Are we Lost yet?

[Shay]

From among the ticket nearest the rivers edge, large brown eyes peered about, set into an equally fiery brown features. Blacken flock fell down caressing one cheek while ashen nostrils flare in the wind seeking danger. Ears twist, another sense seeking signs of danger. Tattered bands of a halter drapped across the mares visage, by the look one good tug would send the frayed ropes into pieces. A feat she had been working at since waking on the sandy shores of this place.

This land was very much like her home ranges bringing about a slight twang of sorrow deep in the confines of that bay chest. Home didn't exist anylonger, only this seemingly endless adventure. For a moment her mind wandered back into the past, flinching away from the horrors that were man, on to her old friends, her family. Wondered briefly at what they were doing at this very instant. Where they were, how they were. Did they remember her?

Sides heave if a heavy sigh, it did not good to linger on such thoughts, there were more pressing matters at hoof. The lack of knowledge of this land left Embar at a disadvantage. Predators, what was safe to eat, drink, sleep. She had found several signs that horses roamed this land, it would only be a matter of time before paths were crossed.

That thought as always since she had found the first signs brought anxious curiosity as to the creatures that roamed this almost apparently abandoned landscape.

Several long minutes had passed while her mind had drifted with thought. Still she neither smelled nor heard anything out of the ordinary. A hesitent step forward then a pause, fully focused on the world around.

Still nothing.

With a sigh the paint stepped into view, muzzle dropping to the waters edge to take a long deep guzzle before lifting that cranium to scan the open river. Light set her coat to a more honeyed red-brown, shadows cast dulled the highlighted gleem of that pelt. The jagged white bolt up her shoulder span off into a thick full mane, stealing away some of its darkness. From powerful flanks sprang a banner of black, immediatelly shifting to white. blacken tail tips slapped an irritating itch while the mare lowered her attention for another swift drink from the waters edge.

[Dooloomai]

Dooloomai!
Thunder

Bronze eyes glittered in curiosity at the sight of the mare. He had spotted her only a moment before, this happened to be one of his favorite places as it was always peaceful. Dooloomai scanned her features, a bay coloring with white splattered across her pelt, she was as close to a rainbow as a horse could get. The young stallion's eyes lit at the thought of a rainbow colored horse, how ridiculous, and how embarrassing, surely no other creature had thought of something that crazy. Though his thoughts may have wandered he never stopped watching her figure down by the water's edge. Dooloomai's ears pricked forward in curiosity, and his nostrils opened wide trying to take in her scent. He couldn't help but wonder if it would be safe for him to approach the handsome painted mare. His eyes darted to his hooves, wondering if they would carry them over to her if he desired. Shyness often made it a bit difficult for him to introduce himself to any other equine. Even if his brain demanded that he should get over this fear his body was simply shocked at the thought of him approaching another. If he were approached it was not an issue, he was fairly outgoing, but not meeting others. Dooloomai would rarely speak, acting as though he were a loner, other equines often thought of him as arrogant or cold, but none of this was on purpose.

A strong urge overtook him to try and get closer to her. He lowered himself moving toward her as quietly as he could, yet once he was out of the brush he allowed himself to make a bit of noise. Yet he was still quite shy so he decided that he would simply drink a bit down stream, keeping an eye on her until he got his nerve up. Maybe if he was really lucky she would initiate conversation, but if not he wondered if he would ever be able to strike up the courage to speak to her. His grey and black ear tipped toward her, showing that he was paying serious attention to her. It was at this moment that he spotted the object attached to her face. Dooloomai's bronze eyes widened, lifting his head and turning it toward her slightly. What was that? His neck lowered in confusion as though an instinct had told him to lower himself until he could be more certain about what it was. No wonder she didn't smell like another stallion, she was a people horse!

