A Strong Bond (Open to All)

[Pax]

Pax && Keeta

Paxton Barnett pulled up to the side of the boarder's barn, bringing her father's old red truck and horse trailer to a screeching halt. She winced and looked out the side window, obviously embaressed about the fact that she was forced to drive her father's twenty year old truck around everywhere. It wasn't the most glamourous ride, but it would do for now. It's not like having a nice car was that big of a deal here anyways. Or so she thought...

A loud whinny echoed from the two-horse trailer hooked up behind the truck, bringing Pax back to earth. She laughed and spoke to her beautiful Mustang mare: Alright, alright! I'm coming girlie. Relax - we're home now. Well, it's your home, not mine... Haha! She smiled and reached inside the back of the trailer to pat the chestnut pinto's dusty rump. Pax frowned and gave her horse a sympathic look. You poor thing. You're all dirty. I'll brush you off really well once I can get you out of here.

Pax sighed and pushed her long blonde hair from her face. Then, she began unloading the Mustang. She spoke softly to the horse, keeping the mare calm and collected. The last thing Pax needed right now was to have the pinto get hurt and keep her from being ridden. When the mare was off the ramp and out in the sunlight, she lifted her delicate head up in the air and flared her nostrils, taking in the sights and smells of the new barn. The mare stood quietly at the teenager's side and waited for the familiar tug at the lead rope.

When it came, the chestnut pinto followed Pax into the barn where they found their stall and Pax looked it over before allowing her horse to go inside and relax. She placed her hand on the mare's blazed face, as she always did whenever she needed to take a moment to communicate with her horse. It was their special ritual and they'd always done it - ever since Pax tamed the young mare. Pax smiled and pulled her hand away.

She walked back out to the truck and made sure it was locked up before retrieving her old leather western saddle and bridle. She took them into the tack room, searching for a place to keep it for now. When she did, she carefully put it down and made sure to hang the bridle over the horn so it wouldn't fall on the surprisingly clean floor. It made her chuckle to herself thinking about how nice this place was and she felt a bit out of place with her old truck, old saddle, and old bridle. Pushing the negative thoughts to the side, she grabbed a brush and walked back out to her stall.

Pax went into the stall with the pinto mare and began to brush her horse's chestnut and white coat. Soon, dust filled the room and the only thing that didn't seem to have dirt on it was the horse, whose body now shined. Pax smiled and gave the mare a kiss on the nose before leaving the stall again. She returned the brush back in her grooming back and looked around at all the other horses and people busy with their own buisness. She sighed and wondered if she would ever make any friends here.

[<>Trinity<>]

Kelly McClain && Rambling Gambling Man

The clop of horse hooves was something Kelly was very familiar with. Before her family's recent divide, her dad had owned several horses in Kansas. Of course they had all been sturdy stock horses, mustangs or quarter horses, often mixed breeds. Kelly and her twin Jill had never been as into the rodeo and working scene as their older brother Aaron but they had left that to their dad and brother, it was a guy thing right? Sure, Jill and Kelly had both had horses but neither of them had ridden consistently until acquiring their current mounts. Now in Ravenhook, Virginia, boarding their horses at a clean and open boarding stable where champion warmbloods and rare draft breeds were kept, Kelly had to honestly say she felt so far out of place it wasn't even funny.

Jill fit in fine with her expensive warmblood, Smoke Signal and Aaron had had a few months to adjust before Jill and Kelly had been dumped with him and their uncle Richard. Now though, with Jill off making friends in a fancy English saddle and Kelly riding a battered western saddle on a mustang she felt quite out of place.

Sighing, the blond patted the neck of her bay paint stallion as she trotted him into the stable yard. Gambit snorted and twitched his ears curiously before turning his attention to the approaching barn. His red and white form was covered in dust because of their recent practice but other than that Gambit was still just as handsome as ever, or at least that was what Kelly thought as she rode him into the stable. He might not be some fancy warmblood or hot-blooded thoroughbred but he was more than enough for her.

