Born Free

Chapter 12

Two Months Later...

I look up at Raven, who has her thick, ebony winter coat already worn in for a month, and watch her toss her head up, and listen to what is behind her. I look, nothing. She then turns to her side and presses her nose to her belly, snuffling loudly. She looks at me and walks up close.

" Is it the foal?" I ask politely.

" Yes, it's kicking again." She sighs. Thunder look up, his winter coat is patchy against his body, just as mine. Just mine has come in more and faster. The snow layers on top of the soft mud new the water. We have moved to a different location, on behalf of Raven. She told me that she wanted to stay far away from any other hers, because she won't know when its coming. But, she told Thunderstorm that she just needed to move, be somewhere else. So, we found a quiet, frozen lake, surrounded by trees. A shallow part of the lake isn't frozen over, so we drink there. However, this morning, it was frozen over! I sniff the ice, wondering what to do.

" I could use a little help, please!" I call back to the horses. Raven trots up and places her nose near mine, her toasty breath warms my muzzle.

" Whats up?" She says looking around. I drop my nose to the iced over watering hole and she snorts. She picks up her hoof and I jerk away, thinking that she was going to strike me. But she just pounds on the ice, and after a couple more hits, a new hole in the ice has formed.

" What? Did you think I was going to hurt you?" She asks, her hoof still soaking in the icy water.

" Sorta. But, thanks, anyways!" I say back with enthusiasm. As she walks away, I dunk my muzzle in the water and drink, the bitterly cold water freezing my throat. When I've drunk my fill, I cough a couple times, the freezing water's aftermath. I turn around, only to see Thunder nuzzling Raven, affectionately. A fire, burning deep inside of me starts up, heating my cold body, but making me enraged almost instantly. I walk by, surprised that my hooves aren't burning holes in the snow, and paw at the snow, trying to find a decent piece of grass. After my hoof strikes the ground, I nose around, looking for something. I finally find a patch of dead grass, and eat that up. I wipe my nose on my foreleg and snort, getting the snow residue out of my nose. Thunder walks up to me and tries to nuzzle my nose. I turn away and put my tail to his chest, warning him to back off. He tosses his head up and trots away, turning back to me and nickering quietly. I throw my ears back and walk away, uninterested.

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My knees crack as I hunker down onto the pricing white snow. I lay my head into it and flip over, and it covers my body. I turn back over with a grunt and rise back up to my hooves, shaking violently. I look back at Thunder and watch him nervously pace the forest. He has been paranoid the past couple of hours, smelling things, and hearing things. Raven says that he is going crazy, but he is just watching for our safety. Then, he stops, throwing his nose in the air. He snorts and spins around, quickly return to us.

Raven spins around and bolts away with him. I'm left standing there, wondering whats gong on. Then, I smell it. A strange and weird smell. Thunder neighs to me and I turn and gallop, passing him in a second. My long and extended legs take me faster and farther away from the smell. Ravens big belly ripples as she gallops away, through the deep snow. Thats when I pass something that looks very strange. Stopping in my tracks, I smell it, the same, unusual smell on it. They are taller than me, and I can't stick my head through them. Thunder slows, but doesn't stop as he comes barreling in towards me. Then, I spot them. Three horses with weird shapes among their backs. Humans. I neigh in fright, rearing around and galloping after Thunder, for his protection. His ears turn to me, listening to my laboured breaths. A squeaking sound echoes through my ears, irritatingly. Then, the grey wall turns white. I shake my head back and forth, trying to see out. I collide into something in font of me, knocking me to my side. I struggle for air.

" Hey! That chestnut paint is down. She must've ran into the fence." I don't understand them, but the white wall must be called a fence.

" Close her gate!" Someone else yells. Scared, I haul myself back up to my knees and whinny for Thunder. One replies from a couple horse lengths away, and I spin around, seeing Raven's battered body laying on the ground. A red substance covers the snow from her neck. The smell, bitter. Blood. I rush to the fence and kneel down on my knees, stuffing my nose under the fence and sniffing Raven's body. She whinnies in pain, groaning and grunting. I look around, seeing a bent part in the fence. I run over to it and smash into it, striking it with my hoof. I lope back away and when I'm far enough away, I lope at it. I jump, taking my hooves off the snow and thats when my mistake shows. My front hooves clip the fence, and I tumble over the fence furiously. I thump on the ground hard and painful. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my front right leg, I rush to Raven's side. She lets out a long, and petrifying neigh. I now see that her front legs and chest are scratched up too, pouring blood over the snow. Her white bones showing against the blood on her legs.

" We have a down one, over here!" A loud voice booms near me. I look up and see a human on a Buckskin mare. I can see the look in her eye; regret. She lowers her head, close to Raven's. I stamp at her, protective over Raven.

" She must've run into the barbed wire. Is all scattered everywhere." She says in a soft voice.

" Who are you?! And what are you doing?" I snap at the mare. Her strange marking on her shaped face gives her a funny look, and her black forelock is in her eyes.

" My name is Sailor, and these humans are rounding you up." She says quietly. I snort, the throbbing pain in my leg coming back.

" What does that mean?" I quiver, my sweat turning cold.

" It means... that you have been captured."

Authors Note-
Oh, my gosh. What a plot twist. I could not find the right place to stop, but eventually, Sailor told all. I really hope you like it! Thank you! -Acacia