guess I'll see ya' around Tiger." It wasn't perfect, but it was alright. She heeled Fox slightly and the mare refused to move at first. Why the hell was Fox not listening to her now? Danni desperatly wanted to get away, but Fox wasn't letting her. THe mare simply sidestepped and tossed her head. It looked like Fox didn't want to leave. Why the hell was this happening now??

[Daniel Tiger]

"Uh, I guess so," said Tiger. He had been happy to meeet someone who seemed to have similair traits that he did. But obviusly the conversation couldn't have lasted long. Not if neither of them had anything to say. He looked around for what he would do now. He and Dose would just continue jumping. That's what he had come here to do.

Tiger watched as the once eager to move mare refused to budge. She seemed a lot like his own Dose. He wanted something, but once Tiger wanted it as well, he didn't want it anymore. Tiger was starting to get slightly creeped out right now.......

Danni and Dan, neither of them was good around other people. There horses seemed to be mirroring each others behavior and temprement. It was actually quite scarry. What was with this anyway. AS if to prove his point Dose refused to listen to any of the aids that Tiger used. This was actually kind of creepy if you thought about it like that.

The stallion just tossed his head in the air refusing to move. "Since neither of our horses seem to want to budge....." said Tiger nervously looking down at his feet. "Want to stay and do some jumping?"



(((blecky, that thing stinks)))

[Danni Trent]

"I guess I've got no choice." Ok, now this was freaking Danni out. Her horse was doing things she'd never done before and Tiger was so much like her that it was just creepy. Danni laughed slightly as the two horses continued to mimic each other, refusing to move.

Fox was determined to do something, whether it was jump or some hidden plot between her and Dose no one would ever know. Horses don't talk, and never have. Feeling like she'd won Fox tossed her head and snorted happily. Still sidestepping to keep Danni aware of herself.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this a bit strange."

[Daniel Tiger]

"No your not," said Tiger with a smile, "And I think I actually find it more strange then you do." He almost laughed out loud. She didn't get half of it. He just realized she didn't. He was just so used to everybody knowing who he was. When you were an outcst like him everybody knew your name, just nobody ever used it.

Finally he couldn't contain himself. He laughed. He knew this must seem really weird to her. Danni probobly thought he was a complete idiot. "You see, you don't even know all of it," he said. He had stopped laughing just long enough to say it. He found weird random things funny sometimes. Not to mention the look Dose had just thrown him made him chuckle on it's own.

It was a look of Triumph and defiance. "See, my real names Dan," he said this. He stoped laughing all together and patted the stallions neck.. His head was high, a triumphant air around him. "You little rascal," he said quitly to the stallion. "You are so dead later.........."

[Danni Trent]

Danni laughed out loud, freely this time. The laugh wasn't worried or anything, it was genuinely happy. SHe liked being around Tiger, or Dan. So they had the same variation of the same name. Dan and Danni, with the same personalities and horses that acted alike. Fox seemed to be happier now, she boded her head as if she'd known the jock too, like Dose had told her and she hadn't shared it with her rider. Danni managed to stop laughing long enough to say a sentence. "This is really weird."

She'd always been slow to pick up on things but it wasn't her fault this time, she hadn't seen Dan before and she wouldn't have known he existed if Fox hadn't decided to go out today. He wouldn't have known about her either if she hadn't been out here. This just seemed to be happening really, really fast for Danni. Not so fast but a lot had happened in the past few days, you couldn't blame her for being a little freaked out.

"I think they knew about it." Danni jocked as she watched Dose raise his head in triumph and Fox toe dance some more. They were definitely in on it, at least they acted like they were.

[Daniel Tiger]

"Certainly seems like it," snorted Dan stiffling his alughter. This was quite weird. I mean, they had like almost the same name. The had similair personalties. And come on. Look at their horses. They were like mirroring each other. The whole thig was kind of creepy. Wow, this was scarring him.

He had always thought this was the kind of thing that happened in books. Two characters that turned out to seem to differet, yet be so similiar. It was really kinf of scarry. He could finally relate to all thoes books he had read. But wow, they sure didn't captivate the queerness factor to well. No, this was just plain wacko.

Of course, it had probobly never happened to any of the suthors. It seemed like a story book. This kind of thing just didn't happenn in real life. I mean, what were the odds. Was he like dreaming? But the crummpled letter in his pocket seemed real enough.

"Now that we have established this fo you thikn out horses will let us do some jumping?"