Blue Mirage (Open)

[Ehetere]

The sound of rushing water filled Eerawai’s fears, and far below her the Cascade Creek was almost ready to burst its banks with all of the melted snow and rain water that had been added to the creeks and rivers this spring. She stood atop a rocky outcrop, hundreds of feet above the roaring current, looking out over the mountains from her vantage point. It was still the early morning, and in the deeper valleys tendrils of mist still remained. Everything was so beautiful in spring time, she thought, and wild and exciting too!

Eerawai’s wandering nature had brought her to the top of this giant boulder by following a hidden wallaby track up the forested side that held the chunk of rock in place. No other horse would have found it, or would have wanted to find it, she was sure, but she was always alert, as her mother had taught her to be. Danger could come from anywhere, even in the relative safety of spring time. There was the faintest rustling in the bushes behind her, and Eerawai whipped her head around to see nothing more than a round wombat trundling its way home through the scrub.

Eerawai shook her coat slightly, dislodging any pesky flies that may have decided to rest there, but mostly to try and rid herself of her nervous feelings. She had never been much of a nervous foal; quite confident and boisterous in fact, but ever since her mistreatment by that awful stallion and her mother’s death; Eerawai looked at life with a slightly more cautious approach, especially in new country like this. Flicking her tail slightly, she resumed her observations of the surrounding landscape, becoming still like the granite beneath her; a horse shaped statue on the great stone.

[KAREE]

OOC|| Hope you dont mind me bringing Kalti in

Kalti had been wandering all day, his thoughts huddled up in a small corner of his memory. He was revisiting a fight he'd had earlier with a glorious silver stallion. Never had Kalti imagined he'd ever see a horse like that in his life, but this horse seemed far from ordinary. He had had one red eye, the other being blue. The way the moon seemed to effect his mind that night, it was no wonder that Kalti had lost. The way he danced and twirled around the red dun colt. He'd had no chance at all.

The sound of rushing water quietened his drumming thoughts back. Making him awake from his day dreaming. The world seemed sharper now, the noises louder, his vision clearer. Maybe he should day dream like that all the time? It did wicked things to his senses. He stretched out his front legs, feeling the dull ache echo in them, he grunted, annoyed at the outcome. Why did everything bad seem to happen to him? First Kalti was given a lecture by a gangly kangaroo, than got his butt kicked by a strange stallion, now his muscles where all stiff and sore. Great. A great start to a new day. He rolled his eyes. Ignoring the swelling over his cheek where Jirrand had gotten him with his front hooves. He exited a faint trail, catching a glimpse of the river. Excited, Kalti trotted out, heading down to the river. His head lowered imediately when he reached the rushing water. He played around with the water, flipping his top lip over it, before sculling down a few litres of the water.

It was then he heard a faint rustling of bushes and caught a faint scent on the breeze. Kalti lifted his head instinctively, letting some water dribble out of his lips, his muscles tensed. If it was another stallion, Kalti didn't want anything to do with him, considering his condition at the momet. But what if it was a mare? A lonely mare, needing someone to protect her? The temptation was too much, Kalti let out a long, low whinny to the travelling horse, hoping it was a mare. Kalti felt no need to have another fight with another strange stallion.

[Illu]

Brael wasn’t lost.

Absolutely not.

She’d just... er... misplaced herself.

Yeeeeah... That.

By the time the moon filly finally pulled herself out of the saltbush she’d gotten ‘misplaced’ in, Brael was looking rather grumpy and a little worse for wear. Her stallion, Nevada, had been giving her the shits lately by paying attention to some newbie instead of her so Brael had gone and taken a walk to make him pine for her, and instead found herself God-knew-where. She didn’t know this ridge over the creek. She could be anywhere down the river for all she knew.

With an agitated expression Brael opted to do the only smart thing she had done that day and try and find out where she was before continuing. By the looks of it she had stumbled – with a lot of noise and swearing – into a small, hidden section holding a large rock that looked up over the creek. The beauty of the surroundings was lost on her as, still muttering, she walked up to the large chunk of stone.

Hang on a sec.

