Chapter 27

You're The One I Need

We were galloping...

Extremely fast and swiftly, racing towards the dark thickets of forest. Every strike was followed by the loud pound of our hooves. Increasing the speed, Dawn, Great Conquest, Wind, River and I, dashed on, our main focus on the brave stag in front of us, whose incredible pace challenged our very own. Our riders used every trick they knew in order to surround and catch their prey, but it seemed like today we were bound to return without a game.

Snorting and panting, I was already getting tired with this chase. That young buck had some intense fire in him, he wasn't giving up. Even as the arrows of our humans flew at him constantly, he merely moved away, as the weapons missed their target.

Now the buffalo hunt had always been one of my favourite activities. Even though it was dangerous and happened on rare occasions, I still remember the excitement and thrill of it. The enormous beasts were much harder to catch, compared to deer that were never that big of a challenge for our humans...so what was happening now?

Little Creek continued asking me for a gallop, and I didn't think about slowing down not even for a second. His eyes were most definitely on the incredibly fast stag that was racing in front of us. Despite how fatigued I was, I just couldn't bring myself to give up that easily.

"Come on, Rain! Let's get 'em!" Little Creek said, giving me a quick, trustful pet on the neck, as I accelerated my speed, bolting like lighting in determination. He wouldn't escape from us. Not today.

Long Knife steered Great Conquest to the left, the stallion's fast stride was met by equally ferocious Wind. The right side was swiftly occupied by Dawn and River along with their riders. The humans quickly formed a new scheme, still not daring to accept failure. We were on his tail, and were actually gaining speed. If we kept on in this manner, we would be able to catch that speedy buck after all.

Exchanging few words with one another, Little Creek nodded at Long Knife and cued me to a different direction as we broke away from the rest of the party. Riding up to a rocky ground, it seemed to me like my human was taking us somewhere else. I was slightly confused...weren't we supposed to chase down that buck? But at the same time, I trusted Little Creek and I knew that whatever he was doing would prove to be tactful.

He eased me, as we came to a slow stop under the cover of big pine trees. "Shhh..." whispered my human softly, as we both quieted, breathing, waiting.

Thus couple of minutes passed in silence, and then I heard approaching hoof beats nearing towards us. Instantly, my ears perked up, nostrils dilating in excitement. I could feel Little Creek's anticipation vibrating through my body.

The buck was running in our direction, as the rest of the hunting party chased after him. He was completely unaware of our existence at the moment. We were hidden quite well, might I add.

"One," Little Creek began slowly, settling down my anxiety in the process. Taking another soft breath he continued "two..."

He was almost here.

There was another intense pause and then suddenly, "three!" Exclaimed Little Creek, snapping me into an action as I sprang out of the long forest trees and in front of the buck, rearing on my hind legs.

This unexpected move shocked the young stag greatly, and he came to a forceful stop. He had nowhere to go. Little Creek and I were facing him in the front while the rest were on his tail. Despite the dire situation he was in, his eyes flashed with fierce courage. For a second, my heart completely went out to him. I caught his intense gaze...something about him reminding me of Spirit. Maybe if he had more time, he could've escaped us again. But alas in an instant second, a precise arrow was fired by Long Knife, at last hitting the brave stag, who fell down to the ground in defeat. I let out a gasp of surprise...never had I ever hated our victory as much as I did today, when I witnessed- or to be exact, participated in the fall of a valiant creature.

The spirited and fearless young stag was no more. There he lay lifeless on the ground as the humans cheered in victory. Climbing down from my back, Little Creek went up to examine the prey. He was indeed gone. Kneeling down, the humans circled the buck and thanked the Great Spirit for a successful hunt.

"We pay homage to your strength, to your fleetness and to your courage." Little Creek spoke gently, his hands softly stroking the deceased young buck. "We are sorry to have been the instruments of your death, brother. But we're grateful for the bountiful gift of your flesh and hope that your meat will sustain us and keep us warm in this upcoming cold season." When my human finished honoring the fallen stag, the rest of the humans muttered some words in agreement.

