Misty Morning (Open)

[{ Opal }]

As a result of his blindness, Gurnmil's ears were keener than most, and so he was the first to hear the stallions break up the fight. Gurnmil took on a disappointed (though not surprised) expression as both stallions simultaneously emerged onto the scene. He did not bother turning toward them, as after all he would not be able to see them, but he did pause and flick his ears in acknowledgment. As the two brumbies made their objections to the scene, Gurnmil simply shook his head and said to them coolly, "Don't try to be heroes." But suddenly there was a thump, and Gurnmil felt a shudder pass through the ground. He turned his attention to Baragoola, and at Crakk's squawk of surprise he came to the realization of what happened. Gurnmil suddenly started huffing in laughter; of all things, did that mare have to faint? As he finished his chortling at the humorous display, and thus ignoring both stallion's challenges, he snorted, "Well, I'm afraid she has little say in the matter." Of course, Gurnmil could not take Baragoola like this, no matter what lengths he went to. For a moment he thought about the situation, then returned to his calm, relaxed state. "I wouldn't hurt her," Gurnmil said, tilting his head in the direction of the stallions. As he was blind, old, and scarred, stealing was the only way to get mares; and he often took to force. But his prizes they never stayed with him for long. They just didn't trust him; and why should they? He was the one who took them away from their mates, then guarded them jealously, before a stronger stallion came by to take them away. So Gurnmil was frequently required to perform such acts as this, and not unwillingly, he had to admit.

Now, meanwhile, Crakk the raven was strutting about the place and shrieking out all his protests. "...So I come in here, I do my job, and all I get is this!" He poked Baragoola roughly. "Fainting? Fainting? Of all of the confounded things to do, she picked fainting." Crakk turned abruptly toward the remaining mare. "I didn't even know brumbies could faint. Did you?" He shook his head dramatically. "Of coarse not! You know, she better not be faking all this..." Suddenly Gurnmil's voice boomed, "Shut up, Crakk!" The raven immediately shut his beak, but continued to sulk over the situation. Gurnmil looked amused, but knew that now he had lost his opportunity. So, turning slightly toward the two stallions, he said, "I may come back later; give her a chance to speak for herself." And with that Gurnmil turned his back to the two, saying softly, "Good luck to you, Nowego, Koora." And how exactly did he know their names? No-one would ever know.

The flawed white stallion was soon disappearing into the bush, his tail swishing behind him, his raven alighting on his shoulders. And as he faded away, he sang,

"One for sadness, two for mirth;
Three for marriage, four for birth;
Five for laughing, six for crying;
Nine for silver, ten for gold;
Eleven a secret that will never be told..."

[tingara]

Koora bared his teeth at the white stallion before realising he wouldn’t see that particular display of aggression. Instead the silver bay pawed the ground and snorted angrily. All he’d wanted to do was talk to Baragoola and maybe make her the first mare of his herd. Instead he had to fend off two stallions (which he totally could) just to get within a nose length of the poor mare. The grey stallion’s voice sent shivers up his spine but it was the sudden thud of a horse collapsing that nearly scare the sun stallion half to death. In that split second he wished he had Balun with him to call him an idiot, that would have made him feel a lot better about this whole situation.

When it finally sunk in that Baragoola had fainted, Koora rushed to her side. Gently he snuffled at her nose trying to get her to wake up. The sun stallion began to make soft, worried snorts and huffs at the mare’s unconscious form. For a small moment Nowego and the scary stallion were forgotten. He nudged Baragoola insistently but stopped at the grey stallion’s chilling voice and the harsh voice of a... raven? Koora snorted in disbelief, he didn’t believe the old stallion would not have hurt poor Baragoola. He was going on what he saw after all.

Subconsciously the sun stallion’s body began to quake, he didn’t want the scary stallion to come back anywhere near him or the mare that lay at his feet. Koora’s eyes widened as the older horse said his name before he departed. What? How? Eek. These were the words that sped through the stallion’s mind as he watched the pale hide disappear into the bush. The song made his heart beat faster in fear.

“What a creepy old stallion,” Koora shuddered, going back to nuding Baragoola.

[Tex]

Nowego watched after the old horse confidentally, making sure the slight dread-feeling did not show. He did not want to appear frightened of the battle-scarred stallion, nor this young horse who seemed to think he was lord of the universe or somewhat. He looked down at him, comforting the mare that had blacked out, and whinnied deep in his throat. If this Koora would always act this concerned over Baragoola, perhaps he deserved her.
Yaruka obviously didn't want to hang around, and he had to admit, the mud's squelching every time he moved was annoying. Besides, there wasn't any point in defeating a horse who deserved what he was fighting for.
Nowego rubbed Yaruka's withers with his muzzle, and slowly walked into the mist, avoiding the deeper boggy parts.

[Ehetere]

Baragoola blinked her eyes several times as she stared to come round. Dust filled her nostrils, and she sneezed delicately and then coughed to clear her lungs. The first thing she noticed when the world started to come into focus again was the silver bay stallion snuffling at her hose. She jumped slightly; sending more grass and dust flying so she had to cough again. She struggled to her feet; but the world spun and she swayed; and ended up leaning on the stallion for support. The world was suddenly very quiet to her ears; and she could hear those sweet bird calls again. Where had everybody gone? Had she missed everything? Baragoola certainly hoped so.

