The Morning After the Night Before

[Tiggs]

The tired mare greeted the dawn chorus with mixed emotion. Another day of life, the first day of captivity. The golden palomino had not slept at all that night. Morning was not a welcome reprise. She'd pulled on the rope holding her until she was sure it would not give. Not fool-hardy enough to cause herself more damage than a few angry welts, she had stood rigidly until the sun rose.

Her yearling son had tired himself out by fighting the rope and now lay exhausted across the corral. Unlike his mother, he had worn out all grievances he had with this predicament. By physically wearing himself thin, he would more easily accept the new day once he awoke. Kessa on the other hand was wary. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and it would take a great deal of convincing for her to accept this new environment.

She was thirsty too, and the trough taunted her. The rope holding her to the stubborn fence was taught, not allowing her much movement to move, thus was probably the reason the man had tied her so tight. He had not wanted her to thrash and buck like her son had. She had potentially more energy, and could hurt herself with the fear-driven franticness. Her son was on a longer tether, but rather than being frightened, he was angry with the thing that held him. He did not understand men had done this, and it was the rope he fought, not his captors. Kessa knew the men had this this, and she had accustomed herself to the rope overnight and they now had a wary relationship. If she stayed still, the rope would lay still. If she struggled, the rope would bite and snake. Kessa chose the easy option.

And so as the sun broke the horizon, the first rays of light illuminated the golden mare. Her coat was spiked with dried sweat and dark in some places with fresh perspiration. She was quite obviously stressed, and as curls of smoke began to rise from the huts chimney, she began to pant. The men would be out soon, and she'd experience first had their brutality. Her abdomen was bulging, and it only fueled her fear. She would give these men another being to torture, and it was all her own fault for venturing so foolishly close. Kessa did not often blame herself for things, but she did now. She had drawn her yearling son and unborn foal into this mess, and not one of them would ever escape.

[Tex]

Another horse was whiling the time away by tugging on the cursed ropes, older than the palomino colt but smaller than the mare. He was a dazzling white, which showed up even at night. That wasn't exactly helpful, but it wasn't the reason why he had been captured.
He hadn't made it easy for the men to take him here, and they were already frustrated with him. The two men were still trying to get him before the other, however, and he found it amusing. Once Straijx came, everything would be alright. He'd escape, and help these two horses next to him go free too. He eyed the palomino mare, noticing her swollen belly. She was in foal, too? Crap, what bad luck. That poor baby. Well, when he got loose, he'd get help somehow. There had to be someone strong enough to kick that fence down, though he would have absolutely no chance. Even the fence was too high for him to jump, which sucked.
Ru snorted in frustration, and eyed the mare and colt again. Even though he was a strange male, maybe they would listen to him?
"Hey, mare! And colt," he added, tossing his head around until the rope caught him in his tracks. "Are you guys okay?"
Just typical of him to have slept through everything last night. Well, he had run quite a long way, trying to get free of those two men, and he had still been struggling when he had been shoved in here. He wasn't interested in the mare, as he already had Straijx, but perhaps they could be friends?

[danni]

This was frustrating! The other horses were doing nothing to help him! So Straijx turned and left, her hoofs touching the ground lightly as she marked the woods with her soft fragrance. Her mane danced in her weary eyes as she followed them, her heart was drumming as they tied him, she didn't like it, not with the mare and foal there, oh the poor things! The sun was beating hard already and making Straijx move quicker then before.
She moved easily down the slop, placing her hoofs above steady rocks Straijx looked for the man, nothing was coming. She knew he wouldn't of stopped her, she needed to see Ru,to see if they hurt him, and to get him away from here.

She dragged herself over to him and reached over excitedly to greet him "Oh Ru! Did they hurt you!" She noticed to ropes she breath escaped her, she needed to get them off. now. Then she noticed the mare, oh, she needed to help them too, she couldn't leave them here to die. No, she certainly couldn't leave them here for those horrible demons to come and bash things into their sides like all the horses they were astride.