Brael froze, ears back warily. There was a horse on the rock. What? She was downwind, how did she not notice the blue roan filly standing there? Clearly it was the filly’s fault that Brael hadn’t noticed her, and the moon filly huffed. What was she doing up there anyway? Someone was bound to see her, she thought. Not likely, but from her position Brael couldn’t see that the filly had actually chosen her spot well.

“Oi, get down from there,” Brael grumped, raising her tail and trotting over with swinging paces to try and look impressive. “Someone’ll see–” A stallion neighed. “... –you. Well, now you’ve gone and done it.”

[Ehetere]

Eerawai watched curiously as a red dun colt emerged from the trees beneath her. There was a stiffness in his walk that told her he had fought recently, and she peered further over the edge; as far over as she possibly could without being seen from below or falling off. Just then, there was a large amount of crashing and banging and expletives coming from the bushes behind her, and Eerawai turned again to see what on earth could be causing such a racket; stepping away from her precarious perch as she did so. She stared towards the little path on which she had come up here, but unfortunately there was no way for her to escape, so she simply stood there, rooted to the spot with curiosity.

A moonfilly stumbled out of the bushes rather ungracefully, and so shocked was Eerawai that she did not even make a sound at the mare’s sudden appearance. She had come from down south, where moonfilly stories had been much more common, and finding one up here in the high country was rather unusual. The moonfilly shook herself off, with a rather haughty expression on her face, before she finally looked up at Eerawai, who had been standing there and simply staring in astonishment for a few minutes. The moonfilly had been down-wind of her, so she should have scented her already, and this along with her rather undignified appearance, led Eerawai to believe that she wasn’t the brightest star in the sky, so to speak.

“Oi, get down from there! Someone’ll see–” exclaimed the moonfilly loudly and Eerawai was about to tell her to keep her voice down, when a stallion’s whinny sounded from below. “–you. Well, now you’ve gone and done it.” Eerawai rolled her eyes ever so slightly, and said, “Well, now that you have so spectacularly announced our presence to the world, we should go and introduce ourselves so as not to seem rude,” She then pushed past the still standing moonfilly and went down the track. It occurred to Eerawai that perhaps the mare had stumbled on her by accident, since it was now clear that she knew very little about hiding herself in the high country. It was ironic really; the only way that someone could have found her and this loud moonfilly had quite literally stumbled upon her hiding place.

[Illu]

Brael bristled more than a little unsubtly at the reprimand. Wait. Did the little scrawny blue thing like half her age seriously just tell her off? Wait. No, younger than half her age. Wait. How old was Brael? The moon filly realised she’d completely lost track. She’d had, er, two foals then skipped a year? Or skipped two? Or more? So she was like, er... better say five to be safe. Anyway, the point stood that the roan was younger so Brael was in charge by default, because she was like, older and wiser and... stuff.

“I don’t appreciate your tone,” Brael hissed through bared teeth, putting on a show of bravado. However, as the roan pressed past, Brael’s act quickly faltered and died and for a second she had quite a comical look of fear upon her face. Eeek! She didn’t wanna be alone again! In a flash the mare spun around and practically glued herself to the other fillies flank as she lead the way out.

As they pushed out into the open, Brael took a moment to regard the stallion warily. Ordinary colour, young, and had clearly come off worse from a fight. Brael’s confidence automatically spiked again. Goodie, young meant stupid, so she could totally wrap him around her little finger and such, right? The mare shook out her mane gloriously so it caught the light and detached herself from the roan to approach him with the showiest walk she could. She couldn’t help it. She liked attention. A lot.

“Oh, hiiiii there!” she crooned shamelessly, fully expecting him to turn gobsmacked and help her with whatever she wanted. “I’m a little looost, do you think a fine young colt such as yourself could lend a girl some assistance?”

[Ehetere]

The moonfilly mumbled something that sounded not exactly happy, but Eerawai just continued on, ignoring her, because she was going to have to follow her if she wanted to get off that rock. The moonfilly seemed to have enough sense in her to realise that too; or perhaps she simply did not want to be alone again in fear of getting lost once more. Either way, the moonfilly followed her closely without another word, until they reached the little clearing by the river where the colt was drinking.

