Heart of the Night [Cobar herd]

[yaruka]

Cautiously, Omaroo crept through the bush, keeping to the shadows where she blended in as perfectly as if she were a filly born of the night itself. After she had gone quite a distance she paused, listening carefully for any sound of her friends. Hoping Ally had managed to distract Cobar and then break away she waited for her friend's approach. The two of them had played this game many a time before.

[Tex]

The grulla flung up her head, whinnying loudly from all the pure excitement of running as fast as she could. Her hooves echoed almost as loudly, a din of clapping noises that sounded almost like a man's whip cracking about her ears. The thought of that made her push her head forward, and speed up until she was almost gasping. Before she had hardly even tried to go fast, yet she was faster than Cobar. Now, however, she was actually trying her best, and Ally found herself at the very end of the natural stone maze without realizing she had made it. Skidding to a halt, into a pile of small rocks and pebbles, she spun around and cantered noiselessy on the grassy edges of the rocky area, sniffing out which way to try and meet up with her friend without leading Cobar straight towards them.

[{ Opal }]

Cobar started to feel the burn of hunger in his gut as he hustled over rocks and down ravines, always keeping Ally's scent nearby. He refused to eat, however; there wasn't much around he satisfy him anyway. Cobar gave his head a shake, and dragged his attention back to finding Ally- and thus so, he hoped, Omaroo. But suddenly a wind picked up; Cobar fought to follow the scent trail as it was blown among various other smells. The stallion strained his senses, and realized that his nose was no longer useful. With a snort of irritation, Cobar decided to try the next thing: hearing. He paused for a moment so that his own hooves' clacking would be no distraction, then pitched his ears forward. The wind's whistling echoed through an eerie silence. With a small jolt of fear, Cobar started forward again, steely determination now replacing all doubts. The stallion worked his way quickly through the stone, guided by the snippets of scent that lay intact in the areas more protected from the gale. Cobar let out a shrill sound, much like a whinny but too agitated. Suddenly an idea came to mind, and Cobar quickly thrust himself up a nearby ridge, his hooves sending gravel everywhere. Even when he came to a place to stop he kept climber, further and further up. Cobar even took a few detours to ensure he would have the highest and broadest view. Finally, with a powerful heave, Cobar reached the top. He gazed down across the land, a bit stunned by the great view. His gaze then raked suspiciously across the landscape, eying every shadow and every object the right size to be a brumby. Cobar hadn't expected to see Omaroo; she was too dark, but maybe- there! The stallion jerked as he spotted a flash of movement. Indeed, there it was, Ally! Skirting along the edges of stone no doubt, unknowingly avoiding the concealment of the rocks. Cobar raised his body, his forelegs flashing in the air as he reared up. A loud neigh burst from his body, scattering noise across the stone, which echoed through every nook and every cranny. Cobar couldn't help it; he knew it was quite likely that they would run at his voice or his figure, perched high ontop the rocky hill, but to him the "battle" had been won already. There was no point scrambling through the rough terrain all night, he figured, and was suddenly reminded of his hunger.

[yaruka]

OOC: let me know if you want me to alter this so Omaroo doesn't see the men

BIC: Omaroo whipped around as Cobar's call rang out over the range of mountains. Throwing her head back she called to him, mocking him, before spinning around and galloping off through the bush. So intent was she on the game that she didn't even notice the strange yet somehow familiar scents up ahead of her. So it was that she was almost upon the men before realizing what danger she had run herself into. Galloping along the faint path she screeched to a halt, looking with horror on the scene ahead of her. Down the slopes of another outcrop streamed brumbies, more than any Omaroo had ever seen before in her life. Behind them rushed other horses, these ones with strange, pink creatures aboard, screaming and yelling. Rolling her eyes in fear she started as to her left came more of the invaders yells, coming closer every second. Terrified, Omaroo spun around and took off in the opposite direction, back to where she had heard Cobar's whinny. As she ran she whinnied anxiously for Ally, not thinking to keep quiet in her panic.

[Tex]

The dappled grey slowed to a fast walk, sniffing the air suspiciously and listening for something she couldn't quite hear. The whinny from Cobar grabbed her attention for about half a second, but her ears flew back to listen as hard as she could to the place where she knew her friend was hiding. Suddenly, the sounds she had been straining to hear rolled over all of them like a wave, and she snorted in terror. It was the Men again, and Omaroo was right next to them!
She reared up high, now clearly visible to both wild horses, and whinnied to her friend, before bolting towards Cobar. He would know what to do, and could protect them!

