Wild and Free #1: Freedom

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: THE CEREMONY

The four conscious horses finally make it back to the rest of the herd, with fainted Sable in toe.

"What happened here?" Relment asks Marista as he sees Sable laying on the ground.

"He just got too tired," Marista replies. "But I'll tell you the rest later."

"I hope he wakes up soon," Zedly says. "Because I have something important to tell him."

Marista smiles, understanding what Zedly means.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Zanzeph asks, but Zedly remains silent. Zanzeph stares at the foal questioningly, and then runs off into the midst of the herd.

Tellis smiles at Zedly, and then runs off after Zanzeph.

The other horses only have to wait about twenty minutes before Sable wakes back up. "Wha-what happened?" He asks Marista, Relment, and Zedly with a groan.

"Clandri saved you from the bear," Marista replies.

"What? How?" Sable asks, still a little bit dazed.

Marista replies, "I'll tell you later. But right now, Zedly has something that he wants to tell you."

Sable stands up on his wobbly legs, and then looks at Zedly.

"I've thought about what you told me, about Copious wanting to adopt me," Zedly tells the leader. "And I've decided that I'm willing to let her be my new mother."

Marista and Relment both smile, but Sable just stares at the foal in surprise. "You don't mind having Zanzeph and Tellis as your brothers?" He asks.

"Not too much," he replies. "Tellis is actually really nice, and Zanzeph apologized to me." The foal pauses to take a deep breath, and then he adds, "This will be a huge change in my life, but I am willing to except it."

Now, Sable finally smiles at the foal. If only Zedly knew how much change he has had to go through in his life to be here!

"So I guess you can go tell Copious now, and we'll have the ceremony tonight," Marista says.

Zedly smiles, and then runs off to find Copious.

Sable looks at Marista, confused. "What ceremony?" He asks.

"There is a special ceremony that has to be done between the orphaned foal, the new mother, her family, and the leader," Marista replies. "It denotes that the foal is now a member of that family, and that the leader of the herd approves."

"Okay, so how do we do it?" Sable asks.

"Let's go tell the herd that there will be an Adoption Ceremony tonight, first," Relment replies. "And then we'll tell you all about it and how to do it."

That night, as the bright moon shines down in the dark, black sky blanketed with twinkling stars, the herd of horses gather in a circle below a tall hill. Atop the hill stands Sable, with Copious, Zanzeph, and Tellis standing at the leader's left side.

Sable gives the signal, and Copious trots down the hill. Zanzeph and Tellis follow in a line close behind her. At the bottom, they stand side by side in a line in the center of the circle.

Sable, still on top of the hill, watches as Copious lets out a small, short neigh, and Zanzeph and Tellis remain silent. Relment told Sable that her doing this signifies her willingness for another foal.

Now, Zedly comes up next to Sable from the right side of the hill. Led by Sable, the two trot together into the middle of the circle and stop in front of Copious, Zanzeph, and Tellis. Sable's leading Zedly to the other three, as Relment told Sable before, signifies the leader's approval of the adoption, for he is leading the foal to its new family.

Next, the leader lets out a short, rough neigh. At this signal, Zedly rears up on his hind legs, and lets out the loudest whiney that he can. Relment told Sable before tonight that Zedly's doing this shows his willingness to join Copious's family.

Copious responds to Zedly's whiney with one of her own, signifying her acceptance of the new foal. Zedly now walks over to Tellis, and stands next to the horse, now forming a line of four.

Sable neighs once more, giving another signal. Copious, Zanzeph, Tellis, and Zedly all let out their own neighs at the same time, signifying their unity as a new family. As they continue to neigh, over and over again, Sable begins to do the same, once again showing the leader's approval. As this continues, the entire herd begins to neigh. This signifies the herd's acceptance of this family's new bond.

The neighing continues on for a few minutes. It is a loud, beautiful sound that can be heard all across the land. It can be heard from miles around, if there is even anything to hear it for miles around. It is a neighing that indicates a new addition to a small family. It is a neighing that indicates...

Change.