Beginning a Legend

[Tex]

Alison brushed her horses down, the bay Jesse, the black Echo, and the other brumby she'd managed to take from the horde that was caught. The other was a grey colt, about two years old, and already looking like a winner. The brumbies were now tame enought o be approached without due harm, and she stroked them gently in the dark morning light, admiring the slowly fading stars. She loved being out in the country; it was like she had been born and raised here. Leaving in Winter was the hardest thing for her to do, if she was telling the truth. Still, at least she could come back in the spring.
The sky was lightening; Alison moved to Jesse, and stroked her neck before walking to the fence and picking up the bridle that lay on top of it, striding back to Jesse and fixing it on snugly. Jesse flicked her ears forward and followed her human as she walked back to the fence, so Alison could put the saddle on her back much easier. Once the bay was tacked up, Alison led her out of the pen and closed the gate tightly behind her, before swinging aboard and moving away from the hut at a slow walk.

[Ehetere]

Illoura got up sluggishly; the pre-dawning waking her from her slumber. The stars were still up, but they were fading and there was a chill in the air. Birds were just beginning to sing their morning chorus and her heart warmed at the sound. The sights, sounds and scents of the bush invigorated her senses. This was freedom, and now she had earnt it for a second time. She wondered absently to herself how many other times she may have to earn it yet.

She had spent the night in a small, secluded glade and had woken up feeling refreshed and renewed. She was thinking about heading up to Lake Coopatamba, to frolic in those frigid waters under the hot Summer sun. If one had freedom, one should enjoy it, not mope around as a half being.

She did not necessarily feel like going to find Wilgee; she was still partially annoyed that the other creamy mare had run off on her. No; she was going to wander, and learn more of the bush, just like her ancestor Thowra and her grandsire Baringa. Stupid silver brumbies were captured; one who did not know how to hide themselves in the bush. She was not one of them, and had no intention of being captured in her life. Although, some situations were inevitable, but she vowed to herself that she would live out her final days in the High Country, and would do whatever necessary to ensure this.

She was just mounting the ridge that over looked the huts. She had wanted to wake up earlier, but supposed the men weren’t up yet, since they seemed to like staying in their huts well after the sun had risen. The black stallion from yesterday was standing in his yard with a grey colt. All was well then. She let out one last teasing call to him before trotting happily over the ridge and away.

Oh how she loved the beauty of the bush. The remnants of a fine mist hung over the gullies and hillocks she was trotting over. Everything looked so serene; so peaceful. Were she not so close to the men’s huts, she would have called out again; informing the whole High Country of her freedom. But as she did not particularly want to start a man hunt, with a whole herd of perusers on her tail, she restrained herself.

And then the sun emerged over the horizon. The surrounding countryside was bathed in golden luminescence; with the mist creating a sea of gold and droplets of dew brought into sharp relief, like thousands of glittering golden diamonds. Illoura felt her breath catch at the majesty being displayed, and cantered to the top of a grassy knoll before pulling herself up into an elegant half rear; and saluted all that was the wild untamed beauty being displayed. She stood poised there; balancing on her hind legs, a pale Silver filly turned to molten gold in the rays of the sun.

[Tex]

Jesse made good time, fit and healthy, as the exercise and good grass of the High Country usually made her. They were soon past the first line of trees, and entering a clearing, in which Alison scanned the ground for any tracks or signs of horses. Jesse moved unexpectedly underneath her, not making a sound, and she looked up to see the same horse from the night before, poised like a snow leopard in mid-pounce, the sunlight turning her coat into living gold. Alison's eyes blurred from tears at the sight, and she wiped them away, tugging on the reins to make Jesse turn and trotted into the trees again.
Alison was sure that this filly was not only good-looking with her coat, but her body was also well-formed. Brumbies like that were prized beyond any other, as their coat and bodies were like a show horse's, but their resilience and endurance was like that of a scruffy pony. This mare, she was sure, would do much to better the lines of horses on farms and such. Jesse, a dark bay, blended in with the trees very well, and Alison bent low across her mare's neck to try and blend in with her as well. At least her hat was covering her face, so it didn't gleam.
Once she was lined up properly, Alison tapped her heels on Jesse's sides, galloping for the Silver. Her rope was already out and whirling, and as Jesse had already gained full speed, they were near the mare very soon, and Alison threw the lasso for all she was worth. It missed once more, and Alison scowled daggers, rolling the rope up once more for another shot.