Straijx looked to Ru again, so glad to be near him again, she rested her head against his, sighing happily she knew that help would be needed, looking to him and then to the mare she spoke softly so her words couldn't be heard over the fence railing to the mans hell hole "How can I help?" She was truly willing to do anything at the moment.

[tingara]

Woken by the chattering of galahs and other birds of the bush, Sam pushed himself off his makeshift bed. Cursing the animals that just had to be up at dawn, the man pulled on his shirt, shoes and wandered outside. The cold dawn air hit him like a slap in the face and once again he found himself cursing, this time about not bringing a jacket. The mist on the mountains and scurrying and twittering of the animals at dawn, all of these things Sam had missed enormously, even if they were somewhat an annoyance.

The crisp morning air had by now fully awoken him and, after a stretch and a yawn, Sam looked over at the reason his sleep had been restless. There in the corral stood his very own silver horse and her colt. The mare was his, he had the rope burns to prove it, but the woman who had ‘helped’ in the capture had unfortunately gotten the colt so Sam had missed out on the two for one deal, or had he? Now able to see the beauty better in the dawn light it was obvious the mare was in foal. Excellent.

“Hey girl,” Sam cooed gently, moving slowly to untie the rope from around her neck. After all the excitement from the previous night, no doubt she’d be thirsty. There was no chance of escape any way. After the escapades of the Silver Devil, the fences were almost 6ft in height and made of sturdy snowgum wood. No horse was getting out unless the gate was left open. Slowly the man moved to untie the yearling, clicking his tongue gently as he did so. Neither the mare or the foal had any trust instilled in him and he had to go and change that. Untying the ropes was the first step in showing these headstrong wild horses that he wasn’t there to hurt them.

[Tiggs]

Kessa was oblivious to the red-maned colt in the next corral over. She'd blocked out the other horses after the buckskin had tried to share his words of wisdom the night before. The exasperated stallion hadn't said the words, but she knew 'I told you so' had been on the tip of his tongue. She didn't even register the wild black brumby sneaking up to the colt's corral, her ears deaf and eyes blind to anything but the activity inside the hut.

Finally the door opened, and the Man stepped out. He was so alien, even more so in the daylight. She'd seen them on their horses before, but it just seemed like they were growing from them. But standing there on His feet -- two feet -- He scared her even more. If she could have looked even more fearful, she would have at that moment.

He came walking up to her, not bounding like a kangaroo, but with a graceful stride that had her staring. How did He not fall? Her eyes were wide, rolling and bloodshot, her head held high as He came to the outside of the fence that separated them. Rather than lash out, she stayed painfully still as His paws reached out to her, her ears swivelling wildly as that rumbling sound He made. Afraid of what He was going to do to her, she was almost relieved when it seemed all He was doing was removing the rope. Not quite believing she was free, it took her a few seconds before she tested her unexpected freedom from the hateful rope.

She started by moving her head slowly, and when the rope didn't bite, she snorted and tossed her head wildly. Her creamy mane flew out around her, and by the time the Man had freed her son, she had started a few victory laps of the corral. When the tension from her legs and neck were eased -- stiff after a night without moving -- she tried a few bucks and finally slowed to a trot.

Thalera in the meantime had nonchalantly began grazing on a few stray pieces of hay that had blown into the mostly sparse pen. His mothers antics didn't seem to bother him, as if his night's sleep had settled all of his qualms. While his mother ran circles, he lipped at a few blades of grass and ignored the man. Only the occasional twitch of his ear or jerky movement betrayed his nervousness.

Finally finished running laps, the rotund golden mare found the trough. A little confused about the puddle inside an oddly shaped tree-trunk, Kessa nosed it tentatively. Discovering the water was indeed water, she dunked her nose in it, blowing a few bubbles before drinking sensibly. Without the rope around her neck, being confined in the high-sided corral felt like utter freedom!

