[open] Trust doesn't come easy

[Dustin Kurucz]

The crashing and banging on a stall door and the enraged whinnying coming from within was indication that the horse called Requiem was in a bad mood today. He was ticked off, and for absolutely no reason. There was nothing wrong, he hadn't been left there longer than he normally was, he wasn't out of water, he wasn't hungry... he was just in a bad mood. Really, he was in a bad mood most of the time. Temper tantrums coming from his stall were a common thing, and the words "CAUTION: Will bite" had been tacked onto the bottom half of the stall door to warn people that the paso fino wasn't nearly as friendly as his breeding might suggest. There was no reason for his anger... he had never been mistreated, he had always just been a mean horse, which was how he managed to fall into the possession of Dustin Kurucz.

Dustin was a bit of a case himself. Currently... he was a rather hardcore drug addict, and had a lot of problems in his life. He had more trust issues than was good for him, and his quick cunning was the only thing that had kept him from falling into the hands of the law. Of course, no one knew that the one the cops were looking for was Dustin. He was smart enough to leave nothing behind that might lead the police to him. Sure there might be a finger print or something... but they didn't have his fingerprints or DNA on file, so they couldn't match it to him. He knew how to avoid security cameras and not make it obvious that he was doing so. He knew how to do everything without saying a word so that they couldn't use voice recognition... he was a genius... and unfortunately, society had forced him to put that genius to use in ways that would break the law.

Then again... his only infringements were against those who were already breaking the law, so in a way, he really wasn't breaking the law at all. In the short two years he had been in the United States, he'd probably stolen $100,000 from drug dealers and gangs... but he never made a cent off of it. He didn't want the money... he didn't need the money... or so he had convinced himself. He didn't have a penny to his name and lived on the streets, but he didn't need any of the money he stole... the only reason he did it was because he liked justice... a lot. He was sort of a modern day Robin Hood if you will. Dustin was a very observant person, he noticed things that most people wouldn't, and it it was a bad thing, he'd try to fix it, without anyone knowing it was him who had fixed it. On occasion he'd see something like a single mother looking at a "last notice" for her bills, and shaking her head, knowing she couldn't pay it, and the bank would foreclose on their house... so the money he stole from a drug dealer would appear in her mail with a note saying "Mantenga la fe." and signed with the simple initials "D.B.K."

He knew most people around here didn't speak Spanish, and that was why he wrote his note in Spanish. It was his first language, and although he was still bitter towards the country he had been born in, he would probably never stop thinking of his first language as Spanish. If more people spoke it here, then he would still speak it, but as it were, no one would understand him if he did here, so he spoke English. When he first moved to the States he hardly spoke a word of English, but he was a fast learner, and now when he spoke it, there wasn't even a trace of his Spanish accent anywhere. So, he wrote his notes in Spanish because no one would assume he spoke Spanish. He didn't look Mexican, and nothing indicated his Mexican roots, so the identity of Pinewood's Robin Hood remained simply D.B.K, and it seemed none of the people he helped had any complaint about not knowing who their benefactor was.

As soon as Dustin stepped into the stable, he knew that it was his horse making all the noise. He could recognize that whinny anywhere. Wanting to stop the disruption as quickly as possible, Dustin quickly moved down to Rex's stall. You're going to break something if you keep that up Rex, he muttered, grabbing the lead rope off the hook on the wall as he pulled the stall door open, prepared for the rush that was going to ensue. As soon as the horse heard the latch flip up, he turned on a dime and surged towards the door, his chest crashing into the door and flinging it open... but he wasn't quite fast enough to get free. Dustin reached out as the horse emerged, and clipped the lead on the halter, took a turn of the rope around his left hand, and gripped it tightly with his right, and giving a swift and harsh jerk back, forcing the horse to turn and face him again.

