Riverland Mountain Herd -Private rp with tenebria-

[tenebria]

Twilight looked around, ears flattening. "I'll go see if he's with Specks" she offered, taking off.

Spirit motioned to the colt, waiting for his mother to come up, then responding swiftly "He says he came from the other herd" he said with a frown. "Rain and I will escort him back and explain what happened. We wanted to find out what kind of herd they were, and I suppose now we must" he said.

[Abbster]

"Ok" Midnight said as her tail flicked nervously.

Esperanza sighed and nodded. "yes, get him home at once" She said as she nuzzled her colt. "I'll explain to the herd if they ask, but you two should go" Esperanza said. Rain nodded and waited for her mate. "Come along Apollo" Rain said. "But I just want to lay in the sunny grass!" Apollo said. Rain looked at her mate and sighed. They had to get him home...NOW. "Apollo, your mama is probably worried sick, we gotta get you home" She said. Apollo sighed. "Ok" He said, as the stallion called Spirit moved beside him.

[tenebria]

Twilight slid up to Specks, not caring that he was still asleep. "Specks" she said, nudging him. She didn't see Apollo around at all.. but maybe Specks had?

Spirit nodded "Thank you Mother" he said, nuzzling her briefly then turning back to his mate and the foal. At the foal's talk back he raised an eye slightly, then snorted and moved forward. "You must not stray from your herd for any reason again" he reprimanded sternly.

[Abbster]

Specks awoke with a small groan. "hm?" he muttered sitting up.

Apollo sighed. "Ok" He said as they neared his herd. Eventually, he saw his mother...she was awake. "uh oh.." Apollo muttered. "mama's awake." He said. Rain glanced at Spirit and then at the black mare. This was not going to go over well. Midnight looked up as she heard hoof beats. She let out a breath of relief as she saw Apollo. "Apollo!" Midnight said, spinning towards him and pulling him close to her. "Why did you take him?" She snapped angrily at the mare and stallion.

[tenebria]

Twilight nudged him again "Sorry Specks, but have you seen Apollo?" she asked worriedly.

Spirit drew himself up as they approached the herds border, glancing about for any scouts. None were in sight. he frowned slightly at this. Why was this herd so spread out? Not a good set up for protection. At the colt's small comment, he glanced over, seeing a black mare looking around frantically. He took a deep breath, then stopped as he saw the mare suddenly rush towards them. "I am very sorry you feel that we would take a foal from your herd" he said, dipping his head formally. "I am Spirit, Lead stallion of the Cimarron Herd, and this is my mate, Rain. I assure you we had no intention of even coming near your herd, until your son here wandered up to us in search of a place to roll and nap" he said, glancing at the colt with his stern gaze.

[Abbster]

Specks shook his head. "No, I thought he was with you and Mid" Specks said to his sister in law.

Midnight gazed at Apollo who flattened his ears in fear. "Sorry I snapped at you....its just the timing for him to run away is not great" Midnight said, as she looked at her son again. "Is everything alright?" Rain asked. Midnight nodded. She wasn't about to worry this herd with the sickness that they were having. "I'm Midnight. Daughter to the lead mare Sunlight of Riverland Mountain Herd." Midnight said, dipping her head. "Thank you for returning my son, I promise he won't do that again" Midnight said as she flicked her tail on her son a little bit. Rain nodded and then turned back with her mate. Wow...they were actually nice. Midnight thought.

[tenebria]

Twilight frowned worriedly, then nodded "Of course.. he's probably just hiding" she assured him hurriedly before spinning to race back to her sister.

Spirit dipped his head courteously "Of course, any parent would worry" he agreed smoothly, then raised an eye slightly at her wording. Timing wasn't great... what was going on here? He returned her gesture once again "Pleased to meet you, my herd and I are always willing to assist in any way to travelers" he said, then glanced at the colt again with a nod. Just as he and Rain were about to turn and go, a scent came on the wind from a nearby stallion whom he hadn't noticed before. He paused and frowned, nostrils flaring. Sickness. His eyes widened and he took a quick step back. "Why did you not declare this sickness your herd is beset with?" he demanded, watching her warily. He did not smell it from either her or her colt, but if it was in their herd, it could be carried.

Twilight skidded up just at that moment, eyes wide as she glanced from her sister to the two horses. Who were they? "Mid?" she asked.

[Abbster]

Midnight froze. oh no. "Uh....that....that's my little brother. He's just getting over it. He's fine, I...I promise...he's ok" She stuttered as she looked at her sister. "Other herd" She mouthed. "Lead mare and stallion" she added as she looked back at Spirit and Rain. "Spirit, Rain, this is my sister Twilight" she said. "We have taken care of this sickness with three healers of our herd, there is nothing to worry about. In fact my brothers mate is expecting their foal and my sisters mate says she is allowed to be near him, its fine" Midnight said again.

