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Post by KAREE on Jun 11, 2009 8:01:30 GMT
It was raining lightly and most of the day animals were hiding well within their hollows and burrows. The sun was not out, it was hiding behind some very dark clouds that were hovering over Mt. Kosciusko, they were pouring out rain, but still threatened the High Country with a storm. There seemed to be no life about, no wombats wobbled out of their great holes in the ground and no kangaroo was to be seen for kilometres. The gang gangs where even silent for once. Though there were no bush creatures about there was an oddly pure white brumby stalking carefully through the wattles and scattered saltbush. His pink nose brushed over the ground occasionally, catching the faint scent of other brumbies that would soon be washed away by the rain. He was beautiful; but some would say that beauty was dangerous. In this case it could have been. As he lifted his head and peered around the snow gums and thick braken, a cockatoo in a nearby gum tree flew out, startled, it started sqwarking wildly as it flapped its wings faster and faster to get away from the 'death omen'. Kambigo took little notice of the white bird though. Nimbly, the stallion hopped over a small log and followed down a wallaby track through some smaller bushes. Keeping his head low, as he went, the legendary white stallion walked carefully, but swiftly along a sudden dip in the path. The rain kept falling, through the canopy of tall, pale trees.
He was careful not to expose himself out into the open areas, just incase the sun decided to appear suddenly. It was enough that the Nightrunner was out in the day, he didn't need to be exposed to the sun as well. Though Kambigo had little to worry, he had experimented with this before and he was perfectly safe out in the open, under the rain, as the sun would not have appeared without warning in this dreary weather. But Kambigo did not want the whole High Country knowing of his presence. It would certainly send panic throughout the great mountains. And then he would never get his mission finished. Pausing to peer out into an open gap of bare earth and patches of snow grass, Kambigo felt a sudden urge to go and dance along the ground, leaving barely a print in the earth and to leave the High Country wondering about him...
OOC: Open to anyone.
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Post by Ehetere on Jun 13, 2009 5:59:26 GMT
Niribi shook herself playfully to remove some of the moisture from her coat and mane. She had been exploring the highest mountain in the High Country for days now, and had decided that her fun would not be spoiled by a little wet weather. All the same; Niribi knew full well of the dangers of storms, especially on high, exposed places such as this, and was constantly checking the wind and glancing upwards for any sign that worse weather was on the way.
All of a sudden the loud screeching of a cockatoo pierced the silence brought on by the rain, and Niribi paused, ears pricked, listening intently. The bird flew overhead with a passing screech as it wheeled away and out of sight. It seemed to be in a hurry to escape whatever had disturbed it… Niribi’s breath quickened and she stepped forward again, and thrill of excitement surging through her. She wanted to find out who else could possibly be wandering the highest mountain in such dismal weather.
Niribi followed in the direction the cockatoo had come from; delicately scenting the wind for any signs of previous inhabitants. The faintest scent of stallion lingered on the wind, and so Niribi moved faster and with even more caution. The rain was fast washing away any tracks that another brumby may have left… but there, in a soft muddy patch was the indentation of a hoof mark. A stallion’s hoof mark.
Niribi supposed she could have called out to the unknown stallion; but that in its self was unwise, for she had no idea who the stallion might be, or whether he was important. He might be cruel; and wish her for his herd. He might be timid; and flee at the sound of her voice. So instead she quietly picked up her pace a little more, since the trees were beginning to thin somewhat.
Suddenly ahead she saw the palest flash of a white coat. The rain dulled any foot falls the stallion may have been making, but all the same, Niribi quietened her own footsteps more as she crept after the pale wraith ahead. She could tell that he was alone; which was unusual enough for a stallion - they usually had at least one mare or filly accompanying them. But there was something more strange about this indefinite figure that Niribi simply could not grasp. There was something about that pale hide that made her creamy coat tingle; and she felt herself inexplicably drawn towards the pale shadow.
