Young Horses At The Crackenback, Day 1, midday. Warm. Wind high overhead.

[Thowra]

Arrow snorted, looking over the valley for the few colts and fillies he usually ran with. He had always liked the power and authority ruling the little mob had given him, but he was feeling increasingly silly running around with his brothers and sisters when he should, by rights, be gathering his own herd by now. After all, he was two years old now, and as far as he figured, that was enough to classify him as a stallion - even if others did not agree with him. Surely he ought to be the one to know when he reached maturity? Just because everyone else grew up later than him, that was no reason to hold him back.
The chestnut colt snorted heavily and pawed at the ground, digging absently at the grass with a sharply pointed hoof, his thoughts more on the future he knew he deserved than on the hole he was presently making in the snowgrass roots, or anything else around him, really. It just wasn't fair. He didn't care that Yarraman was dead, it only meant he was one less horse to stand in the way of him, Arrow, the only true future king of the Cascades. No, he was far more annoyed that the silver brat Thowra had not been killed with the old king.
Snorting again and tossing his flaxen-maned head with the whites of his eyes showing, Arrow snapped spitefully at a Meadow Argus that fluttered between the wispy stems of the snowgrass growing by the banks of the Crackenback and dipped toward the water.
The river itself glistened in the sun, and the butterfly's orange-marked bronze wings reflected as broken brown shimmers on the rippling surface. The beauty of this natural artwork was, of course, lost on Arrow and the chestnut huffed at the insect's delicate wings, hoping to blow the creature out of 'his' valley. The river's ripples were suddenly overlapped by concentric rings that widened and faded into the current at the touch of the colt's breath, and a brief shine of platinum under the undulations of the water told of the passage of a fish through the green fingers of the reeds at the bank, possibly a fish curious to see if the disturbance on the surface meant an insect lunch.
The Argus, seemingly undisturbed even by Arrow's inhospitable behaviour, flitted out of the young horse's reach and continued on its way toward its unknown destination. Arrow, who would never wonder where butterflies went, tossed his head angrily at a breeze whipping a tendril of his silver forelock into his eyes, and turned his forequarters to face into the wind. There was not much of one, but it was enough to be annoying, blowing hair across the field of vision or driving it stabbing directly into a sensitive, blinking eye.
He looked up at the cirrus clouds stretched across the bright blue sky, but had no wisdom taught to him by a sensible old bush mare to tell him that those clouds meant a very fast wind high up above him, and were sometimes called mares' tails - and he did not have the imagination to recognise the resemblance or figure it out for himself.
'Hmph.' he snorted to himself, 'Funny-looking clouds. But all seems fine, I am sure the weather could not change too much, too quickly. And I am sure I have plenty of time to look for the others from up a bit higher where I'll be able to see better before I go toward the Cascades. And if I don't find them... well, I suppose that will just mean I can travel faster.'
He didn't like the idea of not having anyone to boss around, but the thought of leaving behind the rest of the band wasn't that bad - once they got to the Cascades and he could find himself an actual herd. A horse was meant to have company, even if it was just so that someone could see the remarkable things he did and report them back to the other horses who might have missed out.
Not thinking for his safety, only conscious of his boredom and the restlessness spring cursed upon every young stallion, Arrow raised his red-gold head and gave a loud call, demanding a response from the rest of his group, wherever they were. If they didn't come now... he would just go on to the Cascades without them.
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[ooc note: Arrow is adoptable. i am just getting the thread started up so we have something to work from and all that.]