Concern and disappointment spread across his face. She belonged to the humans. This discovery had changed his view on her. Dooloomai tried to picture her pretty frame with a man creature perched upon her. Ears flickered back listening behind him, his natural instinct was warning him that if she was out here the humans might be looking for her. Suddenly he realized what he was doing, Dooloomai's entire body was facing her, his gaze fixed upon her and it couldn't have been more obvious. Being a shy creature he froze in disbelief. What had he done? Now he would have to say something to her, 'shit'. After a moment of fumbling his lips parted "What is that?" The words had escaped before he could sensor himself. A bumbling idiot was all he was. A deep sigh escaped his nostrils, now he would have to face what he had done. Hopefully she was an understanding soul.

[Shay]

The sounds of dirt being dislodged from beneath hooves brought the mares head up, sending a scattering of sparkling droplets from her lips. The tattered remains of her halter slapped against bay cheeks. A warm ruddy ear twisted towards the sounds, tracking the movements. Muzzle tipped to the skies, nostrils flaring to take in the scents, seperating them from one another until she found one that had not been there before.

Muscles ripple beneath the shag of a winter coat, tension lined her form. Was it human? It was ertianly masculine.

Her 'stalker' purposely made sound brought tha visage around into his general direction, catching a strong hint of wild equine, causing some of the tension to run from her limbs. A curious light sparkled in the depths of soft chocolate eyes, as he stepped into view for a drink.

Openly watching him she knew the moment he caught sight of the halter. The shocked disappointment was visable on his features then even more so in his voice. "What is that?"

That proud little stance the mare held drooped at the question. Ears flickered back as lids slid closed over depthless gems. Weight shifted, succeeding in shielding the frayed man made object and her face from view. Tones lift quietly, "It's called a halter.."

He had hurt her feelings, that much was obvious. Whether he had ment to or not, it appeared to be a sore point for the painted mare. No amount of rubbing against rock faces, rough bark, or prickly branches had dislodged the last signs of her captivity.

[Dooloomai]

The situation that the painted stallion had put himself into was simply bad. In his moment of shyness he had blurted the first thing that came to mind and of course it was about the strange human contraption on her face. The thing she called a halter was odd, consisting of only a few stringy pieces that looked as though they were made of horse mane or tail. Dooloomai shuddered slightly, humans were such strange creatures, he didn't think he would ever understand them for as long as he lived in the outback. Her desperate effort to hide the halter had made it so obvious that he had upset her, that the stallion became even more appalled by his actions. Dooloomai watched her ears switch forward and back as if looking for an escape, and her figure droop slightly. What an idiot. Body language told it all, and in this case it was telling him that she thought very little of him, and his comment also made her embarrassed, it was truly the worst possible situation.

Dooloomai opened his mouth to speak, but in his continued embarrassment nothing came forth yet again. 'Calm down his brain screamed. Taking a deep breath the equine relaxed slightly, looking her right in the eye. "I am sorry, I reacted quite poorly to that, I've just never seen one of those before." With that he sighed softly and continued on "If you'd like I could try to help you to remove the... hatler." After he said it the word sounded jumbled, was it hatler, or halter, human things always had terribly strange names that he could never keep right in his head. Dooloomai took a step closer ears pricked intently forward showing his interest in helping her, yet his brain wanted more information about it, so he stepped even closer, hoping she wouldn't mind. Yet Dooloomai stopped at an appropriate distance, he had not yet introduced himself so it would be rude to get to close, besides he may frighten her, which, of course, was quite the opposite of what he was trying to do.

[Shay]

(OOC: I'm responding by phone, so I must beg forgivness in spelling and grammer. ^.^

Turned away from that stallion, Embar did not see his own regrets to such a blurted question. Nor did she catch the shudder he experianced. But she imagined the disgust he'd would naturally feel towards her, she didn't even consider any other explinations for the males actions.

With a silent sigh Embar shifted the bulk of her weight to once more face the stallion. Did he just appologise? Without even a moment to contemplate that revilation before he offered his help. She felt her jaw go slack, but could not prevent the action. Several emotions flashed through the mares watchful gaze.