Once the two of them were facing one another, Dustin finished what he was saying in a half growl, and you know damn well I can't afford to fix myself let alone you too. For a moment, horse and man stood looking at one another, Rex's ears pinned back menacingly, and Dustin just as calm as ever looking back at the horse. After a few second had gone by, the horse consented to Dustin's will, and his ears pricked forward, and he relaxed a bit. Dustin couldn't tell you how many times he'd been kicked, bitten, and crushed by the angry horse, but he wasn't giving up on the bay paso. His little sister had fallen in love with the horse when she saw him back before she'd been killed... and it was because of her love of the horse that Dustin refused to give up on the wild animal. In his own way, this was how he was keeping Shayla alive in his own mind... carrying out her dream, even though he really couldn't afford it.

Shortly after the horse settled down, two dogs wandered down the aisle, neither one of them paying any mind to any of the horses, but heading straight to Dustin. One was a large pit bull who looked like she would kill anyone who threatened her, and the other was a little black Cane Corso puppy who was bouncy and always looking for people to befriend. Although Rex always seemed to want to kill people, he had never once made a move to harm either of the two dogs, and seemed quite content with their company. So much so that Dustin had on occasion left the two of them in the horse's stall at night to keep him quiet. The three animals were the only family Dustin had left now, and normally at least one of them was his constant companion. Chaos, the pit, had been the first to join him, and was definitely the most loyal to him. She'd bite the head off of anyone who tried to hurt him. Rex had then followed, but his respect had to be earned every day before he would settle in and not try to kill Dustin. Razzle, the corso, had been the last of the group, and was currently too young to really be protective of anything.

Chaos stalked over to Dustin and sat silently at his feet, watching for any other humans, while Razzle frolicked around Dustin and Rex's feet, oblivious to the fact that if the horse got annoyed one kick would kill her. Dustin and Rex definitely had the biggest issues, Chaos had a few, and Razzle... well, she was a puppy, what more needed to be said? They were an odd group, but they all seemed to belong together, like each one of them was somehow fixing the other in some small way, and together they would all eventually be alright. Eventually though, was a long ways off, and it was probably going to be years before they were all over their trust issues.

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[Meredith Fƒaorde]

Early mornings had never phased Meredith. They were usually the only times she had been able to get away from Tony. For those who didn't know, and that was most of the population of Virginia, Tony had been Meredith's husband. He had been a rich Welsh land owner, but he'd also been a complete git. So, Meredith had spent as much time as she could away from him, either with the horses or out with her dogs. She'd become quite the country lass with all the dogs and the small herd of horses in the stables. Except, here, she'd only brought in two. Well, one. Her second was in quarentene at the moment. But, she did have her handsome prize-winning Paso Fino and her long rider Duran. Caro was a handsome chestnut stallion, but quite well behaved as stallions go, whilst Duran was as calm as an Endurance horse got. She'd wanted to bring all the horses over, all fifteen of them, but she wouldn't have the time looking after and excersising them all without the grooms, two was fine.

Yes, it sounded very poncy, but when you were married to a Welsh lord you had house staff. She'd enjoyed the company of a few, mostly the stable staff who she'd converse with early in the morning whilst Tony was still in bed. Another reason why being up early didn't particually phase her was the fact she was, for a short time, living with her brother. Robbie was a mounted cop and usually had the morning or night shifts with his partner so getting up early or returning early was something of a trade for him. And Meredith was a light sleeper. It all added up. That morning Robbie had left early and she'd taken her time, getting up, having a shower, getting breakfast, the usual morning routine.

The kitchen, as usual, was filled with dog. Well, there were only two of them but they tended to follow you around just in case. One was her brothers and one was hers. Hers was rather younger and much more active than Robbie's. He was a bright, cheerful, although pretty well trained, border collie named Syackin who followed Robbie's elderly dog, Kimmic, around religiously. Towling her long hair, Meri, rifled through a drawer on the old table in the study. Robbie and Meredith hadn't been living in Pinewood for very long. Two weeks at most and not everything was unpacked, but Meri was sure Robbie had used the car keys sometime in the past two weeks, she just didn't know where he kept them. Which was why she was rifling.

