Post by avalikia on Jun 11, 2010 22:05:36 GMT -5
Characters:
Nukpana - Female Horse
Virgil - Male Horse
Luna - Female Horse
Sirocco - Male Horse
Setting:
Grassy Plains
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Though Nukpana has made it her habit to go on long runs almost daily, it's taking her a lot longer than normal to come back from this last one. She arrives at a trot, which is odd in itself since she's been cantering almost everywhere since the herd came back to the plains, and the reason for her delay is easy to guess because there's a stallion following her. Of course, she's quite aware that she's being followed, but she doesn't give so much as a glance backwards. She just gives a neutral whicker when she comes close to the others and stops once she's reached them, as if she was simply returning as usual.
Occasionally, Virgil still looks back in the westward direction that he'd come from, a part of him kind of wanting to go back and find another band of humans to take care of him. A big weakness of his was his loyalty to mankind. But, a few days out here and he'd get used to the life of a feral. Already homesick in a sort of way though, he keeps a good distance between Nukpana and himself, so as not to annoy her any more than he already had. Still, the silence between them is frustrating. With a kick in his step, he canters up so that he's just at her side, and returns the whicker in a slightly more optimistic tone. "So. Nukpana. That's a mighty exotic soundin' name, miss. Where'bouts you from, anyway?"
When Virgil has the gall to speak to her again, Nukpana's ears go back in irritation. "I was wildborn, so naturally I'm from a herd," she snaps back, relenting just slightly to add, "Not this one - it was east of here." Which makes sense, because she in no ways looks like any of the mostly-mustangs in the herd. She's too tall, at the very least, and she's completely the wrong shape. Then again, by the same token there's plenty of evidence that there's much more to her story than she's given.
The mare's tone doesn't phase him in the least; hey, she answered his question, did she not? That was enough for ol' Virgil! Nodding his head slowly, he took in a breath and smirked. "From the east, huh? Figures. Seems like eeeeeveryone's from the east these days." He mentions nonchalantly, an obvious reference to his life with man, though he shrugs it off afterward and continues to pry. Politely, of course. "Well, what brought you way out here, if you don't mind my askin'?"
Luna looks up at first just to check that the bay color in the corner of her eye really is Nukpana, and ducks her head down to graze again. A couple of seconds pass during which her ears slowly perk, and then her head jumps back up to look at the grey horse trailing her. Not chasing, judging by Nukpana's speed, so they must be moving together. Interesting, especially since there's no doubt he's male just from the way he moves. She looks around, trying to spot Sirocco, but he doesn't seem to be here right now - probably for the best. Giving up her grazing she starts a slow walk towards the two, ears still perked with obvious curiosity. Nukpana voluntarily letting a strange stallion run with her? This she just HAS to see.
Unfortunately for Nukpana, if answers to his questions are enough for him then her attempts to rebuff him are probably doomed to failure. She's not in the habit of refusing to answer questions; her method of getting others to stop is to be so obviously irritated by it that they stop. "The stallion in my old herd and I had a bit of a falling out," she replies, though the venom in her tone as she speaks of him is more than enough to indicate that she put that very, very mildly. When she sees Luna approaching, she pins her ears back, glances at Virgil, then walks past Luna so that the old mare is between her and the stallion. Evidently she thinks that the stallion is Luna's problem now.
Listening carefully to Nukpana, Virgil's ears tuck back a bit as well at the tone of her voice, and the word 'stallion.' Well, that wasn't good. He certainly was a stallion, aaand it didn't seem like she enjoyed speaking the word. Though, he hadn't done anything wrong. She couldn't possibly hate him just because of his gender, right? "I'm sorry to hear that, miss." He says, and gives a snort. "Ol' boy must notta been right in the head to mistreat someone like yourself." Virgil flicks his grey and reddish tail, and glances over toward the older painted mare, and nods politely. "Howdy, ma'am." He greets, recalling his rider speaking the same words to many of the females of his own kind. Worked for him!
Luna flicks an ear backwards as Nukpana walks past her, then quickly turns her head around to place a very firm nip on the mare's rump. "You're staying right here," she snorts, turning her head towards the stallion. "Greetings," she offers in a cautious tone. "And well met, I suppose." She looks him over for a moment, trying to figure out just why Nukpana would've brought him. He's handsome, sure. And obviously polite. But still. "I'm Luna," she introduces herself.
The nip causes Nukpana to suddenly wheel about in anger at Luna. Her angry neigh whips through the air as she tries to ram her shoulder pretty hard at Luna's side. Apparently she does not take kindly to being nipped at all, not even Luna, and really that was just a warning to never do that again. If it'd had actually hurt much she'd probably have done worse: it's more that she was offended. However, when her anger is spent she remains in place but she says nothing for the moment.
At the outburst from Nukpana, which was justified he felt, the stallion took a step back so as to remove himself from being hit directly by whatever she planned on hitting this 'Luna' with; hooves, teeth, bones.. whatever. Nipping wasn't necessary, was it? Clearing his throat, he kept quiet for a minute until he sees that Nukpana has calmed slightly, and looks to the older mare once more. "Pleasure to meet ya, miss Luna. Name's Virgil."
Luna gives a simple nod to the stallion. Nukpana's reaction is ignored, because while she understands the anger at being nipped, she also knows Nukpana would have just kept walking if she hadn't been stopped. "So," she says, looking from one to the other. Her nostrils flare a bit as she sniffs the air, and when whatever she's sniffing for doesn't seem to reach her nose she relaxes a bit. "What brings you to these parts?" she asks, looking to the stallion again. She notices the indentations along his sides where his saddle and girth were, but she has no idea what to make of them.
