Wraith in the Dark

[Illu]

Night had well and truly settled over the lake and the surrounding world, the large, overbright moon sending ghostly shadows over the still water. It all seemed still, save for the occasional movement at the edge of the trees, half seen and not really believed, as though the moonlight itself was taking form and then dissipating again. For a moment, it stopped, but when it started, again there was no mistaking what appearance the light was beginning to take.

The ghostly form of a white mare continued to dart in and out of sight, her outline twisted and ever-changing by the cover of the black branches and leaves. Just when it halted long enough for a fix to be made on its position it disappeared, only to reappear elsewhere, then it stopped again just as suddenly as it started.

Miah was having a severe internal battle. Everything was telling the white filly never to walk into the open in strange country, be it night or not, but she was thirsty, and the cold water would be pure mercy to the pain she was feeling from seemingly everywhere. Upward, ever upward she had travelled, unsure of time or direction. The trees here were no good for shelter from the torturing light of the day, and the small gaps between the leaves had left her skin bright red and painful where the sun had been every time she tried to sleep, leaving red lines everywhere.

Instinct lost out to necessity, and slowly, cautiously, the white, dancing glow left its hiding place, and a head, neck and body became vibrantly illuminated by the large moon as the filly left her sanctuary. Horses. She smelled horses. But it was too late to go back now.

Her eerie red eyes were wide and fearful, but she as she managed to reach the water with nothing untimely happening, her racing heart began to slow down. The water was good, what tasted like the last of the snowmelt and she drank until she could swallow no more. This wasn’t so bad.

Calmer now, she slowly trod deeper into the water, stepping carefully as there was no way to tell what lay under the silver pool. Once only her head shoved above the steely water did she stop, exhaling in relief as the horrendous sunburn began to stop stinging. The cold water would be no good for her, she knew. Her chest infection was steadily getting worse and now it would be hard to breathe tomorrow, and she would regret it. For now, she just wanted to be able to stand without pain, what would come from this would come, and she would cope as she had always done, even if these past few days had been the worst of her life.

[Valatone]

Something had dragged the pale red roan stallion out of his sleeping place, the stallion who was curiously studing the land around him while hiding in a bunch of snowgums. It was hopeless for him to hide at night, when his coat looked aglow.
Just like the night runner's coats.
He saw the albino filly, beautiful she was. He kept silent as he watched her drink, then he cooly strode out to drink too. Perhaps she could be the start of his herd, and what a fine herd she would make it.

When he was finished drinking, he lifted his neck gracefully and flicked his mane, like a fire licking at a tree. Like the famous albinos, sometimes he went out at night. Not because he was allergic to sunlight, but perhaps it was his glow that he liked. Maybe even mares and fillies would like it too.
He whinnied out to her, quiet enough not to attract unwanted attention.

[Illu]

Quiet and unimposing as Nandalie was, it didn’t stop Miah from almost having a heart attack when she spotted him. A lone stallion of his age was hardly normal, and for some reason his colour was highly alarming. It was the first time she’d ever been alone with a horse of colour, and she wanted out.

With the white of her red eyes showing, Miah attempted to dash out of the water to safety, but it was almost impossible to gallop being as deep as she was. Water crashed around and over her in her mad run for the beach, she was paying no attention to where she was placing her feet, and then, disaster. Miah’s red eyes suddenly went wide with shock and the filly tripped, almost somersaulting into the water. She barely managed to stop herself falling, and judging by the pained look on her face something was definitely wrong.

When she clumsily limped up the beach, the problem was revealed; she’d cracked her hoof on an underwater rock, deep enough to reach the soft tissue underneath, and she could barely even put weight on it. In more pain now as well as being unable to run, Miah put on as good a show as she could, flattening her ears and trying to make a performance of being dangerous, though it fell pathetically flat. She didn’t know this horse; he could be cruel and evil as far as she knew, and it wasn’t a chance she was willing to take.

[Valatone]

"Calm down, I mean you no harm," Nadalie said, trying to calm the nervious mare. He noticed the look on her face, then he looked at her cracked hoof. The threatening face didn't scare someone as strong as he, it was rather cute to him.
"Are you in pain, ma'am?" he asked in a manly voice. Would his charm work on her? Or did his appearence creep the albino out? He'd always had an interest in albinos, yet he'd never met a night runner until now. The stories still floated around of the ancient legend, the white stallions that steal fillys and take them so dangerous a trip that they often don't make it to their new herd. This was a different case, an albino filly without a herd. It was also a good chance.

