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Post by BookNerd on Jul 22, 2012 20:16:29 GMT -5
Behind the Castle is a beautiful mountain range. Sky high and with snow-capped mountains, make a great area to train horses on a rocky terrain. Best to travel when the sun is high in the sky, since the paths are narrow, those dedicated to their training, might venture out here in early dawn or late dusk to work on trust with their horses. Just be sure to bring whatever supplies you might need, and always have a flashlight and a first aid/emergency kit, the mountain is a tough place, and getting lost surely might end your life or the life of your horses.
Harley made sure the bag was tight on his back and fastened the leads to his horses. It was a few weeks before school started and he wanted to make sure his horses were in top shape when other students began to arrive.
It was early dawn and he was intending on taking his horses on a trip to a mountain meadow for some training. They were going to be gone for five day, and he made sure he had everything he needed to feed the horses he had, and set up a camping area, the journey alone would take all day. The horses were still too young to be ridden, and their youth meant they would need more stops along to way to rest.
With a smile and a click of his tongue they began to walk.
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Post by SugarBug17 on Jul 22, 2012 21:50:13 GMT -5
The morning was quite chilly, and Ettie was glad she packed her extra coat and her saddle blanket for Allianna. Her filly was a majestic pale tan color that shimmered in the early dawn. She nuzzled Ettie's hand as she stroked her beautiful mane. "We have a long journey ahead of us, Allianna, so you better drink up." She said putting a nursing bottle in her filly's mouth. She stroked her as she drank the bottle deeply. When finished, Ettie cleaned the bottle with a bottle of water from her bag, and then attached a bridle and lead to Alli. The bag on her shoulders was not necessarily heavy, but with the food, water and camping equipment, after a few hours on the trail it would be killing her. Carefully as to not harm her horse she attached a bag with five pounds of sand in it, on her back, with hopes that this might increase Alli's stamina and her speed. With one last look to make sure everything was ready for the journal, the two of them began walking the path.
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Post by animallover97 on Jul 23, 2012 12:31:25 GMT -5
Anna tied the ropes to a low hanging limb. Vakna wasn't happy to be tied up. She tugged on the rope but wasn't strong enough to break free.
Anna surveyed the area around her. The trail in front of her faded out not far away as it began to curve around the mountain. She bent down and touched a horseshoe print. "Looks like we have a late start. Someone else has already started on the trail," Anna said squinting into the afternoon sun. She turned towards her filly who had finally stopped trying to free herself. Her black mane flowed freely in the wind. She was a beautiful sight.
Anna sat down and checked her bag once more. Horse feed, water, food, an extra saddle blanket, and an extra coat were all packed along with other things to help her through the next few days. It would take about a day to track up the mountain. She just wanted time to bond with her horse though. Three days was all she had before she had to return back home. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.
Anna untied the ropes and began to lead her horse up the mountain on the narrow trail.
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Post by SugarBug17 on Jul 23, 2012 13:14:36 GMT -5
The afternoon sun was high in the sky and the air surrounding Ettie and Alli was beginning to become unbearable. They had been walking for near five hour. And only stopped once to drink some water. It was around lunch time and a grumble in Ettie's stomach made her think that maybe Alli was getting hungry too. She surveyed the land around her and pulled out the map she got from her older sister. There was a rest area about a mile north of them. At the pace the two of them were walking she imagined it would take about another hour, hour and a half, to get there. The patch of trail they were on now, was not as narrow as some of the higher up trails, but it still wasn't wide enough, or safe enough for that matter to actually sit down and take a break. She had to think about the other travelers that might be on the trails, and their safety, not just her own. Without breaking step, she reached into her bag and pulled out two apples and a bottle of water. Once she had them out of the sack, she returned the back to her back, and put a hand behind her, offering Alli the apple. She took a bit out of it, and Ettie had to smile as she heard her innocent horse chew the bit of food in her mouth. She kept her hand behind her back as Alli finished the apple. Once her filly was done, she began eating her apple and drinking her water. It wasn't much, but it was a snack.