Eerawai’s initial impression that he had recently been in a fight seemed to be correct; he was covered with numerous cuts and bruises, and sported a rather nasty lump just under his eye. Or maybe he had a deformity? Either way; it certainly didn’t look as though he had won anything, and he looked tired and sore. The moonfilly seemed to have lost all of her momentary uncertainty, and trotted boldly over to the colt proclaiming that she was lost and needed help in long, drawn out syllables. Eerawai merely snorted quietly in amusement and trotted as elegantly down to the creek to get a drink.

Eerawai was far more modest than the moonfilly; she guessed that perhaps vanity came with beauty. She was far younger than the mare, and had not yet attained her full height or looks, so she was probably rather paled in comparison to the glorious (if dense) moonfilly. Eerawai dipped her nose into the icy water, and she felt a tingle go through her as she swallowed. She refused to make eye contact with the red dun; it was rude especially if he wanted the moonfilly. Once she had drunk her fill, Eerawai thought perhaps she may just disappear into the bush around her and leave the moonfilly and the colt in peace if they so wished, since she didn’t particularly want the moonfilly following her around either, and the colts seemed to have distracted her. It wasn’t that Eerawai thought that the moonfilly was mean-spirited or anything like that, she was too nice to think that of a horse after only knowing them for such a short time, but the moonfilly did seem rather thick, and loud too, which would blow her cover where ever she went, and she simply could not have that.

[KAREE]

Kalti waited patiently near the river, waiting for the possible high-pitched whinny of a mare. Instead though, two horses emerged out of the bushes, both female, one younger than the other. His eyes strayed from the blue roan to the moonfilly. Wow, he thought, they are much more beautiful in person(horse). His eyes then strayed, reluctantly to the blue roan, she was pretty in her own way, and seemed more around his age. As she looked him over, he turned away, brushing his hoof against the ground for a moment, seemingly distracted. Though he didn't have to do that for long, it seemed the moonfilly dance across the ground, her mane shining as she tossed it into the air. If Kalti hadn't known better, he would have thought she was putting on a show for him.

He waited, smiling to himself as she pranced over to where he stood. He nodded a greeting, his eyes straying to the filly behind her, than back again. Surely this moonfilly, er, mare, had a herd? Surely she was not interested in him? He glanced down into the water, trying to make out the distorted reflection in the water. Nope, she certainly wouldn't be interested in him, he looked as though he'd just been beaten up by the school bully, and lost. He glanced back up at the mare as she started talking to him, he tried listening - he heard some of it - but always his attention strayed to the blue roan. Kalti wasn't an idiot, and he knew this moonfilly would have a waiting stallion, and Kalti was in no mood, or shape, to get into another fight. “Oh, hiiiii there!” She seemed to be talking to him like he was some looser. “I’m a little looost, do you think a fine young colt such as yourself could lend a girl some assistance?” He blinked, "Umm..." He paused, shaking his head a little inspite of his internal warnings to get over his new infactuation. He glanced back up at the mare who certainly seemed a bit lost, "Err, yea..uh, sure, what can I do for you?" He asked politely, looking her in the eye as he spoke. When he'd finished he glanced back again at the filly, only to find that she wasn't looking at him at all. Was he that ugly at the moment? Did he really look that bad? Feeling disheartened, he looked away into the running water, searching for an answer to the question that certainly wouldn't get one. "I'm Kalti, for the spear. What is it they call you two lovely mares?" He asked politely, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

OOC|| sorry it sucks.

[Illu]

---

I’m sorry that Brael is such a cow. ^^;

---

Oh goodie, he was playing along, that was always good. Brael sauntered over and pressed herself to the side of her new target as close as she could without hurting any of his wounds. God knew Nevada had gotten his butt kicked enough times in the past for her to learn how close was too close. If only Mr. Red would stop looking at the roan for a minute and back to her it would perfect. Duh, clearly she was the special-est thing to ever special, and if the boy had any brains he’d know how fortunate he was to have her even like, talking to him. And yeah. Stuff.

“Oh thank you,” Brael simpered sweetly, practically fluttering her eyelashes, “I came down from the Bogong alone earlier but I’ve never been this far down the creek before,” she explained, having no problem distributing the information that she was currently alone and far away from her herd. If that was because she was confident she could get away at any time, wanted more attention or was just that stupid, it was hard to tell.

