Wild Horses Spring {Tinar / Open}

[Ehetere]

OOC: Gatecrashers welcome to come and liven things up


Spring had come to the mountains. The enormous upthrust of life that accompanied the melting snow was in full swing now, with young animals being born and plants and flowers in full bloom.

The sound of roaring water could be heard off in the distance, and the wattle flowers bloomed from their precarious positions on the high rocky crags. Gnarled gums with their bright pink gum flowers gave off very little scent at all, and the screeching of rainbow lorikeets and gang gangs filled the air with their deafening cries.

Whole carpets of wild flowers blanketed the slopes: white everlastings and snow daisies among the fresh lush snowgrass. The wild crags of the south Ramshead loomed overhead; holding many secrets that few creatures had ever heard of. It was spring for young horses to go exploring.

Scaling the Ramshead Range from its southern end were two young horses: a colt and a filly. They were not stallion and mate as many young horses were, but half brother and sister, still connected with a strong family bond and one of friendship. The filly was a tall, neat bay, fairly plain in appearance, while her companion was a queer blackish brown with white marks on his rump.

Another aspect of the pair was the fact that the leggy bay filly was in the lead - eagerly traversing the rough terrain with ease. Her leaps and bounds were sure, and she left now track in her wake. Uralla’s mother Muyan had taught her well. Tinar, the strangely coloured colt, was not the boss here, and it was Uralla who had led them here in search of adventure.

Having been fed tales of the wild mountains her entire life, she had chosen this spring to finally leave her mother and the herd to go and explore it. Of course, Tinar, who was closer to her heart than any of her other half siblings had come along with her.

“Come on Tinar! Keep up!” she called, darting ahead a little more in an effort to top the ridge faster. The little kangaroo track she’d led them up the mountain range with finished in a rather open plateau on the very edge of a cliff which held promising grazing, but that was not why Uralla had been racing up here. She had come for the view.

The mountains were spread out beneath her in all their glory, with each valley and rise bathed in lush spring sunlight. She took in a long deep breath, savouring the smells of spring along with the magnificent scene before her. She idly wondered whether her mother missed such scenes as this, but she supposed that she did go wandering away from the King’s herd now and again on her own adventures.

[Tiggs]

His mahogany coat streaked with sweat, short mane clinging to his slender neck, the colt looked exhausted. Where did Uralla find all her energy!? He was not an unfit colt, but nor could he scale mountains and still have the breath to hurry his companion along. He barely had time to appreciate the wild spring all around them, his attention centred on placing his dainty striped hooves in sturdy footholds.

The colt was a strange one. Most colts his age were bulking up in strength, collecting scars from mock battles, even chasing after fillies. The only filly Tinar chased after was Uralla, and that was just to keep up with his energetic half-sister. Usually, his coat was a immaculate chocolate, the flecks on his rump as white as driven snow. Not one scar marred him, and if you were to look at the pair from a distance, you could easily mistake them for a pair of fillies. Currently however, Tinar was mourning his usually pristine state, his skin already itching where old sweat caked and dried. He needed a good roll, followed by a dip in the Crackenback. One wistful look over his shoulder to the distant sparkling ribbon of that great river brought a sigh from the refined colt. There would be no swimming today.

Uralla was calling him on from the top, and so Tinar grumbled and picked his way up the rest of the precarious track to the top. “Me keep up?” He panted, lowering his head so his blazed muzzle almost rested on the ground. “Why don’t you slow up for once?” As usual with the pair, the colt’s moaning was nothing more than that, and once he’d caught his breath, he was nibbling on his sister’s mane.

He noticed Uralla’s attention was on something else, and he looked out over the panorama before them. “Wow.” He breathed, light brown eyes wide with amazement. Uralla had been right: the view was spectacular! Too bad he was too tired to appreciate it properly.

“Urg.” He grunted, dropping to his knees and flopping sideways onto his flank. “Aah, much better.” The colt grinned up at his sister before stretching out his legs and closing his eyes. “You promised once we got here I could have a rest.” He snorted, shifting his head so a stiff piece of snowgrass stopped tickling his pink nostril. “I’m resting now.” He proclaimed, heaving one deep sigh. Aaah, this was the life.

