A Friend in Need? (Miranda)

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

The chestnut gelding snorted, his head held low and lazy as he plodded along beside his owner. The brunet chuckled, patting the Mustang's neck affectionately. It was a beautiful day, and Chris couldn't see letting it go to waste. But it seemed that Blaze had other ideas. The lazy gelding didn't seem to want to do much of anything besides sun bathing, though Chris was shocked that he had been surprised in the least. His main riding horse was notorious for doing nothing but sleeping and eating. But that was only because no one went on the trails or around barrels with them. The originally wild horse had a passion for running, as paradoxical as it was.

But today, Chris was too tired for much work. He had originally planned on doing a bit of round pen work, but that idea had died quickly as he realized neither him nor Blaze had the motivation to work today. Instead, he had quickly snapped the deep blue halter on the gelding's head and taken him out for a walk. They had opted to take the back path that led from the barn around the arenas, behind the pastures, and finally to the round pen. Blaze seemed happy enough with the decision, especially when Chris stopped by the round pen and let the horse put down his head to graze for a bit.

Chris figured it was a good day to let the horse graze. The sun was shining but it was far from hot. And though he was tired, he had no intentions of going back to the dorms and spending his afternoon inside. He glanced up, for the first time realizing he could hear movement from the round pen, waiting to see who was using it and whether or not he was intruding.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda still felt like moping around, mourning Harr and missing Aros, but she knew that she couldn't neglect all of her other horses just because she had done the right thing for two. Deciding that she wanted to advance Cray's training, which had been slowing down recently, Miranda decided to take the mare into the round pen. She trapped Kalle in her room, which was still only hers, as no new roommate had appeared yet. Slipping into a bright green windbreaker, she headed towards the White Oak Barn. She stopped by the tack room to pick up Sye's brown saddle and bright saddle pad, along with a lunge line and nylon halter, then walked past the still-empty stall, second from the corner, that had just recently held her faithful old app. She dropped the tack, except for the halter, which she held out the mare, who didn't retreat fully. After a few moments, Miranda pulled the halter over her head.

With one hand on the lead rope, and the other carrying the saddle, pad, and lunge line, Miranda made her way out to the round pen. As she approached, she could see that it was still empty, and thanked her luck. She didn't feel like talking, and if she had to change her plans, she didn't know what to do with herself yet. She dropped the saddle and saddle pad by the gate, then led Cray through, into the pen. She unclipped the lead rope and hung it over the fence, along with the lunge line.

Walking into the center of the pen, she clucked to Cray, "Walk on." She smiled as the mare stood for a moment, then finally walked on. She turned with the mare, smiling as she noted to herself how much the mare had already changed, and barely noticed when the mare's attention shifted to something out of the pen. As the something, or someones, came into her view, she recognized them, of course. How could she not recognize Chris and his mustang? She remembered one of the last times that she had seen Chris, the time he had let her ride Shotgun, around the barrels. Trying to appear normal, she raised a hand in greeting and forced a smile onto her face, then flicked her hand at Cray, "Trot on."

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

A grin spread over Chris's entire face as he realized the person whose session he had interrupted. And it was a bit of a relief. Had it been even his own sister, he probably would have gotten yelled at to leave. But he was nearly sure Cray worked better with he and Blaze there. It seemed as though they always ran into each other at the Round Pen. Not that he was complaining. It was always great to see a friendly face. Blaze seemed far less thrilled as he continued to stand with his head held low. The only indication that Blaze was in fact alive besides the rising and falling of his sides were his ears which followed the sound of Cray's hooves.

Chris let out the bit of the lead rope he had been holding, giving Blaze more room as he took a few steps closer to the round pen, waving in her direction with a wide grin. It was at about that moment, when he caught a closer look of her face, that he couldn't help but feel as though something were not quite right. He lowered the lead rope in his hand, giving Blaze a bit more slack as the lazy Mustang began to nibble at the blades of grass, no longer concerned with what the younger mare was doing in the round pen. Chris was sure Blaze was probably just hoping Chris didn't get any ideas of working him after seeing the mare going through her paces.

"Hey, Stranger," Chris called out, smiling in Mir's direction. Normally, he wouldn't try to talk to someone who was working a horse, but he'd done it before when she was working with the dark colored horse and it hadn't caused much of a problem. "How have you been?" He let his eyes wander over the horse's figure before going back to her, staying there.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda heard Chris' voice and held out her hand to Cray, "Woah, there." She didn't want to stop the training session, but she knew that she would have to talk to him, and she didn't want to keep the mare moving while she explained. Setting her face, she walked over to the rail, keeping her smile on her face, "When I saw the thing you were pulling along, I knew I didn't have to clear the arena." She smiled, "Actually, I think he'd be glad if I didn't."