Once the two-leggeds secured their game, we were all up and ready to return to the camp. On our way home, I couldn't help but think about my stallion Spirit, who was most probably waiting for me in his round pen. What would he think of all this? Would he be able to chase after the deer, the buffalo and participate in our hunts like Great Conquest and Wind? I knew that he didn't really agree or understand this way of life. But if he was going to remain here, sooner or later he have to learn and adjust.

On that note, another familiar yet dreaded thought came to my mind. What if he was determined to leave? What was I gonna do then?

Shaking off these aching thoughts, I lifted my head high and decided to concentrate on the present moment.

The days got colder, the wind blew stronger, the icy rains would occasionally fall around the territory. Yes, indeed...the Winter was almost here. At early dawn, some light frost could be spotted on the hardened ground. The humans started dressing up more warmly in animal skins while we, the horses, were perfectly snug in our growing Winter furs.

The weeks passed peacefully and with much tranquility as usual. The daylight hours got shorter as the sun began to set early and we were all bound to retire for the night prematurely...well, at least in my opinion.

Spirit and I soaked up every second with one another. After our heated disagreement, neither of us spoke about the similar subjects and moreover, neither one of us brought it up again. Just like me, my handsome stallion seemed to be enjoying and living in the present moment.

We spent hours walking together, observing the new changes in the village, I kept teaching him about our ways and to my surprise, Spirit was really interested. We also interacted with some of the tribe's horses. Wind and Blaze seemed to quite like the dun Mustang's company. The mares continued giggling away whenever seeing us together. But Great Conquest kept giving both of us a cold shoulder and even though, it hurt me to think that him and I weren't going to be good friends anymore, I was still glad that there weren't any fights or studly challenges between him and Spirit.

One day, Spirit and I strolled in the active camp of my village, which was nothing unusual for us. We were both absorbed in watching the two-leggeds cook some food, while their hungry little children waited in anticipation. Silver Moon, the dapple-grey mare, passed us with a polite nicker, her small yearling colt following right behind her. Spirit smiled at the two, his intelligent eyes lighting up.

He looked back, his tender gaze making my heart melt. "How about it?"

"How about what?" I asked, not really getting what exactly he was implying.

Spirit chuckled, as a naughty little expression animated his handsome countenance. "Oh I think you know exactly what I mean, pretty mare." He winked, mischief evident on his face.

I raised my eyebrows, pursing my lips with a sly look.

That made Spirit laugh even more, leaning closer he brushed his muzzle on my nose gently, his eyes twinkling brightly. "How about a pretty little filly, looking exactly like her beautiful dam?"

I blushed, letting out a tiny gasp, finally comprehending what he meant. "Spirit." I rolled my eyes, playfully pushing him away. "How scandalous." I giggled away.

"For real, Rain..." Spirit spoke softly yet seriously. "For these past few weeks, I've been really thinking it over...about us, about my home. About what I want."

I stared deeply into his expressive brown eyes. "And what is it that you want?"

The stallion smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I want you."

Before I could say anything in response (not that I knew what to say), Spirit continued. "Look this place has been really growing on me and I actually very much enjoy it. Even your human is not so bad...in fact, I might even like him as odd it may sound."

Slowly realizing where he was going with this, my heart began to swell in happiness. "R-really?" I blinked in shock.

"Yes," The Mustang confirmed with a cocky grin. "well, I don't see myself wearing feathers and letting your two-legged paint or ride me but I do see myself settling here with you, my love." He finished with a gentle nuzzle. His last sweet words were like a dream come true.

Tears of joy began to build in my blue eyes. "I uh, don't know what to say." I managed to choke out, overwhelmed with this sudden declaration of Spirit.

The stallion smiled warmly at my reaction. "Just say you'll have me."

"Of course I will!" I exclaimed happily and embraced him. "I love you." I whispered, burying my nose in his cozy fur.

"So that means we should really start thinking about little ones?" Spirit suggested, his eyes alight with a mischievous glee.