Mr. Red’s other glance at Missy Blue didn’t escape her notice. Hiss, no. That wouldn’t do. Brael spotted some dried blood on his side that didn’t seem to be attached to a wound and quickly set to work loosening it by nibbling at it lightly in an attempt to pull his attention back onto herself. He wasn’t a bad colt actually, she could feel some good muscle under the skin that might be impressive once he matured some more, but he still had a way to go before he ended up on her radar. “If you help me get back I’m sure I’d be most grateful,” she practically purred. “It's wonderful to meet you. I’m Brael, for the stars.”

As for the roan, well, she might not even exist as far as Brael was concerned at the moment.

[Ehetere]

Eerawai had one ear tuned on the conversation taking place behind her with the moonfilly and the colt, and it was lucky that that she had her nose in the water, because without that she would have laughed out loud at some of the moonfilly’s comments. Never before had she ever seen a mare so forward to a stallion, usually it was the other way around; and yet here was this obviously beautiful mare practically begging to be looked at and doted upon. Eerawai would never stoop this low herself, her pride would not allow it, and besides, she was not sure exactly what stallions found appealing anyway, other than coat colours. She was certainly nothing that stood out among the various herd of horses that roamed the high country. All the same, she could not help but notice that the red dun’s attention was constantly flicking back to her, despite the moonfilly’s best efforts to distract him.

Feeling rather playful; and perhaps a little cheeky too, Eerawai dipped her forelock and some of her mane into the icy current and then flung her head back, spraying the air around her and her coat, with glittering crystals. She simply wanted to see if she could best the moonfilly by getting the most attention from the colt. She dipped her head back into the water once more, flicking a sly glance back at the red dun, Kalti. Every so often she would flick her tail too, making the water droplets there dance in the light. She then moved along the river bank a little more; closer towards where Kalti and the moonfilly who said her name was Brael were standing. She certainly couldn’t show off in the ways that Brael was, but she had a few tricks that she could pull too. When she had initially been with that awful stallion, she had danced for him occasionally, and played and romped. If the creek here had not been so full, she knew of some hidden boulders on which a young filly could play and appear to be walking on water, but she would just have to do the best with what she was provided. Sometimes mystery was more compelling than obvious beauty.

[KAREE]

Kalti couldn't believe it, his attention returned quickerly to the moonfilly, his skin prickling in response to her closeness. He tried to swallow, gapping a bit like an idiot, he felt the warmth radiate off her silky body. He tried to peer at the roan, as if he beckoned her help, only to find that her attention was preoccupied at the moment.
He whipped his head back to hear the mare chime away in response to his. "Oh thank you," He nodded, "No problem." Feeling he should say something to ease his own tention, “I came down from the Bogong alone earlier but I’ve never been this far down the creek before,” He looked at her when she spoke, being polite, he nodded. His body leaned away, only because her closeness seemed to make him uncomfortable, it didn't feel right. And Kalti swore there was something he had missed in this mare. Puzzled and uncomfortable the mare seemed to add to his inner responses to her voice and her body warmth, by slowly nibbling at some of the stiff, tender parts of his back. He suppressed a groan, it felt so nice.

Her voice trilled in his ear again, “If you help me get back I’m sure I’d be most grateful,” he met her eyes, in a polite gesture. “It's wonderful to meet you. I’m Brael, for the stars.” Brael, for the stars. It was quite ironic, the moonfilly being named for the stars. Funny. Though he didn't laugh at it out loud, he knew that if he did that he would be sorer for longer. "Yea, sure. Ahh...where about do you reside?" He asked, looking at her before remembering the other filly. He looked up to find her flinging her mane back, the small, round crystals floating gracefully away. It was breath-taking, he felt his heart flutter in response to her well defined show. It was pretty much a young stallions dream, to have two very beautiful mares around him, showing off to him. He felt sick. The thought making him glance down between his hooves, down at a small wandering ant. What was it that made them tick? He looked up at Brael, and then to the mysterious blue roan filly, he pricked his ears, wanting so desperately to go and play with her. To chase after her in the snow...He bit his lip, now Kalti dont get too carried away. Though he thought it, he could suppress the sudden nicker that escaped his nostrils, and floated toward the filly. He took a step closer involentarily, then kicked himself mentally. He glanced back at Brael to see what her response to this would be.