Excitment at the mere thought of being rid of the annoying straps, puzzlement, why would he want to help her? Caution, could she trust him? It had been to long since she had allowed herself the ties that came with trust. Not since she had last laid eyes one her sire and dam.

This land was not her own, the scents, textures, the very feel of the air was different. Prehaps for the first time since she'd become aware of his presense she studied the painted stallion. It was his gaze she lingered on, some humans say that you could tell everything about a soul by their eyes.

Long heartbeats later the bay and snow mare settled. Tension sliding from muscles, ears twisting forward. Her voice while soft, once again held a hint of a smile. "I am called Embar, and I would truely love to get this thing off."

[Dooloomai]

Dooloomaiwas thrilled that the mare didn't seem to hold much of a grudge against him for mentioning the halter after he had offered to help her remove it. He stepped forward once more examining the halter carefully and her face as well, the halter was a bit of an excuse to get closer to the mare. She was quite beautiful, a mixture of bay and white, yet she, like him was more the base color than she was white. The young stallion's eyes moved down to the marking on her shoulder, appearing to be a bolt of lightning, he smiled. Dooloomai meant thunder, so naturally this lightning mark intrigued him greatly. She was like him, a daughter of the stormy skies. " I would gladly be of assistance Embar. I apologize I forgot to introduce myself, I am Dooloomai." After he spoke these words his face lit up handsomely, trying to appear as charming as possible. Dooloomai genuinely did want to help her and if she wanted to join his non-existent herd after, than he certainly would not argue.

With that he tipped his head in curiosity, how would he go about getting this thing off of her? Dooloomai didn't want to hurt her in the process so kicking at it or giving it the sharp tip of his hoof wouldnot work. Blinking a few times he decided to question her "So how do you suggest getting that human device off. To be perfectly honest I don't really know how it works." While she thought this over he would have to stand by and see what she would think of, for now all he could do was wait on baited breath for Embar's response.

[Shay]

Embar stood still as the stallion drew closer, examining the frayed rough rope that rubbed at her cheeks until they felt almost raw. He was very much like the stallions that ran across her homelands. Although in her oppinion the others were simple shadows by comparison.

His voice broke through the wayward thoughts, twins flicker back in a brief flash of embarassment. This was covered just as swiftly by her voice..

"Dooloomai..." Testing out the strange name. It was softly spoken, difficult to hear, mingled with the surrounding sounds of water flowing nearby, and the winds occasional dance. Everything may have appeared the same on the surface here, but that was all. If she had not been aware that she had spent days on end rocking in the belly of a ship floating on the waters, then a few hours spent here would have told her.

To cover further embarassment because of her foolish self Ember's head dropped, weight shifting to extend her foreleg. Twisting her skull inward to scrap from a short distance behind her ears forward. The action caused the halter to lift, but as always just as she thought it would come free, something caught and it settled right back where it had started. A snort of irritation was uttered before neck muscles tighten to lift that dark gaze to meet his own bronzed eyes.

"The band behind my ears is what holds it in place. If I could break that or even get it over my ears the thing will simply fall off." Voice would trail off as she thought about it, and how he could help. "I can not see, but prehaps you could get a grip on the band and pull?" Or his strong teeth could make short work of the tattered rope, but she wasn't about to suggest that. She still was embaressed enough about where her thoughts had strayed that even suggesting his getting closer would have caused a blush to unfurred flesh. As it was he was close enough that his scent was taken in with each breath.

She must have drank more saltwater then she had suspected. It was effecting her brain, came the irritated thought. Outwardly she held a quiet pose, watching him with open curiosity.

