{The World is New}-Open

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

Nathan nodded. He could see the complications with having friends with a secret such as hers. He noticed her glance up at the darkening sky. She probably wanted to go and run, have fun. Somehow it saddened the young man, knowing that when she left, he’d have no one to talk to. The slightest bit of humanity given to him had been nice, but it seemed cruel to take it away. Maybe… he could try running, and keeping up with her. As a horse that could be difficult, but Nathan liked a challenge and perhaps it could help him figure out who he was.

“Do you want to go for a run?”

He asked her, weighing the idea in his head. Of course it could be a total disaster, and he could make a complete fool of himself in the end but, just maybe it was worth a shot. Right?

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

I looked at Nathan with a bit of surprise. How did he guess what I was thinking? But he could never keep up with my shifted side! Then don't shift, just run. You remember how to do that as a human right? Uh... I shook my head, making my unruly brown hair lash my face. Of course.

"Sure." I sprang to my feet. "Keep up, if you can!" I almost yelled but just said loudly instead. I took off. It didn't take long for me to settle into a rhythm of feet pounding on the grass. My head started to ache and I set my jaw in a stubbornly. I was not going to shift. I was going to run with Nathan like any every day human. The ache was more persistant. I still refused to give in. Not now! I told it firmly. The ache turned into a throb and I couldn't fight the shift anymore. Once more my body lengthened and grew into a dappled gray horse. I shortened my long strides, trying to give Nathen a chance to keep up.

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

Nathan couldn’t help but to flash his bright white smile at her obvious surprise. Ash seemed to be talking to herself, she shook her head. Raising an eyebrow, Nathan got to his feet and offered his hand to help her up. As it turned out, Ash didn’t need help, she sprang to her feet, raring to go. Somehow, Nathan knew that’s how she would be. She yelled at him to keep up. Nathan laughed, her confidence was amusing. As soon as it was out of her mouth, she took off. Startled, Nathan leaped after her, his long legs letting him catch up to her easily. Was she holding back? Or was there something in Nathan that allowed him to keep up? Ashleigh started to melt away into her horse form. Grinning, Nathan picked up his speed, keeping stride with the grey thoroughbred that was Ashleigh. Nathan still didn’t know what he was, but he knew he wasn’t normal if he could keep up with a Shifter.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

I looked back at Nathan, surprised to see that he wasn't far behind me. I tossed my head and surged forward, holding back a little bit still. If he can keep up with me running full out then he's definatly not all human. I struck out a foreleg, playfully, not missing a beat. I remembered the first time I did that, I stumbled and nearly fell. Now I could to it easily. Arching my neck down, I bucked and didn't hold back the rest of my speed. I felt my strides quicken and lengthen once more and my lungs taking in bellows of moist summer air.

Gray white hooves dug into the turf and flung clods of in my wake. I felt my hooves leave the earth at every stride for a second then come back down to earth to do it all over again. Ears buried into my flying mane, belly low to the ground, and tail streaming I felt like I could outrun anything on Earth. But was Nathen still behind me? I turned my head to look.

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

The surprise was clear on Ashleigh’s face… even though she was a horse. Nathan smiled at the the fact that Ash pushed herself faster, clearly enjoying stretching her legs. He lengthened his strides too, pushing himself to keep up. Still his breath was smooth and calm. That was pretty disturbing because… well Nathan didn’t think it was normal at all. Nevertheless he was enjoying it. His jacket flapped in the wind and Ash seemed to be enjoying it too. Horses had to be the most graceful animals on earth. Determined to catch up with her, Nathan pushed his speed to the limit and managed to get beside the flat out galloping Thoroughbred.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

What I saw made me stumble, my knees hitting the ground and then I fell unable to regain my balance. I squealed angrily as I got up. Nathen is a Supernatural, some how some way. I just don't know what kind. I blew a hard breath through my nostrils and pawed the ground. I was frustrated but my frustration didn't last. I patched the leak in the dam that held back my torrent of emotions and calmed. I shifted back to a human.