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Post by animallover97 on Jul 23, 2012 18:51:14 GMT -5
The trail was growing narrower with every so many steps. Of course, it wasn't a big deal for the girl or filly, but the road was narrow none the less. Anna's only problem came when Vakna tried to run off. She was way too excited.
"Vakna! Calm down!" Anna scolded her horse when she nearly pulled the rope from her hand. This was beginning to get old, but the trail was too narrow to stop on and let the horse's energy out. Anyway, it came in use as Vakna had enough energy to burn off so she didn't need any food yet. Anna was glad she had her fill right before she left for the mountain.
The sun was pretty bad though. Despite the wind, Anna could feel herself getting sunburned. She was glad she had brought plenty of sun screen and water. She would need it, as would her horse. They had been walking maybe three or four hours, she wasn't quite sure, but they couldn't be that far from a rest area. She was glad she was a fast walker. Hopefully it would take and hour to arrive at the rest area, two at tops. It would do both of them good.
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Post by SugarBug17 on Jul 24, 2012 20:48:53 GMT -5
The afternoon sun began to fall a bit in the sky, when Ettie and Alli made it to the rest stop. The first thing she did was tie Alli up to a tree and fed her a bottle... The filly was still being fed a bottle and then when Ettie trained her hard she got fed some oats. Which is exactly what she did once the bottle was gone. Ettie was pleased with the weight that Alli held for the first part of the journey. She might just increase it tomorrow morning when they left the rest area. Ettie knew that there was rain in the forecast for the evening, and this rest area would be a good place to weather out the evening storm. Once Alli was fed, she laid down under the tree. That was when Ettie began to set up the camp site. From the lower part of her bag, she pulled out the small tent she had. It didn't take too long to put the poles together and then pop it up. Then she took out the tarp she packed and blocked off an area for Alli to stay at. If the rain got too bad, she would just put the filly in the tent with her... Once Ettie was done with that she went ahead and gathered some wood and set a fire. It didn't take too long to get the embers glowing, and once that was done, she opened up the cooler she packed her meals in and made a quick grilled cheese in some tinfoil. She also poured some tomato soup from the thermos. Once the cheese was melted enough she began eating her simple meal. She looked to the trail path as she feasted and wondered if any other students would be traveling though the mountain and doing some training.
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Post by animallover97 on Jul 25, 2012 11:56:38 GMT -5
Anna knew she had been walking for at least an hour. She turned her gaze to the sun and stopped shielding the light with her hand. "We've been walking about an hour probably. It's not too late." she said more to herself. Between short water break for her and Vakna, neither was very tired. Anna was glad she was used to walking for long periods of time.
She turned her gaze to a stream of light grey smoke coming from the distance. She frowned. "Looks like someone has already set camp for the night." Anna said stroking her horse who responded with a short neigh. "At least that means we are getting close to the rest area. I wonder who it is."
Anna hoped they arrived at the rest area soon as she knew both her and her horse were hungry and there was a few apples for Vakna and a sandwhich for herself. The only cover she had for the night was a large tarp which she hoped to hang on a nearby tree limb to let her and her horse sleep. After all, her horse couldn't be caught in the rain that was supposed to come that night, she would get sick.
Anna moved Vakna's rope around in her hand then gave it a gentle tug to signal her to move. They began to walk up the narrow trail and meet whoever had already set camp.
