GHOST of winter.

[Corowa]

Myrrina danced in the snow, the queerly marked mare near invisible amidst such whiteness. It was strangely still, and yet the mare was not frightened. Soon enough when the storm was over, the creatures of the bush would emerge from their burrows. But for now, the mare danced alone, galloping on through the snow. For it was in the snow that Myrrina need not fear man, need not fear being hunted and tamed.

Slowing to a trot, the mare tossed her head and halted. As soon as it had begun, the dance was ended, and the mare lowered her head to graze. Pawing at the snow, Myrrina flicked her tail and snorted. Here there remained snowgrass that had not overlooked by passing brumbies. Seeking lower ground, stallions led their mobs down from the high country, to the valleys and gorges that made up the Crackenback River.

Yet Myrrina had no stallion to follow. Had no reason to leave the high country that so often drew the mare back. Though a mob of brumbies could not survive a winter here, there was shelter and grazing enough for a lone horse, at least for a little while longer. Like a ghost, Myrrina haunted Lake Cootapatamba, vanishing into the mists brought by those dead waters, which were eerie in the winter, frozen as hard as the ground that surrounded it.

ooc: more for tiggs if she feels like responding but anyone can post here.

[tingara]

Tingara slushed his way through the snow to wards the lake. He'd heard so much about the lake from Dilali, Badu and Aleo that he thought he might as well check it out himself. He rolled his eyes at himself, 'This was not the greatest decision to come up here now,' he thought, but at least his mares were safe with Aleo in the valley.
Tingara sniffed at the snow until he found a patch he liked and began to roll. He kicked up snow and sludge until he was covered in it. Tingara lay breathless, enjoying being alone. Suddenly movement and the softest sounds caught his attention, a mare was dancing in the snow. Why was it that every time mare came around, they only saw Tingara making a fool of himself!?

[Corowa]

Myrrina felt a shiver of fear run through her, and the mare, troubled by the sense that there was something wrong, raised her head. Through the rough trunks of the Black Sallee, a stallion stood, silently watching.

Worried, the mare backed hastily into the cover of the trees, starting as the scrubby branches of tea-tree scraped against her haunches. His dark coat stood out against the snow, and Myrrina shook her head and snorted, fearful that this strange stallion would follow if she fled through the timber.

Yet he made no move from where he rested, and the mare wondered whether perhaps he was injured. Still half-afraid, Myrrina stepped out from the bush into the swirling snow. Her nostrils quivered with quiet excitement, the ice-cold wind moaning in the ghostly snowgums.

Moving through the trees slowly, the mare trembled. Stopping for a second, she looked at the stallion. "Are you hurt?" she asked, listening, listening for the sounds of other brumbies. If he indeed had a mob of mares, these would probably be hidden in the belt of gums at the edge of the gully.

[tingara]

Tingara lifted his head to see an interestingly marked mare standing over him. Tingara dug his way out of his snow drift and struggled to his feet.
"No I'm not hurt but thank you for asking," he said shaking the mud and snow out of his shaggy winter coat.
"May I ask what your name is? My name's Tingara," he asked and introduced himself, smiling at the fact he probably looked ridiculous to this mare. He was wet from his roll in the snow and the mud was beginning to harden in his coat.

[Corowa]

Myrrina moved back as the stallion got to his feet. The hollow where both brumbies stood was shrouded in cloud, and the stallion was outlined against the falling snow. His black coat was dusted with it, and yet there was protection from the storm in these rocks that surrounded the narrow cleft.

The boughs of the trees were heavy with snow, and every now and then there was a loud crack as one broke, frightening the mare so that she shied to one side with a snort, her eyes white-rimmed as she peered through the darkness of the blizzard.

"I am Myrrina," she answered timidly. For Tingara was indeed a proud looking stallion. In his prime, the stallion had a kind expression, and covered by mud and snow as he was, seemed no threat to the little brumby mare. The wind screamed through the eucalypts, and Myrrina edged closer to the stallion, for it was a cold and lonely night.

