The Hunted [Open!]

[Tiggs]

OOC: Psst, actually Eumina is completely mute (she could speak, but she doesn't) so even Ekala wouldn't know her real name. Feel free to make one up for her though

[Li<3]

Pallarang nodded and looked down at the filly. She seemed utterly terrified. He just put his very life on the line to save her, and she didn't even look at him?! As he felt his blood begin to boil, he took a deep breath and relaxed. He couldn't flip now. The young filly must of had a bad record with stallions. The way she had responded to the grey was proof enough of that.

His dark ears perked to the sound of the older mares voice. He listened to what she had to say and he nodded at her name. Ekala definitely fit. He listened to her threat and he chuckled. "I have no doubt of that. My own mother fought like a demon whenever I came into danger," Pallarang said and limped toward the path down.

The roan looked at the sky and snorted. The heat was beginning to wear off and it was much later in the day than Pallarang would have liked to come down the Ramsheads much earlier, but that wasn't the case now. He sighed and turned back to look at Ekala. "We'll need to get going if we're going to get down the Ramsheads in light," he said and nodded toward the red mare. "Do you think you can get her going?"

[Tiggs]

Ekala’s voice finally penetrated, if not her words then her comforting toned. The runt of a filly snuggled up against her round surrogate dam, closing her eyes and pushing close into the warmth. If she pressed her ear to the roan mare’s chest, she could just hear her heart, and almost forget the stallion was right there.

She was sure that now there was just one stallion, Ekala would send him away and they would be alone and safe once more. But Ekala’s voice was the same, the words were different. The words made her feel cold and frightened! Follow the stallion!? No! No they couldn’t do that! She had no chance of escaping him if they went out of the Ramsheads!

The dun filly began to pant deeply, eyes rolling wide as she pulled her bald face away from Ekala. She couldn’t follow the stallion, she refused! She stood rooted to the spot, and locked her legs in so that she couldn’t possibly go closer to the stallion. Her wispy red tail thrashed, and the terrified filly looked like she was going to be impossible to move.

The problem was, she couldn’t run. Not just because she’d locked her legs, but because every time she tried to left a hoof to run, something twinged deep inside of her. An instinct ingrained so deep that even her fear had to contend with it; this was a mature stallion, one who had fought for her – right in front of her – and had won. She hated the blood and the noise and the speed of it, yet instinctively she knew this stallion was doing well, and doing it for her.

While her mind had no idea what to do, her body certainly did, and she was not going to run. The internal standoff was an equal push and pull, so the filly could not let her mind run, nor could she let her body advance. She stood in that same place the stallion had found her, looking so hopelessly about. Her mentor had scared her with her talk of leaving, and the stallion even more so with his talk of the dark. The dark that she could barely see in. The dark when the bad things came and she couldn’t run. She shivered uncontrollably, dropping her head between her forelegs legs so she didn’t have to look at either brumby.

She couldn’t run, she couldn’t follow, she didn’t want to stay and under every conflicting thought there was the wordless niggle. She couldn’t place it and it frightened her. All she could do under all that fear was wonder: could he be so bad?

[E!]

Ekala felt a warm glow spread through her body as her adopted daughter pushed against her blue hide. However, the feeling did not last for long as Eumina started to tremble and fret at the thought of going with Pallarang. The blue roan mare turned her eyes to the large stallion in concern, knowing that they could not risk trying to head down the Ramsheads in the dark - that could only end in broken bones or worse. Her soft brown eyes turned back to the red filly, who shook and trembled with such force that it was a wonder she had not passed out from the stress. Yet she was not running away, which Ekala took for as good a sign as ever that the small creature would have the will needed to follow if Ekala moved away.

"Come, Eumina" her voice was soft and soothing, as every loving mothers voice was. "He will not hurt you. We must leave, else that brute will return." And with that Ekala looked to Pallarang to lead the way, hoping that her frightened young daughter would follow.

OOC; I'll have Ekala make up a name for Eumina Also, if we end this here, Ekala and Eumina are officially Pallarangs - yay!