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Post by SugarBug17 on Jul 28, 2012 12:27:30 GMT -5
When Ettie finished with her meal she made sure to clean up everything. The mountains were homes to dangerous animals and the smell of trash was sure to attract them. Alli was resting peacefully, and Ettie was getting tired herself. She would've crawled into her tent, but the way the steal grey clouds in the sky made her feel different. She reached into her pack and pulled out her portable radio she brought with her. It was small like a hand held tape recorder and was green, so it blended in well with the other camping/cameo type stuff she had. The temperature fell at least ten degrees since she got to the rest area, and she worried that the storm might be worse than she thought. She switched the small item on and tried to find a station that was in range within the mountains. The most she got was a bunch of static. If she had her sister with her, Addy, would've been able to tell by the way the air was, the direction of the clouds and the smell in the air, but she of course was back at the Castle. After about ten minutes of searching she finally got one station in. It was some sort of folk station playing music that had a song with flutes and fiddles of some sort. She sat patiently waiting for the song to end, and hoped they gave some weather report. After, what seemed like a ten minute song in concluded and the announcer began, his voice was unusually mellow. "This is KGTBY broadcasting to you live from a little cottage on Hempshine Mountain, good evening all you guys and dolls. We have a wonderful lineup for the six o'clock hour. But first an update on your local weather." The voice said. Ettie thought about it and remembered that a guy named Kirby had a cottage up high in the mountain where he played music and reported the weather, it was the only station available on the mountain. "There is one heck of a storm moving in and moving fast from the north heading right to the grounds around Equus Amor. But first it is going to hit the mountains, with large hail, heavy downpour, and enough lightening to color the sky. If you are venturing out on the mountain, make sure you find some shelter. Check out many of the caves carved naturally into the mountain, it would offer the best shelter and some nice comfort." He stated. Ettie wanted to kick herself, the weather report that morning said nothing of the such. "Keep tuned in to KGTBY for all your weather updates." Kirby concluded. Ettie did best to remain calm, because she knew freaking out wouldn't help either of them. She pulled out her map and looked at the mountain range that was shown. Usually they marked caves off for travelers to stay in since so many people traveled this area all year round. There had to be one close enough. The only ones that she could find were easily a three hour trip up the mountain, and that did not bring her any comfort. "That just cannot be right. I know there has to be a few closer to her than that." She said packing things back in her bag, and clipping the radio to the bag after it was tied. She then busied herself by taking down her tent and rolling it up with the tarp she had blocked off for Alli. Then she readjusted the bag of sand to Alli's back, and tired her harness. She was just about to leave when she saw someone, another traveler walking into the rest stop with her horse. Ettie stopped what she was doing and stood still, not wanting to scare the girl. She wondered if she knew about the weather that was moving in? And the only responsible thing to do was wait and tell her, then she would offer the girl a chance to walk with her and find shelter. After all, her horse looked just as newbornish as Alli.
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Post by animallover97 on Jul 28, 2012 21:54:50 GMT -5
Finally! Anna smiled warily as she caught sight of the rest area. They had finally made it! Anna's smile was wiped away though as soon as she looked up at the sky. It was dark gray and had been getting darker since their walk up the mountain. Very often where she lived, storms would randomly popped up, and when they looked like this they could mean bad news. Anna wasn't too surprised at the low temperatures she was in and was expecting the winds to pick up at any moment. She was glad she had already slipped on her jacket she had brought. It was thin, but Anna didn't mind much.
She looked around trying to find the cause of that smoke she had seen earlier. The fire, which she assumed was what it was from, had been put out already, but traces of it was still left in the sky. "Maybe they already left," Anna said quietly to her horse.
Anna continued to look at the sky and began to speak at a normal level. "I don't blame them either. It looks like it can start storming at any minute. I think it's going to turn out worse than what the reports said this morning. If only I could find out the weather."
Anna turned to her horse. "We have to find shelter before the storm picks up, and there doesn't seem to be any here. I'm sorry girl, but we are gonna have to wait until we find good shelter until we eat or stop for anything." Vakna responded with a short whinny. Anna sighed. "Sorry girl."
Anna looked around once last time to make sure nothing was there and then her eyes landed on something, or rather someone. Plus she had a horse, probably about Vakna's age. Anna smiled, but stood where she was not knowing if the girl had seen her or yet. And she didn't know who she was.