"I'm fine." I said gruffly, to avoid that question. I didn't want sympathy, if he offered it. "That was amazing Nathen, I didn't think you would be able to keep up. Humans can't run that fast, for sure." Yeah for sure, considering how fast I was going, I remembered the exact speed that racehorses could top. Forty-five miles per hour. It was crazy. I pushed my brown hair off my slightly damp forehead. I smiled, trying to hide my thoughts.

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

Suddenly Ash stumbled and went down. Nathan came to a stop, nearly falling himself, then turned around to see the Thoroughbred squealing in anger and pawing the ground. Deciding that he couldn’t really do anything to help her, he stood there, his chest heaving. Nathan wondered why Ashleigh seemed so annoyed. Had he done something wrong? Almost as soon as he thought to ask if she was okay, Ash answered. Then she went back to telling him that he wasn’t human. Nathan wasn’t too worried about that at the moment. He was still stuck on the fact that she had gotten angry about seemingly nothing.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Nathan asked, clearly not going to give it up.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~This is my brand new day in the light, troubles rising up on the left and the right. I keep my eyes fixed on where I want to go; the rest will follow.~

I shook off the remaining drops of anger before I could use it. I had only gotten angry because I had fallen and frustrated because of things that I didn't know. It was no big deal to me, for some reason it seemed to concern Nathen. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I wanted to glare at him, to dare him to answer that question but I didn't, even if it was just barely. "I've done worse to myself. Don't worry about me." I gave a cocky grin, and someone who really knew me would tell you that I was up to something.

"Since you can run as fast as me, do you think you can run faster than me?" Anyone could see where this was leading to. "Because if you think you can, why not a race?"

~The old can be made new, the lost can be found, the lost will be found.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Pure.)

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

Nathan’s eyebrow involuntarily rose as she brushed off the comment on her being okay too quickly. Shrugging he smiled tentatively, telling her that he’d leave it alone then. It wasn’t long before Ash seemed back to herself, throwing Nathan a cocky grin and a confident comment. Nathan didn’t know if he could outrun Ash, but he could give it a try. What could it hurt?

“You’re on.”

He challenged her, his grin wider than it had ever been. Concentration set deep into his features as he took one more look at her, and without another word, took off.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~This is my brand new day in the light, troubles rising up on the left and the right. I keep my eyes fixed on where I want to go; the rest will follow.~

"Where should the finish line be?" I was about to ask before Nathen gave me a grin as wide as I've ever seen him grin and said the two key words and take off before I could shift. No problem, I'll beat him anyway! Once again, I became that powerful dappled grey Thoroughbred.

I screamed a challenge, like a stallion, and bounded after him. Though I wasn't angry like a stallion would be when he screamed a challenge. I was excited and eager to test my skills against Nathen. So...this would be a race of stamina? Run till you drop, sounds good. Within a few strides I was galloping beside Nathen, doing my best to pass him. I can do this, I will pass him! I repeated the sentence to the rhythem of my hoofbeats that pounded faster and faster.

Occ: So what shall be the outcome? You decide..lol Oh my muse is running low..xd

~The old can be made new, the lost can be found, the lost will be found.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Pure.)

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

The drumming of hooves quickly added to the thrum of Nathan’s beating heart. A rush of adrenaline stretched his legs out in front of him, his jacket flapping out behind him. Warm breezes blew past his face, stealing his breath. Yet on Nathan went. The greenery blurred, every detail that Nathan had been so intent on catching and remembering- just gone. All that was left in the world was the cat like grace of each striking foot fall, and the feather beating of his own heart. In the back of his mind, he heard Ash’s challenging scream, but only a flicker of a smile came in reply to it. Nathan’s winning reign came to an end as a grey thoroughbred pulled up beside him, her sides heaving with breath and muscles rippling under her coat. It was true, Nathan was fast, but he couldn’t outrun a supernatural. A shifter with a horse side was even more impossible. Even with this apparent advantage, Ash seemed to be putting up a good fight. There was nothing like good competition. As the tempo of her hoofbeats increased, so did Nathan’s. He felt as if he were reaching breaking point, but at the same time, his mind forced him faster, regardless of how his body was faring. By this time, both young people were almost a blur.

