Paper Snowflakes [Tiggs/Open]

[stormsnow]

Loorea noticed Quinja’s strange behaviour, wondering what it was all about. Why did she have the look of a stallion whose favourite mare was at risk of being stolen away? And why was the filly looking at her as if she, Loorea, was the stallion who had come to take that beloved mare away? Then, somehow, it started to make sense. The mare remembered when she had still been a foal, and her father had started a herd. None of his other children had resembled him at all, but there was something else. She remembered one of her father’s mares telling of how her first stallion was a handsome, kind blood bay, and how she had been captured, as she termed it, by a white stallion with a pink muzzle tip and red eyes- a Nightrunner.

When the mare had told her tale, finishing up with how Loorea’s father had fought the Nightrunner, the little foal had asked, “Are there any Nightrunner mares?” The mare, a tall, slim chestnut had replied, “I suppose there are, somewhere. They probably look like yourself, except for your eyes.” Loorea came back to the present. Yes, it made sense now. Quinja thought that the mare standing before her was a Nightrunner, and was going to try and steal away Bokara. How to reassure her that she was not a Nightrunner, and would never dream of doing such a thing? The bay stallion’s voice pulled her from her musings.

She noticed that the stallion sounded nervous, but decided to ignore that. “Thankyou, I accept your offer. Quinja, forgive me for asking, but why are you staring at me so? If it is because of Daku, I give you his promise that he shall not harm you.” Her voice was husky and kind, with no trace of malice. She eyed the pale roan filly inquisitively as she waited for a reply. Daku slept on beneath her, as the snow still floated down from the sky. Loorea dipped her head, searching for a moment before finding a clump of grass. Chewing it, she wondered what Quinja would have to say.

OOC: Sorry for the short post- I ran out of muse.

[Tiggs]

Bokara’s comforting presence took the edge of, and Quinja returned his soft touches with delicate nuzzles and lips. She found his attention warming her, reminding her of just how sensitive the stallion was. He could see her angst, and he sought to quell it with kindness. A soft nicker escaped her as her heart swelled, and she ducked her head at the surprising and almost embarrassing intensity of the emotion it displayed.

The grey touched her nose to his, and held it there. He was a gem, he really was. She cast a sideways glance to Loorea, and some of her worry instantly returned. She could not let Bokara be taken by this mare! She felt the ugly warmth of jealousy, but she knew it was for the best that she and Bokara avoid the mare. Nightrunners were bad omens. Only badness could come of her presence. Dingoes followed her after all, as if expecting to find carrion in her wake. Quinja shivered and shied against her stallion.

Bokara was already leading her away when the mare spoke, and Quinja danced nervously, her rump barging Bokara’s. She was becoming excessively nervous, and after a half-rear, the grey began to back away from the white mare. Her voice was enough to frighten the filly, and she could not seem to keep her wits as she spooked away, irrational fears invading. She whinnied shrilly for Bokara, before submitting to the urge to run.

She galloped part way down the valley, snow stinging her eyes and blinding her. Luckily the terrain was familiar, and it was that familiarity that eventually calmed her. She slowed to a trot, then skidded to a halt. She could not see Bokara behind her with the snow falling all around, and she whinnied nervously. She turned about, and trotted slowly back the way she had come, on the lookout for that dark russet shape. Where was he? Had she let the snow mare take him by running? That frightened her some more, and she neighed loudly for her stallion, longing and apology turning the sound mournful. There was a vast emptiness around her, and without Bokara, it was impossibly cold and lonely.

[E!]

[/b] he both started and finished lamely, a concerned expression on his handsome face. Then, a hint, a sound carried on the wind - mournful, frightened. Bokara would have known her voice anywhere, and the very sound of it set his veins on fire. "I must follow." His voice was quiet, fading into the background noise of the earth. It sounded regretful, almost sad. His heart was heavy with the fact that he must leave Loorea's company, and Daku's too, for that matter.

It had not occured to him to ask for the two to join his and Quinja's small herd - but it did now, though of course the thought had to be rejected immediately. Quinja reacted to Loorea's presence, as if the white mare was evil, there was no way that the two would be able to live with each other. Still, Bokara's gaze was a little wistful as he stared at the pale mare, and the stinging part of his heart that said Quinja would leave him for the King told him that he was only going to abandoned later; and he wish for Loorea then!

Torment seemed to graspe him briefly, but Bokara pushed away self pity - where would that get him? He would either ask for Loorea's company or not. His eyes seemed like two dark orbs in the whiteness, his lean frame a shadow. "Would you.." an exasperated sigh left his throat and he looked Loorea in her beautiful blue eyes, warmth in his own. "It was a pleasure to meet you and Daku. I hope to find you again someday." A slow nod was given to the beautiful mare, and then the young bay turned, neat hooves sinking heavily into the snow.

He released a strong neigh into the wind, hoping to reach Quinja's ears. As he continued through the snow, he turned back, but was unable to see the outline of the mare made of snow. He gave another neigh, trotting forward. And there she was, his Quinja. Frightened and nervous, almost invisible in the falling snow; but there. "Quinja". He sounded far more grown up than he was used to, Bokara sounded like a grown stallion. And for Quinja, if she needed him to be, he would make himself one.

ooc; i'm thinking maybe Loorea could follow the two of them because she wants Bokara and Quinja keeps seeing her and gets freaked out about it? What do you guys think?[/ul]

[Tiggs]

She felt as if she was alone for hours, but when Bokara’s dark shape came out of the snow, she relaxed. Suddenly she did not feel so lost. His strong and confident voice was just what she needed. He had a way of pushing through the panic in her heart and banishing it with calm words and soft touches.

She melted against him, draping her greyed head over his solid back. “Bokara.” She breathed, closing her eyes and feeling as though they were the only two brumbies in the High Country. The snow acted like a soundproof wall, leaving them alone with just the beating of their hearts and deep breathing. Quinja could not imagine bolting now, she was so calm.

“I’m sorry I ran.” She nibbled his withers before admitting in a whisper, “I was scared – that mare, she’s not normal.” Quinja had led a sheltered life, the only brumby she had ever seen who looked like that snow mare had been Werrilah, the King’s son, but he did not have that ethereal mysticism. He was just a colt. That snow mare must be alone for a reason, and Quinja’s hide prickled with apprehension when she thought about the eerie blue eyes of that snow mare. Even Werrilah, his coat so blinding white, had the dark black-brown eyes of a normal brumby. If eyes were the window to the soul, than Loorea’s soul must be cold and dangerous like ice.

Quinja shivered, but not from the cold. The filly pressed close to Bokara, and used his influence to direct her thoughts away from the snow mare. “Can we go?” She asked, tired and hopeful. Even with the snow as cover, she still felt out in the open. She needed trees to shelter in, she longed to rest with Bokara in the safe familiarity of the trees dotted about this valley. She would feel so much more at home than being encompassed by snow.

[stormsnow]

Loorea stared after the two brumibies as they ran, her blue eyes forlorn. "When will others learn that you can't judge a mare by her appearance?" She asked, to no-one in particular. "Come on, Daku. I want to go to Dead Horse Ridge." The white mare bent her neck down towards her friend, and he hooked his paws around it. He slid onto her back as she put her head back up.

"Hold on tight!" Loorea cried, and broke into a gallop. She crossed the valley and ran up the side, heading towards the distant Dead Horse Ridge, with Daku holding on by a mouthful of flaxen mane.