I AM TIRED OF BEING CAUGHT IN THE TANGLE OF THEIR LIVES.
It wasn’t surprising that the black stallion didn’t recognize her as she burst through the trees, startling him into shying away with a snort. He stood his ground, however, unwilling to be chased off like some common bachelor (perhaps that was all he really was—) and flexed his neck as she strode forward and thrust her nose into his like a stallion. Umbreon’s ears flick back for a second, then he stepped away from her with a curious glint in his dark eyes.
“Ray,’ he said, the fright fading from his body in seconds, ‘the feeling is mutual.”
She looked none the worse for wear, and the black stallion made a reminder to let Mako know. Despite the mare’s hardened expression and her battered coat, Umbreon felt she looked fine; despite wondering what had drawn her away from the mountains and into the forest.
He didn’t have the time to question her, for his spotty grulla mare had found him! Umbreon was not surprised in the least when Mightyena butted her head against his side, and he turned to her with a gruff, welcoming whicker. He was glad to see her, one of the last remaining shards of his Ridge. He nipped at her pleasantly before the hoof falls of another; much larger horse caught his attention and distracted him from answering.
The black stallion assumed this spotted beast to be the new leader of the forest, for he matched the scent that Umbreon had smelled in Kisei’s place. Snorting, Umbreon bobbed his head and flicked an ear forward, his dark brown eyes measuring the younger stallion.
He would do.
“Name’s Umbreon; used to live on Atlantis in my younger days,’ he said, before nodding to Mightyena. “This is Mightyena.”
He flicked his tail, assuming that because the stallion halted next to Ragnfridr, he knew her.
“I’m here because I was going to ask Kisei if I could stay as second. However, since he seems to have vanished…’ he trailed off, fixing the spotted stallion with an intent gaze.
“I suppose I’d be asking you. I’m a little too old to be leading a herd, though I’ve two mares that won’t let me be. One of them, Mako, is her mother,’ he said, indicating the roaning buckskin mare the lead stallion stood beside.
UMBREON
the man in black