//that tobiano marking has slayed me omg
Username;; shadow9119
Show Name;; Jagged Lightning
Barn Name;; Agnes
Gender;; Mare
Height;; 15.3 hh
Halter;; Something dark? c:
Story;;
The rain pounded against the glass of the upper floor window. The taller man, Keane, stood right at the window, watching as the vicious clouds approached. They flashed with lightning, and it vaguely reminded Keane of some kind of terrible battle that was hidden behind a thick fog, so that one could only see the lights of the explosions of shells and the firing of guns. It sent a shiver down his spine; this weather was nothing to mess with.
Behind him, the younger male, Dane, paced across the room. They had just finished returning the ranch's horses to their stalls, out of harm's way from the fast approaching storm. Keane felt Dane suddenly move so that he was standing behind him, accompanying him in watching the clouds.
"The storm's definitely getting worse. How many seconds did you say were between the lightning and the thunder?"
Keane grinned, shaking his head at Dane's comment. "I said 2 seconds, but you know that's only a myth right? The time has no relation to the distance the storm is from us."
Dane shrugged. "Well, I believe it," he paused. "We did get all of the horses in right?"
Keane nodded. "Yeah, everyone's inside and safe."
Dane breathed a small sigh. It had taken well over three hours to get all of horses inside. And with Shadow Cove being home to over eighty horses, this had been no small task. But they had done it, and they could now rest easy.
Or not.
"You see that?"
Keane had his face suddenly pressed against the glass, trying to make a shape out through the rain and the darkness.
"See what?" Dane responded, stifling a yawn. He was exhausted, and he couldn’t understand where Keane got his energy from. He wondered if it was from all the time he spent in the gym.
"You don't see that? Doesn't it look like a horse to you?!"
All of the colour immediately drained from Dane's face.
They had missed one.
"Dammit Keane, we missed one!" he hissed, running out of the room and down the stairs. Keane was right behind him, whistling to Taurus to follow them. They'd probably need the dog's help to round the horse up and get it safely undercover.
Dane hastily pulled on his coat and pushed open the door. The strength of the wind caused the rain to feel like rocks as it hit him, but they needed to get to that horse.
"Keane!" He had to yell over the wind so that the other male could hear him. "Go through the back gate; take Taurus with you. Make sure it doesn't get out that way."
Keane ran off in that direction, leaving Dane to hope over the front fence of the paddock. Keane came up behind the horse. He couldn't tell who it was, as the heavy rain coupled by the dark of the night had reduced visibility to zero. From the draft-like build, he presumed it was a Gypsy, but he couldn't be sure.
"Easy, come on now, we gotta get you inside."
He tried to sound gentle, but with the weather as loud as it was, that was very difficult. The horse turned to look at him, just as Dane ran up to where they were. Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby pine. In the flash of light, Keane realized that he didn't recognize this horse.
"Dane! It's not one of ours!" he yelled over the wind.
"What?!" Dane's eyes were wide. He shook his head, turning quickly to the tree that had been struck to make sure there was no fire. Finding none, he turned back to Keane and the horse. "We still have to get it inside!"
Keane approached the horse with caution, but was able to slip the halter onto the horse with surprising ease. He hadn't brought a lead rope, so grabbed the side strap of the halter and led the horse that way. The rain showed no signs of letting up, and the journey to the stables was a long one, but they finally made it. Taurus disappeared back into the house, while Keane and Dane dealt with the horse.
"Well, she's a mare," Dane pointed out, taking off his coat. "And she's in good condition. Pretty, too."
Keane nodded, picking up a towel and wiping the rain from his own face, the horse's face, then his own face again. Dane sighed.
"Should we keep her?" Keane asked. Dane shrugged.
"It almost looks like she belongs to someone, we should check that out first."
Keane nodded, glancing up at the mare. Her calmness unnerved him, but she showed no signs of being aggressive.
“I’ve already thought of a name, look at that tobiano marking.”
“Enlighten me.”
“What about Jagged Lightning?”