Swinging herself out of the saddle, Kelly led Gambit into the barn, pushing her long dirty blond hair behind her ear. She was wearing worn out blue jeans and a loose t-shirt she'd gotten from some rodeo her brother had ridden in a few years back. Counting stalls, Kelly watched the vaguely familiar horse names blur past until she came to a stable door marked with a plaque reading "Rambling Gambling Man." Smiling, she unbolted the stall door and led the mustang into it. Gambit snuffed and perked his hears, interest caught by the appearance of someone in the next stall over.

Crouching slightly, Kelly went about unstrapping Gambit's saddle but looked up when the stallion snorted in an almost exicted manner. Straightening up and pulling the saddle from his dusty back, Kelly looked around in time to see another girl, unfamiliar, standing in the stall next to Gambit's with a paint mare from the looks of her. Kelly looked away and draped the saddle over the half stall door and turned for Gambit's bridle.

Gambit however, moved away from his girl and leaned his head over the wall seperating stalls, snorting to the mare, ears perked forward in interest. Kelly frowned and snagged the reins, giving them a tug.

"Behave Gambit, no need to try flirting" Kelly scolded, moving to slide the bridle off. Kelly looked over at the girl and smiled, patting Gambit's neck once he was free of the bridle. "Sorry about him, he's a bit...curious at times." Gambit snorted and swished his black tail, stretching his neck toward the unknown mare looking rather rediculous.

[.~.T.e.a.k.~.]

Natasha Morgan // Shout Out
Nisha // Sonny

I can't believe I'm actually stuck here... Her voice was low, not angry or upset, just annoyed and more subdued than anything. Nisha had made it almost out of state before she'd been caught. She'd been so close, so close... then she'd had to stop to put gas in her car and darned be if the state troopers hadn't pulled up alongside her. Her car had been towed back while she'd ridden, cursing, screaming, and muttering under her breath in the back of the police car back to the station, where she'd had to wait for almost a day for her foster mums uncle to pick her up. She. Was. Not. Happy.

She'd been yelled at, 'grounded', ungrounded, yelled at some more, and had eventually tuned the man out as he continued to yell himself hoarse at her, then had been sent to her room for the night when she'd finally gotten tired of it and had started screaming back. Earlier this morning, she'd been commanded to go to the stables and think over what she'd done... her 'uncles' exact words had been "I don't want to see or hear you right now."... and she'd gladly left, leaving a cutting remark as she's waltzed out the door.

Her feet had taken her to her car, and from then to the stables... She was unsure as to why... she hated horses, hated the country... perhaps it was just that it seemed so calm here... a 'break from reality', so to say. It was here that she'd sat in her car for almost an hour after arriving and just cried, her thick mascara running as she let out all the anger and frustration she was going through. She hadn't even spoken to 'her boys' lately... even though they'd said they'd call. She was worried for them... they could take care of themselves, yes... they were all her age or older... but they were her real family, and she wanted to know that they were ok, and none had been in a fight or something.

Her spagetti-strap grey and black Go-Army shirt was tight, sticking to her body like a second skin and ended just above her bellybutton, showing off both her tanned, flat stomach and her belly-button ring. Her jeans were matching grey and black, but unlike her shirt, the jeans were loose and baggy, barely hanging onto her hips by a thick black leather belt. She wore combat boots, and the black choker around her neck, small studs in her ears, and armbands on her wrists completed the outfit. She looked every bit like a punk, like herself... except for her ruined mascara and the black streaks that trailed down her face.

