Freedom to roam, Froy, Loner, Y3 Summer

[Wolf]

The sun was bearing down on the land, as if a large child with a magnifying glass was playing with ants. A cloudless blue sky, from horizon to horizon. A beautiful day, one might say. But then again, when you've been imprisoned, tortured and almost physically destroyed, every day of freedom is beautiful. Sabre had been drawn to this land. By some kind of animal magnetism, the same kind of draw that takes birds south for winter, and the one that brings them back north. It felt right, as if here he could achieve true freedom, not the sham of loneliness and abandonment he was living at the moment. No one could relate to him, no one understood him or what he had been through. He was wandering alone. Not free. Alone. Horses are group animals by their nature, and there was a growing, growling, gnawing pain in his gut, where a feeling of wholeness should be, where his heard should be. A feeling was drawing him to here, a feeling that this place would make him whole once more. He trod carefully through the edge of the unknown woods, trailing around the edge of a large meadow, all butterflies and flowers and pretty trees. He wanted to run out, to frolic in the wonderful sunshine, jump through the tall grass, just enjoy himself. But he could sense others around. Smells on the air, the faint rustle of grass. There was something out there. So he stayed in the shadows, at the edge of his little safe area, letting tiny bits of dappled sunshine warm his back. He just stood and watched the win play through the grass. It was mesmerising, a strange and captivating beauty that refused to let him look away. But the stresses of life will always overcome the calmness of thought, and Sabre was snapped back when he tried to lick his nose. His tongue was dry as bark, and it rasped against his snub nuzzle. He needed to drink. He glanced around, looking for a stream, a pool, anything with relatively clean water. His big, dark eyes settled on a small pool about fifteen feet from where he stood, squarely in the open of the meadow. He weighed up the options in his head, and decided that it was better to drink and be vulnerable than dry up as a husk of a horse. So, with slow movements, befitting a horse of his size, he strode over to the pool, through the knee-high grass, letting the full force of the sun warm his back. If he hadn't been so on edge, he could have reared up and whinnied for joy, he felt beautiful, sweet joy. He could see mountains and forests as far as he eye could see, it was beautiful nature. He reached the small pool, and bent down to take a drink. The cool water drenched his mouth, filled his throat and his stomach. It felt wonderful. He sneaked a look at himself in the silvery-blue pool and noted how full and thick he was looking. The old scars had almost disappeared and his flanks were, for the first time, looking like the strong, thick-built horse he felt. He might even call himself attractive, if only he knew the meaning of the word. He finished drinking, and lifted his head to admire the view some more. The sun glistened off the river, just visible from where he stood, and he could see as the trees on the other side rolled softly in the wind. The scents of hundreds of animals whisked past his nostrils and put him back on edge, but he couldn't smell anything close enough to cause real concern. He shut his eyes, and in that instant, he heard a twig snap behind him. Instantly his neck was bent around and eyes were fixed on the location from where the sound had come, not moving a muscle, tensed to run if need be.

[DragonHybrid]

A table will come; for now, know that this is a Seash/Nami post combined.

"There."

"... where?"

"THERE, you fool o' a stallion. Just look, will ya?"

"You mean...?"

Tsunamis snorted her derision of the scout, shunting him roughly aside so that she could get a better view herself. It wasn't in her nature to hide in the trees, but it had been forced upon her by curiousity, and Seash had been forced on her due to his unending sense of nobility. If there was danger, he wanted to be there first, although Nami really felt that she was better built to fend off anything dangerous. Though she had been tempted to say so, the poor stallion had seemed so insistant that she hadn't the heart to say no. Besides, with this particular scent in her nose, there was no knowing what to expect.

Nothing good, at least.

On Seash's part, he hadn't been expecting an entire stealth operation when he suggested accompanying Nami. He knew that she would have rather taken Pyro, they had far much more fun together, but something about Nami's reaction had put him on edge slightly; deciding that the rest of the herd were safe and content, he had gone with her, into the trees. She had tried to point out the smell she had noticed, but it meant nothing to him, so he saw no difference; the only scent he was interested in was that of another stallion. As far as he could tell, Nami was following the same path, but for a different reason.