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[Star]

Star splashed accross the river as she chased after the small frog, sending up a spray of water that went all over the place. She reached the other side just is it bounded back accross the water. Snorting loudly, the seal brown filly began to splash after the frog again, but came accross an unexpected ditch in the water. Star whinneyed loudly as she struggled out of the hole, and swam toward the waters edge, alot wetter that she had hoped to be. Her sweet face turned to see the where the frog had gone, and - when she found it - bared her teeth at it for getting her so wet. The frog crocked as it looked at her, then jumped into the water once more. Shaking the water from her coat, Star made her way back toward the others, - if they were still there at all - continuosly shaking the water off her coat, but stopped once she reached the tree line. Her ears flickered around as she listened, and she raised her head to the air. Was that Arrows call? She snorted mischeviously, thinking of how she could confuse him. But it was Thowra and Storm who did that best...But what was there to say she couldnt try? Star broke into a fast canter away from the others, which resulted in her crossing the river again. She bounded accross, making sure not to fall in the hole again, and set off into the trees, letting out a loud neigh in return for Arrows

ooc. cool forum penni!!! :D

[Thowra]

Arrow heard a splash from behind him as he stared up the Crackenback valley, and then Star's unmistakeable call.
The chestnut colt hesitated a moment, unsure if he really wanted his sister to accompany him to the Cascades where he somehow knew he would make his real start, but after a few heartbeats to think it over he turned around to face her, a feigned cheerful expression on his pinched face.
He snorted angrily at the breeze as it blew his forelock back into his eyes for a few seconds, and pawed roughly at the ground as he shook his head in fury. As his vision finally cleared, he could see the dark brown filly standing before him, a short distance from him, and he let out a whicker to tell her he was coming.
He did not really notice the beautiful young mare she had become, because he still saw her as the gangly younger sister he always knew, the shadow in the group that always had a look of quiet disapproval on her delicate face. She was just Star to him, nothing more, and he could not imagine anyone taking an interest in her at the Cascades. It did not occur to him that if he took her there he may have to fight just because he was with her, sibling or not.
As he approached on a direct line, not bothering with the politeness of an arc - after all, why should he go out of his way to pander to a lower horse's sensitivities? - Arrow gave another imperative whicker and tossed his head impatiently. He wanted to get going, but it wouldn't be much fun with no-one but Star to see him win his first fillies at the Cascades.
'What? Is this all of you?' he demanded as he reached Star, snorting derisively, 'What happened to the others, they get lost in the trees? Fall down a gully somewhere?'
Not that he really wanted the company of the other youngsters from Yarraman's herd. But a colt alone, even one with looks like his, would not make much of an entrance in a place like the Main Valley. No, that required a group. And of course, since he was no doubt the best-looking of his little band, at least by his own judgement which he was sure could not be wrong, he felt certain that all eyes would be drawn to him as they swept down into the wide open space of the Cascades.

[Star]

Star snorted angrly and pulled to a halt, and replyed to his whicker half heartedly. As she watched him aproach she rolled her eyes. He had grown a fair bit, but he still seamed quite arogant. 'Of course it as all of me...i did not leave my brain behind..' Star flicked her tail. 'Unlike someone else...' she mumbled. 'No, they did not get lost in the trees nor fall down a gully, they are gazring over there somewhere..' she replyed, tossing her head toward the trees. She had rather wished she never called out to him and had reached the trees sooner, but all the same. WHat harm could it be to go with Arrow to the Cascades? 'WHy is it you are looking for them? There is no doubt that Storm and Thowra are with them, and you dont want everyone to notice them and not you..' she said, nipping his neck.

ooc. can i bring in Yhi when they reach the Cascades? :D

[Thowra]

Arrow snorted as Star spoke up without even greeting him, not thinking that he had not greeted her particularly well either. He thought he heard her mutter something just at the moment he snorted, but couldn't be sure and gave the brown filly a suspicious glare.
He looked toward the trees lining the valley as Star gestured toward them, and tried to see through the trunks and branches to piece together his little group, but to no avail. Tossing his head and 'hrrr-u-mph!'-ing testily, he pawed again at the ground rather than admit he could not see them, and reached out to nip Star's shoulder.
He was just within reach of her hide when he heard her say a name, two names, that made his coat stand on end, and biting was forgotten. He swung his head around, looking from the trees to Star and back again, getting more worked up with every beat of his heart.
'Thowra? And Storm?' he fumed, nostrils flaring to show the deep red far inside, eyes rolling as his voice went from a raging roar to a white-hot spitting whisper. 'What do they think they're doing here? I would have thought they'd know better than to come near me.'
The red-gold colt's ears were flattened back against his poll as he started toward the trees where he imagined he could now see flashes of cream and silver through the tangle of branches and leaves.