When her anger seems to be ignored by Luna, Nukpana snorts and her tail flicks loudly at her side. If the other lead mare is just going to write that off, then they're going to need to have a little chat sometime - but later, not in front of the stallion. She could, of course, explain the stallion's story to Luna, but she doesn't. Instead she simply stands there being as useless to this conversation as she expected to be, which is why she'd wanted to leave Luna to do it. The only thing she'd been able to figure out about the stallion is that she pitied him - an unusual feeling for her that she's not quite comfortable with. It's better in her mind if Luna figures out what ought to be done with him.
Keeping to his manners, the grulla colored stallion keeps quiet until spoken to, which is relatively quickly. The older mare, who didn't have a chance to see the actual saddle and bridle and whatnot, was rightly curious about his origins. "Well," he began, not wanting to get too in depth as the memory was still fresh and, no matter how nonchalantly he spoke about it, it wasn't pleasant for him to recall. "I come from way out westward. My rider got into a spat with some of his own kind and done got himself killed." With his ears sinking at the few words just a bit, he soon perks up and continues on. "Like I was tellin' miss Nukpana here not too long ago, I was real lucky not to get killed myself. /Real/ lucky. But anywho, I ran fast as I could outta that fort, and.. wound up here in the presence of you two fine ladies." Nodding afterward again, he chuckles and flicks his tail about his sides idly.
Luna uh-huhs, tail flicking a couple of times at insects while she listens to the story. A runaway. Not the first she's met, of course. "I see," she says with a nod. "Well, good to hear that you survived, would've been a shame otherwise." She looks to Nukpana, then back to the stallion. Something just isn't right here. "I'm not sure how much Nukpana (yes, she gets it right because she just heard the name repeated) has told you, but there are a few more here than just us to ... fine ladies." Yeah, repeating that phrase gets the point across for her. "We are a full herd here, and I honestly don't know how hospitable our stallion would be to you."
"Of course I told him," Nukpana says in a bored tone, as if not really paying any attention, "But he followed me here like a lost foal anyway. Though I suppose that's a step up from saying that he's sure he could survive on his own as if it was an easy thing that anyone could do." Having said that, she goes back to her silent observation of the other two, seemingly even more disinterested in being here now that she's said everything she thinks she could possibly add to it.
"Not quite like a lost foal, ma'am. I just need a place to rest up for a bit, that's all. I'll bet outta your hair in no time." He says kindly enough, ignoring her comment about his ability to survive. If he could dodge bullets with a nearly two-hundred pound man on his back and evade other good riders; lawmen of course, for years on end.. he could survive one brush in the wild. Easily. It was just that he didn't particularly care for being alone. Never had. Virgil had always been a social sort, all biological tendencies aside.
Luna nods slowly, uncertain of what to do. Obviously she can't just let him walk into the middle of the herd territory, there'd be a fight. But then again, watching two stallions fighting over the mares could be exciting to watch ... She shakes her head, knocking that thought back where it belongs. Disorder is bad. "I really wish there was something I could offer in the way of company," she finally says. "But like I said, there's already a stallion in our herd. And no offense, but I think he's out of your league by size alone."
The stallion's comments about leaving cause Nukpana to snort as if she doesn't believe him. Whether he stays because he wants protection from predators or stays because of the mares, she'd guessing that he'll probably stick around now that he knows where the herd his; that he'd want to stay just for the company is not something she's going to believe. Luna's last comment causes a grin: yeah, she doesn't imagine that this guy would be able to take on Sirocco, not even slightly.
The insistence that he not stay with them on the part of Luna does irritate Virgil to some extent, and a more easy-to-anger portion of his mind wishes that his rider were here with his shotgun to end the miserable mare's life right then and there; a portion of his mind obviously not often delved into, but there from harsh life experiences nonetheless. Quiet for a moment, his ears tuck back and he takes a few steps away from the mares. "Fair enough." He says, his tone dropping a bit. Glaring at Luna for a moment, he makes sure to keep his eyes locked on hers, as if wanting so send some of his downright murderous anger- anger that is very well contained, her way. Eventually his glare breaks and he glances to Nukpana instead, tossing his head lightly and picking up his pace. "Sorry to be such a nuisance, ma'am. You have yourself a nice night."
Luna still isn't certain what to do. Other thoughts are coming to mind. "Wait," she says, but nothing more comes from her for a bit. She's thinking, tail flicking back and forth with irritation. "Don't go too far," she finally says after a while. "There could be cougars about." She's feeling bad about this, obviously - but just inviting a stallion into the herd would be chaos. Fighting, side-taking ... She sighs, glancing to Nukpana. "We need to talk."
Surprisingly, it's the look that Virgil gives Luna that finally seems to spark Nukpana's interest in this conversation. Raising her head high, she looks at him evenly and says, "If you ever harm Luna, I will have to kill you." But she doesn't seem angry at all, that seems to just be a simple fact to her. Actually, her expression is more intrigued than anything. But she seems to set him aside in her thoughts easily as she turns to Luna and nods, "Yes, I'm sure we do." Most likely she'll be asked to account for why she allowed the stallion to follow her back, and that doesn't sound like it will be a pleasant thing to talk about; she's not exactly sure herself.
"Oh, don't you worry about me, miss!" Virgil calls out, only turning after he'd spoken. With a smirk on his face, he shrugs his shoulders again. "Doubt if you'd worry too much anyhow, but still." He mutters to himself, his thoughts interrupted by Nukpana's threat, to which he laughs rather loudly. "With all do respect ma'am, I'd just /love/ to see you try." It's not a counter threat per se, but rather, just a sort of joke in order to perhaps taunt her more. No real harm was intended; toward Nukpana. Though he hid it relatively well, he didn't take too kindly to being ordered around by an old timer.
