Oh the Whims of Him [Balaroo's Herd/O]

[Rivre]

OOC: Balaroo's herd thread, finally! please keep an order. Open to mares and stallions alike, we're fond of a little challenge ;)

With the arrival of spring, the highcountry of the South seemed to flourish; as with every new season the grass seemed almost too verdant, the stream full to bursting from the winters melt, the gang gangs chattering quietly, content at least for the cooler spring season. No doubt saving their complaints for the heated summer. And as with every year of Balaroo's much contented life the latter came around all too soon. And then as soon as it had come, summer was gone from the highcountry, and autumn was all that was left to dote on.

Tin mine creek was heaven and home to the golden stallion, far quieter than the lands to the North where he knew there the new king reigned. He had lived for what seemed an age now, and yet he was still full of vigor, of life and of heart - so much so that this year he appeared to have grown even more regal in both looks and temprament. He had withdrawn himself from the goings on of the King, he no longer felt the need to dispute. Not yet anyway. For now he was happy to gaze out across his -now rather large- herd of browns and chestnuts, greys and blacks, pintos and moon filllies. He was king in his own way, half concealed on his grassy mound by the shadows cast from the towering snow and candle gum, blowing softly at the seeds, fluffy in the breeze that floated around his sunlit self.

He no longer felt inferior to the threats of the natural world, to the stallions that roamed the edges of his bimble for he knew, though not pig-headedly, he had more experience than most in dealing with such matters. He knew also, that when he finally did grow old and useless, his undoubtably beautiful mares: Qana, Alkina, Noorinbee... Would soon be taken, if not before, if he was not careful. But it was hard to think of such things with the sunlight warming his hide and the sweet smell of snowgrass hindering his watching so that every once and a while silky tan mane obscured gentle browns eyes and jaw moved to snatch up a few mouthfalls of the beaten stuff. Only one thought stirred retlentlessly in his mind: he was home

.

[Kunama]

Kara Kara cantered fluidly through the vast, open meadows of of Tin Mine Creek, her thick, wavy, creamy white mane flowing out behind her like a beautiful, shining banner. The weak autumn sunshine shimmered upon Kara Kara's glimmering pale creamy silver and snowy white coat. Her strong, young heart pounded beneath her pale pelt, beating in tune to her surprisingly soft hoof beats.

She enjoyed her life of freedom, but it struck her that she would not remain alone forever, pretty soon a stallion was sure to take a liking to her, what with her rare looks, although she didn't like to admit it, even to herself, she knew deep down that many stallions would readily put their lives on the line for her. After all, she admitted that she was rather lonely, yes, she enjoyed the solitude of being a loner, but she did quite wish for a companion of some sort, maybe a young, carefree colt to run with? She snorted at the idea and tossing her mane, gave an almighty buck, eyes glittering with joy at being alive and young.

As she whipped through the valley the sweet scent of a large herd caught her attention, she slowed to a springy trot, her ears erect, nostrils flared, casting around for the herd that she had caught the scent of. There it was, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a stunning golden stallion standing proud and radiant. Caught up in his beauty she stood, one foreleg raised in the air, staring at him as he looked proudly upon his land. Frozen in his gaze she stood there quivering in the golden sunlight, excitement coursing though her lithe and delicate little body.

[aquiladorado]

The warm breeze that blew through the safe haven Alkina had come to call home was a much needed change from the preceding winter. The moon filly stood quietly at the base of her stallion’s grassy tuft, his nearby presence relaxing the muscles under her dark coat. She tousled her mane briefly, stretching her neck out, and inhaling the sweet smells of spring. It felt good to simply enjoy the peace; she had been deprived of it for some time now.

Rotating an ear toward her flank, Alkina could detect only the slightest disturbance to the otherwise quiet afternoon. But the delicate touch of another body pressed up against her own proved that Arakoon was still there. Alkina turned her head slowly to check over the smaller version of herself, guessing from the deep sighs that the filly was resting, and sure enough those heavy eyelids had drifted shut. The larger mare carefully shifted her weight so it was focused on only one of her hind legs, making sure not to disturb the young filly’s nap, and then allowed her own eyes to close as she let out a contented sigh. Being a mother had been tougher than she had thought. But it was nice to share this moment of calm with her foal.