She continued to creep after him; downwind so that he could not smell her, but even so only ever caught furtive glances of white. Fearing that she would lose him, she sped up, but then just as she got close, a twig snapped underfoot, and that tiny noise seemed to be louder than a whip crack in the eerie rain-silence. Niribi froze in place; her eyes straining for the slightest hint of movement, along with her ears. Her muscles were tense; ready to flee should some strange unknown danger arrive. But she would have to have a good look at it first. There was something mysterious, captivating and alluring about the unknown.
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Post by KAREE on Jun 13, 2009 9:54:16 GMT
The mountains had grown even more still, if that was possible, and Kambigo could feel the tension of the air rise around him. The tension made him look up into the sky, as it would have been the only obvious source of this tension; the sky was growing darker, but there was no threat of a storm just yet. The rain grew heavier and somehow Kambigo knew that the sun would not show itself for the rest of the day.
Feeling pleased with his assumption and excited at the chance of being able to go out into the open in the day, Kambigo took an unwavering step past the wattles that hid him. But as if to ruin his moment, a twig snapped behind him. Though he could have assumed it was a bush creature, the nightrunner knew that it wasn't. The snapping sounded like something of a much heavier weight than just a passing kangaroo. Spinning around, Kambigo immediately began to scan the area before him. Trying to catch the scent of the animal that had intruded his peaceful moment. It did not take him too long to make out a pale creamy figure trying to hide themself behind a tree. Blowing heavily through his nostrils, he called, "Show yourself." It was a command. He tried again to catch the horse's scent, but the buckskin was standing downwind to him, so he would not be able to tell who it was until they were standing closer to him.
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Post by Ehetere on Jun 13, 2009 10:38:27 GMT
The pale figures stopped and spun around, allowing Niribi t get a better look at him. He was pale and slender and had eyes like sunset. “Nightrunner” breathed Niribi in amazement. But instead of being scared; Niribi was drawn to the mysterious white stallion, and threaded her way through the trees towards him. When she emerged, she stopped, trembling with excitement and eyes wide with wonder. She had heard whispered tails of the Nightrunners; ghost horses that were thought to bring death and destruction. Perhaps that was why this storm was brewing. They were all supposed to live within one legendary herd, and only ever came out during the moonlight hours. So why was one up here in the middle of the day all alone?
She stood up proud and pricked her ears; striking up a respectful pose. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stretched out her nose to him; unable to resist temptation. He was solid white; as white as fresh snow it’s self. His eyes burned like the final rays of sunset; and to some they would have been terrifying. But to Niribi they were mesmerizing. Never had she dreamed that she would ever get to meet a horse out of legend; perhaps if she was lucky she may meet a descendant of Thowra, the old Silver King. But never in her wildest fantasies had she imagined that she would come across a Nightrunner. “Who are you?” she asked in a barely audible whisper, her voice infused with reverence. This Nightrunner may be an outcast, or perhaps he was only a throw back to them, since he was out in the day like this. Although; it wasn’t much of a day, since the clouds blocked out the sun and sent the landscape into a premature twilight.
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Post by yaruka on Jun 14, 2009 0:12:36 GMT
OOC: make way for Goondooloo....lol jk if you don't want her here just let me know BIC: Along a faint wallaby track on Mount Kosciusko trotted a strange brown and white mare. Her head was flung up high, the better to see ahead in this odd half-light, and her gait was tight and animated, although oddly fluid at the same time. Goondooloo wasn't nervous, just wary, as she made her way down the steep slope. Large chocolate ears flickering, the mare heard voices below. Stopping for a second, she scented the air, her proud prescense more reminiscent of a stallion than a mare. A male and a female brumby were below, she deduced, but that was all. Changing course, she moved more directly down the slope, her queer swinging gait eating up the distance even as she clung to the cliff side with unusual confidence for a mare of her solid build. Finally, she emerged from the brush from the bottom of the hill, stepping out to the meet the other horses. Whinnying a bold greeting, she made her way over to them, head bobbing with her active walk but still held high and proud.
