Born in the rain

[yaruka]

Irawaddy had left the herd about a day ago, seeking an appropriate place to give birth. She had felt some qualms leaving her daughter and Ally alone with the young stallion, it was not as though she did not trust Nandalie, she did, but she knew the two fillies could be trouble at the best of times. She hoped everything was going alright for them.
She walked through the forest, already starting to turn green with life, and finally found a suitable place in a sandy clearing by some water. She positioned herself comfortably, waiting for her contractions to become more frequent before lying down so as to minimize the amount of time she vunerable and on the ground. She appeared to be an old pro at this, but truthfully this was only Irawaddy's second foal. Ira was a born mother however, and looked forward happily to the birth of another foal.
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It was over. Irawaddy lay, panting in the soft sand,allowing a faint rain to fall on her coat and cool her for a few moments before she raised her head to peer over her shoulder at the foal that lay by her hind feet. She stretched her neck to lick it lovingly, rasping her pink tongue gently over the moist baby coat. The foal was a rusty bay-roan colour, with an adorably sweet, soft face. Nickering in a raspy, mothering way, Irawaddy nuzzled the little filly as the soft rain landed on her coat and rose up from her as steam. She pulled herself to her feet, and moved round to nudge the filly to stand. The little filly foal stared up at her mother with huge, dark soft eyes, and then moved impossibly long legs every which way in an attempt to get them underneath her. At her mother's encouragement, the foal finally managed to stumble to her feet but immediately fell back down. Patiently, Irawaddy nosed her again and finally the filly rose and managed to drink, her tail tucked between her hindlegs as she suckled in concentration. Irawaddy gazed lovingly at her second daughter, then, gazing up at the still falling misty rain, she nuzzled the filly "You will be called Amarina, my sweet, named for the rain in which you were born." she said.


OOC: hey Tex- if you want to bring Coorah by and have them meet up and return to the herd together with their foals that would be fine with me

[Tex]

Coorah was traveling very slowly, as she had a new colt in the world and didn't want to make it go too fast. When young, as in, just born, their legs could swell up, and when real danger arose, they would not be able to escape. She had heard of what had happened to Dilali, a mare somewhere else in this country, who's foal had been captured. Imagine, your own foal being stolen away by the humans!
Still, she did manage to travel fairly quickly, and the colt kept up quite well. She eyed him appreciatively out of the corner of her eye, the chestnut colt that bounded right next to her. He was a fine colt, and she had called him Warrap, which meant red ochre.
The two horses came across two others in the bush, and Coorah greeted her fellow herd mare cheerfully.
"Greetings, again! You have a fine colt born to you this year. What is his name?"

[yaruka]

Irawaddy turned her head calmly to look as Coorah and the red colt entered the little clearing. She had scented her fellow herdmate from quite a distance away and had known there was no threat to her newborn.
She greeted her friend warmly, nickering in welcome "Greetings Coorah! Why thank you, your colt is also a very fine foal indeed. Mine, however, is a filly. I call her Amarina, for the rain." she said proudly, looking with affection at her still suckling daughter. "What have you named your son?" She was reminded of a time very close to this, a year ago, when she had walked in on Coorah and her newly born grulla filly. Ally and Omaroo, her newborn daughter at the time, had since become the best of friends and Irawaddy wondered if Amarina and this colt would too become close. She hoped so for she was good friends with Coorah and would like it if their progeny remained close over the years to come.

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Amarina continued to suckle her mother's milk, even at the arrival of the other two, so intent was she on getting the most out of her first drink of the life-giving liquid. When she had drunk her fill she backed unsteadily away from her mother's side and, suddenly noticing the new arrivals, swung her head to look in astonishment at them, milk dripping from her long whiskers and giving her a most comical appearance. The sudden movement upset her already delicate balance and she wobbled and almost fell into Irawaddy's side. Already shy, she ducked underneath her mother's hindlegs, peering out from underneath Irawaddy's tail, her mother's long black hair covering her face so that all that could be seen of her was a glimpse of bay and her large, soft eyes, round with surprise.

[Tex]

Coorah nickered in a friendly way to the foal, and nudged her own son towards her. She was hoping they would become good friends as well, as they would be living together for all of their young lives, until they were old enough to go off and start to join or make herds. After her red colt stumbled towards the two horses, looking stunned that his legs still worked after all this exercise, Coorah moved forward to nuzzle Irawaddy, and stood next to her as they both watched their children.
"I named my colt Warrap, for the red ochre that he so resembles. Your filly is beautiful," she observed, reached down to pull up a mouthful of grass and chewed on it.

[yaruka]

Irawaddy nuzzled Coorah back, "That is a very suitable name," she replied "He looks as though he will be a fine big colt. Very strong indeed. And thank you," she replied happily. She too lowered her head to graze, pulling up mouthfulls of the sweet, newly grown grass.
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Amarina pulled back uncertainly as the reddish colt stumbled in her direction. Her mother seemed to be perfectly at ease and unconcerned though, so shyly she extended her nose to the other foal, nostrils quivering to catch his scent.

[Tex]

OOC- just gonna rp the foals now <3

He realized that a girl was watching his every movement, and pulled himself up to look proud and strong, only looking a little silly with each long-legged step. He held his head high, puffed out his chest and looked at regal as possible while he reached out his own nose to sniff at her. She was pretty, but he didn't notice that, being just newly-born. He sniffed at her for a while longer, and suddenly leaped into the air playfully, inviting her to join in with the fun.

[yaruka]

The colt wobbled proudly towards her and Amarina shyly extended her nose to touch his in greeting. The red colt suddenly sprang to the side and Amarina shied backwards. Realizing that he only wanted to play, she stepped cautiously through her mother's front legs and then trotted unsteadily over to him, stopping when she reached him, her balance delicate so that she appeared as though she might fall over if the wind suddenly blew. She stood there trembling, watching the colt and waiting for him to start the game.

[Tex]

He eyed her mischievously, and lowered his body, weaving towards her like a snake. He kept this up until he was right next to her, then nipped her side and bounded away. She was IT! He whinnied in delight, bouncing around the clearing like a demented Emu, red coat flashing like the sun. Warrap was having a great time, and he had already decided it was great to be alive!

[yaruka]

The colt nipped her and Amarina jumped back in shock, hurt that he'd been so rough. She soon realized it was a game however, and cautiously she moved forwards towards him. He jumped away and she caught on, prancing towards him then feinting away so that she might catch him off guards. She was still quite unsteady on her feet, but eventually she seemed to get the hang of running around and even managed a buck or two as she chased after the red colt.

[Tex]

He glanced over his shoulder for a few seconds, worried that his nip had actually hurt the little thing. She certainly rocked on her hooves for a bit, but soon, she came bounding after him. Warrap whinnied loudly in delight, and danced in his play, elegantly walking on his back legs without going back down on all fours for more than a minute. Cool, he has a gift for balance!
The chestnut colt stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Then, with an eager toss of his head, the red colt reared up, showing off how long he could stay standing.