It took her a good twenty minutes to locate the keys. But, it wasn't like she was in any hurry. Her stallion would still be out in the field eating grass and there was no-one waiting for her. The car was parked outside in the large driveway to the shared house. Robbie had inheritted a lot of money and Meredith's allamony didn't exactly leave either of them coming up short. And that could really be seen with the house and the cars. Robbie was a bit of a petrol head, which was odd considering he was a mounted policeman rather than a squad car copper. She started up the engine of the car and backed out. Neither were very careful drivers and the Audi convertable Meri was driving at the moment was probably made for them. They tended to push the cars a little too hard and break something. The drive to the stable was quiet and uneventful. The car's engine wasn't one of the unexplainably noisy ones, so it simply cruised along the roads gently. As gently as Meri's driving style allowed, but the car was surviving so far. Robbie was still working on the Land Rover after, as a joint effort, they'd put it through it's paces. It had lasted longer than many of the others they'd broken over the years.

Meri ran a hand over Caro's sleek coat. The handsome dust coloured gelding shifted his weight slightly, flicking his tail lazily. Meri should probably trim his tail soon, since it was getting just that little bit long. But, personally, she prefered it long. Caro's coat was sleek and newly brushed down. Meredith had always taken good care to brush down her horses after a ride, even if it was just briefly. It meant she spent more time with the horses than the jerk that she used to be married to. Used to being the joyful part of that sentence. Just twenty years old and already divorced! Meredith had only moved to Pinewood a week or so ago with her two horses, Caro and Duran. It had been a welcome escape after the long divorce proceedures.

She'd been leaving the horses out in the pastures for the last couple of nights, and tonight was no different. Well, not night it was late afternoon now. She haltered up Caro with the slightly worn pressure headcollar she'd bought for another horse owner when she was sixteen. But, it worked perfectly well for Caro and it fitted him well. The dust bay gelding walked calmly out beside Meredith as she let the rope run through one hand before flipping it over her arm. It was the easiest place to keep it whilst leading Caro around. He tended to try and chew the end of the rope, which was just annoying. It was what two of the three house dogs did, Syackin and Kimmic. Well, mostly Syackin since Kimmic was an elderly mutt. The third, Porthos didn't do anything like that, he was an incredibly laid back, more or less just lazy, dog.

The yard lead onto the parking lot just outside the stables and Meredith was just exiting the darker area of the barn aisle when a piercing whinny ripped through the air. Caro's head shot up, ears flattening against his pole. From another barn across the yard a horse appeared, hooves skidding on the concrete. It was a large palomino stallion Meri had seen a couple of times before, followed by two muscular stable lads. One seemed to be carrying a rope whilst the other just had his hat in one hand. The stallion obviously had other ideas than getting caught and lashed out, hooves smacking into the nearest car. Caro snorted, raising one hoof to paw randomly at the air. The alarm on the car blared out, causing the palomino to skid around and take off full stretch with the two stable hands in tow. Caro made a slight attempt to look like he was about to follow, but there wasn't much point, he might have a slightly tattered headcollar, but it was a pressure headcollar, which he did respond to well.

It didn't take long to calm Caro, he was more or less placcid as life went. It wasn't Caro she had any problems with, but she had brought Syackin along today and the dog was nowhere to be found right now. Great, life was...turning out like life usually did. Sighing, Meri brought Caro into a quick walk, making sure not to startle him as she hurried on their process towards the feild. Caro was still in his stall, ready to be ridden that day. Caro's ears were back up, although still flicked back and forth occasionally, as they neared his fields. Meri let the stallion off, who made a few strides in a sprightly trot before settling into a more regular rhythm of eating.