By this point, they were further from the herd than Seash found comfortable, he was thirsty, and it had long gone past being a game. All they had to show for their effort, up until now, was slightly trampled foliage and a scent gaining in strength. Now, though, there was movement; from their dark place between the trees, Seash could just make out the form of a large stallion, tentatively moving towards a small pool. Seash's mouth dried further as he looked at it, more thirsty than interested in the horse itself, but Nami was fixated, and would not let him move.

In truth, Tsunamis was a little disappointed. She had frozen, although her dark coat was already ample enough to keep from the stranger's vision (and she obscured Seash from view), staring at him. Once it was clear that there was nothing with him, she turned to stare blankly at the spot in the trees he had exited, but she could see nothing else. A few moments passed, in which time Seash's mouth became a veritable desert, and then she snorted, everso quietly.

At the same time, a twig was broken, in the same vincinity that the strange horse had exited the trees. Seash and Nami froze again, at the same time, turning instinctually to stare at the direction of the noise, ears up and waiting. Nothing moved for a moment, save for the stranger, whose reaction was identical to both the Versperrians. Nami noted this with a narrowing of her eyes - almost, again, with disappointment - before looking back.

A flash of low, forward-facing eyes betrayed the identity just before it moved, a hint of rustic orange and dirty white. Seash's responce was automatic. He shoved past Nami just enough to come clear of the trees, despite Nami's quiet 'no!' (with reference to the stallion, not that she was afraid of a fox) and stomped heavily on the ground, snorting at the tiny predator. It took one look at him and disappeared, which satisfied Seash, nodding decisively.

"Ye blew it..." Nami breathed, the fox forgotten, glancing over at the well-built stallion, all attempts to be hidden rejected. Seash slowly followed her gaze, wondering if one threat was going to be replaced by another; one ear flicked back at Nami, the other now focused on the stranger. He squared himself up again between the mare and the stranger (resulting in a roll of her eyes from Nami) and said nothing, waiting.

[Wolf]

Another horse. Shit, how had he not smelt him? And it had just run off a fox that he hadn't smelt either. He could be badly injured by now if he hadn't turned up, the thing was directly behind him, in his blind spot. But how had he not noticed him? It's not like he had a subtle scent, now that he was visible. He shouldn't have come out of the woods, he should have stayed thirsty... Sabre cursed himself and turned to look for an escape route. Indeed, the whole meadow was an epic escape route, and he tensed himself to run but something, something he couldn't quite put a hoof on, but something held him in place. He turned square-on to the newcomer and out of the corner of his eye saw a second horse, just inside the woods. “Two!” he exclaimed. This was bad, his senses really were slipping. Bad enough missing the stallion but another, and this time a mare, not like they have subtle scents. This was getting worse, but still something forbade him to run. OK, he had to do something. He couldn't just stand their like a melon. He needed to gain the upper hand somehow, put them on the back foot, but on the other hand, he couldn't So he tried something simple. “What're you doing here, small-time? I'm not doing anything wrong, why you two following me, eh? Back off.” He tried to sound aggressive, but as it came out of his mouth, all he heard was a nervous, lonely horse trying to act scary when he was scared. A big horse looking scared of two small ones, what utter embarrassment. He scolded himself and steeled his heart. “Well?” Eyeing up the two horses, head switching between the two, he voiced a sudden thought. “Why two of you eh? EH? You come here to give me trouble? To rough me up a bit?" He planted a hoof down in front of himself and lowered his head slightly. “Try it then. C'mon.”. Eyes fixed on the most visible horse, Sabre waited for their move.