[Illu]

Well, obviously! she thought vehemently, baring her teeth in another attempt at warding him off and trying to act as though her foot wasn’t hurting. Well, unfortunately for her, it was, and second she leant forwards a little, it sent a huge pain shockwave around the entire hoof as the pressure widened the crack a little more. That successfully managed to put a stopper on her little ‘look terrifying’ plan as she was then forced to hold up her foot, something that instantly threw her off balance, so she had to put more time into actually standing up instead of getting rid of the stranger.

Once she’d arranged her feet in a way that would support her, she looked up at Nandalie again. Good god he was red, so different to her own colour, and once again, she got the sensation it wasn’t something she liked. Nothing of a fault on his behalf, she was just simply so not used to seeing it. It didn’t help he was tall for a brumby either, as that really just served to make him look more imposing.

”What do you want?” she growled, in another attempt to mask her current vulnerability.

[Valatone]

Ooc: Lol its Nadalie not Nan-dalie xD
Bic:

Nadalie could tell that the mare wasn't enjoying his company. "I apologize if I feel threatening to you, but I mean no harm!" he explained, seeing herlift her hoof in pain. When she fell over, he cooly took a few steps backwards into the darkness to give her space. "I don't want anything but a herd," he replied to her question.
The large strawberry roan was rather amused with her attempts to frighten him. She was anything but frightening. She was beautiful, but maybe a bit of trouble. Nadalie decided that this albino might not be worth the trouble he was going to.

[Illu]

||OoC|| But, it says Nandalie on
1) His profile, where you never typed Nadalie even once
2) Your signature, which you made, and
3) The Brumby Name list, which I put here…
Are you a little confused maybe? Because one of us is… O_o||


Miah only managed to get a good look at Nandalie when he backed off, and she was immediately mentally kicking herself. In her initial fear she’d estimated him at a fully mature, powerful 5 or 6 year old, now it became apparent by his downhill build and overall look he was scarcely older than she was. That ‘stallion’ that had scared her so much was only a bloody colt! Gah! He was obviously having second thoughts, and Miah was quick to realise that was pretty much entirely her fault.

She rearranged her footing again, wincing once or twice and wondering how on earth she was going to survive the next day in this condition. As she looked at the colt again to check if he was still there she got an idea. Even if she wasn’t able to protect herself, he might. Okay, at only a tender three years he wasn’t the oldest, or the strongest, or most experienced horse out there, but it was better than nothing. After that she should be able to judge if he was worth hanging around with or not.

”Bit of a strange hour to go filly hunting isn’t it?” she said as sweetly as she could muster under the circumstances, and attempted to edge into the trees where she could feel more secure. ”I don’t imagine someone like you should have any problem though. Interesting colour you got –ARGH!- … there….” Ouch. Stupid foot! "I'm Miah. Who're you?"

[Valatone]

Ooc: Yeah, ur right. Sorry about that
Bic:

"I'm Nandalie," he replied to the young albino. "My colour may be interesting, but you'res is incredibly rare nowadays," he added, tossing his velvet red mane about in the night. Taking another drink from the river, he soon looked up again."You seem to be in serious pain there, anyway I can help?" he offered, in quite a charming voice.
Was Miah finally accepting him? Or did he really not need to bother with her? Nandalie didn't know what to do, but he kept his cool and played calm.

[Tiggs]

Trotting along in the dark, it was if random patches of the moon were bobbing through the bush. His dark base coat absorbed all light, but the overo patches gleamed like a mirrored pond through each patch of moonlight. Coming up the the creek, the small stallion flared his nostrils wide as he tested the air. There were definitely brumbies near, but one had an odd tangy scent. It was not entirely unpleasant, and it urged Pirri to investigate.

Dainty hooves silent on the dew-soaked banks of the creek, he approached the pair. The stallion he saw was a flaming red, subdued by the flecks of roaning over the bulk of his body. But the mare, she was White. Not white, but White. It was difficult to tell where shadows fell on her: she seemed to repel them! Nickering softly, Pirri stepped forward into view. "You're hurt. Is this your stallion? Where's the rest of the herd? With an injury like that, you shouldn't have to roam about with a lone stallion."

[Illu]

Miah would have jumped in surprise if her foot had allowed it. Where were all the horses coming from all of a sudden? After getting over yet another surprise, she didn’t look at him long; only noticing he was short, and shrugged him off as a colt also. One who asked a lot of questions at that.

”Well, er, he’s not my stallion,” she admitted, trying to retreat a little on three legs. There were two of them now, and although she wasn’t scared of them individually, two was still a little disconcerting.

”More to the point,” she said quickly in an attempt to change the subject away from herself, ”What are two colts doing here alone at the same time and place?” Maybe they’d fight? Then it would be easy to sneak off while they were distracted. She probably couldn’t get far though...