Phase One: Homecoming

Spring had dawned bright and early on Wild River Ranch, though the bright sunlight had yet to awaken everyone who called the sleeping, fog blanketed ranch at that early hour. But there was one person, already awake, who stood on the main ranch house porch, a coffee cup filled with steaming coffee, in hand. Hitomi Sapphire Corvinus Celeste. The only living ancestor to Alexander Corvinus and owner of the massive, 6000 acre ranch in which her family had owned since the early 18th century. It'd been a gift, more or less, from the first King of England. King George the First, or George as he'd been fondly called, had loved Hitomi's ancestors after her ancestor's father had saved the King from being killed during battle. After winning many such brutal battles for 18th century England, King George had then awarded her family the acreage which, over subsequent years, grew to it's 9000 acre size. Today was an early day for her however. Ancestry aside, Hitomi now stood on the front porch, her gaze on the main road that lead a winding path to the main yard. For all intents, many would rightfully assume, that by starring to the East, she was waiting to watch the sun rise, but this was farthest from the truth. The reality was, she was waiting on the Wild River Ranch horse trailer to arrive with a new horse. A rescued Loshenka. From what she'd read in the very brief email, the horse had been surrendered by it's working farm, as it was seemingly terrified of livestock of any kind. This had raised some very serious questions for Hitomi. Questions in which, no one seemingly had answers too.

Sipping her coffee, she smiled when strong arms gently hugged her from behind as her husband, Lucian, came up from behind her and gently nuzzled her neck. "You're up early love." He whispered, his own voice still filled with the layers of sleep. "Mmmm, Jason'll be here soon and I'd like to see what this horse is all about." She replied as Lucian chuckled. "Is that why our prized Angus is in the holding pen?" He questioned as Hitomi shot a glance to the jet black bull who acted more like an oversized dog than a cow. "Mhm. They say this horse is beyond terrified of livestock but they sent me nothing. No videos, no photos, just words. And I believe words about as far as I can throw them." She replied as Lucian chuckled softly. "Just be careful." He stated as he made a point to rest his hands over a faint bump on her abdomen and smiling, Hitomi curled into his arms. "You know I will." She replied as Lucian nodded but they both looked up when a horn sounded and seeing the sleek, black rig slowly coming into view, Hitomi sighed. While she wasn't anxious, she was worried. What had provoked such a strong reaction that a highly prized breed of horse would end up at a rescue center? While she didn't dislike such places, she also didn't like them. After getting so many other horses from such facilities and then having to cover massive vet bills due to injuries the horses sustained while at such facilities, she was half fearing what she'd see. Was the horse in good condition? Was she going to be footing a vet bill she shouldn't have to foot? Or was there an even worse issue, she wasn't aware of, that the rescue hadn't disclosed to her? All these concerns were what ran through her mind in that moment.

As the rig came to a halt and then parked, she listened as the airbrakes came on, and then Jason and Clare, her ranch and race vet, climbed down from the rig. "How'd she travel?" Asked Hitomi as Clare smiled. "Beautifully. She slept the entire way here but woke as soon as she caught Jefferson's scent. She's sweated up a storm since." Stated Clare as Hitomi scowled, not liking how this was going. The rig and trailer were air tight with fresh air pumped into the trailer portion via a fresh air system. How then, had this mare caught her bull's scent was beyond her. "Do you want her sedated?" Asked Jason as Hitomi shook her head. "No. I want and need to see what we're dealing with. We can't help her if she's doped up." She replied as Jason nodded. "Back up to the round pen?" Asked Jason as Hitomi nodded and then watched as he climbed back into the truck and once he had the engine going, began to slowly back up to their reinforced training round pen. With bars that went eight inches into the ground and cemented firmly in place, she knew the mare could slam herself into the pen's rails and they simply wouldn't move. And at nearly 10 feet tall, there was no risk of the mare jumping out either. With the top and middle bars heavily padded, the risk of injury was as minimalized as they could make it. Once he'd backed up, Jason parked the truck and climbed down and opened the back doors to the trailer and secured them before he entered via a side door and after untying the mare, lead her to the back of the trailer and out into the round pen. Removing her lead shank, he quickly shut the gate behind him before climbing back into the truck to park it elsewhere.

Having moved to the pen, Hitomi watched as the smokey black mare gazed about in confusion until her gaze settled on Jefferson and instantly, she watched as the mare froze, terror filling her gaze. Keeping her gaze on the mare, Hitomi watched as she seemed to explode mere seconds later, as soon as Jefferson simply twitched his tail. It was enough to send the mare into a neighing, screaming, panic filled frenzy. "No one enters this pen!" Shouted Hitomi after watching as Clare had prepared to do just that. "Hitomi, she'll injure herself if we don't sedate her!" Shouted Clare as Hitomi kept her gaze on the mare before she climbed to the top rail of the pen and then jumped down into the pen itself. "Lucian. Can you bring up Blackstar?" She asked as he nodded. Standing there, Hitomi watched as the mare spun about and trotted the short distance from one side of the pen to the other, all but soaking herself in anxiety induced sweat. Was the mare truly terrified? Absolutely. But Hitomi had seen something prior to her exploding into her frenzy. She'd seen a mare who was confused, curious, anxious but willing to learn. All these things, she'd seen till the mare's gaze had settled on Jefferson and he'd simply moved his tail. Hearing a snort, she turned and smiled when Lucian brought in her black Arabian mare, Blackstar. Rubbing her mount on her neck, she swung up onto her bare back and moving over to where a coil of rope was, Hitomi grabbed it, and quickly swung it and watched as it looped over the other mare's neck. Slowly, she coiled the rope in and in doing so, forced the other mare to come and stand next to Blackstar.

"Shhhh. You're safe beautiful." Soothed Hitomi as the mare whickered softly, her head tossing up till it came to rest over Blackstar's withers. "I think we'll call you Cahira. I think you'll be a warrior soon enough, we just need to get you over this lump in your training. And that's all this is, a lump. A mole hill that's been turned into a mountain by someone or something. But we'll figure it out, together. Just know that Jefferson's not gonna hurt you. He's just a dog in a cow's body." She stated softly, noting the mare had slowly calmed down. "Alright, let's get you inside for the night. It's supposed to storm and I'd rather not have you outside when it does. Think we can do that without you freaking out?" She asked as Cahira whickered and smiling, Hitomi reined her over to her right, thereby blocking her view of Jefferson. "Alright. Open the gate." She called as Jason quickly opened the round pen's gate and walking through on Blackstar's back and leading Cahira next to them, Hitomi quickly rode into the barn where a large box stall had been prepared. Inside, she dismounted and tied Cahira into the cross ties before brushing her sweat stained coat down of the grime. Once done, she blanketed her with a light blanket before putting her in the stall with Blackstar to keep her company. "Think she'll settle?" Asked Jason as Hitomi tapped a finger on the stall door ledge. "I'm not sure but there's more to her story than her just not liking cattle or livestock. Something's happened to her at that farm. And I'm going to find out what." She replied softly as Jason nodded even as the first hints of thunder rumbled in the distance.