[bluey]

“I suggest,” an icy voice murmured from no where, “that we try nothing.” The blood bay stallion picked his way out of the trees, the same area from where the snapping noise had originated. He wore an unsettling smile, a smile that was hardly nice looking in context. He paid no heed to the black mare and paint stallion frozen at the edge of the trees opposite of him and the watering hole; he was all eyes, and all smile, for the rather huge and brutish looking stallion who had threatened them. Something flame like and serious danced in the stallion’s bright blue eyes and the grin turned into a feral and wild show of teeth. He stopped feet away from the other stallion, who was obviously twice his size and muscle, but Pyro would not be deterred. Seash he wasn’t so worried about, but no one – I repeat no one - threatened his mother. He kept his eyes on the stranger, skirting around him at a leisurely walk, taking his time as he went to stand alongside Seash, protectively in front of his mother like any good son would do. He knew she wouldn’t want to be protected, but he didn’t care, hopefully she’d realize the action was only instinctual; she was a girl after all. Girls needed to be protected from big, scary things like the massive-huge thing standing in front of them. Pyro’s thoughts are very coordinated and coherent, if you can tell. He had been off on his own exploring the land like he often enjoyed doing, and hadn’t known Nami and Seash were out and about as well, that is until he could hear the commotion. Immediately, more out of curiosity then the need to protect anything, Pyro had sought out the source of the noises. It wasn’t until he’d seen the freakishly huge horse staring down Seash and threatening his dam that he’d decided his assistance was needed. It was his fault a twig had snapped early; for all his skill Pyro wasn’t the best when it came to scouting. That expertise would lie with the paint stallion he now stood shoulder to shoulder with. He eyed Seash silently now, a brief look of question on his face, before he turned back to the dark stallion between them and the watering hole. “I’m sure we can settle this peaceably,” he continued, his eyes flitting back to Sabre, “and if not, you leave her out of it.” He need not gesture to Tsunami for anyone to know who he was talking about. To make his point he stepped forward, ears flattened to his skull. Although he talked of peace anyone would know he would be the one to start a fight, and the prospect of a challenge intrigued him as he stared at the large stallion, almost belligerently in the way he seemed to hover where he stood.

[DragonHybrid]

At the stallion's intelligent declaration of their number, Seash and Nami shared a glance - a 'riiiiight' glance, before looking back. Seash thought nothing of this, but Nami was a little miffed to have had the same train of thought as the paint stallion, who she regarded as something of a simpleton.

Simpleton maybe, and much smaller than the shire, but Seash stood his ground. It was a testiment to his bravery and instincts for protection, even though Nami was far from needing it. They both stood and stared at the shire as he huffed and puffed, and began to sput his insults and threats and taunts. Nami's jaw fell slightly open as she watched, while Seash grew stiffer, taller, snorting his defiance of this angry horse. His lifted his head and stared at the stranger squarely with one eye, shifting his weight, ready for anything.

At the end of the rant, Nami's jaw had fallen open. A few moments passed, and the full realisation of the indignity he was throwing at them hit her; she lifted her head, as Seash, but less with intent to be threatening and more with sheer fury.

"Aww HELL NO," she said, her voice starting flat but growing in temper and volume, "dat bitch did NOT just-"

She moved to shove Seash out of her way, full intent on showing this damn shire that he was messing with the WRONG woman. Seash, having half expected as much, tried to step in front of the fuming mare, managing to stop her just momentarily, which was long enough. They weren't alone - again.

Seash had thought it odd that a mere fox could snap a twig, normally they were so light on their feet. Pyro, however, majestic as he was, was a noisy bugger - and it was his voice which made the pair freeze again, twitching this time towards the sound of his words. Seash was torn between relaxing and tensing further at his presence; it meant backup, but he was a little insulted that Pyro felt that he was incapable of handling it. Then Nami snorted behind in, partly in amusement of her son (and partly for the same reason that Seash was insulted) and he remembered that Pyro had far better personal reasons than he to get involved.

Plus, that stranger was huge. He felt better with another powerful ally.

