"What's wrong with you?"

[Sohtoh]

Starring:
Elu - Female Horse
Virgil - Male Horse
Miel - Adolescent Female Horse

Setting:
Grassy Plains

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OOC Note: This log isn't complete. See the little note thingy at the end.
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Being new to the herd and this sort of wild life has taken its tole on Elu in the past few days. Having had a good relationship with humans makes her miss them all the more. She seems to have found her place on the fringes of the herd moving closer only at night for warmth an protection. Staying in a large group is a little foreign to her, as sh had become quite used to being an only child of sorts. Currently she is working her way through a rather dry and bitter bit of grass with a sneer on her face. Its not what she would prefer, but it is food.

What better company for a horse with good ties to humans than another horse with good ties to humans? The grullo never strays far from the plains due to the herd here, obviously. Though their stallion has made it clear that he isn't welcome, he has interests here, and he'd rather protect those interests than .. not. The sky this morning is foreboding; looking as if it's going to rain. All the better for Virgil. He always did prefer the rain, as more often than not, it signified rest for him. But while the sun's still shining he figured it'd be good to get some of the plains grass before it all went bad. His hooves thumping against the ground, he sees the odd coloration of a mare that he's positive he's never met before, and his ears perk forward. Staying where he is, he decides to take the cautious route as opposed to the direct approach. "Hello, miss?" He calls out loudly, but not /too/ loudly.

Elu's ears tilt towards the voice and her head turns to follow. Taking in the sight of a very...earthy stallion she swallows the remainder of the bitter dry grasses. In a slow graceful turn she turns to face the male. He's different and unfortunatly curiousity has always been her downfall. Often used for hunting herself, fear is something that has been trained out of her, and while amongst humans this was a desired trait, amongst the herd its made things a little less than pleasent. Swishing her long tail from side to side she stretches out her neck to sniff the air. A quick glance back to ensure that the warden isn't watching she starts towards the male. As she closes the distance her eyes take note of the scars on his sides, "Your a white man's horse."

Though she didn't say 'hello' back, if he recalled correctly, this would actually be the friendliest meeting with a mare to date. He occupies a moment of time in trying to figure out just what color to call this mare, as she was definitely unusual in her markings. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The bit of speech that she does give, that he was a white man's horse didn't sound much like an accusation, but more just a general observation. "That I am, miss. Er, that I was. You ain't one'a them savage horses, are ya?" To his credit, Virgil wasn't much familiar with friendly terms of the natives. Native, would be one. Indian another, perhaps. He was more familiar with racey or offensive terms that his owner used, so it wasn't as if he was trying to be rude. He was simply ignorant in that manner.

Elu closes the distance between the two, her posture relaxed. She actually giggles a little when he gets what he is and what he was crossed. Her happy demeanor changes in an instant when he calls her a savage hores. Her ears pin back, nostrals flairing slighty and eyes narrow. She stomps her right for foot against the hard earth and snorts, "Savage? Savage! I would call the white men savage. The kick your sides, load you down with all sorts of strange foreign things and trim your tails an manes all for the vanity and ease. You call my men savage? Well if in "y'all's" language savage means friendship and respect? Then yes, I am a Savage horse."

Eyeing her suspiciously, Virgil takes a step back and chuckles out loud. "Easy, miss! I don't mean nothin' by it!" He said, and held his head up in a bit of defense. "Not savage in the.. bad way? Jus'.. that's what they're called. S'what my rider called 'em, is all." Trying to defend himself, he flicks his tail and chuckles again. "Our riders trimmed our hooves so we could get 'round faster, not be trippin' up all the time. But my mane? Ain't never had a blade to it." It should be easy to tell, too. Though it's still in rather good shape, it's long and looks scraggly towards the ends. "Neither's my tail." At the mention of the 'foreign' things, he gives another odd look. "Stuff fer travellin'. We come a long way sometimes, they needed food and water and stuff to make fires and whatnot. Few extra pounds, nothin' much."

Elu returns the look of suspicion, but her posture does calm. In all honesty she had never met or seen a white man or their horses. All she knows comes from what she heard others say. Unfortunatly gossip and rumors have never been a reliable source. She eyes him over from nose to tail. He doesn't look much different than any horse she has ever seen and she can appreciate how different and complex humans and their words can get. Settling down she dips her head in appology, "Forgive me. I've never heard good of white men or their horses...but you seem no different than me." She offers him a gentle smile, "I am Elu."