[Ehetere]

Uralla smiled as her brother finally dragged himself over the ridge and came over. She never took his complaints seriously, for why would he travel with her if he did not enjoy it? He would thank her some day, when he could boast to a herd of fillies of his adventures.

Uralla laughed as Tinar promptly set himself to the ground and spread his body out like a resting dingo. “Yes Tinar, I did promise you rest.” Uralla on the other hand had been scaling mountains, hills and cliffs from a young age with her wanding mother, and all this hard exercise was nothing new to her hardy frame.

She was a rangy filly, far more so than her mother with a thin body, face, neck and legs that looked rather like they should belong to a foal comparatively. Muyan had been far more robust, and it was for certain that Uralla was going to be much taller than her mother.

She returned her gaze to the view of the High Country in all its glory, and wondered then what the future held for her. She was a Princess, an heir to the great black King’s legacy. But unlike some of his more exotic offspring, many would not know it were it not for her noble and knowledgeable disposition.

Her mother had taught her everything she knew, and had frequently spoken of such legends of the past… the Silver Brumbies, the Nightrunners, the Moon Fillies… the great Silver King himself. All these horses had lived such exciting lives. But what could one bay filly hope to achieve. She was nothing special, with no extraordinary coat or beauty. Even her brother Tinar had a more spectacular and hypnotic coat than she. But Uralla had courage and hope, and felt that if anyone could find adventure, it would be she – the filly with the wisdom of the whole High Country at her hoof tips.

She trotted away from the edge with grace and elegance despite her gangly legs and set to cropping the sweet new snow grass that was sprouting in abundance here, keeping a wary ear out for any trouble that could be coming to find them – however unlikely. One could never be too careful.

[Tiggs]

Tinar lay for a moment longer before his breathing became easy, and his legs started to ache. Conscious of not wanting to stiffen up, the lovely colt gave a sigh and rocked against the ground, wriggling on his back before unsuccessfully rolling onto his other side. He managed on his second attempt, and after itching his other flank against the ground, he got to his stripy-hooved feet. With legs braced wide, he shook the majority of the dust from his coat, but a lot stayed, clinging to the still damp sweat on his coat. The effect was a lighter brown on dark brown smear, concentrated around his shoulders. Tinar grumbled, always liking his coat to be pristine, but there were just some days when that couldn’t be.

Tinar was not a selfish colt, nor was he an unintelligent one, but unlike Uralla his thoughts did not extend much beyond the immediate area. Here were many times he and Uralla would talk about many things, but the idea of being a Prince rarely crossed his mind, and if it did, he could not see what the fuss was about. The smoky black had little to no interest in the idea of starting a herd. Why would he want to? All that fighting was so undignified, not to mention Tinar was worried about being hurt. Uralla was all the company he needed.

The spotted colt dearly loved his sister, and after his roll, he eased out his legs by trotting over to her. He rested his head over her shoulder for a moment, before picking his head up to groom her withers. Being a tall filly, Uralla was the same size as Tinar, and as the colt was slim and almost as finely built as his sister, they looked to all the would like a pair of fillies standing together.

[Rivre]

It was a glorious day to be climbing; the lorikeets sang and the white winged eagles soared dizzying up above in the cloudless blue sky. The snowgrass and heather was still damp with dew, and crunched willingly to the touch, a fine spray rising from where small hooves fell, leaving crisp indents, that rose after a minute or two, in the ground. Larrik loved this kind of weather, the kind that made all the brumbies shimmer with a delicate and icy sweat, one that drove some of the larger stallions and their herds back to the lower country; it was this kind of weather that pushed him to travel up the Ramshead, leaping the rock and tor after having taken a slightly quicker route to the top.

Gangly legs and bay hide where not much to look at, but the sunlight only highlighted his plain coloring, black and liver mane blown back by the persistent gales. How fun! He was still a few strides from the top, so had to scramble at the loose rocks in order to haul himself up onto the final ledge, but it was worth the struggle. The view was amazing, a panoramic shot of the high-country, full of joy and life, and he snorted in surprise - surely he had never been this high before!?

