tamed foolishness, [O/R]

[Corowa]

The bay mare grazed only one hundred or so yards from the hut. She didn’t lift her head from the snowgrass at the clatter of the pannikin or the excited whinnying of horses impatient for their breakfast.

There came the bark of a dog, and the mare’s ears pricked forwards and at that moment a man whistled and the mare stood suddenly alert. Her nostrils flared and she stamped her foot impatiently. There was the rich smell of chaff, and Willunga struck off at a swinging trot.

The mare approached the stockyards. There was only two horses in the high-fences of the yard, a neat bay of some fifteen or so hands, and a black four-year-old stallion. Willunga greeted the bay with a friendly nicker and then reached over to scratch his haunches as he swung them round to the fence. The two horses enjoyed each other’s companionship for a moment or so more, and then the bay dropped his head and nosed the chaff his master had put out for him.

Willunga swished her tail and flattened her ears at the bay. The horse snorted and gave a silly-sounding neigh. Presently, the door of the hut banged open, and the man stood at the door, as he watched the two horses. Willunga stretched her nose through the stockyard fence and snuffled around for chaff in the snowgrass.

Just then, the dog barked, and the mare looked up. Willunga showed it a clean pair of heels and she bounded off with nostrils wide and eyes wild. In his excitement, the dog barked again and nipped the mare particularly hard. Willunga squealed and she put her head down and bucked.

At the man’s whistle, the dog stopped in its tracks. Willunga swung around and whinnied to him, invited him to continue the chase. The dog whined, but the whistle came again, and he turned back towards the hut. Willunga snorted and started to crop at the snowgrass.

In her mind, the mare was still thinking about the good chaff the man had left out for her, and so she didn’t graze much further than a few feet. Once the stockman had taken his horse to catch the bush brumbies as he sometimes did, the mare would go back and find the chaff the bay had left behind.

OOC: The man and his dog are NPCs. Brumbies are welcome, but Willunga will eventually join Thalera and his fillies.

[yaruka]

OOC: Thanks for adding Wahn in Corowa!
BIC:
Wahn watched with wide eyes as the bay brumby mare approached, nostrils trembling in a silent nicker of welcome. He shook with excitement as she greeted his bay companion, wishing she had come over to his side of the yard.
It had been years since Wahn had last seen a wild brumby and the sight of this one brought back stirrings of restlessness that likes of which he had not felt for some time. Whinnying to her he began to pace up and down the length of his corral, tossing his head in his excitement.
In truth Wahn had been happy with the humans. Not the sort of horse to get upset my much, and having lacked a herd previous to his capture, he'd taken to captivity quite smoothly. Even so, the old memories brought back by this mare were enough to make him miss his old life, particularly as time had softened the harshness of his previous existence.
As the man came out of the hut, the dog startling the mare, Wahn watched with longing, completely forgetting about his breakfast as he kept his gaze fixed on her gloriously free figure.


OOC: SOOOOOOOOOOO bad, but it'll give you something to do Corowa <3

[Corowa]

There was some commotion from down by the hut. In the yard, one of the horses had started pacing and whinnying restlessly. The bay still quietly grazed in the corner of the yard, and Willunga was surprised to see it was the usually placid black fussing. The mare neighed in answer, and bounded down the snowgrass slope towards the yard. What’s with all the noise?” she asked him as she snuffled him through the fence, hoping to somehow reassure the fidgety young horse.

The black horse had arrived much later at the hut than the younger bay, and Willunga had not learned much about him, not even his name or where he had come from. “Is he your master?” she continued, thinking of the man and his blue heeler. At this, the bay looked up from his chaff and then with a snort, ambled over towards the two horses. He politely greeted the mare, and then convinced she had not noticed his chaff, started to graze nearby.

The mare snorted at him, and then turned back to the black horse. He was still a stallion. Willunga could smell the difference in him and the much calmer bay. This interested her, and her ears pointed forwards as she sniffed at his flank. Stockmen usually gelded their horses, preferring them to the noisier and more difficult stallions. The mare had noticed there was no brand on his shoulder, but perhaps his master had not given him one.

