Chequered Flag [Nepelle/Open]

[Tiggs]

OOC: Open, but for Nepelle to begin with.

He was on her tail. She could almost hear his panting breaths. Jumping a rocky crevice, she picked her way across bare rock and scree, taking a tricky but not too dangerous route. She was not trying to get away; more trying to make the going difficult for the chestnut.

The filly was a healthy two-year-old named Kurrin, her paler winter coat shedding to reveal a more pale gold like sand with a blanket of white over her rump. She was breathing hard with the effort of the hike, but her heart raced with excitement. This was the closest Nepelle had gotten since she had left her mother and father, and she was about ready to let him catch her. Not once had he given up chasing her as she led him a merry chase through the tail end of winter and now into the spring.

The snow of winter had made it easy – she had blended well – but now the snow was melting and only the high ground provided a little camouflage. Out here though, the snow had burned off the rocks and she was quite obvious against the grey. A whinny escaped her, and she found a stretch of rock that acted like a path where she could pick up speed. At the end of it was a jump that would take her down more than her own height onto a grassy patch. She'd done it before, but the thrill of danger still tingled in her hide.

Gathering her hooves, she slowed and jumped successfully down onto the spongy grass, her forelegs absorbing the shock of the impact without injury. She squealed and quickly turned and hid under the ledge of rock she had just jumped from. Nepelle would not be able to see her under here, and she could barely contain her laughter.

A few months ago, she would not be so mischievous. She had been nervous and confused, her developing hormones making everything she knew change. She had finally left her little herd at her dam’s insistence, and suddenly had time alone to think.

Her mother had told her that the stallion that would find her would make everything clear, and Kurrin had pondered on that. It had come to her when Nepelle had found her and rather than fear she felt eagerness. She began by running from him but when he managed to follow her she turned it into a game. She would tease him, dance just out of reach in the snow and then disappear. When he got too good, the game escalated and she spent entire days trying to escape him.

It was now that she wanted the game to end, feel his bristly nose on hers and enjoy his company. He was a fine stallion, and he had made it obvious he really would go to the ends of the earth for her. She could no longer resist his tempting calls, the ones he used in the night. She could no longer leave him lonely on those nights. She wanted to be with him, and she would do all she could to please him. She was ready to be a mare and not a foal.

[Ehetere]

Kurrin still ran ahead of him; the pale wraith of a filly having eluding him for all this time. How long had he been following her, chasing after her? She and he had been running through out the winter, and he had still not caught up. Still the snow and her winter coat had made her far more difficult to see, but now spring was in the air, and Nepelle could feel new strength surging through him, pushing him ever faster. He was gaining, but then she picked her way nimbly across a scree, and Nepelle tried to overtake her by following a different way across it. But no when he reached the other side she was already off and away again, a teasing neigh slipping back to him. And so he thundered off after he once more.

But Nepelle had lost sight of Kurrin, and this was never a good thing as she quite liked playing tricks on him, All of a sudden a ledge was in front of him, and he effortlessly lept through the air and sky; the sky that he was ruler of. He barely checked on the snow grass below and kept on running but suddenly the wind was not laced with Kurrin's intoxicating and now familiar scent, and her tracks did not show ahead. Nepelle turned magnificently on his quarters, spinning around and racing off back towards the rock he had jumped off. He would need to pick up Kurrin's tracks there. But no, there she was, hidden beneath the ledge a mischievous expression on her face. Oh how she had changed from the timid creature he had seen as a ghost in the snow! She was beautiful, and she would not get away this time.

Nepelle slackened his pace to a trot and then a walk, his steps still strong despite how long he had been running for. His breath was gasping however, but already it had begun to even out. When he finally reached her, he rubbed his nose along her cheek and neck; removing some of the sweat stains there. Nepelle then looked her deeply in the eyes and said affectionately, "Gotcha." He had chased her all over the high country, right up to the highest of the high peaks where they were now. She was so lovely that he could not bear to take his eyes off her for a minute in fear that she would disappear, or more likely run off again. But it seemed as though Kurrin had had enough running from him also. She had made no attempt to escape, and stood here with him calm and relaxed, but something had changed inside her, she seemed older, or maybe wiser. Either way, Nepelle knew instinctively that she had grown up; no longer a foal, but a mare. He gently lipped her ears and set fourth with grooming her coat and removing any tangles from her silky mane.

