Far Away...

[»Koiji]

OOC;;This is meant for Yaruka as the two of us have been ploting a story line for our characters and here it is ^.^ if you want to join in, please ask.

It wasn't often that a stallion finds himself alone. Not when it's the middle of winter and the snow is falling. But there's always one isn't there? Ryu would be a prime example of this. After about a year of collecting his own herd, his mares were taken by the damn stockmen that roamed the hills in the summer. He didn't know of where they went and tried his best to get them back, although the men had got what they wanted and had set off from the mountains quickly.

After a while, Ryu had given up hope for ever finding his herd again, and he wandered with his only mare that was left. Koiji. Oh how he wished that She was back, falling from the falls had done him no good, and now he spent his days wandering about the river rapids, trying to find enough grass to keep himself alive. He'd sustained some cuts and bruises from the fall, but other than that he was in tip-top condition. Almost His heart was not well, lovesick for the company of other horses, and his favourite mare. He hadn't seen sight or hoof print of her since they had been separated on that fateful snow filled night.

He trotted along the river banks looking as hard for food as his keen eyes would let him. There wasn't much grass in the vicinity and the water made what little there was soggy and unappetising. A dingo howled mournfully in the distance. "Oh, Koiji, where are you now?" He sighed and carried on trotting.

[yaruka]

Yaruka fled through the forest, her slender legs straining and pumping frantically beneath her as she sought to escape from what lay behind her. Eventually sense caught up with her, and she slowed down slightly, her ears flicking back and forth rapidly to catch any sound. She could hear nothing but herself. She slowed to a nervous, jagged trot, picking up her knees highly and throwing her head with pent up energy. Finally she slowed to a walk, knowing that she'd have to conserve her energy in case something else came after her. Now she was truly alone. The other mares had either not followed her, or had been left behind in her frantic flight. Swinging her head from side to and still snorting she propped and shied nervously as a small wallaby jumped out of the bush infront of her. "Greetings" she called to it, but the wallaby was in no mood to talk to a sweat streaked filly and continued on its path. Lowering her head, she looked at the barely marked path carefully. No horse, or other animal for that matter had been along here for quite sometime. She walked carefully now, wondering why the forest was so empty. She came upon an abandoned wombat hole, but nothing else. Moving into a trot okagain,she glided silently through the forest, taking care to leave no sign or trace now. To someone following her it would look as though she had merely vanished into thin air. She trotted with her head low, and her eyes wide, watching carefully to catch sight of any threat. Suddenly she stopped and flung up her head, her ears pricked forward sharply. She could smell another horse. A stallion---alone. She paused with her hoof still held high, she had had bad luck with stallions recently, but she beginning to think being alone was even more dangerous in this strange, forsaken place. She decided to continue and walked even more carefully through the bush until she rounded a bend and suddenly came upon a grey stallion drinking from a creek. Backing up quickly, she hid herself in the bush behind him, only her eyes visible to betray her. There she stood, a watchful, silent filly, down wind from the other horse and weighing her options carefully. She didn't think the other horse had seen her, and he certaintly hadn't smelt or heard her. He seemed relatively relaxed, but she knew all that could change in an instant. Finally, lonliness again making her desperate, she stepped out of the bushes to reveal herself to him. Then just as quickly she backed up again, a branch hitting her flank and making a loud swish. She winced and closed her eyes, praying that he wouldn't see her and hardly daring to breathe. She opened her eyes then melted into the forest behind her again and continued to watch the stallion. She had made up her mind. She would follow him for a while before she announced her prescense and see which way their two paths led...


OOC: hope this ok, I'm on a time constraint have you read Silver Brumbies of the South?
Yaruka is going to pull a kind of "Moon" thing on Ryu. ie: she's going to be the 'elusive' filly for a while, sound like fun? let me know if you don't like it

[»Koiji]

OOC;; Oooh I do indeed my friend ^_^ Lol, I've been waching Sweeny Todd for a while *grins*

BIC;;

As he took his full from the fresh water in the creek, Ryu could've sworn that he had heard something. He pricked his ears as he drank, closing his eyes gently and relaxing in the peacefullness or the country he was in. So what if his heard was broken? He could still have fun couldn't he? Well, he needed company to have proper fun, but there you go... He was completely lost in his thoughts and as any on-looker would have been able to poke him, before he even noticed them.