Nami was also torn. Part of her just wanted to kick the shit out of the mouthy shire, but she also relaxed with the arrival of Pyro. His silky voice, which sent satisfied shivers down her spine, made her close her eyes, and a wide, smug smirk spread itself across her face. Let's see that bitch make those rude noises with her son on the scene.

Seash welcomed Pyro's close proximity, having long decided that safety went before pride, especially considering the... volatile nature of the shire. He responded to Pyro's glance with a shrug of the head, showing that he knew no more than Pyro did. When the impressive stallion then stepped forward, Seash hesitantly took a similar one, showing that he was prepared to back up any move that Pyro made.

Nami noted the two stallions' strategic positions in front of her before Pyro mentioned it, and his subsequent protecting threat made her laugh softly. She maneouvered herself around their rear ends, choosing to move softly around to Pyro's side. She stood just back of him, so that he could still feel manly and protective, and nipped up at his glorious ear.

"'S very nice of ye, my lad, but ah can 'andle meself." She grinned and snorted with amusement, before jerking her head at the huge shire. She raised her voice, matching his previous taunts with far more arrogance and confidance. "Le'ssee ya do all that 'roughin' up' shit again, mate. C'mon, boy, 'ave at it!"

[Wolf]

The female one was mouthy. She was scary, and she wasn't backing down. She was meeting his talk and turning it right back, his little rant had done nothing but anger her, and the stallion. They were both smaller than him, but not by much. He'd have a hard time keeping two of them at bay. He had to keep them away from him, far enough away for him to be able to run if need be. He was just about to make another witty comeback, something along the lines of 'Shut up or I'll shut you up', when another horse appeared. Three, three horses. This was way more than he could handle. A voice started screaming inside him, Run, run, run, run. He ignored it, with effort, and stood his ground. “Three!” he exclaimed, an octave higher than he'd previously been speaking. “This shit aint fair man, you here to rough me up or some shit? What I do, what I do eh? Step on yo' fuckin' yard?” The newcomer was volatile, he could tell that at once, and extremely protective of the mare. In fact, he was quite intimidating, despite his size. Plus there was now three of them against the one of him. His size advantage was rapidly becoming a hindrance, now he could be attacked from his blind side and from the front and still have to deal with another customer. The voice was still there, more insistent this time. Run! Just run you fool! Run! He had to admit, it made some sense, but that thing holding him there was still there, although lessened. Then the mare came out and nipped the newcomer on the ear, and spoke to him. And just in that moment, when all three horses were together, Sabre realised the gravity of the situation he was in. There were three horses, one not much smaller than him, standing right in front of him. Every single one was shooting him daggers with their eyes and evidently willing to cause him much pain. The reason for him staying had vanished. His eyes filled with pure, unadulterated fear, and his heart rate rocketed. He swayed slightly, trying to decide what to do, they were three very aggressive horses. It was all too much, much too much. Then, just at the right time, the voice poked in. RUN YOU JERK, JUST RUN! His mind was made up. “Screw this.” He yelled at the three horses, voice full of fear. And with that, he turned one-hundred and eighty degrees, and set off at a full gallop away from the horses, past trees and pools, leaping over fallen logs and generally making a lot of noise and commotion. He was heading for the river, but it was miles away. He'd never make it. But still he ran as fast as his enormous legs could carry him.

[DragonHybrid]

Nami snorted again in derision - what a clever boy, he can count! - for she still only saw aggression, and stupidity. Seash saw the growing fear in the stranger's eyes, and was suddenly of mixed feelings once more; a scared horse, faced with three hostile others, had only one of two likely choices... Seash turned his head, slowly, watching the shire as he responded to Nami's provocation, but noticed the change in pitch. His defensiveness made Seash hesitate, and he looked at the shire with the beginnings of sympathy; his bark may yet have been much worse than his bite. Perhaps a fight wasn't the best way to solve this?