She then turned to the glorious silver bay with thanks in her eyes; had stayed with her even when all of the other horses had left. In her mind; that act was possibly the most endearing act that had been performed to win her over. Fighting and other loud forms of combat displeased her and instead of impressing her tended to frighten her away. “Thank you,” she said in a small, earnest voice; her shy voice a barely audible whisper in the quiet sounds of the bush. She really did mean it too; this was the first stallion that had shown her that he was not just a loud, mindless, violent brute and that he too could perform acts of kindness. Before that moment, she had not believed that stallions could do such things like be kind; all they were ever concerned about it seemed was keeping their mares or finding more. Whether this was true about this stallion after all remained to be seen, but Baragoola thought that perhaps he had proven himself to her simply by not abandoning her there.

“Will you give me your name?” asked Baragoola after a small breath; asking such things of other horses was not a thing she did very often. Usually she blended into the background; literally and figuratively, and was used to not being noticed. She quite liked it that way; she was shy by nature anyway; but now maybe she should break out of her shell a little more and trust this stallion not to let any harm to befall her if she went with him. Had he not already demonstrated this? Baragoola looked up at him with wide, trusting eyes while waiting for his answer; and maybe she looked rather childish and innocent, but she didn’t care. For the moment that she took her first step after the silver bay stallion, she would finally be growing up and maturing.

[tingara]

Koora did not see or hear Nowego leave. The great buckskin stallion had melted away so quietly that bush did not betray any sign of him. When he finally looked up from the unconscious form of Baragoola he whinnied in surprise that the older stallion had gone. Did this mean he’d won the mare at his feet? The sun stallion was a little confused as to what to do; he’d never had a mare before. Were there special things he needed to do now? One thing he knew; he had to be a lot more responsible now. He had to protect Baragoola and the foal she would one day bear him. Oooh foals!

The fear at the uncertain future evaporated with the thought of foals. Mares meant he could be a father, which in turn meant there would be baby sun stallions running around. Koora’s body quivered excitedly as Baragoola began to stir. He snuffled at her nose but jumped back as she jumped. Instead of exclaiming about how fantastic he was to have protected her from all the nasty stallions that had come for her, the silver bay found something humbling about this mare. Something that kept him quiet as he stood waiting patiently for her.

Her thanks was so soft that Koora barely caught it, but he did and he couldn’t help but hold his head a little higher at it. “You are most certainly welcome,” he replied cheerily. With a proud air to his step he made his way over to Baragoola and softly ran his muzzle over her neck. For a moment he nibbled her mane, suddenly contented. He didn’t need Balun anymore; he could look after himself and this mare no problems.

“My name is Koora, for the day I was named to match the colour of my pelt. It’s kind of like a tradition where I come from,” the sun stallion again answered softly. Baragoola may not have been a moon filly but she had the striking beauty to match them, not that they would enjoy hearing that of course. “You have beauty that far out shines that of the fillies of the moon from the valley I once lived in. Baragoola will you run with me?” he asked her tentatively. There was still that matter of whether she wanted to come with him or not.

[Ehetere]

The shining stallion ran his nose gently along her neck, making her shiver ever so slightly. “My name is Koora, for the day I was named to match the colour of my pelt. It’s kind of like a tradition where I come from,” said the silver bay proudly, showing off a little, Before today no one had tried to show off for her, at least not in a way that hadn’t terrified her. “You have beauty that far out shines that of the fillies of the moon from the valley I once lived in. Baragoola will you run with me?” asked Koora earnestly, but Baragoola was still processing what he had indeed asked. Fillies of the Moon? She had heard a little of them and their keepers from her mother when she was merely a foal. How could this stallion possibly compare her to the legendary beauty that moon fillies were said to posses? And to out shine them? Baragoola had never before been called beautiful by anyone in her life, save for her mother, and it was a little overwhelming. She had assumed that she really was just an object in the background, so plain that she was not even worth a flicker of thought. To be called beautiful… well, she had to admit she liked it.

And what was the other thing that Koora had said? Would she run with him? Well, if this stallion truly was a sun stallion, the keepers of the moon fillies, it would be a great honour to run with him. For some reason he had no other mares, maybe he had simply gone exploring from the mysterious place that moon fillies and sun stallions roamed. Baragoola did not especially want to go there; all of those beautiful horses would in fact out shine her, she was sure. But if Koora was really not going back there… then perhaps running with him would be nice, a change of scenery, different? A small thrill was building up in her chest, and it took several moments for Baragoola to recognise what it was. It was excitement and anticipation. Normally all she felt was a sense of well being and wariness. This was perhaps the beginnings of true happiness. “I will come,” whispered Baragoola in a hesitantly excited whisper, still getting used to this rather strange sense of euphoria and adventure. She looked deep into Koora’s eyes, and saw kindness and strength. He would take care of her, no longer would she be solely responsible for her own safety; always having to watch her back for danger. Security washed over her, and she knew from that moment that she was his.