ooc: certainly! :D oh, and thanks for the compliment about the forum! i hope it makes things easier to run :")

[Star]

Star looked over toward the trees as she watched Arrow fussing over the fact that Storm and Thowra were most likly near by. She dropped her head slighty, and tryed hard to supress the whicker of laughter. In the end, it resulted in an odd sounding squeaky noise. 'Yes, Thowra and Storm..' Her eyes could bairly look at him, for it was just too funny the way he was acting. 'Dear Arrow, how would you know they are near you? You dont usualy..' she said, snorting wettly and walking after him as he headed toward the trees.

ooc. lol cool..:) and i is already easer..

[Thowra]

Arrow glared all about him for any sign of the two colts he hated more than anything else in the world, somewhat oblivious to Star since the mention of the colts' names, his blood pressure rising exponentially.
The noise of the chestnut colt crashing about through the trees as he reached them, searching for a flash of creamy hide or a silver hair strung on a twig, was enormous. He could easily have been two or three horses, from the sound he was making, but he did not care. If Thowra was here, hoping to show off and make the others forget Arrow's own position as top colt, he was in for a surprise. Arrow was not going to stand for any of that. Not today. Today he was going to the Cascades to make a name for himself - the last thing he needed was for that damned whirlwind devil and his bay sidekick to turn up and ruin everything.
'Thowra!' he demanded of the bush, which seemed to be mocking him with its apparent emptiness, as if deliberately hiding the horses he knew were there. 'Come out, or I'll come in there and find you! And believe me, if you make me do that, you won't find it too amusing for too long!'
He cursed Thowra under his breath, furious that he should be here in the first place, wreaking havoc on this day which was supposed to be his, Arrow's, and enraged even further by the fact that the silver colt was hiding from him and probably finding the whole thing quite amusing while he watched from some hidden vantage point.
He knew he was not strong enough yet, but by Frith, as soon as he was physically capable he was going to make sure that brat colt would shine in the sun no longer. It served him right, after all - Thowra had brought Arrow's hatred upon himself by being creamy, and far too proud of that fact. No colt that... sparkly... should be allowed to run free over Arrow's mountains! It was unthinkable! That anyone should outshine the handsome chestnut was preposterous, and as far as he was concerned, if it was possible it was a severely-punishable crime.
'What?' he snapped at Star, barely noticing that she had spoken at all, let alone actually hearing what she said - not that he cared at all about her opinions anyway. He just wanted to make sure she knew she was interrupting him, so he put some malice in his voice and made sure he made eye contact with her, sharply and for longer than he normally would have found comfortable.
As he walked pointedly away from her, head high and eye locked on her to make sure she didn't think she had won, he flicked his tail at her as he would an especially irritating March fly, and snorted heavily through his nose in derision.
'He's probably running away in the opposite direction to me,' he bragged loudly, arching his neck, though he was not yet old enough for a proper crest. 'I'll bet he heard me and figured he had better run like he always does. He's not creamy, or silver - he's yellow!'



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[Star]

Star managed to hold down the urge to laugh at the older colt, and just follow along as close as posible without running into any trees - just to be extra anoying. 'You will never find him Arrow..He is like the mist....you can stand in the middle of it and still not able to touch it..' she said, snorting softly as she dropped her head to examin some old hoof prints. She raised her head quickly and brought her head backwards alittle at the tone of voice that Arrow had spoken to her in and the glare she had receved, making her most uncomfortable. She rolled her eyes as she watched him leave, then broke into a canter to catch up to him, walking closly at his side - once again to be anoying. 'Yes Arrow..Yellow...'

