by maluruloki » Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:22 pm
Livius felt his heart flutter, not with adrenaline, but with affection for the striking mare.
"I'll be fine, Dolce, and I'll come back. I promise," he added softly as he watched her move back to the safety of Canad's presence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yearling burst from the shadows of the evergreens and travel across the meadow to stop before the herd leader. It galvanized him; she was safe, but Halo wasn't with her. "Oh my fleet-footed hooves," the grullo stallion cursed as he turned back to the shadows. He was thinking the worst as he raced towards the river. He could hear the fast-moving water from ahead and finally, he burst onto the riverbank. He inhaled deeply, sampling the air scents. All the while, his mind was whirring: Must find Halo, must find Halo. What if it's dangerous? No, must help Halo. Hoofprints, on the bank, there - that direction! Above the rushing flow of water and the moisture-laden air, his sensitive nose picked up the scent of Equids. Squinting at the ground, the prints aided him further. He began a ground-eating lope, just slow enough to watch for more prints, but also fast enough to cover many yards quickly. Farther down the bank, he spotted something and his entire body jerked in surprise; he nearly stumbled in his reaction to seeing both the smudge that was Halo and a strange stallion that appeared to be circling the lone second-in-command. The closer Livius got, the more he deduced from the body language of the two Equids and it was within the last hundred yards or so that he shifted into defensive anger; the strange stallion was definitely menacing Halo. Livius announced his arrival on the scene with a loud and ringing call, mane standing on end and tail held high, trying his hardest to look as larger as possible. "Halo!"