Fright or Flight: Blade pt5

Blade left the small band of loshenkas, wondering if maybe he should have stayed with them. They’d seemed nice enough, if a little quirky. That white one in particular seemed to really have a problem with humans. He wondered what burr had burrowed under her saddleblanket. Whatever it was, he wished her all the best in getting over it. He certainly wasn’t sticking around to find out how it went. He still had to find a way back to his humans. He missed her, and he had no doubt that she also missed him.

He did not head off right away, but stayed in the meadow to rest for a while. He grazed, drank from the stream and soaked his grazed knees in the cool water. Only once he was ready did he head off on his search for his human again. He left the open meadow and returned to the forest, following the direction that the wild loshenkas had given him. The forest was cool and shaded, not a bad place to be as the day wore on. He liked it here. Plus he was getting better at navigating it too. He could probably carry a rider through the forest safely, provided that he kept a close eye out for low hanging branches.

The leaves of a bush rustled to his left. The stallion paused, head turning towards the noise. That didn’t sound like the wind rustling the leaves. It was different, shorter, like something brushing against them. A creature maybe? The scented the air, nostrils flaring. He didn’t smell anything but the feeling of being watched prickled at the hairs behind his ears. Something was out there.

Arching his neck, Blade pawed at the ground. “Come out”! he whinnied, hiding his nervousness behind a brave facade. It was probably just a harmless wild creature but if it wasn’t… “I’m not scared of you!”

A low rumble emanated from the bush, a small warning before a large feline leapt towards him. Blade reared up, whinnying loudly and flailing his hooves at the beast. The mountain lion for he was sure that was what it was, shrunk back to avoid getting a hoof to the face. It growled, baring its teeth. Long sharp teeth.

Blade was not about to let himself be someone else’s lunch. He’d gone through too much, travelled too far to be eaten by some oversized barn cat. He wished he’d paid more attention to the chatter around the barn when the other horses were talking about the kind of predators that lived out there. They’d told of all kinds of bears, bobcats, mountain lions, wolves, and even some nasty badgers that would hurt you if you got too close. Too bad that chatter hadn’t been about how to fend them off. The worst he’d ever had to deal with back home were snakes, and those moving ropes could be dealt with by a few stomps to the head as long as you got them before they bit you. They didn’t have predators large enough to hunt horses, so it was usually a non issue. Home seemed safe compared to this.

“Get back!” Blade roared, rearing up again, trying to figure out what to do.

The mountain lion growled and hissed, tail lashing out behind it. In that moment he saw it for what it was. When it came down to it, it was just a big cat. It might have much larger claws and teeth, but it was still a cat. Cats he knew how to deal with. Most importantly, cats could easily be scared.

With a furious whinny, Blade charged forward, slamming his front hooves on the ground with each leap forward. The mountain lion was forced to retreat lest it risk its skull being crushed. He continued the chase in this aggressive way even as the mountain lion snarled and hissed trying to regain some control of the situation. But Blade didn’t give up. He was determined to see his girl again and he would fight off this mountain lion as if she was right there and needed his protection. So he screamed and kicked and stomped. Once the mountain lion caught him across the nose with a claw but he kept up the relentless charge.

His hoof stomped down on the mountain lion’s tail and it gave a pained yowl. Blade reared up again, aiming for the shocked kitty’s skull. It dodged out of the way and kept running. Not missing a beat, the almond stallion chased it. He screamed and hollered after it for a dozen metres until slowing.

“That’s right, you’d better run! Don’t mess with this stallion!” He huffed, catching his breath after the wild run. With a final snort, he turned back, letting his heavy breathing slow down. That wasn’t exactly how he’d like to deal with creatures but somehow he didn’t think that mountain lion would otherwise listen to reason.

The adrenaline fading, he realised how lucky he was to have made it out with his life. He’d come far too close to losing his life. Shaking off the thought, he was more determined than ever to get back to his human.

Remembering the scratch to his nose, he leaned down to rub it on his foreleg. He left some blood behind and it stung, but it wasn’t too bad. It could have been a lot worse and for that he was grateful.

With the thought that the mountain lion was still in the area, Blade took one last look behind him and hurried onward.