Nami never even considered it; she was on top of the world, with herself and the two stallions in the herd on her side, against a mouthy jackass who had it all coming to him. Her satisfaction only heightened as he tried to run his mouth back at her, obviously intimidated by the arrival of Pyro. Damn right he should be! Although the idea of watching her son kick the shit out of the shire was tempting, she really wanted to be a part of it, no matter how protective Pyro was being. She needed a little excitement - this land was just too damn safe!

Then the bastard turned and ran.

"Ha!" Nami exclaimed in surprise and joy, glancing at the other two to see their reactions. Seash didn't return the look, shifting his weight awkwardly, planning to just let him go. A threat rather stopped being a threat when they scarpered in the other direction. He watched him run for a few seconds, then turned back, clearly intending to let that be that. Nami saw this, and snorted once more, displeased.

"Like hell."

Before Seash could react, Nami had bolted after the retreating shire with a loud whinny of adrenaline-high delight, uncaring as to whether the other two followed or not - but really, she reasoned, they most likely had, the over-protective dears - and sure enough Seash quickly followed, quietly cursing both Tsunamis and himself.

"'Ey mate, tha's right, run run run!" she roared with laughter, kicking her feet up as she gave chase, thoroughly exhilerated.

[bluey]

It was all the blood bay stallion could do to keep from gaping in blatant astonishment at the massive stallion. He was being, well, out right ridiculous and outrageous! They hadn’t threatened him, he’d been the one yelling obscenities and talking like he was crazy. Pyro watched the stranger, tight lipped and trying to keep from saying anything that might make the situation worse, even though he’d like to make the big lug pissed off just for kicks. Pyro glanced to Seash and to Nami, comforted by the fact that there was in fact three of them, and one of the genius. Pyro tensed as the argument escalated, if you could call it an argument, and he made to prepared for the larger horse to strike at them, or at least run them over. He didn’t bother saying anything because he could hardly get a word in edgewise, and slowly he began to count down in his head, watching the shire with icy blue yes. Five, four, three, two, one… And then, just when Pyro would have thought some sort of magnificent battle would take place, the exact opposite happens. The stallion turned right on his tail in the opposite direction, and ran. He ran away, just ran away like they’d scared the shit out of him. At a loss for words and not quite sure what happened Pyro stared, and this time he did gape, his mouth hanging open with blatant incredulity while he tried to answer the question he was asking himself; what the hell just happened? Before he could think about it much longer however, his dam had broken from his side and dashed after the crazy stallion with her own string of curses and taunts flying from her mouth. Seash being the good scout he was tried to follow, and Pyro was by himself, watching the two of them gallop after the tank of a horse who had been mister tough guy just moments before. With a snort he finally managed to make his legs move, and in an instant he was eating up the ground, closing the distance between him and his family, and the crazy stallion with an apparent IQ of a colt. One thing was sure; Tsunami wasn’t making this any easier for any of them. Then again, his mother had never been one for practical conventions.

[Wolf]

He ran through coppices, through knolls and through streams. Mud covered his legs up to his hips, and his tail was rapidly becoming matted with thick, slimy muck. There was a wild look in his eyes, and his nose was flaring ten to the dozen, desperately trying to get oxygen to his screaming lungs. A horse this size is never designed to run fast, especially for any distance. Sabre was flagging, and way too fast for comfort. He snuck a look behind his shoulder, and sure enough, like a shadow she was there, keeping up with him. She looked like she was enjoying herself, enjoying the chase, enjoying his fear. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn she wanted to eat him. He turned his great head back to face his front and tried to spur himself on faster. It didn't work. He was rapidly losing speed, he'd have to stop soon, and he didn't want the mare to be near him when he did. Gasping in a huge breath, he yelled behind his own shoulder, at the approximate position of the big black horse. “Jus' leave me alone! I don' wana hurt ya, but I will if I have ta!.” Instantly he had to suck in another deep breath. Running and taunting did not work in the slightest when you were as big as him. He dodged a tree and a small pond, hooves splashing in the shallows and casting strange patterns as he sped on by. The ripples continued well after they had both gone. “Jus' fuckin leave me alone!”.