Luna waits for the stallion to be far enough away that he likely can't hear anything before turning to Nukpana. There's a slight pause before she says anything, as is really the custom with her, but when she does it's not the expected question. "Is Sirocco really right for this herd?" she asks. "I mean, he's good as stallions go. Definitely someone I'd want protecting me, but ..." She scrapes the ground in thought. "He's big. Very big. Like half a leg taller than most of the mares in the herd, you excepted. That's probably not going to be good in the long run." She definitely thinks along different paths.
Nukpana's brow lifts at the stallion's 'joke'. 'Oh really?' it says, but she shakes her head and turns her full attention to Luna. The question is mildly surprising, she supposes, but that's not why she's slow to answer. "I don't know why you're asking me," she finally whispers, "You know how I feel about stallions." But after another moment she adds, "But I don't know how Sirocco's size has anything to do with anything. Just means he'll probably be around a long time - he'll be hard for other stallions to challenge. But I don't know why it'd be bad to have a mild-mannered stallion around for a long time." At least he ruffles Nukpana's feathers a lot less than the average stallion.
Seeing that their attentions were elsewhere, Virgil takes the opportunity to quietly meander out of their way. He wouldn't stray off too far; might even wander back over to the saddle to see if his rider had placed any treats or whatnot in one of the many pouches lined along the hardened leather. It wasn't that far of a walk, and he couldn't see any signs of predators in the vicinity. Plus, he had a feeling he'd be seeing the two mares again soon. Before long, he was out of their sight and trotting back toward the saddle.
Luna scrapes the ground again. "Skipping past a very long explanation, since I know you don't care for that, I know what can happen when a very large stallion - like Sirocco - puts his eyes on a mare far smaller than him. I'd honestly rather live the rest of my days without seeing that again." She sighs, shaking her head. "We haven't had the problem yet, but honestly ... it's probably just a matter of time." She starts slowly walking back towards the herd, though she's not done talking yet. "But that's just guesswork. Like you say, he's mild mannered, polite ... the kind of -mind- I like in a herd stallion. That way he'd be good for us."
Frowning at Luna's lack of explanation, Nukpana can't really see what Luna's getting at. Perhaps she's never thought about it, being a very large mare herself. But she'll take Luna's word for it that it's a bad thing. She matches Luna's movements though she lets the other mare decide where they go. "So what do you think we should do?" she finally asks, "This Virgil seems like a real idiot. I don't think that he'd make a good herd stallion." And, unlike Sirocco, he makes Nukpana feel uncomfortable.
Luna nods slowly. There was something about him, a ... casualness about everything. "My first impression of him is one I've only had once before of a stallion. He showed up in spring, had the herd pregnant by summer, was gone before half the leaves were off the trees in fall." There's just a touch of resentment in her voice as she remembers that. "What a funny winter we had." Then silence, just walking. She's not headed back towards the rest of the herd, instead taking a route that could look like patrolling the perimeter of the territory. Gives time to think and talk without being disturbed.
Glancing idly in the direction that the stallion went, Nukpana comments, "Well I don't see how he seems to be more that type than any other stallion." Probably because she'd expect something of the sort to happen with any stallion. "Perhaps it's just because of his story, but he reminds me of my mother in a way: complacent, unaware, and as intelligent as a rabbit." She doesn't pay any real attention to where they're going, instead focusing on what she's saying and trying to sort through her own thoughts.
Luna nods again. True, escapees often lacked some very basic skills. "So what would you suggest we do? Warn Sirocco? Be quiet and hope he leaves? Be quiet and hope he steals the herd away?" She flicks her tail angrily at her own indecision, this would've been much easier years ago when she had the strength to just cut through and chase off a stallion with force. Well, some stallions anyway. "He could as well just want company as to run from mare to mare, it's hard to tell until it's too late."
"He did say that he was born wild," Nukpana allows, "But he was only a colt when he was captured." She frowns as she tries to consider the situation in more depth, once again mentally kicking herself for willingly taking charge of the herd. She shouldn't have to have any part in making decisions like this! "I'm not very inclined to be quiet," Nukpana notes, "So if you have a fourth or fifth option, let me know. I'm not afraid of a bolder approach to this if one is needed." There's another pause as she considers, but all the possibilities seem equally bad to her so she ends up simply sighing at her complete failure to make a decision.
Luna walks in silence, thinking over her options. The herd's options. This is really a case of sitting between a wolf and a cougar with a broken leg. There are a few other possibilities, but none of them seem to have much merit in her head. "Then we warn him there's a rival about," she sighs. "He's the stallion, in the end it's really his problem more than it's ours." And that's true enough - the first to get a problem out of another stallion in the area is the existing stallion.
Pausing a moment as if ready to debate that point, Nukpana eventually nods. "I suppose you're right. Unless we have a reason to favor Virgil, and I don't believe that we do at this point, then we ought to tell Sirocco. We did give warnings the other way around after all. And if either of them can't handle the other at least to some degree, then we'll have our answer anyway," she muses, thinking that perhaps the natural way of stallions handling this might be the best way. She just hopes that Sirocco isn't like Darkstar, with silly notions of herds with more than one stallion.
Luna isn't really sure yet who she'd prefer. To her, both stallions are unknown quantities, each with their pros and cons. "We'll see," she says, a good answer to give to buy time and think things through. She lifts her gaze a bit, seeing the stallion in question ahead. "No time like the present, then. At least we'll see if he thunders out to chase him away immediately while he knows where to find him."
As lost in thought as she is, Nukpana doesn't notice that they're walking towards Sirocco until Luna's comments seem to indicate as much. Her ears flicker uncertainly for a moment, before she suddenly picks up the pace to meet up with him. If they're going to tell Sirocco, they might as well get it over with. No time like the present, like Luna said. And given Nukpana's personality, she'd probably actually enjoy telling him.