Thalera had stopped grazing, and was staring intently at the next corral over where the pale-pelts, red-haired colt was captured. Past the far fences, he'd spotted the black mare lingering in the shelter of the trees. With a loud whinny, he called to her. Didn't she see the fences? Did she know she would be put inside of them if she stayed? The sooty yearling warned her at the top of his lungs, not realising he had alerted the rest of men and tame horses to the wild brumby mare.

[Tex]

Ru was a bit put off when the other two captives didn't even answer him, aand watched jealously as they were set free to run about their corral. He was hobbled, and tied to the fence. He wasn't sure why they had taken extra precautions with him, but maybe it was because he had tried to get away and haad almost succeeded, while the other two were just a mare and a foal. A sound caught his attention, and he looked out over the fence, expecting to see a braver-than-normal kangaroo or perhaps an Emu. there wasn't anything there. He continued to watch, and gradually made out a horse standing there, hidden from view. It was black.
He held back a startled whinny, and hung his head over the side of the fence. Now that the man was here, it would be suicide for her if he spoke to her. But that colt next door- he betrayed her instead. His high-pitched warning was enough to alert the whole cabin, and he suddenly fell down, struggling wildly. He was pretending to be choking, and made his legs kick in pretend spasms, eyes rolling wildly. Straijx would have a chance to escape, if she ran now!
"Straijx! Find help!" he whinnied desperately, and made his body begin to jerk.

[danni]

So relived to see Ru again. She watched him, until she noticed the creature moving towards the mare. Straijx felt her heart beat quicken as she watched it move awkwardly on its two legs over to the mare. Her muscles stiffened as she watched in horror, why was this happening? Why now, she noticed the mare moving around, maybe if she didn't move he wouldn't see her, if she became the shadows that were vanishing so quickly she could get away. Looking out of the corner of her eye she watched Ru, he didn't seem to notice them, like his own little world. Her silent breathing quickened as she blinked her dusty brown iris's. Watching him move about her muscles became bunched and uncomfortable but all to soon it went to chaos.

A colt called to her, making her look to him and then she relished what had happened, then Ru made a distraction "I will be back, Promise" Wheeling around on her hocks she spun forward making her way to the side of the house, her hoofs started to pound dust as she made her body turn, some round buckets came up and she jumped clearing them but her hind hoofs hit them with a clatter as she charged back into the bush, her hind glinting in the ray of run that split through the clouds. She stopped when she was into the bush and hidden by the shrubbery, breathing measured as she merged slowly into the tree line.

[tingara]

For now Sam was content to watch the mare. The man regretted tying her up so rigidly but it had been for her own good. There was always a high chance a newly captured brumby would freak out and barrel itself straight into a fence which could result in either severe injury or death. Sam had seen it happen on several occasions when he’d been young, it had never ended well. It had been twice as likely to happen when he’d caught the silver as it had been dark.

He smiled as the mare revelled in her new found freedom from the rope. It was good to see her slightly more relaxed. Sam couldn’t help but laugh as she began to blow bubbles in the trough. Never had he seen a horse do that, she was obviously an inquisitive thing. “You’re a funny one,” he chuckled quietly; already Sam was very much liking this mare. Noticing the yearling was obviously hungry, the man decided to introduce the two of them to their first lot of lucerne hay.

Hoping Jason wouldn’t notice, Sam raided the other man’s stockpile of the stuff. Grabbing a reasonably sized bale he slowly ducked through the fence and into the corral, all the while making sure he wasn’t between the mare and her foal and keeping an eye on her. He slowly placed the hay down but his calm was soon disrupted as the yearling started whinnying at something. Just in case it was him, Sam moved himself out of the corral. As he came up from under the fence he caught sight of a black shape disappearing from over by the carrot-top colt’s pen.

