Attention: This chapter contains violence and mature themes. Viewer discretion is advised. Taken by observing wild mustang herds.
Chapter 10
The Challenge
It was late Summer, the day was still extremely hot and the afternoon sun shone very bright. The heat around the territory was completely unforgiving. Most of our human friends were exhausted and dared not to move in such extreme weather. The camp was quiet as half of the two-leggeds rested in their teepee tents. The tribe horses were released out in the fields and grazed calmly. I had spent most of my morning with Little Creek as we cooled off in a small river. However, around afternoon, my boy retired in his dwelling to seek some solitude and I joined the rest of the horses in the meadows.
For the past few days, I had been following...or to be exact, the dun mustang was following me as we walked around the Lakota Village with mutual rope around our necks. His wild, aggressive nature seemed to be slowly abating, which made my owner very happy and hopeful. I tried to avoid interacting with him too much. I didn't want to give off impression as if I were excited and joyful at the prospect of sharing my owner with him. I kept showing him my homeland without saying much to him and he too sensed my disinterest in him...therefore, neither I or the stallion spoke. Although, deep down I had a tiny curiosity in me. Where did this stallion come from? Why was he with my owner? But I was too proud to ask these questions.
"Hey Rain, how are you?" Greeted Great Conquest, once he noticed that I had joined the herd.
I nickered at him playfully, shaking my tail and prancing around demonstrating that I had a fun morning indeed. Great Conquest neighed in amusement, he neared me and softly brushed his muzzle on my neck. I suddenly froze at the grey stallion's forward gesture. My blue eyes searched his honey-colored ones as if questioning his motives. Shying a bit, I slightly stepped back and lowered my neck. He got the hint and led me a little further away from the herd, wanting us to have privacy. Although, as the lead stallion of the tribe's horses, he still had his attention on the grazing herd...just in case.
"Rain," He nickered softly, as I raised my eyes to him. "It's no secret that my owner wants offspring from me." Yes, I knew that. It had been a popular subject among the horses and humans. Great Conquest was a stunning stallion and a wonderful war horse. He would sire beautiful foals. And yet the mystery was the dam. Who would be the lucky mare to carry his offspring? I continued to focus on Great Conquest as he kept explaining. "And my owner has been kind enough to let me choose my own mate. So I have, Rain...I want you to mother my foals."
For a while I stared at the stallion dumbfounded, unable to respond. It was a shocking revelation to me. What? Me? A dam? I wasn't ready to have foals...and especially from him! I always looked at Great Conquest as my friend and nothing more. Why oh why, was I in this intense situation?
I didn't want to break his heart with an outright refusal, but I also couldn't lie to myself. I didn't want to have offspring...I was not ready yet. Who knows? Maybe I would never be ready for that. I never imagined myself as a dam. Whenever I thought of my future life, somehow it didn't include being a broodmare for a certain stallion. Oh no! I wanted everything to stay the same as they were. Oh why did he have to change everything? Suddenly, I began to feel angry at Great Conquest for telling me this. How dare he try and mold me in this role? A role that I never asked for. I was perfectly happy the way I was. I didn't want to be his mate or a mother to his offspring! No one could pressure me into it. I became determined to put an end to this once and for all.
I raised my head with pride and dignity, my eyes beginning to sparkle with fury, my nostrils dilating in anger. "I am sorry. But I am not ready to be a mate and a dam." My reply sounded cold and irritated.
Great Conquest's face fell and he snorted with displeasure. It was obvious that he didn't expect such a blunt refusal. "Don't make any rash decisions now, think about it." He begged desperately.
I sighed, shaking my head in determination. "There's nothing to think about. My final answer is no." As I said this, I began to trot away from him, hoping to end this unpleasant interaction at once. However, my cold behavior agitated the proud and respected stallion, so he stopped me by nipping on my hip little too harshly. I snapped my head at him, my ears pinned back. How dare he act like this?! I believed that at least now, he'd back down, but Great Conquest proved me wrong. He was furious at me. Reaching forward, he decided to bite on the neck in order to put me in my place instead, I was quicker and bit him hard. Our commotion drew the attention of the herd, as they stared at us in complete and utter shock. We were always so friendly with one another...no wonder all of the horses were surprised with this aggressive outburst.
Because I had bitten him so harshly, Great Conquest began to lose it. He was fuming and was very angry. I had never imagined him to be capable of such fury. Ready to show off his dominance in front of all the herd members, he reared up and to my horror, decided to mount me forcefully. I began to kick at him with my hind legs, trying to get away as far as possible. Unfortunately, he was very strong and I got caught between his front legs. I squealed and neighed for other horses to help. But deep down, I knew this was impossible. Who could challenge the lead stallion? Great Conquest was the most respected horse in the tribe. No one dared to disobey him. I had been the only foolish mare to anger him so during mating season, when hormones and reproduction was the only thing in the stallions' mind. This was partially my fault too. Shutting my eyes, I realized that this was it. I was going to become his mate and a dam of his offspring whether I liked it or not. As I waited for my miserable fate, I felt someone knock Great Conquest from my back and on to the ground.
Immediately I sprang forward, relieved to be aided in such a dire time and ran towards the herd members little bit further away from the furious stallion. Once sure that I was safe for now, I allowed myself to look back at the scene and to my complete astonishment, I met my helper. It was the dun mustang stallion! He had been the one to save me. I was shocked and perplexed as were the rest of the horses.
The dun stallion reared on its hind legs and aggressively stomped back on the ground, shaking everything around him, his fiery eyes throwing sprinkles of lava. Great Conquest regained his composure and once realizing who had challenged his authority, began to show the signs of antagonism and agitation once more.
I watched in puzzlement at the horrendous display. I could hear other horses neighing nervously and asking each other how this mysterious mustang appeared here. Where did he come from so quickly? How did he gallop here so fast? Wasn't he in the round pen?
"Step aside, outsider!" Great Conquest neighed loudly. "This is my territory and you are in MY herd!" He warned sharply, his ears lying flat on his head.
"Don't mistaken this village of the two-leggeds as the feral herd." Scoffed the dun stallion with a smirk. But I could still detect unstoppable anger and fury in him. His eyes flushed with rage. "Horses here don't belong to you. They happen to have two-legged owners!" His response was clever and I couldn't help but whine in amusement.
Great Conquest let out a furious groan of resentment ready to attack the dun stallion. The mustang however, didn't look intimidated at all. He matched Great Conquest in everything. Size, aggression, strength, beauty. Maybe he even was way superior than the grey war horse...The two began to swish their tails, started stomping on the ground, pinning their ears and were about to charge at one another. No one was planning on interfering. Every horse observed the two stallions in utmost curiosity...When all of a sudden, I decided to leap in the middle and stop this nonsense!
What would Little Creek and the rest of the humans think when they found out about this madness? It needed to stop. Besides, I was the one who caused the fight and I needed to end it. The two furious stallions froze and stared at me in surprise.
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