"What do you seek here in the high country during such a blizzard?" the mare asked, wondering that this Tingara had come now, not during the months before such storms drove brumbies to lower ground. Perhaps he was a ghost, a ghost of winter brought on these moaning, howling winds.

[tingara]

Tingara leaned closer to the mare that had introduced herself to be Myrrina and tried to warm her as best he could.
He thought awhile on Myrrina's question, he was now asking himself the same question.
"I guess curiosity, adventure and to be away from my mares for just a little while," Tingara answered at last, "I mean I love all my mares dearly just sometimes I need to be alone with my thoughts," he added on, "and they're not alone of course, I left them in the safe hands of a friend," he finished hastily. He didn't want to make himself look like a stallion who didn't care about the wellbeing of his mares.
"What brings you up here in this bitter weather?"

[Corowa]

Myrrina came to stand beside the stallion, as his warm body broke the force of the wind. the leaves of the black sallee rustled, and moss streamed from the branches as the wind caught it. Yet even the fierceness of such a storm was not enough to frighten the mare. It would blow over soon enough, and then there would be time to rest. For now, there was simply time to listen and to wonder. Indeed, myrrina was intrigued by this stallion. And perhaps the blizzard had called him, and one should not refuse the call of the winds, the longing of the willy-willy.

"It is a brave stallion that wanders so far from his mob, or perhaps a foolish one," Myrrina said. For it was not strange for stallions to fight in the winter, over grazing grounds and even over mares beautiful enough to be hunted. Yet no one had come to claim myrrina, and so the mare had come to the frozen waters of the lake. "This was where I was born," she answered, turning to the stallion to touch him with her nose, giving him a playful nip as she did so. "And so each winter I return, for in the summer men come to the mountains, and so I must wait for the winter, when snow covers my tracks and none dare venture forth."

ooc: sorry for the enormous wait, i was busy :]

[tingara]

"Maybe I am both," Tingara said cheekily to Myrrina's remark about him being either brave or foolish. He nipped her playfully back and looked over the lake and the area around it.
"This place is a beautiful place to be born," and indeed it was, the sun made the newly frozen lake shine like crystal and the snow on the mountainous surroundings glitter.
"I was born on the Pilot during a storm, not that that's incredibly important," Tingara said shyly. He began to dig through the light covering of snow in front of him to uncover some grass.
"Are you hungry?" He motioned to wards the hole he'd just dug, the mare and her hunger was more important than his.

[Corowa]

Myrrina trembled as the stallion turned and bit her. In the darkness of this night of blizzards and storms, he had faded into the blackness. But it had been the warmth of his body and the faint sounds he made as he shifted in the snow that told myrrina he still was there. "I have never heard of the pilot before. But i would like to see it," the mare said softly. Indeed Myrrina knew nothing more than those ice-cold waters of the lake, of the bush that surrounded it, and the life that seemed to exist in those scrubby snow gums and towering candlebarks.

The stallion seemed restless, and as he pawed at the snow, Myrrina wondered whether he was searching for food. Then he moved back, and curious, the mare lowered her head and sniffed the ground. There was grass there beneath the snow, bruised and sodden, but grass nonetheless. It made Myrrina remember the almost desperate hunger that followed all brumbies during the winter. "You should eat as well, for there will not be much food to be found here," she said as she gently nosed Tingara, filled with a longing and sadness she could not understand.

[tingara]

Tingara nosed Myrrina gently back, closing his eyes at her soft touch. Being with her was a welcome change to the drama and chaos that had unfolded recently. All the brumbies were frantic about the disappearance of the king, all except Myrrina.
"It's ok," he said quietly, "I'm not that hungry." The truth was he didn't feel worthy of food. He'd failed to find Aleo and now he was beating himself up about it.
"The Pilot is a magnificent mountain but not as mighty as these ranges," Tingara said, hurriedly changing the subject.
He looked at Myrrina, he felt so guilty that every thing seemed so much better when he looked at her.