Chapter 1

The young buckskin stallion galloped across the plains, racing after the same eagle that had provided companionship for his father. But, in his opinion, it wasn't as much as companionship as it was a challenge!

In that sense, he was different from his father. He raced the eagle not because he loved it, but because of a desire to win. He wanted to beat it as easily as his father was always able to. The first time he had actually seen it in action had been when he was just a colt. Seeing the grace with which his father galloped, and the ease with which he was able to surpass the eagle had sparked something in him. Ever since then, running had not become just a passion; it had become an obsession!

It all sparked from the simple desire to be better than his father. His father had become a legend among the horses for coming back even when he had been caught by humans. He wanted to do something like that; something of that caliber. He wanted to be like his father. No, he wanted to be better.

He had come a long way from a tiny colt that had to struggle to keep up with his father. No, he would do what his father had done, but with even greater achievements. He could race the eagle with the same grace his father used, maybe even better.

Though this seemed like a pretty trivial topic to be obsessed about, the truth was, it meant a lot to the young stallion. The very fact that running was ingrained in his blood made it all the more important to him to do something like this. He had completely committed himself to this task, slipping away from the herd every spare second he had to simply run with the wind.

But now, now was different. He was no colt, not anymore. He was now an adult, young, strong and fierce. He could take on ten cougars if he wanted to, maybe even a bear. Yes, he was really on top of his game, and that gave him an extra burst of confidence.

He neighed to the eagle, calling to it to give him a challenge; to show him its true speed. The eagle called down to him, accepting his invitation with a slightly amused call. But he didn't think much of it; the very fact that the eagle had responded to him was enough to ignite the fire inside of him.

He pushed his legs harder, pulling the ground from underneath him, and using it to propel himself forward. With perfectly timed movements, he almost glided across the grassy plains. Any onlookers would have right away mistaken him for his father.

As he continued to run, his speed began to increase, pulling him directly under the eagle's shadow. Seeing that, the eagle seemed to put on a burst of speed; in no condition was it ready to lose to such an arrogant, overconfident young horse. But that had been just what the stallion had been waiting for, as he mimicked the eagle and spread his legs wider, making his stride even larger. This special little move pulled him right in front of the eagle's shadow, overtaking the eagle itself.

Neighing in victory, he met the eagle on a hill, rearing up to greet it. Despite the fact that he was pretty arrogant, one of the first things his father had taught him was to thank his competitors. And just like any good son, he held up his father's teachings, and thanked the eagle for racing him. It flew around him, begrudgingly accepting the fact that father and son were way too much alike.

When he finally set down, he heard the clopping of hooves behind him. He turned around to see the one horse who had actually been with him his entire life; the brown and white mare, his mother.

The look on her face told him that she had seen the whole thing, and though she slightly disapproved of his overconfident act, she was proud of her son. She nuzzled him when he ran over to greet her, and led him back to the herd, where his father was waiting.

The Lakota camp was bustling with activity. Well, it always was, so this was nothing new to the horses that grazed nearby to see their humans all in a rush like that.

Out of them, one particular Lakota was struggling to lift three boxes at once, and was trying to move them from one side of the camp to the other. Realizing that he may have taken on a bit too much, he set the boxes down and wiped his forehead, cringing at the amount of sweat that had gathered.

So much sweat for such a measly task, he thought.

"In over your head again, Little Creek?" an old woman nearby asked, chuckling softly.

"Um, not really," he said awkwardly. "I'm just, um, taking a break, that's all."

The old woman laughed. "You young ones are always so stubborn, huh? No wonder you get the job done."

He laughed a little. "Well, I have to get going." He bid her goodbye and returned to balancing all three boxes again.

He had barely made it seven yards when he had to set the boxes down again, panting and puffing. Usually, this would bring the laughter of everyone at the camp, but with everyone so busy, his presence was easy to miss.

Just as he contemplated using a pulley, he heard the familiar clop of hooves. He would know that clop anywhere, of course. It wouldn't be fair for him not to know his own horse's clop after all this time.

He turned around to see a particular brown stallion coming up to him. "Ah, you're here to make fun of me, aren't you?" he teased.

The horse grunted, gesturing with his nose to the boxes and to the rope hanging all around the camp.

"You want to drag these boxes, huh?" Little Creek asked. The horse grunted eagerly.

Little Creek smiled. "Well, I can't carry them all the way, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to accept your help."

The horse snorted as if to say, no kidding.

Little Creek then got to work pushing the boxes to specific places. This wasn't very hard because it lasted for so little time. And he couldn't deny that he had the help of the horse, whose huge weight just made things go faster. Once the boxes were appropriately placed, Little Creek headed over to a nearby tent to pick up some rope from the ground. Making his way back to the horse, he put a loop around his neck, and tied the other end of the rope to the three boxes in such a way that he could use his full body strength to pull those boxes.

"All right, let's go." Little Creek said, spurring the horse forward with a pat on the shoulder.

The stallion pulled the boxes with extreme ease. To him, it was like the boxes were made out of thin air; he moved them so effortlessly so. In fact, within a few minutes their destination was reached, and Little Creek then got to the task of untying the rope from the stallion. Once the rope was removed, the stallion cantered a little way away, playfully whinnying.

Little Creek laughed as he went up to the stallion and stroked his long nose. "You're really the best, Thunder."

A/N: And that was Chapter 2. I'm not going to reveal much in these author's notes because I do not want to spoil the surprise. But I'm pretty sure all of you have guessed it by now.

Hope you like it.

Please read and review.