Turning to gaze out across his small grassy plateau, he noticed as if for the first time, a pair of fillies! Throwing up his head, he nickered a friendly greeting first to the bay and then the oddly patterned black, trotting towards them with a placid eagerness. He enjoyed having company, and especially of his own age, this day just seemed to be getting better and better.

He was unusually tall for a yearling, and had to bend down when offering his nose the the filly-colt! Pulling back in surprise, he managed to recover in time to offer bay snout to the other as well, eyeing the colt in amusement.
"I was under the impression you were a filly, o' strange one - but here you are, as colt as it is day!" He chuckled, skipping a little distance away so that he was not quite as close to the pair of strangers, half wary and half intrigued. "I am Larrik, for I am like the call of the bird in the wind - twisted and turned - the gang gangs will speak only of where I have not been, and never of where I truly lie. Who are you?"

[Ehetere]

Uralla glanced up briefly with a smile playing at her lips as she observed her brother rolling about in the dirt. He would not like that, she was sure. Tinar liked to be clean and looking clean – something that had never much bothered her as it made little difference to her brown coat.

Soon Tinar came trotting over and began grooming her withers, which Uralla appreciated greatly with a happy whicker. A snort met her ears however, and she threw her head up in alarm – afraid they had been discovered by some stallion. How could that be so high up here? It was not a stallion, but a very young colt: probably a yearling, who had startled her so, and he offered a friendly greeting which she returned cautiously. Her mother had always taught her to be wary of strangers until you could assess their character.

Uralla was clearly the protective one, always on the lookout for her half brother, and she was indeed very wary as the colt came trotting over, as she did not know if this colt meant to offer fight for her or if he had simply come to talk. She had no wish to be tied down by herd life just yet, and if it looked as though that was the colt’s intention, she would have to set him straight.

He seemed rather surprised with Tinar when he came closer, and Uralla greeted him only with courtesy when he offered his muzzle. What could be so funny about her half-brother! She had been around him all her life, and only in her first few weeks of life had ever thought him to look like a filly – and a odd one at that at the time – so she was completely oblivious as to how he might look to other horses.

She snorted angrily when the leggy bay mentioned he had thought Tinar a girl – how dare he! Her mind was firmly set on this colt being a mean piece of work, only having come to disturb them so he would tease poor Tinar – Tinar who would never hurt a fly.

“I am Uralla, for the running water, and this is Tinar,” replied Uralla haughtily, raising her head a little higher. This colt would better have to pull up his socks if he wanted to improve on this disastrous first impression. Insults to herself she could take, though admittedly not in good humor, however slights against Tinar were taking it one step too far.

[Tiggs]

Tinar’s chocolate eyes flickered up at the sight of another colt approaching. He stiffed briefly as Uralla tensed but when she did not run, Tinar relaxed next to her. Uralla was essentially Tinar’s protector. He followed her everywhere, and when there was danger, he trusted her to lead them out of it. He stood smartly, mirroring Uralla’s attentive and wary stance. The approaching colt was tall, and gangly, still very much like a foal despite his height. Was he a tall yearling, or a weedy two-year-old? Tinar could not boast of his own size, but he was at least more fairly proportioned than this colt. The spotted colt had seen many a more attractive colts, but at least he seemed good-natured.

Tinar offered his pink nose in greeting, sticking close to his sister. But then all illusions that this colt was kind were shattered by his statement. Tinar had endured enough teasing by his other siblings to know that he was not exactly a regular-looking colt, more like a regular-looking filly. Even his name – Tinar – meant ‘woman’. From his birth he had been mistaken as a filly constantly, but it still hurt nonetheless.

The colt dropped his head, ducking behind Uralla. His sister was always there to defend him, and he gave her a grateful nuzzle. She did not care what he looked like; she did not even seem to notice his more feminine traits. If all this colt was here to do was tease, then he and Uralla would be on their way soon. A pity, as he had been enjoying the day this far.