[Ehetere]

All of a sudden the bush was alive with movement, and a bay mare carrying a human on her back burst from the bushes. Illoura had not noticed their presence because the bird’s beautiful voices had stoped her from hearing their approach, and she had been too busy marvelling in the glory of the moment that she had just been experiencing. But that was gone now; and adrenaline pumped through her veins. She sprang away, using her rear as a prop, and the rope the human had thrown at her fell short. She was startled to see that it was actually the same female man from last night, except now she rode a different horse. With a parting squeal, she raced off again, as fast as her legs would carry her, before she could recoil her rope.

Illoura shot back over the open ground and back the way she had come. A million plans to escape were running through her head at this point. The one that seemed to stick was somehow getting the mare to unseat her rider, or tire her out by running up and down as many hills as possible. It was a bit of a shame that she was showing this human that little hidden ridge that over looked the huts, but it was unavoidable. Knowing there was only a short drop below a certain point, Illoura made a flying leap right off the edge, stumbled slightly on landing but kept going. No human in their right mind would try and attempt that jump; especially without knowing about the little hidden landing spot. They might land on the rocky promontories that were jutted randomly along the ridge, and that would be the end of them. The mare and her rider were just going to have to go the long way around.

She slowed down at the bottom to a trot to enable herself to navigate around the men’s huts without disturbing them. She loped over to the paddock that contained the colt and the black stallion with her tail and head held high and nickered a friendly enough greeting to them both. How terrible it would be to be confined to such a small space!

“I saw you run yesterday,” she called out to the big strong black. Usually she didn’t converse with stallions; but she was prepared to make an exception here and there. She completely ignored the colt, knowing that he wouldn’t create so much of a fuss. “You know that you’re strong enough; you should try and jump out,” she said in a flirtatious voice; knowing that if he attempted and succeeded, he might try and follow her, but she could lose him easily enough surely. But if he did get out; the human would surely forget about her and go for the stallion, especially if he was at least partially trained. But then there was a crashing and thudding from behind her and Illoura knew that if was time for her to take her leave. With one last flick of her tail, she raced off down Dead Horse Gap and towards Dead Horse Creek.

[Tex]

Alison chased the beautiful mare eagerly, her rope reattached to the saddle, using both hands to navigate over the country. Suddenly, the mare disappeared, and she drew back on the reins hard, making Jesse skid to a halt with a whinny of protest. They both edged forward to see the impossible-looking landing, and Alison shook her head worriedly. The mare was certainly intelligent; if only she had some way of getting close enough to take her for herself.
She pulled one of Jesse's reins, turning her to the right, and kicked lightly, encouraging the mare into a canter, to get some breath back and still go reasonably fast back to the hut, as the mare was going that way. Perhaps she would slow down to rest, or would calm down, so they could slow down as well.
~Intermission~
After a long ride back, Alison came upon the silver mare, conversing with her captive horses. She frowned and watched; it seemed she was trying to catch the attentiob of the black stallion, and was acting like a horsey sort of cheerleader. Suddenly the silver turned and trotted off, her tail flagging and generally just showing off. Echo looked a bit confused; Alison didn't blame him. She rode Jesse over to his pen, and while letting her horse have a breather, stroked him gently. "Good boy... stay... Eloise!" she called out to her friend, eyeing the silver with vain hope that it wouldn't go too far. "ELOISE!"

[danni]

Eloise walked around through the hut, hearing Mosco stamping his hoofs waiting of his feed. Hoof beats pounded the open earth, the sounds of the cockatoos was interrupted, thinking it was just Alison returning from her ride; moving to the tea pot so she could make sure Alison had some when she came in. But instead hearing a demanding cry from outside, Eloise moved around to the door, her hand tracing the wood as she paused and looked to Alison "What-" cut off when she saw a beautiful mare. Catching on Eloise, Shut the door of her hut and walked around catching Mosco's halter and picked her saddle and swung it over her horses copper back; catching he girth as it swung around she caught it pulling it up and adjusting the sir single.