Oh God! The colt, the man saw, was now having what appeared to be a seizure. There was nothing Sam could do but watch to see if the seizure would stop and whether they re-occurred. If they re-occurred Sam would either have to ride Cas into the nearest town for a vet or have the colt put down, it was a simple as that.

[Tiggs]

The water helped to cool her, and she gulped up as much as she could. The oddness of not having to lower her head right to the ground to drink confused her, and she paused a few times to dunk her nose into it to test that is was definitely water. After snorting the liquid from her nostrils for the third time, she decided it was definitely water.

While investigating the trough, she'd taken her attention from the Man and only the sound of His clothes on the wooden rails alerted her to His intrusion to the corral. Suddenly alert, Kessa watched the Man warily from the opposite side of the fenced area. She made no move to charge Him -- she feared Him too much for that -- but she was relieved that He did not approach her son.

Thalera seemed uncaring of the man, and was instead fixating on something outside of the corral. Kessa had closed herself off to anything but the inside of the corral and the Man who had put her there. The other horses, tame or not, were ignored. Her most immediate problems were the confines of this fence, it didn't seem that anything outside of it mattered.

Thalera was saddened to see the black mare leave, and he stared from the fence at the place where she disappeared. When it seemed she was not coming back, the sooty palomino yearling looked at the other horse lying on the floor. Thalera looked on in mild curiosity. He nickered calmly, obviously unworried at the other colt's apparent plight. "What are you doing?" He asked, poking his head through the rungs in the fence. "The men might eat you if you lay down -- like a dingo would." Thalera informed the other captured brumby, assuming to himself that it was quite a logical statement. Laying down was a dangerous business in the bush, there were too many dangers that could catch you unawares.

Kessa felt able to move once the Man was out of the pen, and she ambled up to her son, nudging his rump. "Don't do that, Thalera, you'll get your head stuck." Putting her head through the rungs had ultimately led to their capture, so it seemed no good could come of it. Making sure her son did as he was told, the pregnant mare cautiously approached the pile of whatever it was that the Man had left.

Quivering with a mixture of curiosity and fear, Kessa slowly extended her nose to sniff at it. It looked curiously like grass, but after it had died and had been left in the sun too long. The smell of it was sweet and tempting though, not like the dryness of the dry grass she had ever encountered. As it did not move or make any other threatening gestures or noises, Kessa stretched out her neck as far as it would go without stepping forward and she picked up a few pieces. After a few experimental chews, she discovered it was indeed grass! But it tasted so good!

Forgetting her fear of the new object, Kessa stepped up to the pile and pulled a great mouthful from it. Surprised at the ease that it came away with, Kessa was left with a lot of the dried grass hanging from her mouth as she chewed on the rest of it. She hadn't quite realised how hungry she was until now. With the rope gone, her thirst quenched and now presented with a pile of sweet-tasting food, Kessa finally began to relax. The looming fences did not seem so threatening any more, and thoughts of escape were rapidly disintegrating.

Thalera meanwhile was busy watching the happenings of the other corral with great interest. He had long discarded his fear of the fences, but the other horses around the place intrigued him. While his mother was busying herself with the hay -- of which he hoped would be some left for him when she was done with it -- he fit his head back through the fence and looked on with interest at the white red-haired colt. What did he intended to achieve, lying down like that and flopping around as it he had some incurable itch?

[Tex]

The colt relaxed when he saw his friend leave, and whinnied to her for good luck in her escape. He had not been aware that the Man would think so much of his plight, and had hoped that He would come and try to loosen the rope, leaving the gate open for an easy escape. Unfortunately, he just seemed happy to watch him 'suffer'. What kind of creatures were these, that watched in pleasure as a wild horse was in pain? He snorted disgustedly at the idea, and climbed to his feet, completely fine in body. He gave a mischevious grin at the colt, and whinnied sardonically at the Man, rearing up and kicking playfully so it could easily be seen that he had not meant it.