Chapter 21

I'm Fallin' For You

After the failed mission in mid July, Little Creek believed that the chief of the tribe would not charge him with any of the other important duties. And for a while, that seemed to be the case. However, that very morning, after I had spent the night with Spirit, Little Creek had called for me. And I was surprised and delighted to hear that we had a new assignment. Of course, my human was on cloud nine. But it wasn't a very dangerous mission like the first one. We were simply appointed to go out and scan the territory. According to some of the other brave warriors, they had spotted cavalry soldiers spying and snooping around our village. So Little Creek and I, together with Dawn and Singing Eagle, set out to have a look and make sure we weren't being watched by our enemies.

Now if this were a different day, I would've been on my best behavior by helping humans with investigation. After all, both Little Creek and I always strived to be just like our brave fathers. His father and my sire were the most courageous warriors of this tribe. They had fallen in battle only because they had saved everyone else, and sacrificed themselves for the younger and inexperienced warriors.

So you can imagine just how badly both of us wanted to make our fathers proud by following in their steps. We wanted to fight for our homeland, for our family and friends.

But today I wasn't feeling like myself. My thoughts were scattered. I was physically with Little Creek, scanning the traces of the cavalry men, but in mind, I was back with Spirit. I couldn't stop thinking about him after everything that happened between us.

I didn't exactly tell him how I felt yesterday. Sure, I hinted it a little...and unlike me, Spirit got it instantly. But I wanted to make everything clear to him and myself. What were these unfamiliar and yet beautiful feelings? Could it be love? If only I could open my heart to him more. I should have confessed my growing affection to him.

I began trotting, hoping that soon our little mission would come to an end and I would be allowed to see Spirit again. Noticing my change in pace, Little Creek eased me softly.

"Woah, girl...not so fast." He whispered, a little surprised at how distracted I seemed.

My ears perked forward, as we began descending down from a slight hill. Even though, I hadn't paid much of the attention to what we were doing or what was going on...I knew that there weren't any of the enemies around. At least, not anymore.

"Your mare isn't herself today." Singing Eagle remarked, proudly sitting on his best girl, Dawn. Little Creek shifted his weight a little more to the right side and gave me a small pet.

"No, she's always perfect." He replied, making my heart soar in happiness.

I smirked in pride, while Singing Eagle could no longer find an appropriate response.

There wasn't much talking afterwards between the two humans, and after coming to a small clearing, we stopped. Both Little Creek and Singing Eagle climbed down from me and Dawn, and they began observing the dirt shapes on the ground, which I assumed were footsteps. Dawn lowered her lovely neck to scent them.

If this were a different day, I'd follow Dawn's suit, but as mentioned before, I didn't care at the moment. I was too concentrated on a certain dun stallion that was making me feel all weak and dizzy. Ugh, if only we could end this inspection soon, and Little Creek would tie us up together. It was quite shocking, how suddenly boring everything seemed to appear to me if Spirit wasn't involved. This all together frightened and excited me. I mean, this wasn't me! Since when did I start thinking about silly things like that? I always loved spending time with Little Creek, no matter what it was. And yet today, I only wanted to be with Spirit. I snorted in displeasure, and decided to blame my shameful thoughts to the fact that I simply wanted to figure out what my feelings were. And how exactly was I supposed to figure it out if I remained far away from Spirit?

Dawn's soft and yet meaningful nicker snapped me back from my thoughts. "Rain, what's the matter with you? Wake up, you're in a daze."

I blinked in surprise, turning my head to face the chestnut mare. Then shaking my head, I denied it. "I'm fine. What do you mean?" Pretending to be clueless about the matter. But Dawn knew me too well to fall for my silly excuses.

"Oh come on!" She snorted with an eye-roll. "I've never seen you like this. You've been day-dreaming all morning." She pointed out, her nostrils dilating slightly.

I let my flaxen forelock shield my blue eyes, as I avoided looking at her. I smiled sheepishly and focused my attention on the two humans in front of us. Both Little Creek and Singing Eagle were observing the tracks on the muddy ground. Could it be of the cavalry men? Or the other tribesmen? It wasn't easy to tell, they weren't fresh...they looked old and shifty. I lowered my head to get a sniff. "It could be both." I mumbled to myself.