The swishing sound of a bush brought him back to the world, his proud head swinging up to alert position. Looking about he seemed to still be all alone, maybe it was just the wind... Well, it could have been. He looked at the bush that Yaruka was hiding in and snorted. It must have been that dingo or something...

He went back to drinking and paid no more attention to the sounds of the things that were about him. After a while he started walking again, looking about him for some kind of grass or food... Well, it was easier said than done. Although the snow was slowly fading from the vally, there was still a lot of it about. This was making him feel fed up, why did it make everything so cold? He walked into a glade that was near to the creek. He thought he heard the sound of a horse once or twice and hoped that if anyone was there that they would come and keep him company. It was bad enough that he wa lovesick, but to be alone and lovesick, it was getting a pain to the stallion that he couldn't tell anyone of the problems that clouded his head.

[yaruka]

Yaruka sighed in relief as the stallion lowered his head and began to graze. He hadn't seen her. He seemed nice enough, but Yaruka wasn't taking any chances, she wouldn't reveal herself yet. She turned and moved silently through the bush, her hooves printless and her breath barely stirring the leaves of the trees. However, unbeknownst to her, her long flowing tail caught in a branch and pulled one silver hair out, which was left to dangle in the breeze, like a silver banner.


OOC: sorry it's so short! homework is calling

[»Koiji]

OOC;; No probs, this is only going to be short-ish, that damn Shakespeare projects calling >_<

BIC;;

Ryu felt down. He was young and without a herd and to add to that, he was alone. Great! he thought to himself. This was just what he wanted to be spending his time doing, grazing in a place where he was confined due to losing his stength from the fall. It was slowly returning and he hoped that soon he'd be able to move off to find some signs of life. He really wanted to know if Koiji was okay, and if he could find any new members for his herd. A Bird flew across his head and he grinned, whinnying to it as it went. He turned around in the glade, his head thrown up high watching it as it swooped and dived.

He didn't know what about the bird made him feel happy, maybe it was because he was alone currently alone and that any sign of life was a welcome presecnce to him. He stopped when the little animal flew out of the glade and looked into the trees. He could've sworn that he was being watched, but there was no signs of life in the bushes. Snorting in a sorrowful way, he moved into the corner of the glade that was sheltered and lay down. This was where he had been sleeping for about the month that he'd been missing in action, and he never got bothered in that spot. He sighed, once more ingaging himself in sorrow. He didn't like to be like this, and he never normally was. He knew that soon, he'd have to find someone that would like his company. But until then it was all he could do to keep his head held high and live in hope...

[yaruka]

OOC:ll aww, I'm sorry. and poor Ryu
Ok, hopefully this one will be longer, although there really isn't much for me to say while Ryu's sleeping.

---

Yaruka returned later on in the afternoon, thirst driving her closer to the river. She hovered uncertainly in the trees then noticed that the grey stallion was asleep. She paused to wonder, could she risk going closer to have a drink? She was so quiet, she didn't think she'd wake the stallion, but her scent was something that she couldn't control. She could try approaching the river from down wind but if the wind shifted...well it could blow her scent right to the stallion. She gazed longingly at the clear water and finally decided she'd have to chance coming out into the open. Besides, she was swift. If she needed to she could get away and she'd have the advantage of actually being on her feet over the lying down stallion. She crept softly through the trees, peeking out into the clearing to check on the stallion every once and a while. When she was sure he was sleeping deeply, she walked quietly into the clearing and over to the river. She dropped her head nervously and began to drink, jumping slightly when a magpie began carolling down stream. Suddenly a scream rent the air as a near by lyre bird mimicked the sounds he'd heard from the human hut from the North. Yaruka flung her head up, water still dripping from her lips. She could see the lyre bird and knew she was in no danger from humans but what about the stallion- would he wake? Wide eyed she froze, watching the silver stallion and hardly daring to breathe....