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Post by KAREE on Jun 14, 2009 2:32:01 GMT
The horse emerged from the tree it was trying to hide behind, revealing itself to be a mare in Kambigo's sun coloured eyes. He quickerly inspected her as she made her way closer to the white stallion. Her coat was a lot paler than the usual buckskin, but it still carried the looks of one. The mare tremebled as she stepped closer and halted infront of him. Her eyes peering wide like the moon at him. Was she scared? Flickering his ears back and forth, the nightrunner was a bit stumped as what to think of her fearing him. But if she didn't...well the would certainly please him. But what horse wouldn't fear him? Especially with a rumours and legends revolving around his breed...
The mare continued to shock Kambigo more as she reached her nose out to touch his own. Cautiously, Kambigo reached his own out to brush it softly against hers before pulling back. "You are not scared?" He asked, his own eyes pulling wider at the corners. "I am Kambigo." He answered her question quickerly, wanting his own to be answered, so that he could contemplate what to expect of her next.
Movement drew his fiery eyes away from the mare's peculiar face, off a little way another mare made her way to them; distracting him a little. He thought he was meant to be the only creature out on Mt. Kosciusko. For a moment, Kambigo had to check twice that the mare was indeed a mare. For her build was a lot more solid than the soft round hide of a normal mare. She whinnied in greeting, obviously she hadn't noticed that Kambigo was indeed a nightrunner, otherwise she probably would have turned the other way. Through all this, Kambigo had forgotten his manners, and had forgotten his voice. He hadn't been around any horse for more than a few months and now he was getting swamped with mares. It was very...what was the word? Distracting? He left the greeting to the other mare and stood there silently peering at both of them through his brooding red eyes.
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Post by Ehetere on Jun 14, 2009 2:54:28 GMT
“No, I am not scared…” replied Niribi, delighted to learn his name. He seemed somewhat withdrawn or standoffish, and Niribi couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Perhaps he did not want her there; and maybe she was right for thinking he was an outcast. But what would cause one of the Nightrunners to exile one of their own in such a way? She trembled slightly at this thought.
The sound of an approaching mare met her ears and she whipped her head around to see who else could possibly be up here on the highest mountain. At first she mistook the patchy mare for a stallion, and immediately cringed away. Stallions rarely accommodated one another at the best of times; not to mention when there was possibly a mare at stake. She didn’t necessarily fear brumby fights, she just did not particularly appreciate the screaming noise and the odors of battle. Besides; she had no wish to see the beautiful Nightrunner stallion Kambigo maimed and scarred.
The patchy mare certainly did move in a funny fashion, and Niribi knew that she couldn’t be a full brumby. She had seen men’s horses occasionally move in the same way while watching them from afar, and she thought it was downright unnatural. She whinnied a bold greeting and Niribi thought that perhaps the mare did not realize that she was in the presence of a Nightrunner. Still; it would be rude to simply stand there and leave a greeting unanswered, and since Kambigo appeared to be a horse of few words, Niribi replied politely, “And greetings to you also, Coloured Mare. I am Niribi. Many ask what has brought you up to the highest mountain, and your name also?” All the while, Niribi could not help but let her eyes flicker back to Kambigo’s fiery red ones, There was a majesty about him that did not allow her to fully take her eyes off him.
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Post by yaruka on Jun 15, 2009 2:37:03 GMT
The stallion whinnied in greeting, though to Goondooloo’s surprise it was the mare who introduced herself first. In Goondooloo’s past experience stallion’s had always pushed forward for attention and mares had hung back. She had been the anomaly of course, but she had never met a stallion who hadn’t at least tried to insist on being the first to speak to a newcomer.
But Goondooloo was not to be bothered with the ways of these strange horses. She was curious, that was all, to see why they were so high up in the mountains. The pinto’s strange, white rimmed eyes passed a precursory glance over the other two horses, noting but not reacting to the pale stallion’s scarlet gaze before she replied to the palomino’s question.