It had taken almost half an hour for Nisha to get the nerve up to exit the car and enter the barn after she'd stopped crying. She'd tried to wipe away the make-up streaks, but had only half-succeeded. She'd managed to make them fade, but not go away completely. Now she was standing inside the barn, in the aisle, staring at the horse her "uncle" was boarding for her. Quite honestly, she didn't even know if the man realized (or cared) that she disliked the animals. The palomino horse stared back at her balefully. His gleaming golden colored coat was dusty and muddy, his mane and tail matted with tangles, hay, and dirt/mud. Nish only knew that the horses name was Sonny, registered as 'Shout Out'. She didn't care, one way or another... she didn't think. Underneath the mud and dirt, the horse was built beautifully and was beautifully colored... but Nish couldn't see the beauty. The 'ghetto punk' breakdancer only saw a dangerous animal that she wanted nothing to do with.

But if she truly hated horses... then why had she driven to the stables in the first place?

Dangerous at both ends, strangely colored, odd-looking... probably just waiting to get a chunk outta me... I don't like you, you'd do well to not like me either, 'cause I'm not your 'friend', I'm not your 'owner', and I'm darned well not getting you out so you can kill me. S'you can hang that up. She stated after careful evaluation of the animal, so obviously not seeing the beauty in the tall, registered, palomino Quarterhorse. Nisha's voice was rough. Her long auburn colored hair hung limply down her back and was held back by her ever present cap, though this time it was hot pink and black.

[Pax]

Pax & Keeta

Paxton heard the horse and rider approach and glanced back momentarily. She smiled, they were in the next stall. She hoped the girl leading the beautiful bay paint was friendly. As she continued to brush Keeta, she saw a curious nose peeking out towards her stall and laughed. When the girl spoke, she looked up and smiled. Oh, it's no problem. Keeta doesn't mind at all. She smiled when her own paint took a few curious steps to touch noses with the stallion. He's gorgeous, by the way. Her voice was soft as she spoke, not wanting to spook the horses. She looked to the girl again and grinned, My name is Paxton. You can call me Pax though.

While she waited for the girl to respond, she glanced towards the two horses again. She was glad, no... overjoyed to see her horse show no agression whatsoever to the bay paint. It was quite unusal for the mare to be so friendly. Well, at least she isn't trying to bite his head off, she though to herself.

As Pax watched the horses, she couldn't help but overhear the person in the stall on her other side. She looked up momentarily to see another girl and her horse. She spoke to her horse in a way Paxton would never speak to Keeta. She couldn't believe what she heard. How could this girl be so hostile? It surprised her, but she didn't want to get involved. It bothered her, but she definitely didn't want to become enemies with someone on her first day here.

OOC: Sorry, this is kinda short. I didn't have alot of time to type.

[<>Trinity<>]

Kelly smiled shyly, feeling a little akward without her twin or older brother looming around. It was always easy to depend on either Jill or Aaron to steal the spotlight. Jill sometimes did it intentionally but not always. Aaron never tried, it just happened because girls apparently had short attention spans when cowboys were around. Kelly never thought of her brother as "hot" or anything but when he was around it was easy to be overshadowed even if he had no intentions of such things. That wasn't happening now though, it was just her, Gambit, Pax and her mare. Definitely not a situation Kelly was all too familiar with especially in a new stable in a new town miles and miles away from home in Midridge, Kansas.

"Thanks" Kelly said with a smile when Pax complimented Gambit. Gambit snorted and continued curiously investigating his new stall-neighbor, making Kelly smile a little. "I'm Kelly. Me and my sister moved here to live with our brother and uncle but," Kelly glanced around, "they're not around I guess."

Looking across the aisle at the stall labeled "Smoke Signal," Kelly saw her suspicions were correct. Jill was gone and farther down she could see a palomino standing in his stall next to an empty stall. Apparently Comanche was still resting up and Aaron was gone with Heart. Typical. Ride with a broken wrist. Aaron was a freaking genius. Kelly rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the other girl just as bits of conversation floated to her from the girl on Pax's other side.

A frown came onto her face as she pushed her long blond hair behind her ear. What was wrong with that girl? She'd never heard somebody talk that way about a horse. Gambit snuffled and flipped his ears around, nickering softly and stomping his hind hoof lightly making Kelly step aside to keep from being stomped.

