Roaming the Range

[tingara]

Dilali stretched her legs out and forced herself up from the ground. She shook the dew put of her growing coat and yawned. She thought about the fiasco at the lake the previous night and laughed. Poor Rezar, poor Aleo. Aleo, she didn't quite know how she felt about him. She shook the confusing thoughts out of her head and looked around for Kessa. She wasn't too worried, she was probably out exploring or something. Dilali stretched out her legs again and dropped her head lazily to graze.

[Tiggs]

Kessa had left earlier that morning, pondering something. She had said to herself that Dilali would be safe alone, and she'd return to her friend later that day. First, she had to investigate something.

Meanwhile, a white stallion came prancing and high-stepping, twirling and dancing up the winding path on the side of the Ramshead. He didn't seem to be performing for Dilali, but for the paint mare that followed. Nevada was gleeful that morning. He'd slept well, and together he and Mica were searching for a safe spot to graze for the day. The young stallion was in high spirits, so he danced for his mare, reaffirming his adoration of her.

Catching a glimpse of the grey-brown mare, the brumby stopped dancing. Telling Mica to stay on the mountain path, Nevada clambered to the top. He stood proud and alert, looking for the rest of Dilali's herd. Seeing no others, and finding no evidence of their tracks, he called Mica to him. He evaluated the other mare. A year or two older perhaps, with an almost unique coat. Nevada tossed his head, raising it in excitement. Another mare, apparently alone.

He whinnied to her, wondering if he could entice her to run with him. Then he'd have two mares, each with stunningly different coats. Nevada reared, prancing and hoping to show off his agility and prowess. He felt more confident now with Mica at his side. He wondered if he could eventually build a herd of beautiful and unique mares. One of every colour.

He approached the older mare, ears fixated on her with his neck arched and his mane weaving with each purposeful step. "My name is Nevada, may we graze with you?" He asked, lifting his tail proudly to show off its length.

[tingara]

Dilali heard other creatures coming but she didn't look up. As she pulled at the grass she saw a set of silver and another set of multicoloured legs prancing towards her and they definitely didn't belong to Kessa or anyone else she knew. The stallion introduced himself and she answered half-heartedly, "Yeah sure Nevada you can graze here, it's free country." She rolled her blue eyes and deliberately grazed in another direction

[Tiggs]

Nevada lost his composure for a moment. Either this mare was very rude, unhappy about something or just not interested. He banked on unhappy. The other two would simply be disappointing. He had to hone his charming skills some how. And if this mare was going to be difficult in any manner of speaking, it would at least be practice to try and woo her.

"Where is your herd?" He asked, nickering softly. "Are they far?" It was always safe to assume any mare was taken. It had been pure luck that he'd found Mica when he did.

[tingara]

"I left my birth herd sometime ago," she answered politely and looked up from grazing this time as she remembered the name Nevada. "Word is you met my brother, Tingara," Dilali said casually. He probably thinks I'm unhappy or something, she thought. She sneezed as some grass seeds went up her nose and went back to nibbling at the grass. Toying with stallions, there was nothing better! She also wanted to play this out for as long as she could to see where it went. Currently the stallion was amping up his charm, something she'd seen all too often. "By the way, my name's Dilali."

[Valatone]

Bakoli, of course, had trailed behind. "Wait up!" he screamed, running despirately and then crashing into Dilali. He got a bit of a shock, fell down but stood up again. Embarrased, he blushed, "Ohh wops! Sorry ma'am." he said.

[tingara]

Dilali glared at the colt that had just knocked the wind out of her.
"Is this yours?" she asked curiously, this stallion must have started breeding early! She stepped over the colt on the ground and continued to graze purposely away form Nevada, not really bothering to listen to his answer.

[aya]

Aleo wasn't particularly trusting of his own nose sometimes, and as he caught faint whiffs of what he had been searching for, Binda would usually trot so close to him that he couldn't smell anything but her.
The Range was not one of his favorite places for he remembered a gruesome fight between his father and another stallion taking place not far from there. So, of course, there had to be a good reason to drag him up to Ramshead.

An interesting scene was set before him as he came upon a flat; a young paint mare whom he'd never seen before, a young colt who didn't seem much younger than the mare, a grey stallion with a lovely full mane and tail trying to impress a filly who --
Aleo snorted in utter irritation, showing the whites of his eyes a little. Ever since that time at the mountain lake, he had had his mind set on one filly - not the palomino, but the grey with the striking amber-bronze mane and tail. She'd introduced herself to him as Dilali, and ever since then, Aleo had been somewhat obsessed with her.

He completely forgot all about Binda being with him and ran at a gallop towards the grey stallion, rearing as he reached the strange gathering of horses.
He turned and looked at Dilali.
"I had heard you would be here," he told her, "you won't be with me, but this amateur is good enough?"
The comment he made sounded angry, but really, he just felt somewhat upset about the whole affair.

[Illu]

Binda had successfully managed to talk Aleo’s ear off for the entire trip, and her scent taking up both his nostrils when he was sniffing for another mare was hardly by accident. She had just been going on for about 15 minutes about something or other when Aleo suddenly dashed off, leaving her suddenly speechless for the first time.

Once her brain caught up she tore after him. The moment Binda spotted the other horses she could only guess one of them was the one he’d been sniffing for. So, feeling a pang of annoyance Aleo was focusing on someone else she slowed down, lifted her head and tail and threw out her legs, looking as impressive as she could muster. This time however, she was at a disadvantage as their coats where not the standard reds, browns and blacks that would normally allow her own coat to stand out. So, looking like Aleo running off was totally as planned, she quickly set her teeth into his wither to give him a quick friendly-looking groom based of nothing but jealousy and spite at whoever he was trying to attract.

[tingara]

"He came up to me," she said angrily, motioning at Nevada, "I..." For once she didn't know what to say. She felt something burning inside her and not all of it was anger, but the anger was what she wanted to show. She snorted irritably and trotted away. Aleo was treating her like she was his. She had trotted off to both get away from the stallions and the strange mares, and to see if Aleo would come after her.