Holly, Nocdus and Rain Colud

While Cloud was calmly looking at the rising sun he heard Holly and turned at her "Good Morning to you too, Holly." he said quietly, not to wake Nodcus up and smiled at Holly.

Holly just looked at him, "He is so amazing, he saved Nocdus from that fox and he is traveling with us!" She thought " I hope he stays..." Then Holly threw her head up in suprise as Nocdus leaped past her, calling "Good Morning!" before bounding in and out of the trees.
Holly called back," Save your stength Nocdus we are climbing the mountains today!"

Cloud was also suprised "Morning to you, Storm Bird!" he smiled "Save your streight, you two, the Mountians are hard." he walked forward to the bushes then stopped and looked back at them, waiting for them to follow.

Holly trotted over to Cloud with Nocdus by her side. "Ready when you are Cloud" She said. Then she trotted past him and started up the mountain side.

Cloud smiled at them and started up the Mountian Side. He got further ahead from them, but stopped and looked back at them.

Holly walked up to meet Cloud and watched Nocdus scramble up the slope.Then she broadend her gaze and caught her breath, although they were not that far up the veiw was incredible. There were trees as far as she could see and blue sky, below that there was a lake and even farther there were alien structers. "What are they Cloud" She asked in a whisper.
OOC-The alien structers I was thinking of are the buildings of a farm.

Cloud stopped and turned. He saw the Farm Buildings and remembered the same place he was long ago. He remembered how cruel they captured him and snorted "Humans..." . Cloud looked at them "Lets get going before they come after us." he cantered up the mountains and stopped, waiting for them.

Holly looked at Nocdus who had now caught up, "Come on Nocdus we must go fast!"Holly did not know what 'humans' were but from the terrified look in Clouds eyes she knew they were not friendly. She nipped her hindquarters to get her moving. Nocdus had only ever been nipped by her mother once before when there was a pack of cyotees chasing them. Now she could not smell any danger but she smelled her mothers fear and fed off of it untill both of them were galloping up to and past Cloud

Cloud looked at them, making sure they were in front of him. He turned for the last time at the Farm Buildings and cantered up after them.

Nocdus looked at Holly while they were running and said, "Mum why are we running still? I'm tired!" Holly looked back at Cloud who was just a few paces behind them and called, "Cloud! Nocdus can't keep running up the mountain! She's only 3 months old!" As she spoke Nocdus tripped and slipped down a few feet before regaining her balance and leaping up to her mother and stopping trying to catch her breath.

Cloud, luckily was right behind Nodcus and managed to stop her from slipping further down. He stopped, perking his ears, breathing heavily "We can stop for awhile, until Nodcus takes her rest." he looks back and hears a tiny human's voice coming from a not big distance. He perked his ears in that direction "What the... They are already here?!" he turned at them "I'm really sorry to force Nodcus even more, but the humans are almost here!" he trotted up to Nodcus and helped her regain her energy "I'll keep her balanced and if needed I'll carry her on my back until we get to the Mountains." he turned his head again, hearing them coming closer and closer, he turned at Holly "Get out of here! Save yourselves, I'll be fine!" he ran in the human's direction.

"Wait!" Holly called after him but saw it was a lost cause. "Come on Nocdus we need to go NOW!" she pushed her filly to her feet and nudged her up the next rise, "But Mum you said I could rest!" Nocdus protested. Holly looked back at Cloud who was getting smaller and smaller. "I know," she answered, "but there are dangouse animals coming we need to run!" She propeled Nocdus higher and higher,nipping her every so often. finally neither mare could go any farther and they stopped on an out crop to watch fo Cloud.