[Thowra]

Arrow gave a tremendous snort and shook his head, still trying to keep his neck arched in case Thowra and Storm could see him. He didn't like the way Star was talking - that was not how you were supposed to speak of the mortal enemy of your leader!
'That sounds like a dangerous line of conversation, Star,' he threatened, trying to flatten his ears even more than they already were and pawing at the ground. 'Who is the leader here, anyway? Last time i checked, fillies were meant to be obedient.'
He threw his head back, neighing with all his might a challenge to the hidden colts, eyes squeezed shut from the sheer effort of bellowing out such a loud call at his age. But as he swung his head back down and his eyes blinked open, he gave a start of surprise. Was that a pale flicker of motion in the trees? And behind it, a dark shadow? The hints of darting, elusive colour had gone as quickly as they had appeared - if they had even been there at all. But even Arrow, dull as his senses were, could feel his hide prickling as if he were being watched by someone whom he himself could not see. He bared his teeth and snaked his neck like a stallion, glaring around for another glimpse of the possibly-imagined wraiths, and pawed at the ground again irritably.
'Alright, I'm terrified,' he snorted sarcastically, though he would never admit even to himself that his heart was beating a little harder - after all if that was them... how could they have come so close to him without him hearing or seeing them? Those moving hints of light and shadow had been no more than four or five lengths away, and yet Arrow had been taken by surprise. He didn't like that one bit, and was going to make those obnoxious colts pay for surprising him. 'So can we get this bloody charade over with and hurry along to the part where i smash your face in with my hooves?'


Thowra snorted with amusement at Arrow's taunts, but no sound escaped him to draw the chestnut. He was having too much fun to spoil it all by just waltzing casually out of the trees now. He could tell he had Arrow's coat standing on end, and wanted to see how far he could push his bigger brother. Making sure he was well concealed from the arrogant colt's wildly roaming eyes, the young cream horse deliberately stepped on a stick, then doubled back and melted into the trees, making a winding, convoluted loop upwards along the track leading up the ridge that seperated the Upper Crackenback from Dead Horse Gap. He knew what Arrow wanted from this day's journey into the Cascades, and was determined that the red-gold brumby's bubble would be well and truly burst by the end of it all. Thowra's ears flickered back as he heard Arrow's scream of rage, but that was all that showed his mirth at the ease with which he could manipulate the older colt.
Once he was sure he could hear Arrow crashing about down where he had snapped the twig, Thowra kicked a small rock tumbling back down the slope, and as he was already a fair bit higher than Arrow, it made a wonderful clattering noise as it hit a small granite outcrop and settled into a new nook amongst the low boulders.
The thunderous clamour of the young chestnut stallion following instantly made Thowra's upper lip curl in humour, and he slipped through the trees in another roundabout route ever upwards toward the top of the ridge, stopping only once to take a sip from one of the boggy soaks that had started to appear on the ground, letting Thowra know he was nearing the source of the Crackenback - and the culmination of the first part of his plan to thwart Arrow's never-ending quest for recognition and power.


Arrow screamed with fury, and raced after the invisible will-o-the-wisp, wondering if it was two colts or one he was chasing, or even if they were really there. He was furious, and it was not made any better by the fact that he was fairly certain that some kind of joke was being played on him. He gave no notice to Star, all his attention now on the infuriating sounds that may or may not have been a horse - or two - in the trees that lined the ridge. He gave chase, not knowing who he was chasing or even if he was going the right way, but too angry to care. If it turned out to be nothing but a wallaby that knocked that stone higher up, then the wallaby would pay too.
The silver thread of the Crackenback dropped further and further below him as he climbed after the half-imagined sounds of a hidden horse, and eventually the trees hid it from view and Arrow was left thundering up the higher slopes of the ridge, nothing between him and the wild blue expanse of the sky but the twisted, reaching branches of the eucalypts - not that he recognised the splendour of the mountains he wished to claim as his own.
His hoof squelched into a bog as he ran, twisting his fetlock painfully, and the chestnut horse screamed with rage and discomfort, swearing to himself as he recovered his footing that he was going to twist all of Thowra's fetlocks right off in revenge - if he could ever figure out how. But the burning feeling in his leg was not enough to deter him. Especially as he saw, coming over the top of the slope into clear, open country pock-marked by little bogs and ponds and punctuated by granite tors, a sight which filled him with jealousy and the urge to destroy.
Thowra stood gleaming on a big, flat boulder that lay half-buried in the earth like some kind of hibernating creature, his silver mane and tail tossed by the winds that whipped across the bald ridge, fuelled by the height and openness.
'I knew it was you!' hissed Arrow through his grinding teeth, pausing only long enough to register that it really was Thowra rearing provocatively on the rock before he launched into another charge, more forceful than before. He roared as he ran, hoofbeats almost drowning out his furious words. 'You think you can get away with treating me like a fool? You're going to meet a bad end, Thowra, and I am thinking that you might not have too long to wait.'

