Wild Ballator Hunts

The morning began at 4am, and centred around a single concept: coffee. The best at making said elixir, Miles was the first to drag himself from bed and flick on the kettle. The whistle of boil called Andreas, who had claimed the seat closest to the fridge. He yawned and said nothing as he marched downstairs, peeling an orange as he waited for a mug to be placed directly in front of him. It was the smell of coffee, and only the smell of coffee, that could arouse Faraday. She would thud towards the kitchen groaning with each step, head rolling back as he sat almost instantly asleep again. Miles would drink half her coffee as she dozed, despite hating the combination of foamy milk and two sugars. Her stampede signalled to Ascer, who would have been awake since Miles's alarm went off half an hour earlier, and he would quietly float down from his bedroom. Head placed delicately over his folded arms, he'd finish Faraday's coffee before she awoke and join her in half-conscious dozing until the second round of coffee came.

It wasn't until they were all fed that Miles was actually able to make his own straight, black coffee.

Andreas started the computer, going directly to the classifieds. There was never a good morning uttered, the first greeting of the day being "MonsLeonis is hosting a show."

"Where have I heard that name before?" Faraday asked before a gurgled yawn, slumping forward to face the others at the table. She ruffled Ascer's hair, and he couldn't resist smiling despite feigning sleep.

"She owns Apollyon, the black-"

"Forest poecilia stallion, I remember," she interrupted Miles, who was only just finding his seat. He rolled his eyes, and began mutilating a kiwi fruit. Faraday found her phone still in her vest pocket, with just 10% battery left after forgetting to charge it last night. It vibrated with a notification, and her mouth began widening into a very wicked smile.

"Any cheap slots?" Ascer asked hopefully, inching towards the laptop screen. Andreas stole it back, and closed the laptop forcefully.

"No more ballators," Miles said calmly. Ascer pouted, face planting into the table.

"You're still working with Coronam," Andreas added, high-fiving Miles under the table for playing the role of bad cop. Faraday blew non-existent steam off her coffee, counting the creamy brown rings lining the inside of the mug. Her attempt at the incarnation of cool was ruined by her legs excitedly bouncing under the table, and she inched her phone towards the centre of the table. Even with the brightness full, the blurry photo made the subject almost unidentifiable.

"A wild lilliput has been spotted in the Virunga Mountains, Africa," she announced. The three boys looked between each other silently, before simultaneously diving for the phone in an attempt to make out the shape.

"Wild bay? No, no, seal bay," Miles said, correcting himself before Andreas elbowed his chin and tore the phone off him.

"Bicolour! It has bicolour! I need it!" he screeched, already flying upstairs to pack. Ascer took the discarded phone and zoomed in on the strange creature, a brown smudge against the light green of the grassy mountainside.

"Looks like a mare," he said, leaning closer to Faraday for certification. "Look how fluffy the neck mane is."

"Yep, before chaos was unleashed on the kitchen table, I was going to say it's been confirmed as a seal bay snowflake bicolour mare," Faraday said, grabbing a dust pan to sweep up the remains of Andreas's coffee mug. Miles nursed his jaw, raising his arms into the air in mulled victory.

"Called it."

Andreas came running downstairs with a laptop bag thrown over his shoulder, and a pair of boxers hanging out the side pocket. His hair was pulled into a lop sided pony tail, with bright red bobby pins poorly holding his fringe out of his eyes. He was already at the door, trying to fix his creased, unwashed shirt in the reflection of the door knob. "I figured I'll take Orizuru, she won't have any trouble tracking it. I'll take some kangaroo jerky, and hopefully come back with another lilliput!"

"You're not going, I am," Faraday said light heartedly, despite the words stabbing through Andreas like ice. He fell to his knees in dismay, Miles rolling his eyes at the dramatics.

"But, why?" He begged. Faraday tucked in her chair and walked over, revealing herself to be already dressed somehow.

"She's got little dog syndrome, and won't approach anything taller than her," she said, patting Andreas's head only to grimace at how oily it was without his morning shower. "You, my dear friend, are a tree."