All of a sudden, time seemed to snap back into place. His senses sharpened back to normal. Nathan’s head exploded with bright lights. At that moment, he noticed a tree in his path. Nathan’s momentum was too much to so suddenly stop. At breakneck speed, he swerved, his ankles screaming in protest at the tension. He had evaded the tree, but his speed had been thrown. The fatigue from the sprint latched onto his muscles and refused to let go. It was gone.

Nathan slowed to a walk, his heartbeat thundering in his chest, blood roaring in his ears, and his breath ragged. Never mind the bursting lights still giving him a ghost of a migraine, he was smiling.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.

[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~This is my brand new day in the light, troubles rising up on the left and the right. I keep my eyes fixed on where I want to go; the rest will follow.~

Pass him! Pass him! My full competitiveness, a mixture of my own personality and my shifted's, was coming out and I was determined to pass him. My hooves tore into the grass even deeper and my stride lengthened a few inches. My breathe and hooves were like drums. Thud thud thud thud. Whoosh whoosh whoosh. My vision was blurred, I could hardly make out what was in front of me. What are you waiting for? Pass him! That voice was urghing me on, making me keep up with Nathan. I wanted to do what it was saying but..it seemed impossible.

Then it was over, all the excitment died within just a few seconds. We had raced into a small wooded part of the park and there were trees every where. If I could, I would whinny with alarm. That wasn't possible, I didn't have a breath to waste. With my practice of running in dense forest I fared better than Nathan. Just before I flew past him, I saw Nathan swerve precariously. He had just avoided a tree. Impressive. I didn't waste much time being awed. I too had to aviod the trees while slowing.

It took me a while, a while being twenty yards, before I came to a complete stop. I stood heaving, sweat poaring off me as if someone had drenched me with a hose. I forced myself to turn and go back to Nathan. It was a slow walk, my previously prancing hooves dragging with every step. I guess you will get some sleep tonight after all, Ash.

As soon as I thought I could speak without panting between every word, I shifted back. "That was fun." I said, still breathless. "But do me a favor and let's not do it again for a while." I examined him again, he too didn't seem worse for the wear. Matter of fact, he was smiling. I still wanted to make sure, oddly enough."You alright?"

~The old can be made new, the lost can be found, the lost will be found.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Pure.)

[{J I S A}]

Nathaniel Mark Everett
With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun...
Driven by the strangle of vein showing no mercy I'd do it again.
---

The heat of adrenaline still coursed through Nathan’s veins, making his muscles twitch with restlessness. He ran a hand through his hair, finding it strange that his face wasn’t hot or remotely flushed. Soon, the wear became more apparent in his muscles. All of his limbs turned into starch as he watched Ash thunder on for about twenty meters. It was breathtaking to watch such power in action. A little while later, Ash came back, the prancing energy previously about her completely subdued. Her gait was almost lazy. Nathan couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath. Apparently, he’d given the shifter a run for her money. The grey thoroughbred was drenched with sweat, and Nathan guessed that he should’ve been too, but only a thin layer started on his forehead. The world seemed so gently quiet in this secluded woodland part of the vast Downing Park. Weight lay heavily on his own eyelids as he waited for Ash to change back and catch her breath. Nathan stifled the urge to yawn. A small smirk glided onto his lips in the dark light of the night at Ash’s statement of the run being fun. It had to be close to midnight now, considering how long they’d talked and run for. Nathan had never wanted to sleep more than now. However his mind was still buzzing with thoughts of his revelation. Obviously he wasn’t completely human, even though he seemed it.

“Good idea,”


He sighed back. There was no way Nathan could run like that much more than once in a lifetime. It was tiring, but only sparked more curiosities into his lively mind. Nathan shrugged, he was fine. Answers were still to be found, but it was alright.

“I’m good, just a little more than exhausted.”

And hungry… His mind added after a moment.

---
Open up your eyes, you keep on crying, baby I'll bleed you dry.
Skies are blinking at me, I see a storm bubbling up from the sea.