[Star]

'Thowra's the lea..- I mean you are Arrow..' Star said, correcting herself quickly. Storm and Thowra were annoying Arrow enough with out her annoying him more. The seal brown filly pinned her ears against her head as Arrow neighed, snapping her teeth at his hide. 'You know, it kinda hurts when you neigh that loud' she said angrily, her ears still ringing slightly. Star gave the chestnut colt an odd look, wondering who he was talking to. She glanced into the trees, searching for what never seemed to be there. Was that another flicker of silver and brown? Her ears pricked up at the sound of the twig snapping, and cast her gaze toward Arrow. 'Oh this will be fun..' she thought to herself, looking from Arrow to the last place she saw a flicker of Thowra and Storm's hide. Star took off after Arrow, keeping as close to him as possible. If it didnt work now, it would surely annoy him now. She tried to push the bigger colt out of the way so she could 'get around a tree'. Eventually she fell behind him, just keeping close enough that she could see him. Star pulled to a halt at the top of the slope, snorting softly with laughter, before glancing around for Storm.

ooc. meep, cruddyness

[Thowra]

Thowra could not help but snort with amusement as Arrow threatened him, and danced on the rock just a moment longer to taunt the older colt before leaping down the other side and bursting into a flying run down the other side of the ridge. Grass, rock and earth blurred beneath his hooves, and his speed drew his mane and tail back in streaming silver-white, glinting in the sun. He tossed his head for the pure joy of running with the thrillingly cold wind, the strength of the mountains seeming to fuel him through his pounding feet, carrying him unerringly over the rough ground. As he came to a ditch like a shallow crack in the earth, overgrown almost to the point of invisibility, he made a neat jump and kept running without breaking stride.
He didn't bother to look back to see where Arrow was until he reached the bottom of the ridge, and the chill touch of the Dead Horse Creek, but the crash and the squeal of pain painted a clear enough picture of what was happening to the chestnut, and when he re-appeared it was with a limp he seemed desperate to conceal, and every line of his body proclaiming fury.
Thowra shook his head and made his way to a rocky outcrop where he would be visible to Arrow, his pale coat standing out in stark contrast to the dark granite. Rearing on the top of the outcrop, curving his neck in a supple cream arch, the young stallion gave a mocking cry that echoed and rang about the Gap - and he was certain that Arrow had heard when the chestnut's unmistakable scream of fury came back down the valley. Thowra did a few glorious dancing steps to annoy his older half-brother, and gracefully jumped off the rock to take a drink at the creek, rubbing in the fact that Arrow was so very far behind by stretching and yawning as if thoroughly relaxed.
He had seen Star following earlier, but thought that this was the perfect moment to call her - just when it would embarrass Arrow the most.
"Star!" he neighed to the dark brown shadow on the slope, "Come on, I'm sure he'll find his own way eventually, but we can't wait all day for someone who can't even keep up, can we?"

[Star]

Star whickered in amusement as she bounded down the slope, purposly passing as close to Arrow as she could. The seal brown filly pulled to a neat halt before Storm and Thowra, bouncing with excitment.

Ooc.. Um.. Lol i have no idea what to do next :unsure: