Wild and Free #1: Freedom

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: A RUNAWAY

"Y-you want to adopt Zedly?" Sable repeats, surprised. He never even thought about something like this, but now that it's been mentioned, maybe Zedly does need a parent. If nothing else, to make sure that the foal doesn't get into any more trouble.

"I just figured that another mother might do him good," Copious says. "I know that I could never replace Meekla, but I think that he needs someone to watch over him. I know that you try to do that, but there are some times when you simply can't be with him. I think that he needs someone with him right now, twenty-four seven."

Sable thinks for a moment. "Well, I guess that I could talk to Zedly about it," he replies, "and see what he thinks."

"I think he needs a parent no matter what he thinks," Copious tells Sable. "Even if I'm not the one, someone should still take him."

"I'll, um, get back with you on this matter," Sable tells Copious. He then heads off to find Marista.

"Marista!" Sable shouts once he finds her grazing a few feet from the herd. "I have something I need to talk to you about."

"Is everything okay?" The white mare asks, a little worried at first.

"A mare named Copious wants to adopt Zedly," Sable replies quickly.

Marista looks even more surprised than Sable had when the mare first approached him. "Copious? Are you sure it was Copious?"

"I'm pretty sure that was her name," Sable replies. "At least, that's the way I heard it."

"Did she have a white diamond on her forehead?" Marista asks, still unsure.

"Yeah, I think she did," Sable tells her, and is a little surprised to see Marista's mouth drop open. "What's wrong with Copious?" He asks.

"I just figured that she was done with taking care of foals," Marista replies. "She's already mothered two in her life."

"So, you don't thing that this is a good idea?" Sable asks.

"I don't know," Marista says. "I'm not sure if she could handle it as well as she thinks she could. Zedly is a wild, headstrong foal, and Copious is not as young as she used to be."

"Well, she's not too old, is she?" Sable asks. "I mean, she still looks plenty young enough to me."

"She's about six years old," Marista answers. "I guess she's not too old for it."

"Her other foals are already grown, right?" Sable asks.

"Yes," Marista replies.

"Well, I think that if Zedly is fine with it," he says, "then, maybe, it could be a good thing."

"Maybe," Marista repeats quietly.

Sable looks over at the herd, and spots Zedly. He turns his head back towards Marista, and takes a deep breath. He hopes that Zedly won't be like he was when he first met the foal yesterday morning. Zedly's two sides, a rude, lippy one, and a sweet, kind one, come up any time they want to. Sable never knows what kind of mood this foal will be in, but he hopes that it is the second one.

"Hey Zedly," Sable says as he approaches the foal.

Zedly looks up from his grazing at Sable.

"I have something that I need to talk to you about," Sable says.

"Okay," Zedly replies, and then he follows Sable outside of the herd.

Sable still can't tell what sort of mood Zedly is in, but he decides to go ahead and begin. Once they are alone, he tells the foal, "Do you know Copious?"

"Yeah, of course I know her," Zedly replies in a joking tone of voice. "I'm not new to this herd like you are!"

"Zedly, this is serious," Sable tells the foal.

Zedly's playful smile immediately disappears. "Okay then," he says, "What about Copious?"

Sable pauses, trying to think of the best way to phrase his next sentence. "W-well, you see," he begins, "She thinks that maybe, if it w-was okay, she thinks you should... have another mother."

Similar to Marista's reaction, Zedly's mouth drops open. "She wants to adopt me, doesn't she?" He asks.

Sable nods slowly.

The foal stares at the ground, not saying a word.

"Well?" Sable asks. "What do you think?"

Zedly looks up again, but not at Sable. He looks in the direction of the forest. He has a blank expression on his face, as if he is staring at nothing at all.

Sable isn't sure if he is pleased with Zedly's look. "Zedly?" He says, trying to get some kind of response from this foal.

Zedly suddenly glares at Sable. "No," he says. "I do not want another mother!"

"But you need someone to watch over you," Sable replies. "You're still a young colt. Someone has to take care of you."

"No they don't," Zedly tells the leader. "I can take care of myself!"

"I'm not sure that's true," Sable replies.

"Yes it is!" Zedly shouts. "I don't need Copious, I don't need Zanzeph and Tellis, and I don't need you!" The foal pauses for a moment, and then adds, "In fact, I don't even need this herd. I don't need anybody!" Defiantly, he runs off into the forest.

"Wait, Zedly!" Sable shouts. He runs after the foal into the forest. He can't believe it, but he actually cannot catch up to Zedly. A small foal, and he can't even catch up to him!

My legs must really be out of shape, he thinks. Who knew that running in the wild could make someone be able to run so fast?

Sable tries and tries to catch up to Zedly, but the colt is way too fast for him.

"Oh no," he says to himself under his breath as he watches Zedly disappear deeper into the forest. He then turns around and heads back to the herd.

"Wait... what do Zanzeph and Tellis have to do with Copious?" He wonders aloud, remembering what Zedly had said before he took off. Confused, he continues to run back towards his herd.

"Where did he chase that foal to?" Zanzeph says as he watches Sable come running out of the forest. "Or more importantly, why did he chase that foal?" He saw Zedly running into the forest, with Sable close behind him, and he figured that maybe the new leader had grown angry with Zedly.

"Are you sure that Sable was chasing Zedly?" Tellis asks.

Zanzeph glares at his brother. "Yes, Tellis," he replies, "I saw him myself. Our new leader just chased that foal into the forest!"

"I can't see him doing something like that," Tellis says, "But if you swear that that's what you saw..."

Sable continues to run until he sees Marista again, and he rushes toward her.

"Sable, what's wrong now?" She asks.

He stops right in front of her, completely out of breath. "Zedly... ran into the forest... couldn't catch him..." He manages to say.

"Zedly is gone again?!" Marista shouts.

"What do we do?" Sable asks.

Marista stares into the forest.

"We have to find him," she says determinedly.