Having been tame once herself, Willunga thought perhaps, his had not always been a life of stockmen and high fences. Was this why he had been so agitated, did he indeed long for the life of the wild bush brumbies? The mare thought suddenly of her own master, of the greatest goodness she had ever known. His had been the hands that had gentled and punished and mastered. Willunga shuddered with longing, at the sight of the two tame horses.

[yaruka]

Wahn trembled with excitement as the mare approached him, eagerly sticking his nose through the fence rails to touch her own soft muzzle. Snorting, he rubbed his muzzle against hers, completely missing her first question, "I suppose," he answered to the second, still much more interested in the bay mare to give his response much thought. His delicate nostrils fluttered as he nuzzled all of her that he could reach, lipping curiously at strands of her long black forelock. The bay gelding joined them then and for a minute Wahn considered driving him off, this bay being the first mare he had come in contact with since he was a colt, and feeling quite possessive over her attention.
Instead he sidled closer to the fence, moving so that his whole body was pressed along the wooden railings. The mare sniffed at his flank and Wahn shook harder at the touch and squealing from overexcitement he kicked his front leg out and hit the fence before he stretched his neck out to once again sniff at the mare. She shuddered, bringing him to his senses suddenly and he nosed her, once again gentle, breathing out softly into her nostrils. "What is it?" he asked, wondering what could have possibly upset the bay.

[Corowa]

The young stallion stood alongside the fence, and the mare turned her head and watched as his nose moved over her back and sides. Just then, the stallion hit a ticklish spot on her flank, and the mare gave a sudden squeal and swung her haunches away.

Willunga stood snorting and fidgeting, and then she reached through the fence and surprised the stallion with a particularly sharp nip. The mare was confused by his obvious interest in her, but while she was startled at first, she had decided there was nothing to be afraid of. Provided the stockmen did not chase her off as they sometimes did.

The stallion returned to sniffing her, though more gently this time, and Willunga quietened and rested her head on his withers. The mare’s ears pointed in the direction of the hut, and her nostrils flared wide. The sights and smells of the stockyards and hut comforted her, and she was reminded of the limestone hut down by the Long Plain.

Just as suddenly, the stallion stopped and snorted softly. Willunga stirred impatiently and then settled when she could see no sign of movement from the hut. The mare had thought perhaps it was the stockmen who had frightened him, and so she was surprised to find herself so reluctant to leave the young stallion’s side.

“I miss my master so very much," she said unhappily. “I miss the protection of such high fences, and oats – oh oats! I miss the taste of them for sure, but most of all I miss him. I miss the knowledge I would never truly belong to someone as I did to him, and he to me.” Then once more, the mare turned back towards the hut, longing for even just the sound of her master’s voice.

[yaruka]

When the mare nipped him the black stallion was upset. His ears flicked back and he threw his head up, looking at her in surprise. What had that been for? But the bay mare was soon forgiven as she rested her head on his withers and Wahn quieted. The stallion had always craved the closeness of others.
He flickered his ears, listening to the mare's words with some confusion. It seemed she hadn't always been a brumby, but he couldn't imagine why she spoke with such sadness of having escaped captivity. It was true that his master was actually good to him, and it was nice to belong somewhere, but now that he was older Wahn often thought that he'd prefer to have the company of his own herd.
And he was so bored here. He did nothing but stand around in the stockyards, unless his master tied him or they travelled back to the man's other home. But nevermind that now, this mare was much too interesting for him to waste time dwelling on his boredom. Maybe she'd come and visit him often? He'd like that a lot. Thinking so, he stretched his neck to nuzzle her, trying to get her to pay attention to him , not the hut.

[Corowa]

Willunga turned when the stallion, wanting attention, nudged her. The mare pricked her ears and gave a low whinny, then she looked over the stallion’s shoulder to where the hut stood. There was the low rumble of voices, and one of the stockmen whistled as he walked past the stockyards with a billy full of water.

