BABIES... and battle.

[Illu]

It had been a damn month now. That was plenty of time for Kinta and Dilali to have had their foals and returned safely, surely. His old mares used to return about this time, and Garrong was finding himself getting more worried with every passing minute. Well, both worried AND annoyed to be fair, anything seemed capable of setting his temper off nowadays, what with the threat of Nevada launching a reverse attack and keeping an eye on that damned roan.

The freezing snow wouldn't do much to protect him if Nevada came, the white horse owned the Winter, and the cold made Garrong notoriously sluggish. The dried blood from the fight days ago had yet to be fully removed seeing as Kinta was really the only one who could stand to touch him, and she was now absent. The wetness of the snow had done most of the work, but there was still a dark streak. Baramay wouldn’t be going anywhere near him now, that was for sure, and Garrong hadn’t tried to add insult to injury by seeking conversation with her. There was a slight level of regret about the affair, and once or twice he’d wondered what was going through her head. Her mind would probably be a twisted state of affairs by now if she wasn’t still in shock.

The Friesian stallion flicked his tail against his flank as he watched the mouth of the valley for any sign of movement from either Dilali or Kinta. The flies had gone along with the warmth of the sun, so it was more of an automatic movement than a necessary one, but much like fiddling with something, it helped with the nerves. If Kinta came back first, then stuff it, he was going hunting for Dilali himself.

[tingara]

Dilali wandered folornly back. She had a horrible feeling that Baramay had had her encounter with Garrong while Dilali wasn't there. She shuddered at the thought and then gently whinnied to the black bundle that stood staring curiously at the snow.
"Yeranda come on," she said gently and instantly Yeran was at his mother's side. Dilali began to wonder what Garrong would think of his son, a part of her yearned desperately for his approval.

Soon she reached the mouth of the valley with Yeran following close behind. In the distance Dilali could see Garrong obviously waiting for her.
"Here," she presented Yeran, "he is your colt. His name is Yeranda." The little half-Friesian peered curiously out from underneath Dilali's legs when he heard his name mentioned. He squealed in terror as he caught sight of Garrong and went straight back to hiding behind his mother.

[Valatone]

Kinta was happily moving along through the bush, back to where she had left her lovey-dovey Garrong. The pinto mare was constantly stopping to look back to make sure that a little black-and-white bundle was hurrying alone after her. Just because she wasn't too smart gave people the idea that she'd be bad with foals. But she really liked her own foals a lot, and knew how to take care of them like any other normal mare.

Finally arriving, she'd realised that Dilali had arrived before her. Cursing under her breath, she checked once again, and there was the little filly busily moving after her with her thick coat all fluffed out. Kinta nuzzled her daughter, then came up to Garrong and Dilali. The black and white, big-bodied filly copied the colt nearby her, and hid under her mother. Not realising who all these horses were, she only knew the one and only Kinta.

Kinta tried to nudge the filly out from under her, but she was persistant and stubborn like her mother. Sighing, she looked at Garrong with happy eyes. "And THIS," she stared at Dilali with the last words, "is Pirilah. Say hello, dear" and once again, she tried to get Pirilah out. But no, the shy filly was determined to stay close to her mother. Kinta moved backwards slightly, so she could atleast be seen by her father.

[Illu]

It was Dialli he spotted first. A shape at first, followed by a black one. She would never be able to disappear into plain snow thanks to her brown points, but amongst the trees and white ground they made a damn good job of disguising her outline. Catching no sign of Baramay behind him, the stallion trotted forwards a few steps to greet them.

It was a cute sort of colt, more resembling his father than his mother, and Garrong was proud despite the circumstances. Although it was a standard reaction to be scared when a foal saw their sire for the first time, it still hurt when Yeran shrieked and dove between his mothers legs. Argh, stupid foals. Garrong lowered his head to get a better look in a manner similar to a general inspecting a new recruit.

”Well, I’m glad to have you both back safely,” he said genuinely after a moment, then made a movement as though about to nuzzle Dilali’s cheek and then thinking better of it. Sufficiently awkward now, he turned his head to look behind again. ” I think Baramay...” No, better not say too much. ”Well, I think she might need you.”

It wasn’t long after that that he heard Kinta’s hoof falls crunching into the snow. She at least, was much easier to find than Dilali. Giving his captured mare a nod to say he had to go, Garrong went over to greet the giant pinto. Kinta he had no problem being with, and immediately nuzzled her ear and rubbed his head on her neck. Same reaction from this foal, minus the panic. ”She’s gorgeous,” he said approvingly, taking a moment to look at his second foal. ”See anything interesting on your way back?” Garrong asked, discreetly hoping for news.

[tingara]

Dilali listened to Garrong's last words and her fears were confirmed. She felt anger rising in her as she led Yeran away.
"Baramay?" she gently nickered.
"Over here," came the surprisingly calm reply.
"Are you ok?" Dilali's heart was in her mouth at the sight of the little mare. She looked so weak, so thin. It looked as though she hadn't eaten for days.

Dilali had heard of stallions who did unspeakable thing to mares but she'd never thought she'd witness it herself. God she was so angry.
"Baramay could you watch Yeran?"
"Yeah," once again came the calm response but this time Dilali noticed she was rocking slightly and had not looked at her once.

