Travellers in the Snow [CAITY:Maluka,RIVRE:Kiah;R]

[yaruka]

It was one of those queer spring days. Instead of lush grass and bright flowers up here on Mt. Kosciusko a freak blizzard reigned. On a jutting ledge stood a creamy mare, the wind swirling her long mane about her body and instilling in her veins a restlessness the likes of which was only ever truly felt by the kin of Thowra, the wind himself. As the falling snow grew thicker Barina suddenly found it unbearable to stand for any longer, and whirling around she half reared, calling to her stallion and mate to join her on a wild run along the mountain paths known to few.
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Kareela loved this kind of weather. He wasn't really supposed to, he knew that, but he coiuldn't help it, there was something about the snow that sent such a thrill through his body...His creamy coat, now marred in a few places from the still unhealed wounds of his recent battle, blended in perfectly with the snow storm and he revelled in his borrowed freedom, one he had not expected until the next winter. Of course, he wasn't completely free anymore. He had Kiah with him, a black mare, completely his opposite in colour. But he was proud to have won her in his first battle, and his tail flagged proudly to show it. The wind picked up and sent a thrush through his veins, ducking his head he took off, bolting ahead a few paces before whirling on his hindlegs to call proudly to Kiah, doing a few dancing steps in her honour. Returning to all fours he tossed his elegant head, eyes dancing playfully as he whickered to Kiah to join him.

[Rivre]

With the spring there came a feeling of urgency among stallions, a feeling that everything was not quite well and one that made them rise to the challenge that called on the wind. Kiah knew this, as they moved up the mountainous planes, forever moving away from the clutches of a warmer season, away from the fighting; she was content to travel with Kareela, for he treated her well, ploughing through the snow and tor, delicate black head with lobes pricked, trained on the whirling form that was her holder, calling his wild joy to Mt. Kosciusko.

Answering his cry with a desperate throbbing neigh of her own, she set off at a canter, pursing him, bucking and cavorting - pale black roan hide flecking in the sunlight which danced over snow. Two brumbies, one who blended perfectly with his environment, the other a perfect and solitary smudge of a statue against the white and grey cliffs. A few more prancing steps, and she came to a halt at his great muscled shoulder, head resting on his withers, rubbing herself on him in way of greeting. It was not like they had been away form each other any length of time, but now Kiah dared not leave his side, could not be apart from her magnificent silver stallion.

"It is colder up here, where are we headed?" she queried, vague black gaze coming to rest on his own deep brown (guessing at color) one.

[yaruka]

OOC: Yep! His eyes are brown And apparently Caity's not playing Maluka anymore...so I'm going to go ahead and post very quickly

BIC:
As no call answered her own Barina felt a terrible sense of dread. Maluka had never once ignored her call...and the blizzard was not so loud that he wouldn't hear her voice, echoing as it did over the mountains. She spun about and raced back towards where they had been sheltering, fear clogging her mind and pushing her to reckless speeds. She arrived to see no grey stallion waiting for her, and froze, a marble statue of a horse. WIth sudden certainty she knew she wouldn't find him, Maluka was gone. The wild spirit of the mountains that had always existed in her, yet been quieted by her love for the stallion, suddenly burst forth and turning she plunged down the mountainside at a frightening pace, galloping faster and faster to escape the reality she knew she'd have to face when she stopped, trying to ignore the voice of the wind in her ear, whispering "He's gone." Suddenly, looming out of the storm came the shape of Thowara. Barina dug her hooves in, skidding to a halt in anstonishment only to see it was not a ghost, but her very own Kareela! With a joyous whinny of greeting she touched noses to his, wincing as she noticed his scars but noting with pleasure that he was no longer alone. She moved to the black roan mare, touching her quivering nose to the dark one briefly, before the wind called her once again and she swung to nudge Kareela before heeding its call and disappearing into the snow.
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Kareela returned Kiah's gesture affectionately, resting his handsome head on the top of her own for a moment before stretching to nibble at her withers in a rare moment of calm. He was just about to answer her question when the peace was shattered, a silver horse hurling down the mountain, and only propping to a halt just before the two young horses. Kareela had lept defensively in front of Kiah but he soon saw he needn't have worried, the silver ghost was none other than his own dam. Whickering a pleased greating, he reached out his silver nose to her own, before stepping back and arching his neck proudly, showing off his mate. Barina touch noses with the roan mare, but with one last look at him was gone, before he had even a chance to speak to her. Kareela looked after her with a subtle sadness in his eyes, but he knew it was right. He was a proper stallion now, he had a mare to look after, and he could not look to his dam for advice all the time. She would never forget him, nor he her, but it was time he lived apart from her, not visit her so frequently. He was glad she met Kiah though, he only wondered where Maluka was.

OOC: gah! I lost half the post so what's left is even more rushed than the original, sorry

[Rivre]

Kiah felt the warmth of their closeness, and even in the whirling snow, she felt safe and at home with her powerful silver stallion, her mate, and was startled out of her daze by the hurtling wreck of snow and silver horse. The moment had come and gone when Kareela had jumped to her defense, now he moved closer to greet the other silver mare who stood before them.

Nickering a greeting of her own Kiah touched black roan muzzle softly to the other's paler cream one, a pleased expression in her eyes - was this Kareela's mother? If it was, she could see the resemblance in their strong limbs and shining (now dampened) coats, so alike and ghosting in appearance that Kiah had to remind herself how very visible she was compared to them, a black mare who traversed with silver horses in a snow-storm.

But suddenly the new mare was tearing off again, and Kiah turned puzzled gaze to her stallion, who looked just as solemn in his self. Nudging his shoulder playfully, she began upwards again at a joyous canter, hoping to distract him from the call of his family and engage him in the play of young ones, such as themselves. The ground below was becoming slippery from the dusting of snow which now reached the top of her hooves as she spun and bucked her way towards the cliff and tor of the peak, and she skidded often on the sharp spines of rock, wincing, but kept up the pace so that she could heed Karella's calling on the wind.

"He's gone" it moaned, and head whipped up to look back tensely to see if he followed, what was it that ghosted through the curtain of white? What had that mare lost up here that she looked for so intensely?
"He's gone".
No, but there he was! Her silver wil-o-wisp of horse. If she had perhaps known that mare better, known she had lost her mate up here, nearly as she had, perhaps she would have questioned fate - that an older horse be lost and a new stronger and more powerful spirit be born in Kareela. But she did not know, and so as she finally pulled to a halt, cresting the final rise of Kosciusko, she ceased to blow from exhaustion, merely gazed at the panoramic view, breathless.

[yaruka]

Kareela shook his head to clear it before leaping after the young roan mare, silver legs kicking up soft puffs of snow. He kept his gaze resolutely on her black figure, refusing to look over his shoulder and strain his eyes through the snow to seek the shape of another mare, his own dam. She was his blood relative, but his life was with Kiah now. It was unusual for a stallion as old as he to still remember their dam but he and Barina had always been close. She had nearly died giving birth to him, and she and Maluka had been his only company for two and a half years.

Pushing himself harder, he managed to forget thoughts of the past in his admiration for Kiah's dancing figure, and in his glory in the pull and give of his powerful muscles. They were the young. Their spirits should run free no be weighted down by sorrow.