[»Koiji]

OOC;; Lol, No worries 40 pages >_< And this should give you somethig to work on ^_^

At least in his dreams Ryu couldn't be bothered by the strangeness of life. It was funny how it had it's wa of creeping up on you when you least expect it, and in his own way, Ryu was a prime example of that. He snorted peacefully as he dreamt of a land he once knew. The place he had had his heard. His old home. The only signs that the icy stallion was alive were the flickering ears, and the steady rise and fall of his chest. It was easily noticed that he was about a year or so before he would actually rise to his full strength, and his sturdy looking body was showing that he was almost fully grown.

He slept peacefully, unaware of Yaruka's presence as she bowed her head to drink from the stream. His dream proved to be that of the night that he and Koiji had been seperated and soon he would wake, as he often did, shuddering with fright from remembering with cystal clearness, what had happened that night. So far he was up to the part where he and Koiji were gently picking their way along the snow filled ridge along the Ramshead Range, and soon the part where they had discovered the falls and he had fell would come.

He twitched as his unconcious body realised the familiarity of these thoughts. He was walking, "Come on Koiji, it's just a little frozen water, nothing to be afraid of!" He had laughed, as he enetered what he didn't know were rapids. "See. Safe." He looked at his filly with kind eyes. She would come soon. Turning and stepping forward more into the water, the stallion realiesed that his feet were slipping. Soon, the rapids had brought him down and he was slipping away along their banks. Koiji was watching with horror. "Ryu!" She screamed, attempting to walk into them too. "No!"He shouted to be heard above the rapids. "Stay there!" And then he realised that his feet were falling, he slipped down the waterfall with a desperate cry. There was a screaming sound, that was new....

He awoke suddenly, his silver coat now dark with sweat. He snorted, and tried to remember what part he had awoke at, there was a screaming noise..... It sounded again, and his noble head swung this way and that to try to locate it. "Hello?" He asked uncertainly. He looked towards the river, and to his suprise he saw a filly. She seemed to have frozen completely, and was staring intently at the spot he was lying in. He thought he should wait, if she wasnted to flee, give her the chance, and if not, well he'd go say hello of course!

OOC;; Sorry got a little bit carried away ^_^

[yaruka]

40 pages? that stinks...

---

Yaruka watched with foreboding as the grey stallion awoke and looked about him uncertainly. Then his eyes met hers and she felt a tremor go through her body. What to do? He seemed alright, certainly he hadn't threatened her yet. But she couldn't, not yet at least, let herself stay there with him. Swiftly, she sprang from the clearing, her neat hooves leaving but one mark by the river bank and then she was gone, as though she had never been there in the first place.

[»Koiji]

OOC;; I know >_< Oh well it's the school hols now so I'm gonna have plenty of time to do them, and more time to post

BIC;;

It was a bit too late, Ryu got up to go over to the filly and greet her, and she ran. "Wait!" He called, hoping that he hadn't startled her too much. "Don't be afraid! I mean you no harm!" Famous last words... Ryu trotted back to the stream to look if she was still about, and realised that she wasn't. Stamping his hoof in annoyance, he muttered something insulting about himself. How coud he have let her get away? She was too young to be of proper interest to him, but he really wanted a friend. Turning back to the glade, he walked slowly towards the spot he was sleeping in a few moments prievious, feeling more lonely than ever...

[yaruka]

OOC:ll no holidays for me at the moment, it's getting hard to keep up with my posts! remind me to add something to Ira's history if you get the chance

---

"Wait! Don't be afraid! I mean you no harm!" came the cry through the woods, as though it chased Yaruka as she fled the clearing. She paused eventually, stopping in a sunny clearing. She turned around and looked back through the woods in the direction of the stream. He really didn't seem so bad...but no. Not now. It was too soon. She put her head down and grazed, wondering what to do. Maybe she would watch him for a few more days. Then she would see about going to meet him.