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Post by SugarBug17 on Jul 29, 2012 12:00:29 GMT -5
Ettie watched as the girl explored the camp, it seemed she was anxiously looking around; at the sky, the smoldering campfire, and then finally her. Ettie really didn't want to scare her, but then again seeing someone stand under the shadows of a huge tree, dressed mostly in dark colors probably was frightening. Ettie tried to put on a smile, but she was nervous it was too big or too wide and might freak her out. She knew she had to say something, but didn't know what. It was not like she was new to this, she was quite the welcome wagon at Equus Amor, but this girl, she had never seen before. Maybe Monroe welcomed her into the school. "Um.. Hello, there." Ettie said clearing her throat. "I see you are up here on the mountain too." She added shuffling her feet around a bit. "I was just listening to my radio. You see there is this station here, KGTBY, ran by this really crazy guy called Kirby. He plays mostly folks music, but yeah, he also has a weather station and he said a horrible summer storm is moving it." Ettie wanted to kick herself for talking so much. "But anyway, it is not going to be too safe for us out here, and it is not going to be safe at all for our horses. He recommended going to a few caves carved into the mountains. Thing is, well, the closest cavern area is about a three or four hour walk, and the storm is sure to unleash by then. I do remember though coming up here with my sister once, and there were some caves not too far away from the rest area, but with it getting dark they might be harder to find." She said almost in a mad rush. "I am going to be heading out, and you can come with me, if you would like. The path for about the next ten miles is pretty wide where two can walk together at the same time, and we are entering into the part that ha mountain on each said, you can look on one side and I the other can check the other, we could find it faster that way." Ettie offered. She didn't really enjoy storms in cave so she thought that having a bit of company would be a great thing!
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Post by animallover97 on Jul 30, 2012 20:48:41 GMT -5
Anna was slightly startled at the fact the girl had actually started to talk to her. She quickly glanced around to make sure she was talking to her an seeing no one else, seemed content.
Anna was reluctant to join this girl. She didn't know the first thing about her. She didn't even know her name! Vakna seemed a bit reluctant too. The horse was standing right behind her and Anna noticed it seemed to be eyeing the other foal. Anna smiled when Vakna finally decided she could come out to her side.
"Um...okay," Anna replied. She wasn't scared of this girl, she just didn't really know how to react around her. She did seem to talk a good bit, but Anna knew she did too. Plus, Anna knew the storm was coming through and really didn't want to get stuck by herself. After all, she hadn't known anything about any nearby caves.
"Okay, I'll go. I could use the company," Anna replied smiling at the girl. "First off, though, what's your name?" She asked knowing she hadn't introuced herself either, she quickly added. "My name is Anna."
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Post by SugarBug17 on Aug 3, 2012 20:26:14 GMT -5
Ettie held her breath while the girl looked her over. She was just dressed in a simple oversized sweater and a pair of leggins with her hiking boots, maybe it was a tad bit overly casual, but that was the way she felt comfortable. Alli was standing next to her, nuzzling her head against Ettie's hand as they waited. Finally after what seemed like a long time, she finally agreed to travel along with her. Ettie breathed a sigh of relief! She would feel horrible if the girl said no and got caught in the storm with her horse. "I'm Harrietta, but I beg you please do not call me that, I prefer Ettie. And if you don't like that, then call me whatever you would like to, just not Harrietta." She said with a jaw-wide grin. "And this is Allianna. You can call her Alli." Ettie said with a smile. They were silent for a few and then she smiled, "are you hungry, I have a couple of snack bars if you want one." She offered, taking a few out of her bag. "They are chocolate and peanutbutter."
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Post by animallover97 on Aug 3, 2012 20:57:22 GMT -5
Anna smiled and politely took one of the snack bars. "Thank you. I simply love chocolate!" she said happily glad she could have something sweet finally. Suddenly she motioned to her horse and said, "Her name is Vakna. She may take awhile getting used to you though," Anna said seeing as her horse and once again began to half hide behind of her. Anna laughed before turning her gaze back torwards the girl in front of her.
"So Ettie, how did you come to find out about Equus Amor?" Anna asked just curious to try to get to know the girl. Hopefully by the time they reached the cave she would know a bit more about her. She took a bite of her snack bar and looked at the girl expectantly her to answer or at least lead them in the direction of some of the caves.
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