Wild and Free #1: Freedom

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: SEARCHING

Zanzeph continues to watch from a distance as Sable and Marista run off into the forest together. "Now what is he doing?" He asks himself.

"Would you give that poor guy a break?" Tellis says as he munches on a some grass.

"I have to figure out what is going on with him!" Zanzeph says, and then he runs off into the direction that Sable and Marista went in.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tellis shouts after his brother.

"I'm going to follow them," Zanzeph replies as he continues to run.

Tellis sighs heavily. He hesitates for a moment, and then replies, "Okay, well... wait for me!" He then rushes after Zanzeph.

"Why did he run off again?" Marista asks Sable as they run through the forest, searching for Zedly. "What happened?"

"Let's just say, he didn't exactly love the idea of having a new mother," Sable replies. "I'm not sure if he really likes Copious."

"It's probably not Copious that he has the problem with," Marista says. "It's probably Zanzeph and Tellis that he doesn't like."

Suddenly, Marista stops running. "Maybe it's not such a good idea for Copious to adopt Zedly," she says.

"Why not?" Sable asks, also stopping. "What do Zanzeph and Tellis have to do with Copious?"

"Remember when I was telling you that Copious had two foals before?" Marista replies. "Well, Zanzeph and Tellis are her sons. And I'll just say, they weren't the nicest horses to Zedly."

"Wait," Sable says. "Zanzeph and Tellis are Copious's sons? How old are they?"

"Zanzeph is three, and Tellis is two," Marista replies.

"What did they do to Zedly?" Sable asks.

"Well, it was more what Zanzeph did to Zedly," Marista replies. "Tellis had nothing to do with it, but because he is Zanzeph's brother, I don't think that Zedly likes either of them.

"The day Meekla died, Zedly ran deeper into the woods. From what I understood, he just wanted a private place to grieve over his mother's death. Zanzeph is very nosy, so he followed Zedly, with a hesitant Tellis in tow. Once he found Zedly, he spied on the poor foal for a while as he cried over his mother. Zanzeph, trying to stir up trouble, went back to the herd and told them that Zedly was a crybaby and a coward."

Sable stares at the ground, thinking of everything this poor foal has been through. "That must have played a part in his attitude towards me yesterday," he says.

"Could be," Marista replies. "That happened only a few days ago. Since then, Zedly hasn't spoken, or even bothered to look at Zanzeph or Tellis." She pauses again, then adds, "I know it's nothing really big," she adds. "If anything, it just shows how immature Zanzeph is. But it still embarrassed Zedly." Marista and Sable now begin to walk through the forest as she continues, "I've never really liked Zanzeph, even when I was a foal. I grew up with Tellis, though, since we are the same age. We used to do everything together."

A small hint of jealousy bubbles up inside of Sable, but he doesn't allow it to come to the surface. He nods his head, and continues to walk as Marista continues to talk.

"I can't believe that Tellis turned out so sweet, but yet Zanzeph turned out so mischievous."

"So, do you think that it's still a good idea for Copious to adopt Zedly?" Sable asks.

"I don't know," Marista replies. "It depends."

Little do Sable and Marista know, as they walk through the forest, that they are being watched. Over in the bushes, Zanzeph and Tellis are hiding.

"Mom is thinking about adopting Zedly?" Zanzeph says in shock as he and Tellis watch Marista and Sable walk deeper into the forest. "I can't believe it! You'd think that she would have had enough of raising foals after the trouble you put her through!"

Tellis glares at Zanzeph. "Speak for yourself!" He replies. Then he adds, "I think having a younger brother would be nice."

"Trust me," Zanzeph says, staring at his brother. "It isn't nice in the least little bit!" At that, Zanzeph jumps out of the bushes and continues to secretly follow Sable and Marista.

Tellis hesitates at first, but then he continues to follow his big brother.

Marista and Sable continue to walk through the forest, calling out Zedly's name. As they go deeper and deeper, the forest begins to get darker and darker. Sable hears a few questionable noises, and he speeds up to stay close to Marista.

Marista is even feeling a bit uncomfortable, for she has never been this deep into the forest without something bad happening.

As the two horses continue to travel deeper into the dark forest, Sable begins to worry. What if something terrible happens while they're out here? What if something comes out of the forest, and he is unable to protect Marista? And what if something awful has already happened to Zedly? Sable would probably get blamed for it, and he would look like a terrible leader.

But then again, he already looks like a bad leader. This is the third time in two days that he has lost this foal! If one more thing like this happens, then the herd is guaranteed to run him off for sure.

"Wait!" Marista shouts, and Sable immediately stops in his tracks. "I think I heard something."

Both horses are silent, listening to the sounds of the forest.

"What did it sound like?" Sable asks, a little nervous.

"It sounded like a foal's neigh," Marista replies. "I'm pretty sure that it was Zedly." She is silent once again for a moment, and then she says, "I think it came from this way. Come on!"

As the mare runs through the forest, Sable tries his best to keep up with her. But his legs are beginning to grow tired.

"See," Tellis says to Zanzeph as they continue to follow Sable and Marista. "I told you that Sable wouldn't do something as mean as chasing a foal away. They're just trying to find him because he ran away."

"Yeah, but why did he run away?" Zanzeph replies.

Tellis rolls his eyes. "Maybe he didn't want to be your little brother," he says.

Zanzeph glares at Tellis, but chooses not to respond.

As Sable and Marista continue to search for Zedly, Zanzeph and Tellis continue to secretly follow them. But suddenly, as Zanzeph ducks behind another bush, he hears a bush behind him rustling.

"Be quiet, Tellis," he says. "You're going to give us away!"

"It isn't me," Tellis replies.

Suddenly, the two brothers hear a low growl. They slowly turn their heads to look at the bush behind them. What they see causes them to scream with fear.