As Cloud ran to the humans he saw them, luckily without any ropes. He ran between them and bucked. He knocked down two of them and chased away the other three. As they try to corner him, Cloud charges at them and knocks them down. He leaves them there, fainting and breathes heavily - it wasn't easy as it sounded. Cloud watched them and three of them woke up. He charged at them, chasing them off. The three humans carryed the fainted bodies of the other humans away. Cloud snorted as if sayin 'Don't come back!' but they didn't understand him, they ran off, carrying the bodies of the others. After his long chasing off, breathing heavily, Cloud turned around, his head lowered, his legs barely holding him. He used his last streight and galloped back to Holly and Nodcus. He saw them, standing there, but it seemed that the humans were too tricky for him and he lost his streight. Cloud let out a whinny at Holly and Nodcus and collapsed, breathing heavily, no streight left...

"No!" Holly gasped and forgeting that she was near the top of a mountain she leaped down to Cloud in a very good impersanation of a mountain goat. She landed on the grass and galloped towards Cloud. She slid to a stop and bent her head and tried to figure out if he was hurt.

Cloud, breathing heavily, looked up at her. He was hit by a human with a pocket knife and had a scar on his front left leg and cheek. Anyways, the humans tricked him and tired him to the top. He barely lifted his head and got up, his legs still barely holding him "I-I'm fine..." he muttered under his breath, trying to keep his balance. They were smarter this time than he thought, last time he was with the humans. He kept his balance, but his legs still shaking. He noticed that Nodcus is not with Holly "Where is she?" he asked in a low voice.

Holly looked at the knife and said, "Shes safe I promise. Now you need to hold still while i get that thing out." She leaned over and grasped the handle of the knife with her teeth and pulled it straight out. "Now we need to put somthing on that.Just lay down and rest Ill be back soon."
Nocdus was still on the ridge and was watching silently as her mother helped Cloud. She had seen it done many times before in the herd, but that was before they got kicked out. She knew Holly would be able to help him no matter what.

Cloud saw the knife falling down. He closed his eyes tight but then calmed down and called Holly "No, I'm alright... I'll last until the Mountains, I promise." he limped to the cliffs and trotted up a little then stopped.

"Nonsense,"Holly said cutting in front of him, "I can see that wound and you can barley walk, this will only take a minute then we can leave I don't want that to get infected and neither do you." Her voice was soft but firm. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

Cloud lifted his head, ears perking. They went back "If this gets infected when we get to the Mountains, I'll die, knowing you and your young will be safe there!" he tilted his head, then looked at her.

Holly stamped her foot and said, "Urrg you stallions always thinking your going to be fine sheesh." She was worried but proud of him at the same time. She walked up to him and said, "Fine,but at any time at all durring our climb if it starts to hurt please tell me..." She closed her eyes breifly and thought to herself ,"I can't lose another to humans, I have never even seen them and alreay they have claimed 10 of my most loved ones!" She looked at Cloud and smiled.

Cloud's ears went back. He muttered under his breath with a low voice "All I brought to you was no more but trouble..." his ears kept back and he backed away a little "If I leave you, I guess no more trouble will come to you..." he remembered all he had done for his old friends, but all he brought to them was either trouble or death 'I can't stay with them... I don't want them to die...' he thought to his self. Cloud looked up at Holly "Humans never climb up the Mountains this time of the Season. You and Nodcus will be safe there until it ends. Later, you have to move either to the Meadow or the Marsh." he started to walk away...

"Wait!"Holly cried out, she galloped up to him, "I have lost so many loved ones in my life, my mother, my father, my mate, even my first foal Breeze, but I can't lose you to please, I... I, I love you," she finish quietly, "And Nocdus needs you to protect her, I can't fight off another stallion or a wolf... please stay" she hung her head.

Cloud stopped and turned at her "I understand.. I-..." he suddenly stopped from her last words. He kept his thoughts behind "I understand your pain, Holly. I also lost so many loved ones to those humans..." he took a deep breath and let it go "I'll be fine, you don't need to look after me. Its just a scratch." he lifted his right hind leg where the scar was. Cloud looked at her "OK, I will stay... But you don't need to worry about me, I've lived through it..." he walked forward to her then looked up, seeing that Nodcus was out of their sight. He gasped "Where is Nodcus?!" he ran in her direction.

Holly ran after him and was soon beside him. "She is just up the next ridge!" she called over the wind rushing past her ears from the speed.