You shook your head, snorting again. It was hard to express preferences without vocal chords, and “find a stream” and “work your way towards town” were concepts too abstract for your equine capabilities. That said, your efforts to mouth the words amused Jess at least.
“What are you doing?” She chuckled, as you flexed your lips. “Are you trying to speak?”
You nodded, grunting in frustration.
“How about this, do you wanna try and head back by nightfall, yes or no?” You shook your head. “Stream?” You nodded.
That was even more frustrating. Jess clearly wasn’t happy about that, she clearly wanted to head back, but you couldn’t explain your reasoning why. Even if you could just say ‘better safe than sorry’ it would be enough, but even that was beyond you.
“Alright, but if I get eaten by wolves I am gonna come back to haunt you.” She joked, kissing your nose. You rose to your feet, gesturing back to your saddle, but rather than mount you she looked back and shook her head. “It's alright,” she added, squeezing out a smile, “not feeling up to it, little saddle sore.”
You couldn’t help but look again, and while it was only brief she definitely caught you that time. She laughed awkwardly, mumbling passive half-explanations, but seconds later the two of you returned to your default painful silence. She was clearly not ready to talk about it yet.
The two of you walked on, the pace humanly slow, but the freedom felt good. It was strange walking for such a long stretch of time in one direction, stranger still to battle inclines, dirt, and an uneven path. Your horsey training was all done in a stable and a yard, all done in confined leveled areas, walking in nature was something entirely new, more difficult but you couldn’t help but enjoy it. Your sheer size and power allowed you to push over stuff that Jess struggled over, giving you a faint sense of strength, as you felt leaves and twigs crumble under your mass.
Moreover, it turns out you actually just enjoyed hiking. The wind was gentle, full of pine and earthy smells, the sound of birds, cicadas, and the rustle of critters, occasionally spying one or two as they scampered over the path ahead, diving from one greenery to the other.
Every now and then the path would also head up a steeper incline, and you found yourself pulling Jess up the path, able to support her with ease. You would breach the top, look back to see her there, a grateful look on her perfect face, dusting her hair back with the path you traversed in the backdrop. It gave you a great sense of accomplishment, that you had travelled so far, really pushing what you thought you could achieve. It was clear you couldn’t do it as a human; Jess was struggling and she was healthier than human you, but why should that matter? Could you not just enjoy it for once? Regardless of the situation, it was good to feel strong.
Another part of you rejected that. That was Vicky’s way of thinking, seeping it's way into your brain. She wanted you to enjoy this, wanted you to relax into complicity. Better to leave those thoughts behind, once again, better to be safe than sorry. You shook the thought from your head, focusing on the path ahead.
That was getting increasingly hard to do. It had been hours now, and Jess was evidently starting to suffer. You could feel her leaning on you, pulling at you, slowing you down more as her hands grabbed onto your binds. It was getting annoying, and what's worse was now your other instincts were kicking in, in a very literal fashion.
Every now and then she would fall behind a little, adjusting herself and ending up at your rear. A tiny nugget of horse in your brain was not okay with this, and begged for you to kick her.
You shook off the thought, whinnying at her. She grumbled and joked, sped back up to your side, but always talked like you were a slave driver, forcing her onwards. You wished you could explain, but you didn’t even know how to begin.
“Oooh, how about there?” Jess said, panting as she pulled away from you. She pushed through some bushes towards the sound of rushing water, finding a relatively calm pool meters from the path. “Look! So pretty.”
You agreed, but not on the same point exactly. Jess always had the cutest excited face, and she always had a particular way of posing to present something; her arms and hands outstretched, waving them like a dork.
“Can we drink it, do you think?”
I don’t know, you were in the girl scouts, you thought. You tell me?
“I wish I paid attention in troop meetings,” Jess somehow responded, shocking you to your core. You looked at her long and hard, hoping that she had somehow picked up on your thoughts, hoping to broadcast something. She looked back at you, smiling. “Yeah, yeah, but you would have been the same. I only joined because I had a crush on another girl, and because all my friends did.”
That wasn’t even remotely related to what you were thinking. You sighed in defeat, just another coincidence.
“It is very clear,” she added, splashing it a little with her hand. “But I’m not gonna risk it, better safe than sorry.”
You stared again, and this time Jess seemed to realize something was up. She stared back, shugging.
“What? What have I said?”
I have never said that phrase as much as I have today, you thought, and now you start saying it. This can’t be a coincidence. Still, all she could do is laugh, shrug, and pet your nose.
“How about this, are you trying to tell me I should drink the water?”
You pulled your head back. That wasn’t what you were thinking, and the answer was more complicated. It wasn’t safe, but neither was going on a long hike without water, so you maybe should drink it? Then again, that wasn’t what you were thinking. There was a whole debate there, and you couldn’t exactly express any of that with a yes and a no.
Jess stared at you, waiting for a response, as you mulled the question over. “Okay, new question.” She said, pausing for thought. “Should we rest here for the night?”
You looked around; it seemed nice enough. You nodded yes.
“Good. Do you think YOU have enough to eat around here?”
Again, you looked around again. There seemed to be enough grass, so yeah? Again, you nodded.
“Well, I did spot a big patch of edible berries a way back, which I do remember from troop because that was Cass’s presentation and I helped her with it, so I’m good. As for water, well, the way I see it, it's like when you and I found that twenty in your mom’s garden. We went back and forth wondering if we should ask if someone lost it, but we spent so much time waiting and debating that we ended up losing it again. It would have been wisest to, you know, just spend it, or in this case drink the water.”
Ah, now it made sense. It wasn’t a matter of the two of you hearing each other's thoughts, you were both such supreme dorks that you practically read each other's mind anyway. You snorted, the best facsimile of a laugh of approval you could muster. That much, she seemed to understand.
“Good!” She said, turning back to the stream. “Because I am thirsty as fuck.”
Without a cantine Jess had to get in close to the water to drink it, but as she got closer you realized she wasn’t going to just drink it. Without so much as another word she threw her head into the cold stream, cooling off her face with her ass high in the air. You laughed internally wondering if she had a little horse left in her. Then, as you always seem to do, you saw the physical proof she remained at least part horse.
From this angle, with her heart-shaped ass elevated above the rest of her, trapped in tight leathers, you could see IT clearly, poking out from behind her. It was no longer erect, but at this point it needn’t be, especially with that tight grey bikini g-string of hers. It was burgeoning out of the material, her cock just about peeking through.
While you tried to pull your eyes away, you found you physically couldn’t, mesmerized by the mass of twitching flesh, flopping slightly as she washed the sweat from her face. She wasn’t the only thirsty one, but you were thirsty in a very different way, and your body was starting to react.
You snapped out of your trance, stirred by the familiar sensation of your vagina starting to wink.