"Watch it Gambit" Kelly chided lovingly, patting the bay paint's neck. Kelly looked over at Pax. "Is everybody around here like that?" Kelly asked, nodding to indicate the girl in the stall on Pax's other side without looking at the hostile person, bringing the brush over Gambit's splattered side.

[Pax]

Pax&Keeta

As Kelly introduced herself, Pax listened attentatively. She had begun to comb out Keeta's long mane as she listened. She looked up and smiled when Kelly finished. Oh? I overheard a few of the other students a little while ago talking about your brother. They were talking about how he broke his arm, or his wrist. I wasn't really paying attention so I'm not sure if I heard right. She sighed and rubbed her mare's shoulder. She thought about how cool it must be to have brothers and sisters. She hated being an only child. The only good thing about it though? She had Keeta. That was all she needed to be happy. And of course, her friends.

When Kelly also heard the other girl behind Pax, she frowned and gave Kelly a surprised look. I really hope not. I came here because this place looked really nice and everyone seems friendly so far. She shrugged and glanced around at the girl in the stall behind her. She hoped that girl didn't mean what she said to her horse, she really did.

OOC: Once again, Im sorry it's so short. I promise next time, it'll be longer than this.

[.~.T.e.a.k.~.]

The palomino gave her a bored look and sighed, lowering his head some and shuffling over to the other side of the stall to peek over at the two other girls and their horses. Sonny nickered a greeting, ears pricking attentively. His dirty forelock fell over his eyes and he tossed his head, stomping a hoof. He'd not been messed much lately...

Nisha uncrossed her arms and finally picked up the lead that lay flung over the stall door. She detested bringing the animal out... she was sure that, at any given moment, the big horse would decide to hurt her and she didn't like feeling helpless... though i seemed as though that had been a feeling she'd been feeling more often then not lately.

She slapped the lead against her leg as she started to slowly unlatch the stall door. Why was she here again? Oh yeah, this was her punishment for finally getting caught... She didn't dwell on the thought and slowly slid the bolt back to pull the door open. Nisha heard the two girls talking, but she didn't look towards them but for a small glance. They looked at ease and friendly, very unlike herself... They were relaxed with their horses, whereas she just wanted to leave and forget about the injuries she was positive she was going to get from messing with the yellow horse. Speaking of him...

Hey, yellow horse... C'mere you. She said roughly, edging the door open a few more inches. She bit the inside of her cheek and funbled with the lead, her words having no effect whatsoever on Sonny. Hey, listen t'me when I talk t'ya!

At last... the horses head turned to eye the half open stall door, and he moved forwards, towards his owner, eager to get out. Nisha took half a step back as the horse came nearer and started to close the stall door, dropping the lead on the cement. N-not that near! She exclaimed, freezing in place when the gelding poked his head over and lipped at her long auburn hair.

Sorry it's been so long, guys... I've been very busy...

[Pax]

As she continued to talk with Kelly, Pax couldn’t help but overhear the flow of words coming from the mouth of the girl in the stall behind her. She turned her head slightly and saw the palamino poking his nose through the bars to greet her. She smiled and for a moment forgot about what she had heard seconds earlier. She stepped over and reached out to rub the gelding’s velvety nose when she noticed the bits of straw in his tangled forelock. She frowned and looked up at the girl, her facial expression was stern. Just as she was about to say, Don’t you think you should brush out his mane and forelock. He looks filthy., the girl spoke again and the palamino gelding turned to her and lifted his head, nipping playfully at her long hair.