It's not hard not to spot Sirocco - between his size and his bold red-gold hide he can stick out even in such a complimentary color scheme as an open plain - despite being more green from the passing spring as opposed to the gold of oncoming summer. His head is down as he grazes, though here and there as he slowly steps across the ground his head comes up to cast a watchful eye across the landscape. It's one such look that he spies the two familiar lead mares not far off and seemingly on the approach, and he whickers out a note of greeting as he picks up his pace to meet them in the middle. "G'day Luna, Nukpana. The day been treatin' ya well?"
"Interesting question," Nukpana says as she slows to a stop, still a comfortable distance away from him. She launches into the story with no fanfare, "I went out for a run very early this morning and came across a stallion with a saddle on his back. I helped him remove it and he followed me back. He's wandered off again, but I'll bet that he'll be back." She explains the whole thing in a rather bored tone, though she waits expectantly at the end because surely Sirocco will have questions.
Throughout the brief story, the only initial reaction from Sirocco is a swish of his tail before the slow-speaking stallion chimes in. "Huh. Guess it'd be a busy day for ya then. Mm. A saddle, ya say? Well, I can't say I'm familiar with the twolegs, though my ma' knew well enough and my da' lived with 'em. If he followed ya here, no doubt he might come wanderin' back. If he's got split off, ain't a sensible thing to be wanderin' off, though I can't say I'm thrilled ta'be thinkin' he might bring some of those twolegs after him." He says with a faint gruffness to his tone, a considering frown on his face. "Thinkin' better ta' be safe and see him off right instead of risk him stickin' around causin' trouble."
Listening and watching Sirocco's reaction carefully, Nukpana nods, "Yes, a saddle. I've never see one before, but it seemed to be the same thing my mother described. I don't know that he'll be bringing any 'twolegs' after us though. He said something about his owner being murdered - I'm sure he'd tell it better than I could if you care to ask him. And I don't think he wandered far; he may have gone back to look at the saddle again, for whatever reason. If so, it's straight that way" she points with a turn of her head "And not that far. I should say though that, aside from his presence, he hasn't caused any trouble." Yeah, she'll give him that much. She continues to watch Sirocco carefully, since she thinks that the way stallions handle their rivals says a lot about them.
There's a rather non-committal snort from Sirocco as he shakes his head, seeming out to settle his thoughts as much as his mane. "He may not be trouble, but, I ain't one ta take chances with the twolegs. Ma' said she got lucky in not gettin' caught, but, I ain't got no desire to push it myself. One dead twoleg don't count for nothin'. They hunt like wolves and swarm like bees, so ma' always said, and got as much sense as fish swimmin' against a waterfall." He raises his eyes to look off in the indicated direction, ears pricking forward as he narrows his eyes to squint across the land. "Ya get his name? Think I'll be seeing if I can talk with him, at least know what danger there may be ta' the herd."
Nodding to that quickly, Nukpana answers, "Virgil. He's a sorrel grulla - though I doubt you'll find anyone else out there to mistake for him." Though her face remains passive, she's about as pleased with Sirocco's response as she probably could be: he doesn't seem ready to run off and pummel another stallion without thinking, even willing to talk to him first, but still very concerned about the herd's safety. That counts for nearly nothing to get her to like Sirocco better, but it does greatly reduce the amount of potential contempt she might have had otherwise.
"Wouldn't sound like I'd miss spottin' him." Sirocco remarks, though he doesn't spy anyone in the immediate vicinity. Well, at least he'll have something to occupy himself for the rest of the day. "I'll see if I can't find him and get his story. Last we need is to have gotten all the way back only to have an uproar." He as fond of a peaceful evening as the next soul, stallion or no. One can only run themselves silly only so often. "Ain't anything else goin on, is there?" He adds then with the hint of his more common, casual sort of grin. "Everyone settled in alright?"
The stallion's comments cause Nukpana to snort and smile for some reason. If he didn't want an uproar... well, sufficeth to say, with the exception of the constant threat of wolves their time spent in the woodlands was actually quite peaceful when it came to everyone getting along in the herd. And now that they're in the plains where wandering horses have a better chance of bumping into them she expects that there will be more uproars now, not less. "Everything's been fine. I think everyone's too busy making up for last winter to cause trouble, and we haven't seen any signs of predators," she says idly, though she rather thinks that the latter is because they haven't been here long enough for the predators to know that they're around.
"It's sunny one day and rains the next." Sirocco remarks with a rueful snort. "Ain't expectin' it'll be quiet all that long before somethin' comes trying to chew a chunk outta us." He raises up one leg, dropping the hoof back to the ground with a hard thud, testing the strength behind the forceful gesture. "Been awhile since I got ta' kick a predator around. Might not be such a bad run in next time, could use the workout. Might go for a good run first, though."
As mixed up as Nukpana's thoughts are at the moment, even talk of pounding a few predators doesn't seem to spark much of her interest. If she were in any sort of normal mood for her, she'd say something about beating Sirocco to it. But instead she merely nods and glances at the rest of the mares, whatever she's thinking getting lost behind her neutral mask. "Well, perhaps you'd better go look into that stallion. I haven't spent enough time grazing today," she adds after a moment as she turns to go join the other mares.
Sirocco regards the blood bay mare with a perplexed look on his face. He may not know her all that well, but if he's figured out two things it's A) she's being far more subdued than normal and B) he knows better than to pester her about why. He supposes if she wants to talk about it, she will, though likely not with him. Resigning himself to that idea, he turns into the direction the other stallion reportedly is. "Take care, Nukpana, and thanks for the head's up. If there's somethin' important, I'll be lettin' ya'll know." Though, he doesn't intend to wander far from the herd to seek out a lone stallion. With a toss of his head, he kicks off the ground, setting off at a canter across the grassland to seek out this Virgil character.