Rain froze as well. "Is it bad?" She asked suddenly, worry for her unborn foal creeping into her heart.

Midnight looked at her sister. "Twi, Rusty. He needs to explain this" She said softly

[tenebria]

Twilight's eyes widened slightly and she dipped her head "I am pleased to meet you both" she said, glancing over with relief as she saw Apollo huddled against his mother. Good. What had happened though? Hearing that they were speaking of the sickness, she swiftly nodded "It was a concern about three days ago, but all who are sick are now healing, and no other horses have caught it. I promise you it is safe, but I would still suggest keeping your distance with your young ones, just for extra security until the sickness is completely vaporized" She said with a nod, then glanced to her sister "Rusty doesn't know anymore than we do, I am sure he could not explain it any more" she said firmly, her lead mare instincts coming to surface upon confronting this new herd. She turned back to them.

Spirit's ears flattened slightly as a bay mare raced up to them, a frown on her face, and confusion as well. As soon as the black mare spoke, she seemed to relax slightly. Spirit dipped his head to her silently, his gaze taking note of the immediate control she took over the situation. Lead mare. She must be the oldest. He looked over to his mate and immediately worry took over again. "Rain, perhaps you should go" he said, eyes concerned. He flicked an ear over to the mare who was calmly talking, and stating the facts as they were. "I thank you for your honesty. As I cannot decide whether it is safe or not for us to remain here, we should leave swiftly" he said, dipping his head to them. "I hope we may speak again, once your sickness has been over at least a day, you may send someone to speak with us, I would know more of your herd" he said formally.

[Abbster]

Midnight nodded. "Yes, I will have our mother send something after the sickness is over" She said. When the two left, Midnight looked at Apollo. "What gave you the idea to leave my side?" Midnight asked. "I saw a nice sunny path of grass" Apollo explained. "He wandered to them, and then I totally lashed out at Spirit and accused them of taking him." Midnight said. "They also had no right to ask about the sickness" She added with a snort.

Rain glanced at her mate. "Honey, I don't think it was our business to know about this" Rain said

[tenebria]

Twilight dipped her head in agreement to this "Farewell" she said, then turned to her sister, listening and getting an idea of what had happened. "Well, he seemed very gracious about you lashing out" she mentioned, then frowned. "Sis, we're on their land. They had every right" she said quietly. She knew how the dynamics worked.

Spirit looked over, still worriedly thinking about this sickness, then smiled the slightest at Rain. "Normally I would agree, but this is our land, and with them so close it was every bit our business to know. If the sickness should spread to our herd, i would need to know where it came from, why it came, and how to stop it." he explained.

[Abbster]

"THEIR LAND?" Midnight spat. "Since when is this THEIR land?" She asked. "Twilight, we are on NOBODY'S land. For all we know, they got here after we did!" She said shaking her head. "Why would you take their side? You don't even know them! I'm your sister! You didn't take my side" She said. "I don't get it." She said. "Come on Apollo" Midnight turned and galloped slowly back to her mate so Apollo could keep up.

"I know....but....Spirit i'm worried about our foal now" she admitted. "and we don't have a healer" she added

[tenebria]

Twilight's eyes widened. "Midnight!" she called after her sister, then sighed, shaking her head. Her sister never did understand herd territories and the like. What with them being a traveling her, to her land was anyones. But Twilight had seen. She had recognized from Spirit's presence that he had been there a long while. And ever since they arrived, the herd had been there. She wasn't taking sides, as she well knew, she was just not going to agree with something untrue, even if it was her sister saying it. And why was her sister so against these two anyway? She sighed, then lay down beside Fireball. She'd promised to stay.

Spirit nuzzled her, his ears flicking slightly in uncertainty "I know, I'm concerned too. Well you know my mother has always kept the herd healthy, i'm sure you'll be ok, we didn't go near that sick stallion" he assured her.

[Abbster]

"I know...but.....should....we ask if their herd healer could look me over?" Rain asked her mate. "Please Spirit, I don't want to loose our first foal" She said as her eyes were glazed with anxiety. "I think its the best thing to do."

Midnight sighed as they neared her mate. "Go to dada" Midnight said. "ok" Apollo said as he raced the rest of his way to his father. Midnight picked up the herds scent and she followed after them, at a slow trot because she didn't want to alarm them.

[tenebria]

Spirit frowned "I..I don't think they'll take kindly to that right now, and I wouldn't want to endanger you further" he said, but he was scared too.

Twilight sighed as she lay beside Fireball. How could her sister just never understand these things? She loved her sister so much, but if she couldn't understand, she had to let Twilight make the decisions. It was best for the herd.