"Ain't a problem." Virgil says kindly, and lets out a quiet sigh. He'd heard of good natives.. but he doubted that she'd appreciate the old saying his owner used to chant during raids. 'The only good Indian is a dead Indian', or something along those lines. Nah, he had more of a word filter than that. "S'nice ta meet'cha, Elu." He says, mispronouncing it just a bit due to his own odd accent. "I'm Virgil. You a part'a this herd?" He asks rather quickly, taking a step forward and to the side, becoming what Sirocco had likened him to; a buzzard. Beginning to circle, and asking a lot of questions.

Elu keeps her eyes on him turning to keep him directly in front of her. She doesn't mind questions to a point and at the moment its a horse that doesn't make her feel like an intruder. "Eee-Loo." She corrects the pronunciation and continues, "I suppose you could say that. My daughter and I were seperated last winter and this is her herd. Your not one of them?

"Ah, Eee-Loo." He corrects himself, and gives a shake of his head. "Naw, they didn't take to kindly to me, what with havin' a stallion already. 'Parently, not playin' nice to some ol' sow earned me a place outta the herd. But I don't mind." Virgil grins, and it's a weird kind of grin. Pretty conniving, actually. "So, who's your daughter? Think I met two fillies out here." Miel and Zeladoni, if he could remember correctly. Odd names, the both of 'em.

Elu can't help but return the smile. This fellow has more energy and spirit than most of the members of the herd she's met. She doesn't trust him, not with that grin, but he has managed to peak her interest. Curious to how this encounter may play out she takes to circling him, head high. "Miel."

Well, that was a first. Someone circling him instead? He couldn't say that he liked it at all. With his expression becoming less conniving and more.. irritable with her circling, he perks up at the name, and nods. "Miel.. yup, I met her. Nice little lady." Though, he only remembered the name. What they talked about; even what she looked like, he couldn't remember.

Miel wakes up from a nap with a sigh that's grown familiar - the sigh of a young mare alone, despite her herd. And then she wakes up all the way, and remembers that she's not alone - not anymore! Her mother came, and found she same herd she joined. She smiles, and gives herself a shake to toss out her mane, before trotting out with a smile to look for where Elu has ended up today.

Elu is currently on the outskirts of the herd circling a stallion. Her tail swishes from side to side and stops once she completes the circle. She nods and glances back to where she had left the aformentioned filly snoozing only to find her no longer asleep. She calls out to her before turning her attentions back to the stalliion, "She is. How did you come to be so far from your humans Virgil?"

A half glare is given to the mare after she finishes her little circle, and it takes Virgil a moment to even realize that she's asking him a question. "Oh, y'know. Things went wrong. They were s'posed to be gettin' some loot from a bank, but the rest of the gang weren't ready and a bunch'a lawmen caught my owner doin' what they thought he shouldn'ta been doin'.. so he hopped on my back and that's where I got those scars from. Got totally surrounded by the law, he got shot dead and I ran as fast as I could outta there. Didn't stop runnin' 'til I got here."

Miel perks her ears at the sound of her mother's call, and starts trotting in that direction. Oh, there she is! And... someone else. Her steps slow, for a moment, approaching more cautiously as she tries to figure out who it is. And then she does recognize the stallion, and her steps continue to be cautious - not that he's done her any wrong, yet... but there's that yet. Stallions, or so she's been told, are entirely not to be trusted. Not even the herd stallion, sometimes, according to some of the gossip and warnings she's heard.

Elu sadly has never heard such warnings and so she continues her conversation casually swaying her tail from side to side. She cocks her head to one side with a curious look. She opts not to comment on his story, but rather his glare. She never quite outgrew the playfullness found in most fillies, nor did she need to really, "Have I done something to upset you sir?" She does cast a glance back to miel and calls out again. She sees nothing wrong with him, save for his manner of odd speach, but thats really besides the point.

"Hmm?" He vocalizes almost immediately after her question, and shakes his head. "Oh, nah. Sorry, not the greatest story fer' me ta tell." In a way, he kind of felt like he'd abandoned his owner. He never did look back to make sure the man was dead. All he knew was that there were hundreds of gunshots, and his owner made a weird noise and fell off his back. After that, he was gone. And speaking of getting gone, he'd need to do just that, before Sirocco felt like showing up. But before that, he grinned down at Miel and flicked his tail. "Hey there little miss. Found yer' momma, huh?" Shifting his weight, Virgil turned around half way and cleared his throat. "Wellp. I ain't s'posed to be out here and I don't wanna cause no trouble for you, so I should prolly get to goin'."

In this matter, perhaps, Miel is already wiser than her mother. Of course, she doesn't realize that's the case, and the clear look of unconcern can't help but soothe the filly's worries as she trots closer, giving a nod of her head as she whickers a, "Hello," to the pair. She nods again as Virgil prepares to leave - he's interesting, but... maybe it is safer, staying apart from stallions.

