Regrouping

[yaruka]

As the snow began to fall lightly a bright bay mare walked steadily alongside the creek. Clinging to her side was another bright bay figure, though this one appeared to already be frosted with snow. With them was another mare and foal, the group had been travelling for nearly three months now without finding their herd. Between going off to give birth and then avoiding all the men that seemed to be crawling over the mountains it had taken the two mares and their foals quite some time to locate their stallion and yearling daughters. Not to mention that travel was slow with young ones and they didn't even know where Nandalie and the others had got to. Suddenly a familiar scent reached Irawaddy's nostrils and she stopped suddenly. Raising her head against the snow and wind she scented the air carefully. If she was not mistaken she could scent Omaroo, Ally and Nandalie and not too far away either. She turned and nickered to Coorah, urging her to see if she could catch their scent.

OOC: hmm. kind of lame, hope it's ok

[{ Opal }]

The snow fell steadily harder, obscuring the surroundings in a hazy white blur. Only a short distance away from the small group of brumbies, a stallion's breath cast a ghostly white fog. His ears were pricked, catching the light crunch of snow beneath heavy hooves. Cobar barely caught their scent, but when he did he immediately realized that all were females. And... alone. Cobar tilted his head questioningly, drawing a few steps forward. Then he quietly held back, thinking things through. I'll call to them... if they leave me be, I'll do the same. If they follow, I can ask some questions; perhaps even offer sanctuary? Pleased with his logic, the dappled buckskin let out a soft nicker. He then pricked his ears forward, ready to hear the pounding steps growing closer. And then again, he was just as ready to turn and leave; either way suited him fine. Cobar shifted slightly, blowing some snowflakes out of his nostrils as he waited.

OOC: Hope you don't mind. ^^

[Tiggs]

OOC: Technically, the new foals would be yearlings by now and Omaroo and Ally would be two-year olds but seeing as we missed a lot, we're continue where we left off? No skin off my nose ^_^

The men had scattered his small herd, and Nandalie was now overjoyed that he had caught the scent of Coorah and Irawaddy. He had managed to keep the skittish yearling fillies - now two-year-olds - with him, and now it seemed his two mares and their new yearlings had found him and their first daughters. He snorted happily, and was about to call to them when he heard an unfamiliar nicker. A stallions nicker.

The five-year-old strawberry roan responded with an angry scream, warning the encroaching stallion away. He gestured sharply for Omaroo and Ally to stay, and stormed toward the scent of his mares. No stallion was going to steal away his mares when they had just found him.

A thought occurred to him; perhaps the stallion was with Ira and Coorah. Had they been travelling together having been rescued from the men by this mysterious new stallion? No, no that couldn't be right. The call had been a summons, and a careful one at that. He was calling to Ira and Coorah, trying to lure them away. And Nandalie was not having that. Oh no. He stormed along the creek's edge, splashing through the rocky stream and leaping onto the opposite bank. Then Ira and Coorah were in sight, and the tight band around his heart lessened a little to see that there was no stallion here. His nostrils flared as he scented the air, not even stopping to greet his mares before he tried to pinpoint the other stallions position.

[yaruka]

OOC: wow, you're right Tiggs I totally hadn't thought about that...well....hmm, I can always edit my post to fix it. and as Omaroo and Ally are two now maybe they could show some interest in Cobar?

[{ Opal }]

OOC: Oooo, Cobar would like that. ^^

Cobar snorted in surprise as a violent scream pounded in his ears. Stepping wildly back, Cobar felt aggression rise instinctively in his viens. That was a stallion. Suddenly realizing that the mares belonged to that brute, Cobar's ears twitched irritably. Dang it... But the buckskin wasn't about to fight for the group; he was caught by surprise, unprepared. Knowing this, Cobar briskly walked away from the strange stallion, quickening every other step. Now though hoping to avoid confrontation, Cobar still wanted the mares... and the younger ones, they may be willing to go with him. With the flurry of snow casting a wall between himself and the rest of the brumbies, it might be easy to attract their attention without infuriating the stallion. Eager to try, Cobar nickered once more from behind the group. He made sure to soften his voice, so that the roan wouldn't hear him too well. Anxiously Cobar waited, knowing he didn't have much time.