When she was done she slipped her simple leather bridle onto his head and pulled his ebony mane out. With a flick she checked his girth again before effortlessly swinging herself onto the 16hh of buckskin bulk "Do you have a plan or just run and grab?" Her blue eyes watched Alison, it was her call.

[Ehetere]

Illoura looked over her shoulder to see what was happening behind her. The human on the bay mare trotted her horse over to the black stallion and soothed him, preventing him from escaping. Illoura snorted in irritation, but pricked her ears forward when the human called out loudly. She stamped a foot; unsure of exactly what this meant. The man wasn’t chasing her, just standing there and watching. Illoura cocked her head on the side, still trying to figure out what was going on. She decided that whatever it was, it wasn’t good, and she should be getting out of there and using this head start to lose the human and her tame horse.

She thundered across Dead Horse Gap, and quickly splashed through Dead Horse Creek; not wanting to be slowed by the water when there were men with ropes on her tail. When she hauled herself out the other side, there was now not only the bay mare after her, but what looked like a buckskin stallion; in his prime too. She would be quite happy for the game to end now; while it was the older heavier mare she was fine, but now she had a fully grown stallion to contend with as well, so instead of wasting time, she immediately began ascending Dead Horse Ridge in leaps and bounds.

[Tex]

Alison nodded and grinned at Eloise as she ran out of the hut and leaped onto her own buckskin's back, and patted Echo one last time before pulling back on the reins and backing up Jesse to give Eloise more room. The silver was starting to gallop faster, and in her mind's eye, Alison saw the layout of the high country, trying to guess where she was headed to. Silvers were smart, and knew how to shake off a human, so she figured the horse must be headed for rocky and dangerous ground. Eloise asked for a plan, and she nodded decisively.
"Let's head her off. She'll be headed for that ridge I just found, so let's try and get around it to make her come back down, yeah?"
Without waiting for an answer, as the mare was already far away, she urged her horse into a canter, going after the mare at a speed that would eventually catch up, but also gave her poor mare a breather.

OOC- sorry for short post, my hands are FREEZING!

[danni]

Nodding swiftly, she touched her heels to his golden side. His stride lashed forward hungrily as his tail flagged through the air that was thrashing around them. Pushing her weight on the stirrups and balanced her heels in the back urging her horse forward again; he was gaining his muscles started to burn slightly. Mosco looked through hazel eyes as the grass in front of him lengthened prairie was splitting and the warriors of the forest came ahead, it meant creek was flooding downhill; dead horse creek. Eloise noticed the trees ahead, slowing him down and feeling his muscles hunching as he saw the river his stride shortened as he leaped into the river. The water flushed around her face, she pushed it away as he was clear of the river, she followed the pretty mare in sights.

Eloise was close, Mosco was getting excited from the thrill of the run, this was a time for his stealth and speed to come into work. Eloise was now as close as five feet from behind the mare, gathering her coiled rope in her hand she kept the mare running, hoping she could turn her around.


((hope Im not PP))

[Ehetere]

Illoura slowed her pace as much as she dared to stop her from getting tired too early on. The woman on the bay mare may have been chasing for as long as she had been running, but the buckskin stallion on her heels was fresh, and needed to be tired out as well. The question was; how was she going to do that without exhausting herself? She couldn’t go back the way she had come, not with them this close on her tail. Going up the open hill would be foolish as well, so Illoura headed straight for the trees, slackening her pace just enough to let them think they were gaining on her, as well as preserving her energy. It was nearly impossible for me to get a clear shot at a horse with their ropes amongst the tree trunks, so Illoura knew that she needed to stay in cover for as long as possible.

Instead of going up and over Dead Horse Ridge, perhaps she could go around it instead. There were plenty of trees to dodge in, even if the did slow her down. And it left her plenty of escape options and little nooks and crannies for her to disappear into if she was hard pressed. Really, she should have swung right around on her haunches and headed down that wide stretch of valleys that leads to the Brindle Bull, but that place now harboured sour memories for her and she had no wish to revisit them any time soon. So she put her head down and charged her way through a little tunnel of scrub; trying to put as much distance between herself and the humans with their ropes.