There had been nothing but worry ever since Arakoon had arrived. Technically the worry started even before the filly was born; the severe winter conditions gave a lower chance of survivability for a foal, and especially since Alkina’s abnormally small belly during the pregnancy foretold of possible complications, the concern was very serious. But when the newborn moon filly finally arrived, Alkina could not believe her eyes. Nothing was wrong with the filly other than the fact that she was slightly smaller than an average newborn, but she was the most beautiful thing Alkina had ever seen. Arakoon grew out of her small frame fairly quickly though, and the more she grew, the more patience Alkina lost. From the precious newborn she was believed to be at first, the filly morphed into some sort of high-strung nuisance. She seemed to never run out of energy and was rarely found standing still. Her curiosity led her all over the place, with her mother trailing behind in annoyance. Every move Arakoon made usually had some sort of reckless follow-up that drove Alkina mad with worry. Eventually Alkina just stopped caring what sort of a mess her child could get herself into, and allowed Arakoon to learn from her own mistakes while she stood by as nonchalant as a tree – saving her words of wisdom merely as a form of discipline to keep the filly in line.

Now that Arakoon was indeed rooted in place, Alkina opened her eyes to gaze upon her daughter a little more intently. The sight of how much the filly had matured already struck her heart with pride, and Alkina couldn’t help but admire the young moon filly. Despite the fact that Arakoon required a lot of attention, Alkina loved the intelligent young creature. The filly was colored with the unique coat of her mother, a slight variation of it simply because of Balaroo’s contrast, and when Alkina thought about it more personally her daughter and herself seemed more and more alike every day – although when Alkina had acted out of such curiosity, she had been set apart from the other moon fillies and titled as “different”. Now that her own daughter exhibited those same qualities, it warmed Alkina’s heart to see her adored by the herd. She raised her dark head to see Balaroo standing guard above them, and she knew how lucky she was to have found him.

Another soft breeze passed by, but with it came an unfamiliar scent. Alkina stiffened and laid her ears back, her senses on high alert. She assumed a protective stance in front of her filly, nudging her in the process so that she woke up. As the filly groggily came around, Alkina fixed a stern look upon her as a warning not to do anything stupid. After giving a quick grunt to Balaroo, the pair moved off toward the other mares and foals for greater protection in the case of an emergency. Alkina was territorial, and intruders were not welcome on her land. Especially if it was some pest of a stallion, for she had very little tolerance for those.

[Kunama]

Yes, I understand now, sorry to be a nuisance

[Rivre]

No worries Kunama!

[Rivre]

Peace, it seemed, was meant to be shattered. Or challenged, whichever you prefered, it didn't make much difference to Balaroo. With the changing of the wind, the huge shimmering stallion snorted quietly at a rogue scent, a mare's sweet elluer, ears flickering in response to Alkina's muttered grunt, watching from the corner of his eye with amusement as she bundled their daughter towards the other mares. She thought that he was a worrier, pft. Throwing up fine golden head, mane flying up as if the froth from a spraying creek, he listened to his welcoming call that was thrown about the tin mines, nostrils flared but tail swishing nonachantly; with all the mares he'd collected he was more than content, he merely saw the intrusion of this ones scent to be a visit, if anything at all, but then he did seem conviniently unaware of how handsome he actually was.

---

For one moment in her tiny life, she was still; dozing fitfully, flank pressed up close to her mother's comforting one - feeling the stir of her breath in comparison to her own. Eyelids fluttered, ears swiveling at something she saw in a dream, or heard. She was a naturally curious filly and her eyes would light up at the mention of adventure - for often her older brothers and sisters would lead her about the bush when Alkina was grazing, however silly it might seem to the older horses. So, naturally, when her moon filly mother nosed her abruptly awake, Arakoon was already trotting carelessly off in search of whatever had woken her mother's need to move. Brown eyes glowing with the light of excitment the silver dappled filly raised delicate chocolate nose to inhale smells that traveled on the breeze; and smell something she did! Squealing with uncontained curiosity she kicked out and did a little skip, pivotting on her heel and rearing in play. Surely her father would appriciate such knowledge? Whinnying her urgency she made a flat out gallop at the sun stallion who was poised on a rise in the ground - and skidded almost directly into her mother.