Pax watched and couldn’t help but laugh a little to herself. The girl’s facial expression was quite an interesting one and she could barely keep herself from letting out a tiny laugh. Umm, Is everything okay over there? She spoke softly to the girl, but her voice possessed a little twinge of annoyance. She just didn’t get why this girl was so disrespectful to her horse. Pax and Keeta respected each other, and that was why they were such a good team. She smiled at the thought of Keeta and turned to look at the pinto mare, whose head was still hanging over the stall door, trying to smell Gambit. She whistled and the Mustang pulled her head back into the stall. Then, the mare turned and faced Pax, letting her nose rub along her owner’s shirt. Pax laughed and brushed the slobber off. Then, the blonde placed her hand on her horse’s soft nose. With her other hand, Pax ran her fingers along the pinto’s speckled neck and side. While she rubbed Keeta, Paxton turned to Kelly for a moment, mouthing the words: What is wrong with her?. Her facial expression was one of confusion and curiousity. She shrugged and turned back to the girl in the next stall, waiting for her to say something.

[<>Trinity<>]

Nodding as Pax talked, Kelly put Gambit's curry brush back into the kit and dug around for the mane comb. Finding the comb, Kelly straightened up to see a palomino gelding greeting Pax and smiled. Whatever the other girl's problem was, it was hard to think the gelding was to blame. He didn't look like a risk horse, gentle enough when Pax was petting him. Noticing the frown on Pax's face, Kelly leaned forward a little around Gambit and Keeta to see bits of straw in his mane and forelock, dust over his pelt either from the rings or just gathered from not being brushed in a while. Compared to the well-groomed Gambit and Keeta, he looked in need of a decent bath and brushing.

"Yeah, need some help?" Kelly offered when Pax did, leaning out of Gambit's stall door as Pax called Keeta back to attention and catching the mouthed words from Pax.

Kelly just shrugged and mouthed "Risk kid" back with a slight smirk. It had been a program back in Kansas called "Saving Angels" that had taken juvie kids and other risk teens and paired them with well-trained, lovable horses. Kelly had always questioned the program because she didn't like the idea of some criminal hurting an innocently sweet horse just because they either didn't know what they were doing or didn't care. She would hate it if anyone tried to draft any of her family's horses for such a program.

Gambit was too lighthearted to stand somber risk kids. Comanche might manage but it was hard to see Aaron letting him go to a problem child. Heart was too wild and Jill was too protective of Smoky to even think about it. The risk to the horse was too great which was why Kelly never saw the sense in people that let their horses be loaned out to horrible kids that did drugs and set bathroom trash cans on fire.

"Pax do you have an extra lead rope in Keeta's stall? I was going to take Gambit over to the wash stalls but I think I left his lead in Aaron's truck and Aaron's gone" Kelly asked. She half hoped the problem kid would ignore them and half hoped she wouldn't so they could help the poor palomino that was stuck with her.

[Pax]

When Kelly responded, Pax nodded solemnly and thought for a minute. Risk kid? She wasn't exactly sure, but she had a pretty good idea what that meant. She shook her head sadly and looked back towards the girl and the palamino gelding. He did seem to be a great horse and she sure didn't seem to be a horse lover like Pax and obviously like Kelly.

Pax thought about the situation a bit more and came to her senses. Maybe she and Kelly could help this girl if she was willing - Pax wouldn't mind it - and as long as the girl learned how to show some respect for horses and other students at the barn. She also thought about whether Kelly would agree to it too. If Kelly didn't feel comfortable with it, Paxton understood why - and didn't blame her. She sighed and looked at the girl with auburn hair, her blue-green eyes looking sadly towards the horse and human.

When Kelly began again, Pax was brought back down to earth and shaken from her thoughts. She looked to Kelly and smiled, leaning over and grabbing Keeta's lead rope. She figured since they had just got their and Keeta wouldn't be leaving the stall for the rest of the day, Kelly could use it for now. Besides, Pax didn't mind at all. She smiled and held it out to Kelly through the bars seperating their stalls. Go right ahead, I don't need it anymore tonight. Keeta will be in here for the rest of the day. She looked at Kelly, her expression showed her friendly nature and also concern for the girl behind her.