He sulked, sitting comfortably with his back to the couch and his face buried in his knees. "It's true, I am a tree."

"I'll take Orenji, he may be bigger but he's a meek coward. The lilliput probably won't feel too threatened."

Outside in his custom, heated stall, Orenji heard his name said and pinned his ears back. He had absolutely no intention of going anywhere, especially without his mother as company. Tossing his head in such a way that caused his bone crown to rattle against his horns like the chatter of bats, he turned around so that his head was lodged firmly in the corner on the stall and his rump was aimed at anyone that approached. Faraday expected as such, and with her bed hair and suitcase trailing behind she opened a jar of orange flavoured hard candies. Orenji's ears somehow flattened more, and he threw a half-hearted kick at the wooden door. He turned his head back and looked at the sweets offered inches from the door, sticking out his tongue as though it offered some possibility of him being able to reach. Faraday shook the jar to loosen the lollies, and took one for herself.

She made a soft, pleased moan at the taste, and Orenji turned without hesitation to grab the jar. Faraday pulled it back so that his head came outside the half-door, where Ascer stood carefully hidden behind a beam. He clipped a bright orange lead to the beige halter they rarely took off the stallion, and was rewarded with a quick nip as Orenji succumbed to defeat. The ballator ate the sour candies happily as they put on his leg guards, and gave his thick curled mane a quick brush free of knots.

"Dressed in your best, aren't you bud," Faraday cooed as she quickly walked behind him with a hand on his rump, and he stomped his hind legs in warning.

"Have you heard about that new mane mutation? How do you like it for Orenji?" Ascer asked as he fiddled with a small clump of loose hair stuck to the appropriate mane brush. The white and beige hair could only belong to their most recent edition, Maximus sulking in a box still separated from the other ballators. He sported a great, irritated pink ring around his eye from his latest episode of conjunctivitis. The poor stallion never seemed able to be comfortable for more than a few minutes before his frail immune system was victim to another infection.

"Orenji would look terrible with it, I was thinking Katsu might make it look smart," Faraday replied as she checked her bags a third time for anything she might have forgotten. There were only two changes of clothes, in contrast with the half a dozen different types of smoked meat treats and four different sized halters. She was quite confident in her abilities, despite it being her first independent hunt. Ascer looked somewhat more doubtful, leaving Orenji tied to retrieve the saline wash for Maximus. He lowered his head enough for the boy to treat his eye, tolerating his presence more than any of the other handlers. Andreas suspected it was due to Ascer being the only one not present when he had been caught. Ascer, the more romantic of the duo, chose to believe it was a mystical bond with the white stallion and had already claimed him as a project horse.

Faraday checked the girth on Orenji, and attached her bags to the makeshift pack horse. He looked well ready for the trek, with a comfortable leather halter on opposed to his bright orange nylon in hopes of preventing rubbing on his bone crown. Faraday stringed two large flasks of water over his girth strap as well, already dressed for the African head opposed to the final days of true Australian Winter. Ascer raised an eyebrow.

"Plan on walking to Africa?"

"Not quite," Faraday replied. She reached into the grooming kit and revealed a glass bauble, filled with dry leaves and a strangely coloured liquid that dazzled as brilliantly as a nebula. With a surprisingly good throw she tossed it against the far wall, and it exploded into a spiralling portal of glitter. Orenji saw the portal and became rigid, looking at the handler in a way that conveyed a simple 'no'. The sounds of birds, and a warm breeze came from the vortex, forming the image of the African mountain range where the lilliput was sighted.

"You're never gonna get him through it," Ascer said, playing with Maximus's mane. The stallion raised his head high suddenly, walking out the open stall door and through the portal before anyone had a chance to catch him. Orenji snorted, and trotted through himself in determination to prove he could do anything that the strange stallion could.

Faraday and Ascer both turned pale, staring where the horses had just stood.

"Well, that was easier than I expected."