---

Alkina, it seemed, was going to have more trouble than she'd bargined for, leading Arakoon towards the other mares, and it didn't help that she was letting out squeal after squeal, probably alerting the rest of the mountains to their presence. Not that it mattered, he would beat any stallion who came after his herd. But still. Half amused, half worried, he nickered in reply to his daughters shouts and trotted proudly towards Alkina, who, it seemed, would not be at all pleased. Touching his nose to the tiny moon filly, he spoke somewhat sternly to her, "For an echo you were named Arakoon, it would be wise to follow the example your mother sets." Although it was in a foals nature to be skittish, so he gave her a playful nip and rose in a half-rear, tugging Alkina's mare in his own idea of a game. Mares were nothing to worry about, and how glorious it would look to any onlooker, a sun stallion and his moon filly mate, with their striking dappled daughter, playing in the autumn sunlight.

[Kunama]

Kara Kara shook herself and gently melted back into the trees from which she came. A unsettled rustling from the herd meant they knew of her presence, and she didn't wish for anyone to see her right now. As she trotted swiftly through the tall ribbon gums she thought to herself how much she enjoyed being alive and free, not a care in the world but survival, and men. Men. She slowed to a walk, casting around her as if a man could be watching her just at that very moment. There was no sign of anything other than fellow wild horses, their tracks days old, but that was not any conclusion for Kara Kara. Despite her young age, she knew all too well that men would soon be arriving in Brumby country, and she would be, once again, a hunted horse.

Her mind drifted back to when she was a yearling, still with her mother's herd, and she had saw a man, watching her and her creamy mother while they grazed with greed in his eyes. She had squealed to alert her herd and raced for her Mother, then followed a chase that she'd never forget. Somehow she had just managed to escape him by diving down into a small gully, that only a small yearling filly could find her way into. She then remembered the terrible hours that followed, where she had lay there, afraid to move, fear for her mother eating into her heart like poison. It was after midnight when she had finally plucked up the courage to slip like a ghost from her hiding place to find her way back home. She had managed to find her herd again by the morning, and was relived to find her mother had made it back to the herd safely. Although she had survived that day un captured, thinking of it still made her freeze with fear.

She was abruptly bought back to reality when she heard the crackle of golden leaves behind her, she swung round, poised and ready to dash forward with all her strength, but it was only the wind playing tricks on her. She sighed and carried on her way, her mind must be playing tricks on her with all this talk of men.

[Corowa]

The light grey mare grazed a little way off from the small brumby mob, half-hidden by a sheltering fringe of bush. Occasionally, there would be a glimpse of pale hide, the shadowy outline of a head between the trunks of the candlebarks. When a mopoke called out once in warning, the mare stirred uneasily, and she felt the first prickle of fear.

The wind shifted, and the mare’s nostrils quivered. She strained to pick out any sign of movement through the band of snowgums. For a moment there was nothing but the gentle rustling of the candlebark leaves, and then the mare saw a brumby stepping its way proudly through the fringe of bush. Noorinbee watched, fascinated by the sight of the glistening creamy filly, remembering what it was to be young, to be filled with all the joy of living.

Balaroo by now, had glimpsed the filly through the line of ribbon gums, and Noorinbee turned her head towards where that great, dun-coloured stallion stood. A sudden, fierce excitement ran through her, and she moved slowly out from under the sheltering gums. Yet even as she watched, the filly melted silently away into the bush. No longer able to contain herself, Noorinbee let out a shrill neigh of longing, and she sprang forwards, hoping to catch the elusive creamy filly.