“I am Goondooloo,” she said, her voice throaty but full of confidence and certainty “And I could ask you the same question. The mountains are not a popular dwelling place for the majority of our kind.” She stood calmly, waiting for a response but none too concerned by the palomino’s reaction either. Nonchalantly she flicked her tail against her two-toned hide, eyes ceaselessly scanning their surroundings. Her grandsire may have been a servant of man kind but Goondooloo was all brumby.
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Post by KAREE on Jun 15, 2009 9:21:41 GMT
Kambigo's gaze flew over the pale buckskin mare, his eyes full of questioning as she said that she was not scared of him. How can that be? Why was this filly not running for the hills? He tilted his head to the side, his ears flopping out to the side, almost making him look like a puppy, only without the pure cuteness. He blinked before righting his head up and pricking his ears forward to hear the mare's greeting to the brown and white mare. “And greetings to you also, Coloured Mare. I am Niribi. Many ask what has brought you up to the highest mountain, and your name also?" Niribi, he quickerly slotted that name into a file that he would certainly use later on then zeroed in on the Coloured Mare, who Niribi has now named her. He chewed and licked his lips with his pink tongue. Before nodding lightly as the mare told them her own name. “I am Goondooloo,” Yet another name to slot away, he thought, shaking his mane about.
“And I could ask you the same question. The mountains are not a popular dwelling place for the majority of our kind.” He stared at her for a moment. Why wasn't this glorious mountain a popular place? It was so spacious and wild. It made him feel free, not locked up like in his old herd...He held back a shiver, and looked at Niribi to see if she was going to say anything; but she was silent. Looking over at Goondooloo again, Kambigo decided to speak, "Greetings Goondooloo, I am Kambigo." He said. Then tossed his head as a little black fly decided to land near his left eye, he then shook his head, followed by the rest of his body before he commented on Goondooloo's last comment. "Why would they not be popular? They are so wild...and glorious." He breathed the last word, looking up through the trees and over the rocky ground. This time he couldn't hide the excited shiver that riveted through him.
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Post by Ehetere on Jun 15, 2009 10:30:19 GMT
“Some brumbies are afraid of the wild and glorious,” commented Niribi thoughtfully, referring to far more than their surroundings. But Kambigo was right though about the sheer untamed nature of the highest mountain. It was invigorating, giving Niribi the intense urge to race across the snowgrass slopes and be as untamed as the mountain itself. And wouldn’t it be even more special to run with a Nightrunner? This idea excited Niribi even further; the image of two pale brumbies silhouetted against the moon with their tails flying in the wind vivid in her mind. She suppressed a squeal of delight, and instead simply shivered with pleasure at the thought. That would be glorious.
“I myself find such things exciting… and thrilling. That is the reason I am up here today in fact; there is nothing that stirs the blood more than new country; and the more wild and glorious the better I say! As a foal I always wished for a more exciting existence, and now I am living it. Or at least trying to,” exclaimed Niribi, tapering off rather bashfully at the end. And the thought of running was still pumping through her, and suppressing it was becoming harder and harder by the minute. But the strange need to stay around the glorious silver Nightrunner was stronger, and Niribi turned away from Goondooloo slightly so that she could better take in his features.
There were so many questions that she wanted to ask him; about his past, his herd, the Nightrunners, why he was up here, and where the rest of his kind were. But now seemed neither the time nor the place with Goondooloo looking on. Niribi suspected that the mare had not heard of the Nightrunners; she had only found out about them by asking specifically, and even then she had to travel quite a way to find an old wise mare who knew the legend. But any horse who knew the legend usually irrationally feared the Nightrunners, but she was drawn by anything mysterious, and as her mother had often lamented, by anything dangerous. Not that Niribi thought that Nightrunners were dangerous, or anything unknown for that matter; its just that other brumbies seemed to.
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