The Sense of Freedom [Rio/Noorinbee/Open]

[Cheyenne]

Rio tossed his white mane in the sunlight that caught on a few random strands which made them glitter. The sun was hot on his back as he walked beside a pretty filly who went by the name of Noorinbee . Two ghost horses travelled along the banks of Lake Cootapatamba north, the cool feel of the water's surface lingered next to them. The white stallion pulled himself to a halt and face the lake. Thirst burnt at his throat. The hot weather was making him dehydrated.

"Perhaps we should stop for a drink?" he suggested to Noorinbee, gazing longingly at the fresh, clean water that was tempting him to just leap in to the lake. Rio rested his weight on one of his legs where a scar was etched deep into his skin. This was where he had been injured during a fight in the winter. The wound had healed nicely over the harsh season. Now it was summer - the time to breed and fight for mares. Rio had no intention to fight though, for he had Noorinbee and couldn't wish for anything more than to stay by her side where he felt he belonged.

A small dingo stood nearby with his mate, tounges lapping at the water's surface. Their sandy backs glittered in the sunlight. Rio turned back to Noorinbee who he noticed was also shimmering. The sunlight reflected off the white in her coat as she moved - it was beautiful. The stallion twisted his head to his own back to try and see if he looked as beautiful too but couldn't really see. He huffed when he finally gave up and dropped his head down into the lake. The water lapped gently at the sides of his muzzle, asending up his throat at he drank. The liquid felt good.

[Corowa]

It had been the hot dry northerly winds that told of the pale grey mare and her mate, though it might have been the currawong that carried it south, to the deep gullies and heavily timbered ridges of the Brolga’s Country, to where the great mobs of brumbies had their bimbles.

Noorinbee had stood on one of the high snowgrass slopes that surrounded Lake Cootapatamba, had listened to the sound of the wind, and found herself filled with a profound sense of longing. She had stood, listening and watching, until finally Rio had come, and the stallion had led her down into the shallow snowgrass basin.

The mare walked on with that proud, high carriage, but her pale grey coat was darkened by sweat and the whites showed in her eyes. Higher up, there were no snowgums in which one could hide, no sheltering timber to melt away into. Noorinbee could feel her hide prickle as if someone stood and watched from the steep ridges of snowgrass, and she was glad when the stallion stopped to drink.

Noorinbee took one step forwards and touched her nose to the mirror stillness of the water. The dark blue waters of the lake mirrored the reflection of a mare silvered by light, and every nerve tingled at the thought of this other mare, a vision always with her. Noorinbee drank deeply then, shivering slightly, at the feeling of that cold mountain water.

There was a brown hawk hovering low over the steep western face, the mare’s ears twitched, and there was something in its call that filled her with excitement. Noorinbee plunged suddenly into the deep, clear water. The cold seemed to fill her, and surely, there must have been ice still, somewhere far below.

The mare switched around, swam strongly back towards the shore. Then she stopped, stock-still in the shallows, and gave a sobbing neigh. Noorinbee stood, listened for a moment, and then she neighed again, though it was not only for that gentle grey stallion she had called.

[Cheyenne]

Rio watched with glee as the young mare leaped into the cool water, splitting the surface with many ripples as she bobbed around before heading back towards the shore. Noorinbee let out a couple of neighs which sent Rio to jump in after her. The sudden cold of the liquid seemed to shock him for a couple of seconds before he began to swim towards her. "Is everything alright?" he asked her, unsure on why she had neighed.

The strong under current seemed to tug at their legs but they stayed in the same place. Warmth from the sun heated their faces that were held high above the water's surface. Rio dragged his legs through the liquid until he was close enough to touch his nose to Noorinbee's.

[Corowa]

Noorinbee stood for a moment, with ears pricked and head held high. She listened intently, every part of her straining for something, someone, but there sounded no great answer to her call. The mare shook with a sudden sense of loss, of longing, but she could not understand what it is she had searched so desperately for.

She was only half-aware of the stallion at her side. Then she turned towards him, noticed the tension in every line of his body. Noorinbee blew softly through her nostrils, for she had worried him, and she had not meant to. The mare reached over and started to gently nibble at his shoulder, feeling every part of him still, listening, as if he too had stood and waited for someone to answer her call.

Noorinbee was glad for his companionship. She moved closer to him, felt a shiver run through her when her flank touched his, every hair on end, her hide prickling as it had when they had touched on that wind-blown night. “Have you no longing for other mares or fillies?” she said shyly to him. “There are surely many handsome daughters of Tingara to be sought, and sometimes I long for the company of another, a young filly perhaps, to show the ways of the bush, or a wise mare with whom to listen to the currawongs' song."

[Cheyenne]

The same nameless feeling went through Rio as Noorinbee touched him - a feeling he never got tired of. As she spoke, Rio cocked his head to the side in deep thought. The idea of starting a large herd had never ceased to cross his mind. He had been over the moon to have Noorinbee by his side that he had never realised that perhaps she was feeling a little lonely.

"I haven't thought about that yet. But perhaps you are right." he said, nuzzling his wet nose under her mane and against her neck. Although the cold water was starting to numb his body, the mare felt felt warm by his side."Shall we go?" he asked, raking his legs through the water to turn around and swim back to shore.

OOC: I guess we end this thread here then?

[Corowa]

Noorinbee felt a sigh run through her, and she turned to rest her head on the stallion’s withers. She gently lipped at his shoulder, though her nibbling became rougher until finally the mare gave him a sharp nip.

The wind had picked up. The mare watched it move through the yellow heads of the candle heath, until finally, it broke the stillness of the water. Noorinbee stirred impatiently, filled with a sudden feeling of excitement.

Just then, something bumped her flank, and she jumped forwards, her skin prickling. The mare stood for a moment, with nostrils quivering, trembling in every limb. No longer able to contain the restless throbbing of her blood, Noorinbee turned to follow the grey stallion, knowing she would run with him until the last of her days.

Noorinbee plunged blindly towards the shallows. She bounded up onto the shaly bank, and there in her mane and tail, droplets of water flashed silver in the sunlight. Noorinbee propped and swung nimbly around. With a teasing whinny she went up on her hind legs and challenged the young grey stallion. Then she sprang away, trusting in her own swiftness.

She turned south, back towards the rough mountain country of the North Ramshead. Noorinbee trembled at the thought of those great, rocky tors, the wide stretches of snowgrass and steep granite outcrops. The grey mare let out a high, ringing call, and then she vanished down the other side of the bare snowgrass ridge.