[IC] The Rancher & His Horse

[Ayla]

It wasn’t everyday one was stuck in their beast form. It definitely wasn’t everyday one was rounded up by the local government to be sold at auction to the highest bidder. At least it wasn’t for Anna Baylor, twenty something horse shifter and the person currently stuck in a mare and foal pen at BLM Mustang auction site, laying low, not trying to bring much attention to herself. Her rare coat color would do that enough on it’s own. Her healthy weight and fine fur would draw the eye in the crammed herd of rangy worm ridden natural Mustangs. Mostly in bays and blacks as was common in the area.

She hadn’t been freeze branded yet and for that she was grateful, the brand would permanently mark her forever no matter which form she took, Equine or Human. The warm summer breeze ruffled her black mane and tail and brought with the scent of men, hay and other mustangs. The sounds of humans shuffling through the alleys between pens was distinct to her sensitive ears. A brightly colored collar around her neck would have a serial number to match the one on the clipboard and her starting price, estimated age, height, gender and coloring.

Anna knew that any horse not auctioned off within the season would be released, and if she couldn’t return to human form before then it was her freedom she was hoping for. She’d already been labeled as bad tempered by the other mares and foals in her pen, who left her alone, and she hoped the auctioneers took note of that fact. When one man dared to get too close to her part of the fence she threw a kick in his general direction and squealed loudly. Throwing up her head and rearing a bit to intimidate.

[puddingpunter]

He'd been here for over an hour already and that barely even scratched half the stock off the to-browse checklist. It was hot. It was humid. And he was sweating profusely like a pig. But hey, Jesse knew it wouldn't be easy finding the right horse and was just glad that unlike the last place he'd visited, there were more than just a handful of disheveled creatures to inspect. Jesse ran the back of his palm over his forehead to keep the perspiration from getting into his eyes before standing up on the railing again. While the metal barrier -meant to keep animals in and people out- donned several signs that explicitly said Keep Off, he learned that not many of the personnel cared enough to enforce the rule so long as you weren't causing any trouble. He figured he could behave himself long enough to get away with it.

"Let's see what we have here..." This was the seventh pen already. Jesse began muttering to himself aloud, rubbing his fingers over the stubble coating his jawline as he slowly looked over the option of equines provided. According to staff, these animals in particular were caught just this morning and therefor still settling down. He could tell just by the way most of them paced and nipped whenever provided the opportunity, and chuckled lowly whenever someone tried to be 'brave enough' to pet one through the fence. He found it quite humorous whenever someone ended up squealing or bawling after suffering the consequences. Squinting hard in the bright sunlight, a sliver of blue and gray caught his eye and Jesse leaned further over the fence to get a better look. "Hey! Off the fence!" An older gentleman with a hard face and deep lines set in his face shouted from a little distance away. Jesse hadn't realized it but he'd practically climbed halfway over the railing at this point. Not wanting to get kicked out, Jesse obliged but decided to approach him and inquire about what he think he say.

"Excuse me, sir?" His accent was evident, something almost everyone born around here carried. "What can you tell me about the lil' blue one over there?" he asked, pointing into the crowd with a finger. The wrangler turned in the direction Jesse was indicating to. Though the mare was once again hidden among the wave of bodies and no longer visible to anyone along the fence-line, he knew which one Jesse was talking about. It was the only one colored anything but black, brown, grey, or white so it's capture was basically news all over the premises. A pretty one, too. "You must've seen the missus, #042. Stunning thing she is but got a nasty bite." Jesse nodded his head. "Any way you could get someone to cull her out the herd? I'd like to see her up close." The man called over a few other staff members and they promptly began working on rounding up the mare.

[Ayla]

Nasty was a tame word to use for her, cutting her from the rest of the mares was difficult. A few men almost lost their heads, and the fences had some nice new dents. By the time she was in a small viewing pen, her flanks were lathered and her sides were heaving from the effort. Pacing back and forth in aggression at a brisk trot. Head high in the air and tail lifted and swishing back and forth.

Snapping her teeth at the closest human face she could get to, hoping the more wild she acted the less a trainer would want her. The crazier she acted the harder it would seem to tame her, and not many people here seemed to be looking for a challenge.

She squealed and bucked and brayed until she was shaking from the effort. Until she was sucking such large lungfuls of air with her head hung low and ears flicked off the side. Eying the two men warily.

[puddingpunter]

"Told ya" was all the older man said. And boy did he mean it. Just those two, single, monosyllabic words were able to convey more than enough. Jesse, who was standing a good yard away from the metal barrier, simply nodded his head as he continued to stare at the blue-roan beauty. She was most certainly a handful but if anything, it just made Jesse all the more excited. He loved a good challenge; the harder a problem, the harder he was forced to work and he prided himself in the things he managed to accomplish because of this particular characteristic. Plus, he felt her rare coloring was an added bonus. The cowboy had made up his mind the moment he saw her, and the extra time he spent staring was just to make sure she wasn't lame or in any other way disabled. He wasn't sure he had the skill set to be able to properly care for an animal with that.

"I'll take her." If only he knew how greatly that answer would affect him later on. Nothing in the world could possibly explain the look Jesse received once the sentence left his lips. It took a moment for the employee to recover, and he cleared his throat loudly once he did. "Alrighty then, go bring yer truck and I'll go grab the paperwork." Again, Jesse nodded and wasted no time in running to retrieve his vehicle. By the time he had the trailer backing up with the door pacing the viewing pen's gate, the man was back with a clipboard in his hands and directing his assistants on how they'd direct the mare into the trailer. Jesse let the professionals handle that while he got out to seal the deal.

Some pen-strokes, a payment of bills, quite a lot of straining, and a whole book's worth of cursing later, the mare was finally transported to and contained in Jesse's trailer. "Thank you sir, and I appreciate the time." Jesse shook hands with the wrangler and gave a respectful inclination of his head. "Don't mention it son. And don't bring her back!" he practically snorted. Jesse laughed and got into his pickup, beginning the long drive home.

[Ayla]

By the time she was forced into the trailer Anna knew there was no hope for her returning to the wild, this man... this Jesse she had learned wanted the challenge. Wanted the fight she could give him. She was tired and hungry, she’d hardly eaten during the two days she’d been in the auction pens. The human in her hadn’t allowed pregnant mares or those with nursing foals to go hungry especially if they were lower in the herd hierarchy. Kindness to a fault.

Her only saving grace was that she was stronger than a natural born horse. Her senses were heightened as well, and she could feel the shift in the air and scent the change in the earth. The air was dryer out on the plains below the mountains that housed the BLM auction pens and adoption offices as Jesse drove her to his ranch home. At least she thought he was a rancher, he certainly smelled of cow and quarter horse.

She lifted her velvety nose to the openings in the stock trailer and wished the drive wasn’t so long. The sooner she got into whatever pen he’d selected for her, the sooner she could figure out how to escape. Or the sooner she could gather enough strength to shift back to her human form and steal a truck or something. Or at least take human form long enough to climb a fence and get out of view before shifting to her inner horse and running home.

When the door of the trailer creaked on the hinges alerting Anna that Jesse was finally releasing her on to his property... She turned her head to look back at him with her right eye, the white around the sharp blue exposed, ears flicked back to both look threatening and to listen to him.