"Maybe in Spring." I teased with a sassy grin.

"We could get started now?"

I gasped, glancing around to see if anyone heard us. "Why Spirit, that's so improper and ungentlemanly."

"If it weren't for your irritating stubbornness this improper stallion would've been long gone from you." Spirit replied justifying himself.

"Don't you mean if it weren't for my charms?" I corrected, my creamy long mane falling over my fluttering eyes.

"That...that too." Spirit sighed dreamily, resting his cheek against mine.

I've never been this happy about anything in my entire life. I still couldn't believe that Spirit had decided to remain here with us...with me. It was too good to be true.

"Alright, have it your way." I looked up, my blue eyes sparkling with an alluring gaze. "We could work on it now." I finished with a sultry slur, flicking my long flaxen tail this way and that.

"I love you." Spirit breathed deeply into my nostrils. I smiled, whispering the words right back at him and in no time, the two of us ran off to my favourite getaway. Well, now it had become our favourite getaway.

The next afternoon was sunnier and so much more warmer, especially for the early winter season. But I was thankful, oh so, very thankful. I was on cloud nine to be exact. Spirit was staying here with me and Little Creek, he wanted to settle down and start his life here. What could possibly be better than that?

As mentioned before, the afternoons were mostly the hours of leisure as most of the work and chores had already been done. I was walking about the fields, trying to soak up what could be the last sunny day of the season when I heard loud cry of Little Creek coming all the way from the round pen. I quietly trotted up there to see what was happening, but intentionally didn't go too close. Observing from the distance, I saw Little Creek sitting on the ground as Spirit reared, playfully laughing at him. When Little Creek began to laugh as well, I immediately comprehended what had happened.

For couple of days now, Spirit had been tormenting and teasing my human, giving him false hopes and illusions of allowing my boy to ride him. So poor Little Creek obviously fell for the naughty stallion's trick and that's how he ended up on the ground. Imagining the scene, now I too began to giggle. As Spirit and Little Creek kept laughing at their own silly antics, Long Knife and Singing Eagle burst into a roaring laughter as well. They were both seated on the fence line, entertaining themselves with my boy's failings.

The thing that annoyed me the most about their fits of hysterics was that it was almost as if they were mocking my Little Creek. Unlike Spirit, who was clearly playfully messing with him, these two's chortles weren't friendly or done in a good-humorist way at all. It was just plain rude and inconsiderate. I glared at them, wishing I were closer I'd give them piece of my mind.

Looks like I wasn't the only one who disliked their behavior, Spirit too didn't appreciate their outburst of a laughter. To my great surprise, he angrily charged up to the two men, neighing aggressively at them to knock it off. Both Singing Eagle and Long Knife flew from the fence in panic and fear. They fell to the ground on their butts and hurriedly left the corral.

I blinked in shock. I couldn't believe it. My stallion had stood up to my boy and protected him? Was I dreaming?

Once they were gone, Spirit slowly turned back to Little Creek, who had been watching this whole thing in amazement. Walking up to my human, Spirit lowered his head in a calm manner. Gently, Little Creek raised his hand, wanting to touch my stallion but stopped midway, not wanting to push him either. However, Spirit managed to pleasantly surprise the both of us. Sweetly and kindly, he made the first move and touched Little Creek's hand with his own muzzle.

They had found a common ground. I could see that...even from where I was standing. It was heartwarming and so wonderful to witness. The gentle breeze swayed my long creamy mane as I gazed at the two of the most important living-beings in my life. Could this get better? I think not.

There they remained, slowly getting to know one another. With a smile tucking my lips, I decided to let them have their moment, and walked towards the apple trees. It was fascinating how everything changed so suddenly and effectively. I had changed since Summer. Since that day when I had first encountered Spirit and felt a tiny pang of jealousy and suspicion. Now, I was on cloud nine. I was so cheery and excited to see what the future held for the three of us. We would all be so happy together.

Yes, very happy indeed.