Positively fuming Dilali stormed to Garrong.
"You heartless monster!" she yelled in his face, all fear of him gone. Snaking her neck she bit him hard on the wither. Then she turned and gave him a sharp dig with her hind legs.
"You took advantage of her! You're sick," she yelled again.

[Valatone]

"Nope, I saw nothing," Kinta replied, a little puzzled by the question. Just then, Dilali came over, practically blowing steam out of her nostrils. Rolling her eyes, she snorted at the white-and-brown mare. "And this, Nevadahh, was better? Obviously, Garrong must of beat the hell outa that guy," she spat. How dare she attack him, a tiny mare against a huge, handsome black stallion? Whatever her intention was, she obviously wasn't really getting anywhere as long as Kinta was around.

She raised her front, left leg and steadied herself before launching a quick shot, aimed at Dilali's side.

---

Pirilah was rather confused. Who were all these...big ones? There was a massive black one, then a white-and-brown one, and THEN a chestnut! Where did they all come from? Why did Mother look so angry, and why was she raising her leg like that? What was happening?! Shaking her head, she got up from her open position and moved closer to the black colt she'd noticed before. Pirilah gave him a quick sniff, before attempting to copy her mother and weakly flailing her front left leg.

[Illu]

Garrong was quite surprised when Dilali actually suddenly got the courage to have a go at him. He was hit by the bite, and only just managed to swing himself out of the way of her kick due to being sandwiched between Kinta. Immediately the pinto was already surging forwards, doing what she did best, and Garrong had to rush in and give her a soft bit of his own to stop her causing anyone serious damage. ”Easy,” he hissed at her, grateful none the less, then turned to confront Dilali.

”Don’t propose to lecture me on what I am,” he growled, flattening his ears and baring his teeth at her, ”because I’ve heard it before. Go back to your friend and be happy in the knowledge Nevada will come for you soon enough!” he ordered. It wasn’t what he wanted to say, or what Dilali wanted to hear he was sure, but Garrong was playing on avoidance. He didn’t want to discuss it, not now, the end.

[tingara]

"Fine!" Dilali stormed off but not before throwing a quick, "brute!" over her shoulder. She was so angry but still too scared to leave. It would probably be best if she and Baramy waited for Nevada to come and rescue them. Dilali began to graze through the snow keeping a watchful eye on Yeran who was off snuffling around his father's legs.

Somehow Yeran had worked out the great big stallion was his father. He looked like him and smelt like him so it had to be so. He shot a glance over to the filly and launched at her in a playful attack. Squealing with excitement he nipped her and quickly ducked back.

[Valatone]

Kinta stuck her tounge out at Dilali as she stomped away to her friend. Pshhh.....stupid mare. Trying to get her attention away, she gave Garrong a nip on the shoulder in a attention-seeking way, perhaps a little too sharp. "Why don't we leave them here, so they can...plaaayyy together like little foals," she teased, loud enough so that the chesnut and white could hear her words. Now, where was that little black-and-white bundle?

---

Pirilah was under attack! The black colt who looked similar to the big guy closeby leaped and nipped her. She gave an angry snort, but then realising it was a game, bucked her back legs out, then she dived forwards, hoping to hit Yeran when her mother stepped in.

"Now, Pirilah, you know better than to play with the spawn of..Nevvahhhdahhhh," she said, in a calm voice that wouldn't threaten her daughter, but had the mocking tone that Dilali and Baramay would hear. She herded Pirilah with her nuzzle and legs, moving her slowly back to Garrong and herself. Pirilah didn't understand who Garrong was yet, so again she tried to conceal herself underneath Kinta, but accidently left her tail out.

[Illu]

Oh well, it was nice to know that Dilali could in fact be called off. Garrong didn’t particularly want to get into a fight with the stolen mare at all, and not because even mares could potentially cause a fair amount of damage with a little bit of luck on their side. Despite what everyone liked to think, he wasn’t completely without honour. It didn’t matter what Dilali wanted to do, there was no way he could physically fight back. She was a mare after all, regular in colour, and he was determined to at least hold on to that set of morals even if it came to the worst and all else deserted him.

Though, to be fair, the events with Baramay had been a grey area he wasn’t sure about. She wasn’t actually injured in any way he could see, so surely it wasn’t as bad as Dilali was making out. Still, his gaze was continually flicking in the direction of the two mares. Garrong never thought he’d get the feeling that Nevada couldn’t come soon enough, but there it was. Getting rid of the two would certainly be a load off his mind.

Speaking of Nevada, more stress. Winter was over; the snows were melting, what was taking him so long? Was he even coming at all, or was this just a ploy to get him on edge? If Nevada was trying to mess with his mind, it was certainly working.

His train of thought was promptly derailed by Kinta’s nip. “Hmm, what?” he asked absently, and then quickly forgot he said anything as he watched Kinta disrupt the foals games. He honestly couldn’t tell if she actually didn’t know how to pronounce Nevada, or if she was just being sarcastic. They were cute sort of foals. What would Baramay bring at the end of the season?