Nukpana - Female Horse
Virgil - Male Horse
Luna - Female Horse
Sirocco - Male Horse
Setting:
Grassy Plains
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Though Nukpana has made it her habit to go on long runs almost daily, it's taking her a lot longer than normal to come back from this last one. She arrives at a trot, which is odd in itself since she's been cantering almost everywhere since the herd came back to the plains, and the reason for her delay is easy to guess because there's a stallion following her. Of course, she's quite aware that she's being followed, but she doesn't give so much as a glance backwards. She just gives a neutral whicker when she comes close to the others and stops once she's reached them, as if she was simply returning as usual.
Occasionally, Virgil still looks back in the westward direction that he'd come from, a part of him kind of wanting to go back and find another band of humans to take care of him. A big weakness of his was his loyalty to mankind. But, a few days out here and he'd get used to the life of a feral. Already homesick in a sort of way though, he keeps a good distance between Nukpana and himself, so as not to annoy her any more than he already had. Still, the silence between them is frustrating. With a kick in his step, he canters up so that he's just at her side, and returns the whicker in a slightly more optimistic tone. "So. Nukpana. That's a mighty exotic soundin' name, miss. Where'bouts you from, anyway?"
When Virgil has the gall to speak to her again, Nukpana's ears go back in irritation. "I was wildborn, so naturally I'm from a herd," she snaps back, relenting just slightly to add, "Not this one - it was east of here." Which makes sense, because she in no ways looks like any of the mostly-mustangs in the herd. She's too tall, at the very least, and she's completely the wrong shape. Then again, by the same token there's plenty of evidence that there's much more to her story than she's given.
The mare's tone doesn't phase him in the least; hey, she answered his question, did she not? That was enough for ol' Virgil! Nodding his head slowly, he took in a breath and smirked. "From the east, huh? Figures. Seems like eeeeeveryone's from the east these days." He mentions nonchalantly, an obvious reference to his life with man, though he shrugs it off afterward and continues to pry. Politely, of course. "Well, what brought you way out here, if you don't mind my askin'?"
Luna looks up at first just to check that the bay color in the corner of her eye really is Nukpana, and ducks her head down to graze again. A couple of seconds pass during which her ears slowly perk, and then her head jumps back up to look at the grey horse trailing her. Not chasing, judging by Nukpana's speed, so they must be moving together. Interesting, especially since there's no doubt he's male just from the way he moves. She looks around, trying to spot Sirocco, but he doesn't seem to be here right now - probably for the best. Giving up her grazing she starts a slow walk towards the two, ears still perked with obvious curiosity. Nukpana voluntarily letting a strange stallion run with her? This she just HAS to see.
Unfortunately for Nukpana, if answers to his questions are enough for him then her attempts to rebuff him are probably doomed to failure. She's not in the habit of refusing to answer questions; her method of getting others to stop is to be so obviously irritated by it that they stop. "The stallion in my old herd and I had a bit of a falling out," she replies, though the venom in her tone as she speaks of him is more than enough to indicate that she put that very, very mildly. When she sees Luna approaching, she pins her ears back, glances at Virgil, then walks past Luna so that the old mare is between her and the stallion. Evidently she thinks that the stallion is Luna's problem now.
Listening carefully to Nukpana, Virgil's ears tuck back a bit as well at the tone of her voice, and the word 'stallion.' Well, that wasn't good. He certainly was a stallion, aaand it didn't seem like she enjoyed speaking the word. Though, he hadn't done anything wrong. She couldn't possibly hate him just because of his gender, right? "I'm sorry to hear that, miss." He says, and gives a snort. "Ol' boy must notta been right in the head to mistreat someone like yourself." Virgil flicks his grey and reddish tail, and glances over toward the older painted mare, and nods politely. "Howdy, ma'am." He greets, recalling his rider speaking the same words to many of the females of his own kind. Worked for him!
Luna flicks an ear backwards as Nukpana walks past her, then quickly turns her head around to place a very firm nip on the mare's rump. "You're staying right here," she snorts, turning her head towards the stallion. "Greetings," she offers in a cautious tone. "And well met, I suppose." She looks him over for a moment, trying to figure out just why Nukpana would've brought him. He's handsome, sure. And obviously polite. But still. "I'm Luna," she introduces herself.
The nip causes Nukpana to suddenly wheel about in anger at Luna. Her angry neigh whips through the air as she tries to ram her shoulder pretty hard at Luna's side. Apparently she does not take kindly to being nipped at all, not even Luna, and really that was just a warning to never do that again. If it'd had actually hurt much she'd probably have done worse: it's more that she was offended. However, when her anger is spent she remains in place but she says nothing for the moment.
At the outburst from Nukpana, which was justified he felt, the stallion took a step back so as to remove himself from being hit directly by whatever she planned on hitting this 'Luna' with; hooves, teeth, bones.. whatever. Nipping wasn't necessary, was it? Clearing his throat, he kept quiet for a minute until he sees that Nukpana has calmed slightly, and looks to the older mare once more. "Pleasure to meet ya, miss Luna. Name's Virgil."
Luna gives a simple nod to the stallion. Nukpana's reaction is ignored, because while she understands the anger at being nipped, she also knows Nukpana would have just kept walking if she hadn't been stopped. "So," she says, looking from one to the other. Her nostrils flare a bit as she sniffs the air, and when whatever she's sniffing for doesn't seem to reach her nose she relaxes a bit. "What brings you to these parts?" she asks, looking to the stallion again. She notices the indentations along his sides where his saddle and girth were, but she has no idea what to make of them.
