Chapter 7

Wild Spirit

It was a quiet and a relaxing Summer's afternoon, the humming of birds continued, the cheerful voices of the humans around me calmed my heart. It was a perfect aspect of home... Of my homeland, of where I belonged. The lively atmosphere in the village never failed to ease all my afflictions. And even though, few days ago, Little Creek and I were faced with big danger...now, everything -all that past- seemed to be long gone. At the moment, I was grazing alongside other village mares. The afternoons were the hours of leisure and tranquillity, for the horses mostly. Our human friends were engaged with their bustle and hustles like always. The very morning, Little Creek had spent considerable amount of time with me, but then he decided to visit that mustang stallion in the round pen. I didn't know what they were doing however I believed that in all probability, my owner was trying to soften that wild creature.

I would lie if I didn't admit that I was beginning to get...jealous all over again. Two hours had elapsed since Little Creek had gone off to see that stallion. What were they doing there for so long? No matter how much I tried to be positive, I just couldn't trust the unannounced mustang that so mysterious raced into my life. I sighed in frustration...again and again, I thought of him! Why?! Why did he have such power over me...over us? Lately, Little Creek was beginning to concern himself with him. I didn't want to be his second choice! If that tough-headed stallion thought he was going to steal him from me...well, I'd make sure he knew who was the boss here. And the nerve of him! Just a day ago, he had decided to proudly impress and claim me as his own. Prancing around and showing off his good looks, calling me and demanding my presence as if he were an alfa. Ugh! Who did he think he was?

My bitter train of thought was interrupted when a certain grey war stallion nickered at me in polite greeting. I looked up, fixing my blue eyes on the handsome companion. Certainly! That dun mustang was no better than Great Conquest. If anyone should deserve my attention it should be the courageous war horse that so bravely leads our human warriors to battle. He is exactly like my late father. I smiled at him, as he trotted up to me.

"Hey there, beautiful!" He neighed, and he circled me, his tail held high.

"Conquest!" I returned the greeting with a pleasant nicker. "Hey."

The grey stallion's eyes flushed with supreme excitement, as my gaze followed him curiously. Without doubt, he was handsome and it was obvious that for some time now, Great Conquest had been favoring me out of all the other mares. I had heard other village horses chatter about us and speculate many false things. I studied his masculine and strong figure, the three horseshoes painted on his shoulder. It was exquisite. Great Conquest was an honorable stallion and all the mares wanted their foals to be sired by him. He would make a perfect mate...for anyone.

"Would you like to go out for a walk?" He tilted his head to the side, motioning towards the riverbank.

I stopped suddenly, slipping from my dream-like world. I stared at him, my ears perked forward, a puzzled look on my face. "What?"

Great Conquest mirrored my look, as he fixed his eyes on me with a question mark.

The realization hit me. The proposition was clear! He did have feelings for me! Every village mare knew that if a stallion asked you to walk with him privately...it meant he liked you as a mate and had plans for the future. Now any other mare would've been excited to join him. But why wasn't I? What was happening?

I looked around, noticing stunned glances of the mares nearby including Dawn. I stared back at the concerned countenance of Great Conquest. No, he was wonderful. He was perfect. His rider and Little Creek were great childhood friends. They had often talked about Conquest and I. Little Creek had more than once mentioned that he'd love to have little foals someday. And they had realized just how attached Conquest was to me. But...but what about me? Did I want this? And why not?! To my utter shock, a figure of the dun mustang stallion came to my mind and I shook my head. Why!? Why did I think of that rude and proud stud! He was here to steal my Little Creek, wasn't he?

"Rain?" Great Conquest brought me back to reality once more.

"Oh, sorry." I nickered with a slight shudder. "That'd be great. Let us go." I reassured him with my eyes sparkling in eagerness.

His face lit up immediately, and we walked forward, heading to seek some solitude. I could hear some of the mares snorting in disapproval.

We left the noise of the Lakota village and instead, began to wonder around the beautiful landscapes that were close-by. It was truly wonderful to see the magnificence of nature around us. We stopped for a while, to take it all in with a deep breath. Great Conquest reached out, leaning forward, and began to nib on my withers. I shied away, ashamed that I wasn't feeling any of it.

"Are you alright?" The grey stallion asked, his face falling in concern.

Before I could make a reply, there was a sudden, loud, violent and a very aggressive neigh coming all the way from the round pen. My head jerked and my ears perked immediately. Then followed, a bang and a furious, almost like a threatening cry of a stallion. I jerked my head up, leaping forward, only to spot the wild mustang angrily giving a death-stare to my Little Creek, who had barely escaped from the pen and lay there horrified on the ground. Enraged, I instantly thundered over to face the rude stallion. I neighed at him in fury and stood in front of my defenseless human. My ears lay flat against my head, my nose flaring and snorting in agitation as I narrowed my blue eyes at him. Nobody messes with my owner, my guardian, my friend, my only family...NOBODY!

With a startled and bewildered look, the dun stallion stared at me. He was obviously quite shocked to see me not only prancing like a lovestruck yearling with a human but also defending him so passionately. There was silence, as I continued throwing fire with my eyes at him. Everything seemed to stop. Our eyes were piercing one another with the deepest emotion. Everyone who stood nearby were frozen and speechless. After a while, the stallion regained his composure, his face hardening a bit. He rolled his eyes and to my surprise, retreated and turned away, mumbling quietly. "Mares."

I snorted in annoyance. "That's better." I thought to myself and faced my human making sure he was alright, who lay on the ground with a small smile of amusement. I nuzzled him affectionately and he continued to caress me sweetly. "My Rain, what would I do without you, girl?"

Great Conquest was standing in a small distance with an impressed expression. Two of Little Creek's human friends, one of them was Conquest's rider, came up to him. "Looks like your mare is the one who'll tame his wild spirit."

Little Creek laughed at the idea but I snorted in displeasure.

That night, as I was preparing to retire, my human friend came to bid me goodnight. As usual, he petted and spoke to me with his tender voice. I listened attentively, not wanting to leave out anything that he desired to tell me. "My girl, I thank you for today. You really are the best horse I could ask for." I whinned in happiness at the kind words and tone of my owner.

"But don't be too mad at the mustang." He insisted, noticing that my ears were pinned back at the sight of him in the distance. "It's not his fault he doesn't trust humans. He was treated horribly and he isn't used to being away from home." Continued Little Creek, with voice so full of pity and smoothness, that I was beginning to feel sorry for that rude stud. "I'm afraid the only one who can gentle that wild spirit...is...you." He finished, as he stroked my face.

I neighed at that suggestion in absolute disgust and protest however, quite soon enough, Little Creek's sweet pleads and persistence got me. Ugh, he had power over me! Alright, alright...I'd see what I could do. The idea of spending most of my time with that wild spirit made me want to roll my eyes in irritation.

Why me?!