[DragonHybrid]

Nami kept pace, but didn't get too close at any point; she could see what carnage those huge legs could do. Instead, it seemed to be causing him far more pain to simply run, and considering that Nami had not had such an exhilerating opportunity for a long time, she was grasping it fully. Pyro had long caught up, as she expected, but she wasn't about to be stopped; Froy was massive. And Versperre had roamed a hell of a lot of it. She pretty much knew where she was the entire time.

So did Seash, but he hated every moment of it. He only kept up because he knew as well as the stupid black bitch how dangerous this stranger could be, and his conscience wouldn't let him leave Tsunamis to the male's aggression. Nooo, he had to be all high and mighty, protecting those who didn't want protecting, so he made sure to keep pace, too, which wasn't hard; this stallion didn't run very hard, despite his apparent, increasing tiredness. Seash wasn't impressed, but was thankful, for that meant it would probably be over soon.

The stallion somehow managed to pick the muckiest routes; perhaps it was just that he was heavier, therefore roughed up the ground more as he passed it, or was unable to turn as swiftly, but the dirt on his coat far surpassed that on Seash or Nami. Seash's step was lighter, more careful, though Nami cared less, bring water flying up behind her hooves gleefully. She was wondering if he would run his mouth again; it was so much fun watching him try to be hard, especially now, when he had lost all credibility. You don't play the tough guy, then bolt. It was just laughable.

Fortunately, this guy was hilarious.

It obviously took a lot out of him, to yell back at her (and she surged with wicked delight when she realised that he was now aiming everything directly at her) but she wasn't exerting herself yet; she had much left in her. When she inhaled deeply, ready to retort, it wasn't to burning lungs; "Oh oh oh, y'ain' got any right ter make demands, boy, no' when ya turned 'oof like the colt ye are!" She whinnied again, shrilly, with malicious glee: "Run run run, boy, I'd 'ate ta think what'll 'appen when we catch ya!"

Seash rolled his eyes, tossed his head downwards in displeasure, but pressed on. If she got them all killed, he would feel no guilt. There was no apparent stopping her.

[Wolf]

He had to stop. He just had to. He was dying on his hooves, breath coming in shallow gulps, two or three a second, far too fast for an animal his size. Muscles burned with acid fire, and he had to physically force himself to just keep going. He had to stop or he would collapse. Sabre tried to ignore the words of the dam behind him. They were threatening, he knew, and scary, because she was a big horse with her blood up, and two accomplices. More than a fight for him, way too much. And then a thought occurred to him, as he ran, dying on the spot almost. He could fight her, on her own. If she gave up the chase, so would the two stallions she ran with. Of course, we all know this is very flawed thinking, but to a horse desperate for an escape, it made perfect sense. He started to look for somewhere to turn around. And turn quickly. He came upon it very quickly, a small mound, the ones that seem to randomly occur in nature, the strange piles of mossy dirt that are a lot more solid than you think. It would do. As he approached it, he dug his rear hooves into the ground, and slid for a couple of meters in the rough earth before they impacted with the mound. Stopping dead, he used the momentum he had to hurl his body through one hundred and eighty degrees, to stare down his pursuer. She was just off to his left, now, bearing down on him with startling speed. Taking in a hugely deep breath, now he was stationary, he jumped up onto his hind legs and whinnied for all he was worth. And over two tons of muscle rearing up is a sight to scare even the hardiest of animals.. The whinny was threatening in it's tone, a kind of 'Stay the feck away or I'll beat you into little pieces. message. And now he was backed into the metaphorical corner, he would do it. There was no running away, no trying to remove himself from danger. He would have to get her to go the other way to where he wanted to go. Falling back to the ground, he started to paw the earth in a menacing manner, eyes locked onto hers, nose set in an almost snarling guise. His entie body language read like a last stand. It was time to do or die.