[Tiggs]

Kurrin squealed with delight as her pursuer stopped and turned when he realised he was no longer chasing her. She came toward him, steps tentative but not from trepidation. She nickered in contentment as the touch she had been longing for was given to her. She delighted in nosing his sweat-darkened neck with his pink nose, the blaze running from her nose to forehead more visible now on her shedding coat. The filly nipped his shoulder and pressed her cheek to it, just listening to his heart.

She no longer felt afraid in his presence. She was used to him now, always there, following and keeping her safe. He had caught her, body and soul. “You got me.” She confirmed, her normal speaking voice was soft and young. “I want to run with you now, it’s lonely running from you.” She nuzzled and caressed him, utterly delighted that he had chased her so far. She had dreamt many nights of when they would finally meet, but she could not have imagined the serenity that settled over her when it finally happened. It was as if he completed something that was half-formed, something she didn’t know she was missing.

“I know why I was frightened of you in the beginning.” She told him, exposing the revelation that had led him on this merry chase. “I saw you and I knew you were a stallion. I did not realise that the nervousness in me was not fear. I was confused; I thought you scared me, but you thrilled me. I didn’t know you saw me as a mare and not a foal. It took me a while to figure it out, but I know now that I want to follow you. I want you to be my stallion.” She finished, brown eyes bashful as she kept eye contact.

[Ehetere]

Kurrin turned her head back to nuzzle him, and Nepelle felt a spasm of pleasure and the electricity that he felt whenever they met, even after all this time. “I know why I was frightened of you in the beginning. I saw you and I knew you were a stallion. I did not realize that the nervousness in me was not fear. I was confused; I thought you scared me, but you thrilled me. I didn’t know you saw me as a mare and not a foal. It took me a while to figure it out, but I know now that I want to follow you. I want you to be my stallion.” she said while he continued to lovingly groom her coat back into sleekness and shine. The run had at least helped them both lose some of their winter coats so that they were already beginning to regain their former luster.

"You will always be the jewel of my herd," replied Nepelle, breaking from grooming her for a moment to look at the true splendor of her. No matter how lovely any other filly was, she would always be his favorite, he was sure. It was not just her beautiful appearance; it was what he had had to do to claim her and everything it meant to him. She now owned him just as much as he owned her, and there was nothing that was going to change that.

Spring had well and truly come to the high country, and Nepelle knew in every inch of his body that he was now the magnificent stallion his mother had foreseen at his birth. He could not wait to show Kurrin and the world how his coat was like a fire that could never be extinguished. Perhaps later he would have to start gathering a true herd, but for now he was well and truly contented with Kurrin. Perhaps if he moved lower down and off the slopes of this great mountain, there would be many fights and challenges for Kurrin, in all her lovely glory, but Nepelle felt sure that he would always have the strength to fight and win for her. He would most likely have to fight other stallions for any mares that caught his eye, but fighting no longer worried him.

OOC: Lots of soppy romance and pointless bits of rabble in here Tiggs - sorry!

[Tiggs]

Kurrin nickered to him, thanking him for his patience and persistence. He’d proved beyond a doubt he really wanted her to be with him, and she was anticipating her time with him. He had opened her eyes and heart to the adult world, and what lay ahead was exciting and full of adventure. Together they would roam together, and he would look out for her and fight for her. He would protect her and she would always be safe with him. If it happened that she was ever won by another stallion, Nepelle would always be the love of her life.

With a whinny, she bumped her nose on his and trotted a little distance away and proceeded to drop to her knees, then onto her side. She rolled with vigour on the crisp scratchy mountain grass, gleefully scratching her itching coat. Pale hairs moulted over the ground, and she left a fair patch when she stood. After shaking her whole body, she whinnied and squealed and danced about with the energy of youth. She bucked and pranced around him, enticing him to join in her game.