When her anger seems to be ignored by Luna, Nukpana snorts and her tail flicks loudly at her side. If the other lead mare is just going to write that off, then they're going to need to have a little chat sometime - but later, not in front of the stallion. She could, of course, explain the stallion's story to Luna, but she doesn't. Instead she simply stands there being as useless to this conversation as she expected to be, which is why she'd wanted to leave Luna to do it. The only thing she'd been able to figure out about the stallion is that she pitied him - an unusual feeling for her that she's not quite comfortable with. It's better in her mind if Luna figures out what ought to be done with him.
Keeping to his manners, the grulla colored stallion keeps quiet until spoken to, which is relatively quickly. The older mare, who didn't have a chance to see the actual saddle and bridle and whatnot, was rightly curious about his origins. "Well," he began, not wanting to get too in depth as the memory was still fresh and, no matter how nonchalantly he spoke about it, it wasn't pleasant for him to recall. "I come from way out westward. My rider got into a spat with some of his own kind and done got himself killed." With his ears sinking at the few words just a bit, he soon perks up and continues on. "Like I was tellin' miss Nukpana here not too long ago, I was real lucky not to get killed myself. /Real/ lucky. But anywho, I ran fast as I could outta that fort, and.. wound up here in the presence of you two fine ladies." Nodding afterward again, he chuckles and flicks his tail about his sides idly.
Luna uh-huhs, tail flicking a couple of times at insects while she listens to the story. A runaway. Not the first she's met, of course. "I see," she says with a nod. "Well, good to hear that you survived, would've been a shame otherwise." She looks to Nukpana, then back to the stallion. Something just isn't right here. "I'm not sure how much Nukpana (yes, she gets it right because she just heard the name repeated) has told you, but there are a few more here than just us to ... fine ladies." Yeah, repeating that phrase gets the point across for her. "We are a full herd here, and I honestly don't know how hospitable our stallion would be to you."
"Of course I told him," Nukpana says in a bored tone, as if not really paying any attention, "But he followed me here like a lost foal anyway. Though I suppose that's a step up from saying that he's sure he could survive on his own as if it was an easy thing that anyone could do." Having said that, she goes back to her silent observation of the other two, seemingly even more disinterested in being here now that she's said everything she thinks she could possibly add to it.
"Not quite like a lost foal, ma'am. I just need a place to rest up for a bit, that's all. I'll bet outta your hair in no time." He says kindly enough, ignoring her comment about his ability to survive. If he could dodge bullets with a nearly two-hundred pound man on his back and evade other good riders; lawmen of course, for years on end.. he could survive one brush in the wild. Easily. It was just that he didn't particularly care for being alone. Never had. Virgil had always been a social sort, all biological tendencies aside.
Luna nods slowly, uncertain of what to do. Obviously she can't just let him walk into the middle of the herd territory, there'd be a fight. But then again, watching two stallions fighting over the mares could be exciting to watch ... She shakes her head, knocking that thought back where it belongs. Disorder is bad. "I really wish there was something I could offer in the way of company," she finally says. "But like I said, there's already a stallion in our herd. And no offense, but I think he's out of your league by size alone."
The stallion's comments about leaving cause Nukpana to snort as if she doesn't believe him. Whether he stays because he wants protection from predators or stays because of the mares, she'd guessing that he'll probably stick around now that he knows where the herd his; that he'd want to stay just for the company is not something she's going to believe. Luna's last comment causes a grin: yeah, she doesn't imagine that this guy would be able to take on Sirocco, not even slightly.
The insistence that he not stay with them on the part of Luna does irritate Virgil to some extent, and a more easy-to-anger portion of his mind wishes that his rider were here with his shotgun to end the miserable mare's life right then and there; a portion of his mind obviously not often delved into, but there from harsh life experiences nonetheless. Quiet for a moment, his ears tuck back and he takes a few steps away from the mares. "Fair enough." He says, his tone dropping a bit. Glaring at Luna for a moment, he makes sure to keep his eyes locked on hers, as if wanting so send some of his downright murderous anger- anger that is very well contained, her way. Eventually his glare breaks and he glances to Nukpana instead, tossing his head lightly and picking up his pace. "Sorry to be such a nuisance, ma'am. You have yourself a nice night."
Luna still isn't certain what to do. Other thoughts are coming to mind. "Wait," she says, but nothing more comes from her for a bit. She's thinking, tail flicking back and forth with irritation. "Don't go too far," she finally says after a while. "There could be cougars about." She's feeling bad about this, obviously - but just inviting a stallion into the herd would be chaos. Fighting, side-taking ... She sighs, glancing to Nukpana. "We need to talk."
Surprisingly, it's the look that Virgil gives Luna that finally seems to spark Nukpana's interest in this conversation. Raising her head high, she looks at him evenly and says, "If you ever harm Luna, I will have to kill you." But she doesn't seem angry at all, that seems to just be a simple fact to her. Actually, her expression is more intrigued than anything. But she seems to set him aside in her thoughts easily as she turns to Luna and nods, "Yes, I'm sure we do." Most likely she'll be asked to account for why she allowed the stallion to follow her back, and that doesn't sound like it will be a pleasant thing to talk about; she's not exactly sure herself.
"Oh, don't you worry about me, miss!" Virgil calls out, only turning after he'd spoken. With a smirk on his face, he shrugs his shoulders again. "Doubt if you'd worry too much anyhow, but still." He mutters to himself, his thoughts interrupted by Nukpana's threat, to which he laughs rather loudly. "With all do respect ma'am, I'd just /love/ to see you try." It's not a counter threat per se, but rather, just a sort of joke in order to perhaps taunt her more. No real harm was intended; toward Nukpana. Though he hid it relatively well, he didn't take too kindly to being ordered around by an old timer.