[aquiladorado]

Snow was a hassle. A short, stocky form pushed through it with some effort, panting hard from the effort. But the small Brumby was determined. She threw her head down and persevered until the cover of trees lessened the blanket of white beneath her hooves. The young mare had been making her way down from the mountains to reach the Cascades, and had ended up getting caught in the mess of winter. She stood still for a moment under the dark trees, resting only to catch her breath, and then she was off again. Her quick stride carried her a fair distance, and before long a foreign obstacle rose up in her path.

The young mare slowed and regarded the object curiously – it was a tree. But not just any tree. There was more than one and they had fallen awkwardly on top of one another, creating a barrier between the Brumby and her desired destination. She bravely walked up to the trees, sticking her nose out to better investigate them. Oddly enough, they were stuck! Tied together by something strange, it seemed the trees had been put there for a reason. By man.

Now most other young Brumbies would have ran away in fear, but this little mare found the object absolutely fascinating. She found no reason to flee from the trees - after all, that's all they were. Trees. Every Brumby was used to them, even fallen ones. The young mare's excitement was overwhelming as she burst into a canter and headed along the length of the barrier and toward the creek. She just couldn't wait to tell somebody about her discovery!

As the stocky mare neared the gurgling water at a dangerous pace, since the sparse patches of snow here no longer consumed her time or energy, she barely had enough time to dodge the two figures that had sprung out of nowhere. Swerving around them, she dug her heels into the ground and spun on her hindquarters to return back to the pair of Brumbies at a floaty trot. Her features were perky - ears pricked, tail swinging behind her gaily, and eyes sparkling in her happiness.

The young mare descended to a walk, and was preparing to describe her experience to the others, when she froze. Her amber coat glistened in the rare winter sun, showing the quivering of her body as her eyes came to rest on the mare. It wasn't exactly the mare she was looking at, but mainly the item that hung from her face. "What is THAT?!"[/b] she asked, her voice full of curiosity and astonishment. The little mare went straight up to the paint, while completely ignoring the stallion, longing to touch the object. So far, her adventures today had proved to be interesting and successful. This most recent finding was just the icing on the cake - and the Brumby that wore it would be just as intriguing , the young mare was sure.

[Shay]

With no answer from the stallion her gaze searched his, was he not going to help her then? He had seemed interested at first, but now she was not so certian. A softly whispered word of farewell would find the mare turning away from the brute just as another suddenly burst in on the scene. Eyes widen faintly, chocolate and snow cranium twisting to follow her movement, the slap of tattered ropes at rounded red brown cheeks. A flicker from behind of alabastar and ebony, twins lifted with curiosity. The stockier mare spun around prancing back towards where she and the seemingly absent stallion's position. The angle of her ears the play of her tail and ligtness of her step spoke of a happy soul.

A smile of greeting crossed velvety brown lips, fading almost immediately at the stare she was receiving. Then the rather blunt and forward question about that very thing she had been attempting to talk the stallion into removing for her. Pulling back slightly from the up close inspection, chocolate eyes study the spunky little thing before. "It's called a halter darl'n." Smooth sweet tones held a strange accent, a slow almost lazy draw. Hints that she wasn't from 'this neck of the woods'.

[aquiladorado]

Hanya couldn’t find her voice at first. The possibilities of what a ’halter’ could be were endless, but either way she knew it must have something to do with man. The odd sound of the painted mare’s voice only drove the young mare’s thoughts out of control. ”Where did you get it?!”[/b] she asked playfully, desperately wishing she could find one of her own. Perhaps then she could understand what it was like to live like her mother had. ”Were you a tame horse once?”[/b] Excitement overpowered her voice. ”I’m called Hanya, by the way. What do they call you?”[/b] And before the other mare could answer, the amber champagne shot out another question – or three. ”Have you actually been in contact with man? What was it like? Did you know my mother?”[/b] The young mare realized that she was being a bit rude and intrusive, and she muttered a quick apology under her breath. Her father would not approve of how she was questioning this older mare – he had not raised her that way. But then again, he didn’t approve of her taking part in anything that was related to man either. And that was her whole life.