[{ Opal }]

From his vantage point, Cobar could get a rather good look at the surrounding territory; thus so, he was the first to spot the men. He stared down in horror, suddenly realizing that Omaroo was in danger and was practically leading the men to the herd! Cobar belted out a neigh, and in it was this command: run. With that the stallion charged down the hill, fear pushing him faster than anything else. He couldn't see the mares; he was trapped inside stone walls, and though that bothered him, he figured he could get to the fillies by hearing alone. Cobar forced himself to pause and listen, and the tap of hooves overpowered the harshness of his breathing. With an excited snort he warned the horse up ahead, and has he came 'round the bend he caught Ally's figure. Luckily, she was coming toward him. Cobar snorted and stamped his hoof, signaling with his body for her to stay put. Without waiting to see if she'd follow the directions, Cobar started off again. Where was Omaroo? A cold chill passed through him, but just then he heard something. "Omaroo?!" Cobar didn't have time to wince over his panicked voice, and simply rushed toward the sound of hooves. Relief flooded him from his nose to his tail as he spotted Omaroo, who looked pretty scared, but still intact. "Come on, I've got Ally!" As he spoke, he could hear the snapping whips, and barking dogs, and screaming brumbies, and above all the loud thundering of hooves. "Come on, hurry!" Cobar repeated the command and then cantered off, dearly hoping that Omaroo had enough stamina to keep up, and that Ally had stayed put.

[yaruka]

Omaroo heard both Ally and Cobar dimly through her fear. In a blind panic she galloped towards their voices, unaware that she was leading her pursuers directly towards her friends. It finally came to her senses that she was more nimble than the enemy, so deftly she dashed in and out of the rocks, hooves clattering noisily but drawing ahead all the same. Her weaving had the added bonus of confusing the others, though she was making enough noise for a herd of horses, her hoofbeats echoed weirdly among the rocky slopes so that it was hard to trace them to her actual figure. Nostrils flaring widely and glistening in sweat Omaroo tore after the other horses. Finally she drew along side Cobar's flank and fell, exhausted, into a kind of automatic run, pushing herself to keep going through will alone.

[Tex]

Ally flattened her ears at Cobar, and stamped a back hoof irritably. Stay? No, she wasn't a Man's dog. She would not stay, right where they could see her!
The grey whinnied once again to her friend Omaroo, and galloped to the cover of the trees, her hide already blending in with the dark leaves and grey fog of the morning. She shivered constantly; the snaps of whips were enough to make her stay put here, where it was relatively safe, but not out in the open. She strained to see where Cobar had gone, and realized she could see the dark hide of Omaroo flying past. She galloped as quickly as she could, and caught up with her friend instantly, slowing down so she could keep pace with her.

[{ Opal }]

Cobar constantly uttered encouraging nickers to Omaroo, as he dashed off to where he had last seen Ally. But wait... where was she? Cobar spun around, looking right and left, panic starting to rise within him. Wasn't this the spot? Had he gone in the wrong direction? Startled by the thought, Cobar glanced around again. Suddenly the clash of hooves met his ears; first it was dimly, but it soon rose in pitch until Cobar was sure it was upon him. Whirling around to face the noise, Cobar snorted angrily, expecting a human-broken horse to come charging at him. But instead, it was Ally; Cobar stifled a sigh of relief at the familiar silver-tinged pelt. He was pretty ready to give her a reprimand for running off, but there just wasn't time to get angry. So off Cobar went, hoping the momentary pause had been enough rest to last Omaroo. They just had to get away. Dashing through the rocks, Cobar felt a dull tiredness in his limbs. Glancing up, he noticed that the sun was already rising. They had been basically running all night, and hunger pangs bit at Cobar's stomach, but he was a stallion with a herd and he was determined to remain free. Anxiously he glanced back, and felt a tad better at the sight of his fillies.

[yaruka]

Light began to wash over the rocks and the horses galloping frantically through them and, dimly, Omaroo realized that she had been galloping practically all night. Thankfully, stamina was her strong suite and though exhausted she somehow found the will to go, galloping next to Ally she was reassured by her friend's close presence. Surely they must nearly be safe? She thought she could hear the sound of the men behind her fading, though whether this was just wishful thinking she did not know.