Elu nods her head and turns to nuzzle a greeting to her daughter. She glances back to the departing stallion, "Perhaps you'll wander this way again? Goodness knows it can get dull." She looks back to Miel with a concerned and confused look. Did she know something about the stallion she didn't? In a softer voice she asks "What's wrong with you?"

Glancing at the both of them with something a bit dangerous gleaming in his eye, the late outlaw's stallion started to walk off slow, but eventually he was cantering away, not answering Elu's question of if he'd be back or not. Of course, with his record, he'd most likely be back pretty soon.

Miel hesitates for a moment, watching Virgil's departing back. Well, there's nothing really, is there? It's just... All the lectures from Nukpana about stallions come to mind. And never mind those, all the rants about them from when the mare couldn't be bothered to stop simply because a youngster was around. But it's not like she has any real evidence! "Nothing..." she says, as youngsters have said in such circumstances since the beginning of time.

Elu may not be wise in the way of wild horses, but teenagers she knows. She looks over miel with a hard look and shakes it off, "Well whatever nothing was it had you awefully nervous." The joy of reuniting is fading and Elu seems to be settling happily back into her role as Miel's mother. As the male departs she turns her back to him and begins to walk back to the outskirts of the heard expecting Miel to follow.

Miel stares after Virgil instead of following immediately. Maybe it's teenage rebelliousness, or maybe it's just that their long seperation has made those instincts to listen to her mother grow rather weak. Whatever it is, she's looking out into the grasslands instead of returning to the safety of the herd.

** If anyone has the rest of the log, please post it as a reply and I'll edit it in here. Thanks! **

[Pavane]

Elu pauses a few steps away and turns back. She whinnies at Miel sharply. She stands and waits to see if the equine teen will turn to join or if she plans on continuing to ignore her. Should she ignore her further Elu would turn crossing the distance and nip the filly's hips in an attempt to get her attention with more direct measures.

Miel was more distracted than deliberately flaunting her mother - at that sharp whinny, she lifts her head, and then turns to trot after. She means to be a good filly, she's just grown used to not having a mother to listen to. Besides, with Nukpana around, it's been downright useful for her not to pay too much attention.

Elu shakes her head, tossing out her mane as she continues back towards the safety of the herd, though she doesn't migrate to closely to the center or others. She stops, having found a decent patch of not so dry grasses and leans down to eat at them with a slight look of distaiste. Despite the dry grasses a few dandelion puffs still sway in the breeze a little ways away.

Miel trails after her mother, still halfway lost in thought. Why was her mother talking to Virgil, anyhow? Is she thinking of leaving, again, when she only just got here - and if she did... would Miel go with her? She sighs, and then lowers her head, taking a mouthful of grass and chewing on it slowly.

Elu continues her grazing slowly steping this way and that. Ocasionally she will lift her head checking on Miel's location before turning back to the grasses. Miel's distant behavior has her concerned, getting used to a filly instead of a foal is taking some getting used to. Finally stumbling across the dandelions her spirits lighten slightly as she tears into the remaining greens.

Miel takes another bite of grass, considering, and then lifts her head. "So... what did you talk about?" she asks, curious as well as concerned. And maybe this will help her figure things out, anyhow.

Elu glances back offering a non-chellant smile, "Humans mostly. He had the nerve to call me a savage horse." At that thought she snorts slightly and paws at the ground. "Why do you ask?"

Miel nods softly. Humans, huh? She'd asked Virgil about those some before. They still had a bit of fascination for her, despite the warnings more dire than the ones about stallions she'd gotten from some of the other mares. "Just... wondering," she says, and then is quiet a moment before adding, "He is a stallion, after all." Maybe he'd have been different, to someone grown-up.

Elu turns with a questioning glance back to her daughter, "Yes humans. You were born amongst them you know. Anyway, what has being a stallion have to do with anything?" She flicks her tail, genuinely confused about her daughter's comments.

Miel lifts her head up. She was? She tries to think, but she can't really remember much. There were fields. And horses. Other details weren't the sort that get recalled by someone that young. The other part, though... "He... Nukpana says you shouldn't trust stallions. That they're bad."

Elu turns to face her daughter more than a little confused. With the mention of Nukpana, her ears pin back slightly and she sighs. She knew there was something about that mare she was unsure of. With a sigh she moves closer to her daughter, "Yes you were born amongst humans and you even had a human. The grandson of my human. The boy was very fond of you. As for stallions..." A thoughtful look crosses her face and she smirks, "Well I suppose I can see why some mares may think they are bad. They really have one track minds. Everything comes down to mating. They fight over herds of mares in hopes they get to have a go at them, they fight over territory so that theirs may have more mares. I knew several stallions back home, and yes most were somewhat hard headed..."