The thought of being captured by one of the stockmen at the hut suddenly occurred to her. Willunga pulled back from the stockyard fence with a snort, and started to whinny. The bay horse looked up from where he had been cropping at the snowgrass and ambled towards her, obviously worried as he stuck his nose through the fence.

Willunga ignored him, and shot off at a run down the fence line. With each stride, she gained more speed, galloping first in one direction and then the other, trying to find a way into the yard. When there was none, the mare stopped with a jar, and stood snorting and stamping.

Seeing there was no hope, the mare turned again, swerved away from the fence, and headed back towards the two horses. The bay and the black were crowded close to the fence, and she leaned up against it, and stretched out her neck to scratch the withers of the nearest horse.

“I don’t want to be free,” she told them both. “Perhaps for the brumbies it is all they know, but I can never be happy out here when I have known what it is carry a stockman upon my back.” The bay horse nibbled on her mane, trying to comfort her, and Willunga dropped her head and stood quietly as an old station horse.

[yaruka]

Wahn tossed his head in surprise as the mare suddenly pulled back and whinnied. Suddenly she shot off along the fence and gathering himself, Wahn took off after her, racing her back and forth alongside the rails, tossing his head in protest at the bay when he called for him to quiet. When Willunga stopped so did he, though he was less quiet than the bay mare. He stood bobbing his head, snorting ever so often. The mare spoke, and her words further surprised the young stallion. Why would anyone want a human on their back? Wahn had never carried one, but he'd seen other horses be ridden and he didn't think it looked all that special. The only reason he could see for liking it was that it meant getting out of the stockpen, but this mare already had that freedom. The mare finally quieted, dropping her head by the fence, and Wahn decided not to worry about her queer desires. He was much more concerned with the present. Almost desperately he pushed his nose through the bars, velvet nose lipping at any part of the mare he could reach, pining for her attention.

[Corowa]

Willunga softly snorted. The young stallion was impatient, and he bumped up against the stockyard railings, as he demanded more attention. She decided he must have been very young when he was captured, for there was so much he didn’t understand. Perhaps he had never been ridden before, though Willunga knew stockmen had no use for a horse that couldn’t be ridden.

There wasn’t much grass left down by the stockyards, and even though she had grabbed a couple of mouthfuls of chaff, the mare thought of the rich snowgrass of the high plains. It was enough to cause her to lift her head and consider the wide stretch of mountains, to the north of the hut.

The young stallion seemed happy for the companionship, but he had the bay stockhorse in with him, and so Willunga didn’t think he would fuss if she left him. Besides, the high plains were only a mile or so from here, and she would be back to visit both the young stallion and bay stockhorse again soon.

She stretched her nose through the fence and gently nudged the black. Then, with a flick of her tail, Willunga swung around, towards the narrow line of bush. From up on the veranda of the hut, a dog barked, and the mare paused for only an instant. But the thought of snowgrass made Willunga continue on, until she had reached a clump of snowgums at the back of the stockyards.

She stood a moment, in the shade of a particularly large snowgum. Her ears were pricked to catch the sound of stockmen, as they settled down after a long day of mustering. The low rumble of voices comforted her, and then, with a final loud neigh, the bay mare started off in the other direction.

[yaruka]

Willunga was correct in assuming that Wahn had been captured very young, though not at all so in thinking that he wouldn’t fuss if she left him. He nickered to her excitedly as she nudged him, but when she spun about and raced off he threw his head up in protest, calling desperately for her to return. The mare answered him once, and Wahn sent continuous cries out to her as he paced alongside the fence, leaning up against the rails and pushing at them with all his might. When the wood didn’t budge he bucked in protest and raced about the yard, still calling to the bay mare. Finally he quieted, coming back down to a walk with a shake of his dark head, but still he gazed after the mare, trembling with longing for both her companionship and her freedom.