"Rain, don't run away from the subject." Dawn wasn't planning on giving up.

I sighed, rolling my eyes slightly. "What do you want to hear?" I lifted my head, staring at her.

"Are you in love?" She raised her brows and blurted, making me gasp in shock.

"What? No!" I scoffed, nervously shaking my head. "With who?"

"I'm in love...trust me, I know what it feels like." Dawn explained confidently. "The first time I saw Wind, I couldn't get him out of my head." As she said this, she pranced around with a girlish whinny.

"Well, I'm not you." I retorted defensively, swishing my tail in irritation.

Dawn stopped her cute display, and slowly moved closer to me. "It's him...isn't it? That...Spirit."

"Alright, now you're talking crazy." I concluded, completely overwhelmed and embarrassed.

Dawn shook her head, her expression changed from curious to amused. "Everyone...absolutely, every horse in this tribe could see how enchanted the wild mustang is with you. And it was only matter of time, till you started to feel that way." A sly smile appeared on her muzzle as she winked at me playfully. "There's nothing wrong with that, Rain."

I stared at her quietly, unable to admit or deny anything anymore. Before this uncomfortable and awkward silence could continue, our riders were done with their investigation and jumped back on us, ready to return to the camp.

"Alright, things seem to be harmless and safe for now." Singing Eagle told Little Creek, as my owner agreed in a low voice and asked me to lope towards the direction of our village. I gladly complied, relieved that I wasn't gonna answer any of the Dawn's curiosity-filled questions. How could I answer her, when I myself didn't understand these feelings yet? My heart jumped, as I realized that I was going to see Spirit soon.

"Remember to come back before the sun sets in." Little Creek softly instructed me, leading me towards the corral where Spirit was usually confined in. A loud neigh of excitement came from the stallion as he eagerly and happily waited for our - or to be exact, my arrival. He kept pacing this way and that very anxiously.

Little Creek grinned brightly at that and opened the gate of the pen. I couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed and shy. Slowly I stepped in, following my owner's lead. Once inside, Spirit held my gaze, as our eyes met for the first time since the last night's events. I looked at him timidly and a small smile appeared on his countenance. I stood next to him, waiting for Little Creek to tie us together.

"Hey," he greeted warmly, his eyes focusing only on me with the most tender expression.

My heart skipped a beat, his brown pools were gazing at me so sweetly...you could just get lost in them. What was this new feeling?

"Hi." I responded with a quiet nicker and managed to rip my eyes from him. Still feeling shy and kind of uneasy, I lowered my head in a reserved manner. This was so new, so surprising. Spirit smiled at that, while Little Creek watched us closely, raising his brows in curiosity. He could feel something changing in both of us. Our interaction was not usual. We were both acting different than before.

Hesitantly, my human released us from the round pen, and continued staring and studying our body language. Definitely, something was up and he could tell. Anyone could.

Unlike me, Spirit didn't seem to dwell on what the two-legged was thinking about...he couldn't care less. He was just really excited that we were finally spending some time together. Alone...and undisturbed. With a playful wink, Spirit pushed his legs free and began galloping away, I followed after him, literally feeling his excitement.

On we ran, galloping forward, our legs matching stride for stride. Joyously the wind ripped at our manes, egging us onward with gut-wrenching speed.

He was a fast one. There wasn't any doubts about that.

Spirit snuck a playful glance at me, and I couldn't help but smile brightly at him. I felt like I was flying. We ran as if there was no tomorrow!

Just as we were about to reach a small hill, the stallion twisted and came to a halt, eyeing me softly. Looking over his golden shoulder, he let out a high-pitched whinny of contentment. I giggled watching him. "That was fun!"

"Sure was!" Spirit agreed, his brown eyes darting from me to the meadows in the distance.

Silence fell on us, as we listened to the calm blows of the breeze and swaying of the trees close-by.

"What else would you like to do?" I spoke up, somewhat shyly. Like it or not, things had changed between us. I couldn't explain the things that I was feeling when I was in the presence of this handsome, stallion.

Spirit seemed frozen for a while, as he stared at me with his deep, penetrating gaze.

"Spirit?" I asked lowly, dipping my head a little. "Are you listening?"

He quickly snapped back from his thoughts and nodded. "I'm listening."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well? Where do you want to go now? What do you want to do next?"