Miel tilts her head to the side, ears perked up curiously. "I... did?" she asks, trying hard to remember. Everything got so confused for the youngster, with storms and hail and cold! Maybe that's why she's been so fascinated by the snippets about humans she's heard, but it's hard to remember clearly. She tosses her head to clear it a bit so she can listen to her mother about stallions. She nods softly... That does seem to match, if in rather less... vitriolic... form that Nukpana would give it. "Why... why can't they share?"

Elu can't help but snort a laugh at her daughter's question. She tosses her head to shake off the laughter, "No, hon, they can't. Stallions by rule are rather egotistical creatures. They think they are the world's gift to mares." She shakes her head with a chuckle again, "My mother once told me that the wild stallions whole purpose in life was to have as many foals as possable. They would take every single one if possable, hence all the arguing and fighting over it."

Miel snorts herself. She'll have a foal when she's good and ready! And no stallion's going to make her do it. Kind of helps explain some of the more confusing interactions, though. After all, she's still too young yet to really understand these things... and everyone but her knows it. "Virgil hasn't fought Sirocco. Not that I've seen, or heard about..."

Zeladoni heads over the hill and notices a mare and youngling, then clip-clops over to them. Upon hearing Virgil's name, she grins and pipes up, "I know Mista Virgil! He's nice, called me pretty. And he believed me when I was playin' Sentry Duty. He thought I was a real sentry!"

Elu nods and smirks at her daughters behavior and glances to Zel with a smirk, "And thats exactly the sort of game his type play. He probably hasn't fought with Sirocco because he doesn't feel he can win. Some males take a more slippery route. They are all nice ans sweet and make you like them. That way when you are ready to find a male, he is already very much on your goodside and can get himself a couple mares, even without a heard." She looks over Zel and nods, "And you are?"

Miel looks over as Zeladoni approaches, and smiles. See? She's not the only one that Virgil has been nice to... though that smile slips, just a little, when her mother explains that away, too. But surely it can't be all that bad, can it? "But... he's nice to everyone. He was talking to you, and... I've seen him talking to Nukpana, too."

Zeladoni bows her head respectfully and clacks her jaws in the 'I'm little, please don't hurt me' behaviour. "I'm Zeladoni. Athena is my Momma, but I can't find her anymore.. And Momma told me Lootah is my Dad, but I've never met him. Who're you?"

Elu shakes her head with a smile, "Oh don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice enough fellow and they can make good friends. Just be sure not to go talking to them withough keeping that in mind." She shakes her head and leans forward to nuzzle her daughter, "Don't worry too much about it now, either of you. You both are still too young to worry yourselves on any of this." She looks back to Zel with a worried look and a soft smile, "I'm Elu, Miel's mother." Being all to familiar with how it feels to loose a foal, she can only imagine what it may be like to loose a mother. She hesitates for a moment before continuing, "How long has it been since you've seen her?" She doesn't even mention finding the father as Elu knows full well that a stallion couldn't possably raise a foal. How silly is that?

Zeladoni thinks hard for a moment, pondering and chewing her lips before saying shakily, "About one moon cycle.. Do you think Momma's okay? She... She promised she'd never, ever leave me, but she told me the Men were trying to take her back to their two-legs herd."

Miel perks her ears at the mention of parental names, and then shakes her head slightly. Neither of those seem familiar to her. She nods softly to her mother. "All right..." Be careful, yeah, she can manage that. She's sure she can... despite how often she seems to wander out from the herd without meaning to. She smiles to Zeladoni. "I'm Miel, yeah..." she repeats, maybe unnecessarily, and listens.

Elu listens quietly and as she hears Zel's story and compares it with her own daughter's a soft spot pokes at her heart, "If your mother left you I am certain in wasn't her choice. Men can persistent. I think a one cycle is long enough for you to be alone, Who is looking after you?"

Zeladoni shifts her weight from side to side nervously, then raises her head a bit and frowns. "Uhm.. Well, I am! My Momma taught me how to find water, how to take dust baths so the bugs don't get me, and how to find food, and.. And how to be nice, and how to avoid Men herds."

Miel nods. "I took care of myself, too! While my momma was lost..." she says to the other filly, and smiles. "Least you've got a herd, so the wolves and stuff stay away."

Zeladoni shrugs and sighs, sniffling a bit and failing to hide a tear that runs down her cheek. "Well I don't really have a herd, I just stay near them so the wolves don't get me.. Wolves are scary. I really, really miss my Momma."

Miel snorts. "Why not? I went right up to Nukpana, and she said I could join!" Okay, maybe she wasn't quite so brave in actual reality. More like sniffled sadly, and the lead mare felt obliged to help her, but... the same principle should hold, right? And she can pretend she was actually brave and such, at least when Nukpana isn't listening.