Running Free

Chp 11

He stared at me blankly for a long time before finally showing an emotion; excitement.
"That must be so cool! I've never met a horse shifter, or really heard about them honestly, but I'm guessing that means you can turn into a horse. Oooh what does your horse form look like?" He didn't bother slowing down and it took me a moment to figure out what he'd asked. I glanced outside my window -which thankfully had a view of the field where Solaris was playing around.
"Y'know that black Arabian mare that was here and broke your leg?" I asked hesitantly, not gathering the courage to  look at him.
"Yeah?"
"I'm her. I promise I didn't mean to break your leg!"

His eyes widened and a grin spread across his lips.
"I know you didn't. Oh my gosh, this is so cool! Wait, why do you have Solaris? You're not old enough for a foal."
"When your dad sold me I went to the guys place but it was disgusting," my nose scrunched up at the memory.
"Horses were everywhere. Several piled into one stall, in the alley. It stunk like manure and urine too. While I was there I befriended a mare -Solaris' mom- and we grew quite close. She had me promise that if anything happened to her I would take him in. Not long later I woke up and the barn was on fire."

I shuddered and brought my fingers to the burn mark on my shoulder.
"I got this thanks to a plank of wood. Solaris' mom didn't make it."
"Poor guy..."
"Yeah..." I sighed and forced a smile on my face.
"But he's happy here. He's friends with Scotch and I try to distract him while I can. Anyway, speaking of your broken leg. How come it's healed already?"
He blinked at his leg as if he didn't realize it was healed and shrugged.
"I got the cast off while American Jewel- or rather you- were with the auctioneer. The doctors don't understand how it could've healed so fast but I'm not complaining."

"It's Stargazer actually." I muttered, folding my legs underneath me.
"What?" He questioned confusedly, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"My name. It's the name my dam gave me after all the panic when I was born."
"Panic?"
"...... It's a long story. Can we talk about it later?"
"Sure."
"Thanks."
"Guys time for dinner!" Ray called from downstairs, my stomach growling with unnoticed hunger since I never finished my lunch.
"Tomorrows going to be fun."

~~~~

Nothing else happened really, we ate and went to bed, setting something Raven called an alarm so we would get up in time. I sighed heavily at the annoying beeping noise that came from the clock and threw it at the wall, flinching as it crashed and broke into a bunch of tiny pieces.
I stared at it for a couple of minutes probably before I decided it would be best to get ready to go. I dressed in simple jeans and a shirt which I tucked partially into the waist and of my jeans and made my way downstairs, where Ray was already awake making some pancakes.

"Morning Jules." He greeted with a smile, setting a pancake on a plate and passing it to me.
"Morning Ray. Where's Raven?" I asked, taking a bite of the fluffy goodness.
"In the shower. He'll be down in a few minutes. I'm the meantime why don't you hurry and eat and then we can bring that Colt of yours inside the barn with the other horses. It's getting colder outside, I don't want him to freeze."
I frowned softly and peeled at him through my lashes, watching him cook the food. His back was to me so he didn't see my expression, but I really didn't want Solaris to go inside. Sure he was young, and he was born in a barn, but I wanted him to be able to be free.

I didn't bother replying to him, I knew if he really wanted to he'd make Solaris go into a stall, but he's asking for my sake. I glanced up as footsteps made their way downstairs and Raven appeared, his usually fluffy hair flat against his head, still dripping water.
"Raven Xavier Channing get upstairs and dry off better. You know better than to come down here like that." Ray scolded his son, waving the spatula around. I laughed softly as Raven frowned and marched back upstairs, his hair not moving an inch.

Roughly an hour later we were all dressed and ready to go, the trailer was hitched to the truck and Solaris was in a comfy stall with all the hay he could dream of. The three of us piled in and Ray began the drive towards the friends ranch, in hopes of cheering me up.
We drove for a few hours, singing and laughing, before we finally rolled down a seemingly familiar dirt road.
A frown made its way on my face and I stared outside at the trees, flashbacks of my not so grand escape flashing in my mind.

We're going back to the farm!
No duh
Wow thanks

My eyes were wide by the time we arrived at the house, but Ray kept us in the car a moment longer.
"Each of us can pick out one horse alright? And once everything's signed we'll go get some lunch."
"Yes sir." Raven and I agreed simultaneously, smiles on our faces.

Here ya go @Storm_Star2321 I've been really creative lately -probably the fact that I was up after midnight planning the next chapter(s) for SA- and decided to update this story just for u. Don't worry, I won't push myself. I'm actually really enjoying this, AND I have a plannnn~~~~~