As he asked how she'd been, Miranda frowned, "You don't want to know, horrid." She leaned against the high rail, knowing that her composure was breaking, "I sold Aros on about a week ago, to someone who had enough time to actually finalize his training, and then, a few days ago, I had to put Harr down." She bit her lip to keep from crying all over again. Instead, she forced herself to look at the sorrel mustang that Chris had brought with him. Blaze was looking well, she mused, although, as usual, rather asleep. She often wondered how the mustang, who had been caught from the wild, could be so very calm now.

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

Chris watched Miranda as she began to motion to the mare again, but to his surprise, she stopped the horse. His brows furrowed as he moved closer, leaning against the outside of the round pen as she met him at the same spot only inside the arena. Her face seemed much different than it usually did. But he laughed as she spoke, looking over his shoulder at the gelding, not totally sure if Blaze was grazing or sleeping. "Hey now! Be nice. He's very clearly energetic as ever!" he chuckled, shaking his head as the gelding let out an unconvincing heave of a sigh. "But no, we haven't come to evict you. I'll be lucky if we even make it back to the barn before sunset," he added with another laugh.

His blue eyes softened as she spoke again, tilting his head curiously as she described things as horrid. He had known she wasn't quite herself, and that was surely why. He gently tugged the lead rope in his hand, bringing Blaze closer to the railing and giving the lead rope a lot of extra slack. As she began to explain her week to him, he wrapped the rope around one of the rails several times, tugging to make sure it was secure so that he wouldn't have to hold Blaze. He wouldn't tie any horse that way, but even if a bomb went off underneath the chestnut's sorrel's stomach, he wouldn't move an inch.

Chris's face fell as he processed what she had said. "Oh, Mir, I'm so sorry to hear that," he replied, giving her a sympathetic smile. He crouched down, sliding his body between the rails to let himself into the round pen, taking her in his arms for an obviously much needed hug. "But I'm sure it was for the best. Harr will thank you when he sees you again someday," he added, slowly releasing her from his arms. Deciding it was probably better not to talk about the sad event any further, he opted to ask about the less sad of the two. "Did the new owner tell you their plans for Aros?" he asked with a gentle smile. "Now you'll finally have time for that wackadoo over there," he added with a playful smile, nodding in Cray's direction.

[Miranda Florin]

Miranda nodded, "Yeah, there's something to be said for usually not being energetic. It always surprises people when you do something that actually requires waking up." She smiled slightly as he said that he hadn't come to evict her from the round pen, "I wish you luck with that endeavor, maybe you should tell him that you'll leave him alone once he's in his stall."

She watched as Chris tied Blaze to the rail, biting her lip to keep from crying. As Chris slipped through the rails into the round pen, she wondered what he was doing, although she didn't have to wonder for long. As he pulled her in for a hug, she wrapped her arms tentatively around him, glad that he had chosen to come in. At his statement, she nodded against his shoulder, "It was time, but that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye." She wiped her arm across her eyes, pushing away the few tears that had come into her eyes, as she heard his question, "They said something about wanting to turn him into a show jumper, but they didn't really close off any of their options yet." Knowing that he was trying to spare her from talking about the old gelding, she went along with it, "Yeah, the wackadoo over there needs a bit more training, for sure." She nodded at the saddle and pad laying by the gate, "But we did get to the point where I want to work on slowly getting her used to tack."

[Christopher Alexander Serraz]

Chris grinned, bobbing his head up and down in agreement at her comment. "That's why I can appreciate his overall laziness. We have the ability to shock people!" He chuckled softly, letting his eyes brush up and down over the chestnut Mustang who was perfectly happy to stand with his head hanging unenergetically. Chris knew he was a bit of a dead beet sometimes, but the horse really was his baby. Life without Shotgun, he could imagine. But life without Blaze? Never. He looked back to Miranda as she spoke, laughing a bit. "Now that might actually work!" he cried, raising up his hands as though he'd just had a eureka moment.

Feeling her arms wrap around his torso, he smiled softly, gently tightening his grip around the girl in an attempt to comfort her. It was odd how humans thought squeezing someone would help. But really, problems and sadness couldn't just be squished out of a person. Though, especially at this moment, he wished that were true. "I know," he replied softly, his large hands rubbing her back gently. He'd been depressed enough after having to send his beloved puppy Steel back home. And that wasn't anywhere near putting him to sleep. "That sounds like it's a good home for him. It's good they have a plan, even if it's not set in stone yet. They have goals to work towards with him," he added, nodding once as though to assure her he meant what he said.

Once they were no longer interlocked, he glanced over to the mare, smiling a bit. "Well, she looks a little less wackadooish since I last saw her. It seems to me that someone has been hard at work." He grinned down at her, rolling his shoulders back to release the tension from hearing her bad news. "Do you mind if we watch for a bit? We won't bother you, I promise!" He grinned like a young boy, watching her with hopeful eyes.