Luna waits for the stallion to be far enough away that he likely can't hear anything before turning to Nukpana. There's a slight pause before she says anything, as is really the custom with her, but when she does it's not the expected question. "Is Sirocco really right for this herd?" she asks. "I mean, he's good as stallions go. Definitely someone I'd want protecting me, but ..." She scrapes the ground in thought. "He's big. Very big. Like half a leg taller than most of the mares in the herd, you excepted. That's probably not going to be good in the long run." She definitely thinks along different paths.
Nukpana's brow lifts at the stallion's 'joke'. 'Oh really?' it says, but she shakes her head and turns her full attention to Luna. The question is mildly surprising, she supposes, but that's not why she's slow to answer. "I don't know why you're asking me," she finally whispers, "You know how I feel about stallions." But after another moment she adds, "But I don't know how Sirocco's size has anything to do with anything. Just means he'll probably be around a long time - he'll be hard for other stallions to challenge. But I don't know why it'd be bad to have a mild-mannered stallion around for a long time." At least he ruffles Nukpana's feathers a lot less than the average stallion.
Seeing that their attentions were elsewhere, Virgil takes the opportunity to quietly meander out of their way. He wouldn't stray off too far; might even wander back over to the saddle to see if his rider had placed any treats or whatnot in one of the many pouches lined along the hardened leather. It wasn't that far of a walk, and he couldn't see any signs of predators in the vicinity. Plus, he had a feeling he'd be seeing the two mares again soon. Before long, he was out of their sight and trotting back toward the saddle.
Luna scrapes the ground again. "Skipping past a very long explanation, since I know you don't care for that, I know what can happen when a very large stallion - like Sirocco - puts his eyes on a mare far smaller than him. I'd honestly rather live the rest of my days without seeing that again." She sighs, shaking her head. "We haven't had the problem yet, but honestly ... it's probably just a matter of time." She starts slowly walking back towards the herd, though she's not done talking yet. "But that's just guesswork. Like you say, he's mild mannered, polite ... the kind of -mind- I like in a herd stallion. That way he'd be good for us."
Frowning at Luna's lack of explanation, Nukpana can't really see what Luna's getting at. Perhaps she's never thought about it, being a very large mare herself. But she'll take Luna's word for it that it's a bad thing. She matches Luna's movements though she lets the other mare decide where they go. "So what do you think we should do?" she finally asks, "This Virgil seems like a real idiot. I don't think that he'd make a good herd stallion." And, unlike Sirocco, he makes Nukpana feel uncomfortable.
Luna nods slowly. There was something about him, a ... casualness about everything. "My first impression of him is one I've only had once before of a stallion. He showed up in spring, had the herd pregnant by summer, was gone before half the leaves were off the trees in fall." There's just a touch of resentment in her voice as she remembers that. "What a funny winter we had." Then silence, just walking. She's not headed back towards the rest of the herd, instead taking a route that could look like patrolling the perimeter of the territory. Gives time to think and talk without being disturbed.
Glancing idly in the direction that the stallion went, Nukpana comments, "Well I don't see how he seems to be more that type than any other stallion." Probably because she'd expect something of the sort to happen with any stallion. "Perhaps it's just because of his story, but he reminds me of my mother in a way: complacent, unaware, and as intelligent as a rabbit." She doesn't pay any real attention to where they're going, instead focusing on what she's saying and trying to sort through her own thoughts.
Luna nods again. True, escapees often lacked some very basic skills. "So what would you suggest we do? Warn Sirocco? Be quiet and hope he leaves? Be quiet and hope he steals the herd away?" She flicks her tail angrily at her own indecision, this would've been much easier years ago when she had the strength to just cut through and chase off a stallion with force. Well, some stallions anyway. "He could as well just want company as to run from mare to mare, it's hard to tell until it's too late."
"He did say that he was born wild," Nukpana allows, "But he was only a colt when he was captured." She frowns as she tries to consider the situation in more depth, once again mentally kicking herself for willingly taking charge of the herd. She shouldn't have to have any part in making decisions like this! "I'm not very inclined to be quiet," Nukpana notes, "So if you have a fourth or fifth option, let me know. I'm not afraid of a bolder approach to this if one is needed." There's another pause as she considers, but all the possibilities seem equally bad to her so she ends up simply sighing at her complete failure to make a decision.
Luna walks in silence, thinking over her options. The herd's options. This is really a case of sitting between a wolf and a cougar with a broken leg. There are a few other possibilities, but none of them seem to have much merit in her head. "Then we warn him there's a rival about," she sighs. "He's the stallion, in the end it's really his problem more than it's ours." And that's true enough - the first to get a problem out of another stallion in the area is the existing stallion.
Pausing a moment as if ready to debate that point, Nukpana eventually nods. "I suppose you're right. Unless we have a reason to favor Virgil, and I don't believe that we do at this point, then we ought to tell Sirocco. We did give warnings the other way around after all. And if either of them can't handle the other at least to some degree, then we'll have our answer anyway," she muses, thinking that perhaps the natural way of stallions handling this might be the best way. She just hopes that Sirocco isn't like Darkstar, with silly notions of herds with more than one stallion.
Luna isn't really sure yet who she'd prefer. To her, both stallions are unknown quantities, each with their pros and cons. "We'll see," she says, a good answer to give to buy time and think things through. She lifts her gaze a bit, seeing the stallion in question ahead. "No time like the present, then. At least we'll see if he thunders out to chase him away immediately while he knows where to find him."
As lost in thought as she is, Nukpana doesn't notice that they're walking towards Sirocco until Luna's comments seem to indicate as much. Her ears flicker uncertainly for a moment, before she suddenly picks up the pace to meet up with him. If they're going to tell Sirocco, they might as well get it over with. No time like the present, like Luna said. And given Nukpana's personality, she'd probably actually enjoy telling him.