[Rivre]

The breeze felt good, all tangled up in the dusky red threads of his mane, but the bay colt's expression fell at his unfriendly welcome - perhaps he had gone about it a little wrong. Tail whisked to and fro with happy little wags, but ears began to flicker as he tuned into the atmosphere, trying hard to identify the mood and fix his reply so that it would offend neither of the two odd horses.
"I'm sorry if I came across a bit strong, but I was only trying to make a joke - you really don't look all that filly-like Tinar, in fact, your build is a bit like mine," he nickered, gentle smile playing on the curve of his lip as the jaunty little filly raised her head slightly higher.
"Uralla is a lovely name as well - both of you are lucky to have been given such uncomplicated names. My mother always said that the simple ones are the hardest to understand, which is true I suppose..."

He had only seen his father once or twice, for his mother had tended to wander a lot, but from what he had gathered he was a strongly built and heavy weight horse, with a keen nimbleness to his feet that seemed unlikely for his size. Larrik could only hope that someday he might perhaps look like his own sire, but if he had to fight to get that way, as he knew his father had done, he didn't think he'd put in all the effort. After-all, fighting was a pointless past-time.

"Where have you come from? I just came off of Paddy Rush's Bogong - all the stallions are there with their mares! But this view is much better than the one from Dead horse Ridge, so I came here today. I didn't think any other horses knew how to get up here, it's quite hard to pick around the rocks the way I came." He hoped he'd gained enough of their trust to stay a little while - he liked this colt and the filly who seemed set on protecting him, but he also liked the fresh air and the scenery. Would a filly really chase him off? It sounded like fun!

[Ehetere]

Uralla threw a kind glance over to her equally kind brother as he tried his hardest to mirror her. They were an odd pair, Uralla and Tinar. Certainly not the sort of relationship of protector and protected you’d expect from a filly and a colt, and by their age certainly not brother and sister.

Nuzzling him reassuringly, anger boiled inside her. Tinar was a handsome colt! Why should he have to endure such harassment from other horses? She needed to find him some mares soon, perhaps that might shake whatever perceptions they had about him at least. She always wanted what was best for her brother, and she wondered whether because of all these nasty brumbies she would be at his side her entire life because of his non-confrontational nature. She would happily do this of course – her nature was generous and loving – but it pained her to think of Tinar being unhappy all the same.

The gangly bay spoke again, apologizing, but Uralla felt he had spoken his mind when he first arrived and that was his opinion no matter what he said. As a gangly, tall filly herself – her build could be described as willowy and elegant thanks to her coordination – she knew Tinar was not at all like the leggy bay, and more proportioned at least. All the same, she could sense this colt wanted to make peace after such a horrendous opening, but her suspicions remained and she was slightly guarded. She was the confident one of the pair, and was not afraid to send this new arrival packing if he made another jab at her poor tortured brother. He’d be an emotional wreck by the time he was four at this rate.

“We come from the King’s herd down south,” replied Uralla, though she did not usually name drop about their heritage and lineage, she felt the need to point out to the colt that they were royalty, a son and daughter of the King, and it was not his place to be insulting them. Despite her stubborn exterior, Uralla always found it difficult to say angry at anyone for very long, even when they insulted her brother. He had tried to apologize hadn’t he?

“The view is spectacular,” she agreed, throwing a sweeping glance at the panorama over the cliff’s edge. “We came looking for adventure – I want to see as much of the High Country as I can!”

[Tiggs]

Tinar gave a shrug and a half smile, easily forgiving the yearling. Tinar could not hold a grudge if her tried. He nuzzled Uralla’s shoulder with his delicate pink nose to reassure her that he was fine. Like the other colt said, he hadn’t meant anything by it. All was forgiven.

He nodded along with Uralla’s reply, then interjected, “Uralla can find anything, She knows how to get anywhere.” Uralla never knew how to accept a compliment, so Tinar made it obvious who the real adventurer here was. Without Uralla, Tinar would gladly graze all day and miss out on all the wonderful sights in the High Country!

The colt wasn’t so bad, Tinar decided. Maybe he would like to explore with them. It might make Uralla slow up a little at least! “Where are we going next, sister?” Tinar asked, nudging her cheek playfully. He’d had enough of a rest and despite all his complaining, the beauty of youth was that boundless energy was quickly restored.