[Tex]

The mare with a chestnut colt was very tired, yes. In fact, she was hiding how truly tired she was. The colt was fine, as they rested often and all he had to do was drink milk, while Coorah had to try and find food under snowy banks. But now, it seemed, they were at the end of their journey. She could smell the two foals and Nandalie, and nickered to tell Irwaddy that. But wait... what was that? A stallion that they had never met before, it seems. The bloke even tried a friendly nicker towards them, which she harrumphed at, before cantering to meet Nandalie. She sniffed at his muzzle in gratitude for taking care of their foals, and lowered her head to give Ally a horsey hug.
OOC- I'm baaack!

[Tiggs]

OOC: Ok, let's do that XD Nandalie is suddenly a 5-year-old (as technically he should) and Omaroo and Ally are now old enough to go with Cobar if they want. That also makes the new foals yearlings so Nandalie and the mares have been apart for a while XD Oh the confusion! And Tex, I think Nandalie left Omaroo and Ally on the other side of the creek when he rushed over to the mares.

The other stallion didn't call again after Nandalie'd warned him and now satisfied he'd scared the other off, Nandalie greeted his long-lost mares with exuberant nuzzles. The two yearlings that followed them were surprisingly healthy, and Nandalie tentatively greeted his new son and daughter. He was about to corral the group up when he heard another faint call from the stallion again.

Unsure of where it came from, Nandalie looked back and forth, raising his head, perking his ears and flaring his nostrils. The roan stamped his hoof, squealing another warning. He began to circle his mares and their young, listening intently in case the stallion was bold enough to try again. Then he would be able to pin-point a direction. The other stallion had been clever and had gotten downwind, so Nandalie's scent was impaired. His only hope of finding the stranger was that he would show himself or give himself away with another noise.

[yaruka]

Irawaddy stepped forward eagerly to greet her long lost mate, nickering gently and fluttering her nostrils to take in his scent. She rubbed her nose gently along his face and watched proudly as he examined his first official daughter, Amarina. She ignored the calls of the other stallion, she was never one to consider being unfaithful and knew that Nandalie wouldn’t let him bother them.
Amarina, eyes wide with shock from all the action hung back a little, eventually going forward to touch her sire’s nose at the gentle urging of her mother. Though just about a year old she was still very shy and constantly looked to her mother for support and guidance.
Now a two year old and having not seen her mother for almost a year Omaroo barely recognized the bay figure that approached as significant. Such was the way with horses, youngsters must forget their parents and vice versa that they will leave the herd and begin lives of their own.
No, she was much more interested in the elusive, beckoning nicker from across the bank. Trembling, standing with head raised and nostrils flared wide trying to catch the stallion’s scent, Omaroo answered his nicker hesitantly.

[{ Opal }]

Cobar expected the mare's ignorance, though for an instance annoyance flashed through him. It faded in the blink of an eye, letting Cobar look at the situation more closely. The stallion was obviously not happy, and that was made even clearer with a second angry scream. Cobar grumbled unhappily under his foggy breath. I didn't think he'd hear that... Aye, but he can't smell me now.

The buckskin was forced to step closer to see through the snow, and make sure that his calls had made no impact on the group. Cobar's gaze quickly flitted to a two-year-old filly, as a faint sound escaped her. Bingo! Delighted and excited by the response, Cobar briskly side-stepped closer. But how could he attract her, without showing the stallion his position? I'll just have to go for it. Cobar thought solemnly, before returning a nicker. He made it loud and strong, as if not caring about the stallion. All he wanted was the young mare. So Cobar repeated the sound once more, lacing it with bold optimism. And there he waited, his steely eyes locked onto the stallion.

The rush of the moment pumped through his veins, making Cobar more confident in his position. Momentarily breaking his stare with the stallion, Cobar cast a kind gaze at the mare, proud of her own boldness. Though her call had been hesitant, Cobar couldn't have asked for more. His hide shuddered momentarily from the adrenalin, before he redirected his gaze to the roan stallion. The snowflakes continued to pour down, and Cobar was thankful for that. The snow would hide their tracks well.

[Tex]

Coorah was too tired to care about what was going on now, so she and her foal staggered over to be next to Nandalie and collapsed to have a good, long sleep.
Boorana Allira wasn't so exhausted, and her ears were trained attentively on the new voice. It sounded like Nandalie, but stranger and more inviting. Her step-dad was always strict and angry at them, so this was new to her. She looked around to make sure none of teh herd was watching, and nickered back to the stallion once she knew that no-one had any interest with her right now.