It's not hard not to spot Sirocco - between his size and his bold red-gold hide he can stick out even in such a complimentary color scheme as an open plain - despite being more green from the passing spring as opposed to the gold of oncoming summer. His head is down as he grazes, though here and there as he slowly steps across the ground his head comes up to cast a watchful eye across the landscape. It's one such look that he spies the two familiar lead mares not far off and seemingly on the approach, and he whickers out a note of greeting as he picks up his pace to meet them in the middle. "G'day Luna, Nukpana. The day been treatin' ya well?"
"Interesting question," Nukpana says as she slows to a stop, still a comfortable distance away from him. She launches into the story with no fanfare, "I went out for a run very early this morning and came across a stallion with a saddle on his back. I helped him remove it and he followed me back. He's wandered off again, but I'll bet that he'll be back." She explains the whole thing in a rather bored tone, though she waits expectantly at the end because surely Sirocco will have questions.
Throughout the brief story, the only initial reaction from Sirocco is a swish of his tail before the slow-speaking stallion chimes in. "Huh. Guess it'd be a busy day for ya then. Mm. A saddle, ya say? Well, I can't say I'm familiar with the twolegs, though my ma' knew well enough and my da' lived with 'em. If he followed ya here, no doubt he might come wanderin' back. If he's got split off, ain't a sensible thing to be wanderin' off, though I can't say I'm thrilled ta'be thinkin' he might bring some of those twolegs after him." He says with a faint gruffness to his tone, a considering frown on his face. "Thinkin' better ta' be safe and see him off right instead of risk him stickin' around causin' trouble."
Listening and watching Sirocco's reaction carefully, Nukpana nods, "Yes, a saddle. I've never see one before, but it seemed to be the same thing my mother described. I don't know that he'll be bringing any 'twolegs' after us though. He said something about his owner being murdered - I'm sure he'd tell it better than I could if you care to ask him. And I don't think he wandered far; he may have gone back to look at the saddle again, for whatever reason. If so, it's straight that way" she points with a turn of her head "And not that far. I should say though that, aside from his presence, he hasn't caused any trouble." Yeah, she'll give him that much. She continues to watch Sirocco carefully, since she thinks that the way stallions handle their rivals says a lot about them.
There's a rather non-committal snort from Sirocco as he shakes his head, seeming out to settle his thoughts as much as his mane. "He may not be trouble, but, I ain't one ta take chances with the twolegs. Ma' said she got lucky in not gettin' caught, but, I ain't got no desire to push it myself. One dead twoleg don't count for nothin'. They hunt like wolves and swarm like bees, so ma' always said, and got as much sense as fish swimmin' against a waterfall." He raises his eyes to look off in the indicated direction, ears pricking forward as he narrows his eyes to squint across the land. "Ya get his name? Think I'll be seeing if I can talk with him, at least know what danger there may be ta' the herd."
Nodding to that quickly, Nukpana answers, "Virgil. He's a sorrel grulla - though I doubt you'll find anyone else out there to mistake for him." Though her face remains passive, she's about as pleased with Sirocco's response as she probably could be: he doesn't seem ready to run off and pummel another stallion without thinking, even willing to talk to him first, but still very concerned about the herd's safety. That counts for nearly nothing to get her to like Sirocco better, but it does greatly reduce the amount of potential contempt she might have had otherwise.
"Wouldn't sound like I'd miss spottin' him." Sirocco remarks, though he doesn't spy anyone in the immediate vicinity. Well, at least he'll have something to occupy himself for the rest of the day. "I'll see if I can't find him and get his story. Last we need is to have gotten all the way back only to have an uproar." He as fond of a peaceful evening as the next soul, stallion or no. One can only run themselves silly only so often. "Ain't anything else goin on, is there?" He adds then with the hint of his more common, casual sort of grin. "Everyone settled in alright?"
The stallion's comments cause Nukpana to snort and smile for some reason. If he didn't want an uproar... well, sufficeth to say, with the exception of the constant threat of wolves their time spent in the woodlands was actually quite peaceful when it came to everyone getting along in the herd. And now that they're in the plains where wandering horses have a better chance of bumping into them she expects that there will be more uproars now, not less. "Everything's been fine. I think everyone's too busy making up for last winter to cause trouble, and we haven't seen any signs of predators," she says idly, though she rather thinks that the latter is because they haven't been here long enough for the predators to know that they're around.
"It's sunny one day and rains the next." Sirocco remarks with a rueful snort. "Ain't expectin' it'll be quiet all that long before somethin' comes trying to chew a chunk outta us." He raises up one leg, dropping the hoof back to the ground with a hard thud, testing the strength behind the forceful gesture. "Been awhile since I got ta' kick a predator around. Might not be such a bad run in next time, could use the workout. Might go for a good run first, though."
As mixed up as Nukpana's thoughts are at the moment, even talk of pounding a few predators doesn't seem to spark much of her interest. If she were in any sort of normal mood for her, she'd say something about beating Sirocco to it. But instead she merely nods and glances at the rest of the mares, whatever she's thinking getting lost behind her neutral mask. "Well, perhaps you'd better go look into that stallion. I haven't spent enough time grazing today," she adds after a moment as she turns to go join the other mares.
Sirocco regards the blood bay mare with a perplexed look on his face. He may not know her all that well, but if he's figured out two things it's A) she's being far more subdued than normal and B) he knows better than to pester her about why. He supposes if she wants to talk about it, she will, though likely not with him. Resigning himself to that idea, he turns into the direction the other stallion reportedly is. "Take care, Nukpana, and thanks for the head's up. If there's somethin' important, I'll be lettin' ya'll know." Though, he doesn't intend to wander far from the herd to seek out a lone stallion. With a toss of his head, he kicks off the ground, setting off at a canter across the grassland to seek out this Virgil character.