Catching my blue eyes, a smile crept on the corners of his muzzle. "I'd go anywhere with you." He admitted, gently nearing me closer.

It was like I had forgotten to breathe in that moment.

Averting my gaze, I turned to the sun, it's rays kissing my painted body, lighting it with a brilliant glow. The fire was deep within my heart - and I knew it was time to share my favorite place with this stallion.

"I'd like to show you something." I said quietly, almost in a whisper and faced Spirit again.

His wise eyes grew soft and alight, and he flicked his attentive ears forward. With that, I calmly led the way towards my special place - the apple trees.

As we approached the area, Spirit seemed to recognize it from earlier. "Is that the place you said was 'nothing big'?" He smirked teasingly.

I playfully rolled my eyes, as we crunched through the beautiful, and colorful Autumn leaves that had fallen from the trees. The sun was shining brightly, highlighting the yellows, reds, oranges and greens of a fine Fall afternoon.

Once we approached the big apple tree, I slowly turned back to Spirit, who hesitated in his steps. His eyes observed the new setting in awe, he kept admiring his surroundings with a small sigh. It truly was a wonderful place. The big tree usually shield me from the Summer's heat. The leaves were still very much green, the grass over here was also very long and lush. As if it was late Spring and not Autumn. Some of the apples fell to the ground as the gentle wind swayed the branches.

"This place is very special to me. I always come here to seek out peace and solitude." I confessed quietly, taking a deep breath, the sweet scents of the season tickling my nose.

Spirit fixed his deep gaze on me once more. "It is beautiful...almost as beautiful as a certain mare I know." He finished softly.

I couldn't help but giggle at that statement and blush at the same time. He was something else. He lit me up and I felt like a whole new light shone through me.

"No, she's nothing special." I brushed away his compliment, remembering my earlier coldness towards him. "Nothing compared to the fiery and spirited stallion I know."

The yellow rays of sunshine illuminated Spirit in glitter and gold, I couldn't stop staring at how handsome he looked.

The stallion seemed to be slightly dumbstruck at my heartfelt statement. He stopped mid-step, setting down his fore hoof exactly where he had lifted it. Tossing his black forelock from his face, Spirit moved closer to me, his eyes possessed with a heated glow.

"Rain," he muttered breathlessly, I could hear his heart thumping heavily against his chest. "Never in my life, as long as I lived, has a mare ever entranced me so. You..." He sighed heavily, looking away. "...set my soul on fire."

Completely overwhelmed, my own heart began to soar like no other. I couldn't lock eyes with him, afraid that I'd completely lose it. What was this feeling? Shying away from him yet again, I lowered my neck, offering Spirit to graze in the lush grass. Silence fell over us, as we quietly nibbed on the greenery. Oh why, couldn't I have the courage to tell him how I felt?

We remained quiet for a while... it was surprising how comfortable I felt in his presence. It was as if we could read one another's inner emotions. I knew how much Spirit loved me, but it seemed like he didn't want to push it and he wanted me to figure what I wanted on my own. This stage that I was in, was ever too familiar to the stallion. Before his confession, he had been struggling with his feelings as well. Now it seemed like, he had it sorted out...it was my turn.

My long, blonde mane flowed softly in the gentle breeze as I lifted my head to gaze longingly at a delicious looking red apple just out of my reach. It was way far up on the tree, I wouldn't be able to get it in million years. Maybe...if the heavy wind threw it down? Forget it. Brushing off the want, I lowered my head to graze again. But this didn't go unnoticed by the attentive stallion. Instantly, Spirit leaped up, jumping highly and snatched it out of the tree. He proudly danced around with the apple in his mouth, shaking his neck in satisfaction at me.

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled to myself. "Show off." I ducked my head once more, ignoring his teasing display. Spirit however, gently and softly lowered his neck to mine, offering the apple with a soft nicker. I instantly looked up, meeting his warm gaze. He had snatched it for me! Ugh, I never failed to show my cluelessness!

I gratefully took the apple from him, my eyes flashing and my heart swelling. Leaning forward, I offered to share and we both took a bite from it. His muzzle gently brushed against mine, as a new found tension seemed to fill me. And that's when I finally realized...I had fallen in love with him.