Returning to the stable block at a light jog, the halter over one arm, Meri started the search for the runaway red setter. It didn't take her long to check the stable hall, only a few stalls down from where she'd left Duran. Syackin had simply followed the fresh smells of two new canines, the shined coat setter padded around towards the two other dogs, coming to a less than elegant halt with a clatter of non-retractable claws. With the ceremonial greeting of the setter, Syackin barked, tail waving quickly back and forth in some unknown beat. She barked again, looking up cheerfully towards Dustin, not quite being able to chose between looking towards the puppy, the pit and the owner. Meri rounded the corner, sighing. "Syackin." She called, well, she said, you don't shout in a stable hall. The dog looked over at her with the traditional completely blank look Syackin always possessed. Resisting the urge to click her tongue, as was a habit of hers, Meri walked briskly up the aisle, leaning down and grabbing the red setter's collar. She glanced up at the young man with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, my dog is an idiot and I have very little control over him." She said lightly, quite a bit more confidently than she usually would from the annoyance of her dog.

[Dustin Kurucz]

Dustin had called the pitbull Chaos for a very good reason. She didn't like other people, other horses, other dogs, other anything. Her circle of those accepted was very small and consisted only of Dustin, Rex, and about half the time Razzle too. She wasn't exactly a mean dog, though she wasn't friendly either. Dustin didn't doubt that if given the opportunity, she would bite a stranger, and he had to make sure she never got that opportunity. She was always obedient to him and if he told her no she wouldn't do it, and that was why he had to always make sure he was around whenever there were strangers in close proximity to her, otherwise he'd have hell to pay.

Razzle... she was just happy with whatever. When she matured, she would very likely become protective as all Cane Corsos did with age, but for now she was just as happy as a clam. She was still not quite a year old, and as such, never listened to anything except a sharp reprimand from Chaos. Otherwise, she was just as wild and rambunctious as any puppy. On occasion she would come when called, but most of the time she just completely ignored Dustin's instruction and went along her merry way... and Dustin didn't scold her for it. He knew what it was like to have people trying to control you all the time. She would listen when she was ready, there was no need to push her.

Requiem had his own collection of issues, and no one knew why. The horse hated people, Dustin included... even though were it not for Dustin he would have gone to slaughter a long time ago. He was a horse, he couldn't understand that. Most people would say that you had to figure out what made the horse tick... and Dustin had. Everything made the horse tick. He was like a time bomb, and only had so long before he would just explode for no apparent reason except that he could. The straight up truth? Rex was just a mean horse, there was nothing else to it. He just liked to be in command of his world, and he took command by being mean... until he fell into Dustin's hands and was slowly figuring out that Dustin would take his crap and not give a damn. Most people wouldn't take his crap and would try to correct it which gave Rex more reason to act up, but with Dustin... he just couldn't get on the upper hand because Dustin never fought him. It was kind of a love-hate relationship to be perfectly honest. Some days Rex was perfect and never threw a fit, and other days Dustin swore he was going to give him away to the slaughter house... which, of course, he would never do.

Dustin's attention was suddenly distracted from the horse to another dog which had just approached. This was the first time Dustin had seen the dog, and the first time he had seen anyone else around the stable at this hour, which was why he had chosen it to come here. He was just a tad bit anti-social, though he couldn't really be blamed for that. The "honest" side of society had never done anything but abuse their powers over guys like him who were considered street trash, and he'd been blamed for more than just a few things a "good" person had done, and no one had believed his side of the story because he was a "bad" person.

Razzle was just about to go bounding over to the other dog, and Dustin was about to make an attempt at stopping her, but Chaos beat him to it. With a sharp snap, Chaos stopped the puppy in her tracks, and with a big paw, she flattened Razzle to the ground, the whole while her eyes on the other dog, a low growl rumbling in her throat, and her white teeth bared. She was not a friendly dog in the least, and if this strange dog came much closer, Chaos would most likely show her true colors and lite into the other dog. It was strange that Chaos seemed to see Razzle as her own puppy and always kept her away from other dogs. It was almost like she didn't like the little god fraternizing with the enemy.

Just then, another person appeared, evidently coming for the dog. When she appeared, Rex's ears went flat in an angry glare. Razzle was the only one of the group who you could consider friendly, and she was currently trapped under the paw of the much larger dog. Some real problems could break out here if Dustin wasn't in complete control of the situation. Calma Chaos. Dustin muttered to the dog in his native tongue, déjele es. As soon as he had said those words, Chaos was silenced, and her lips returned to their natural position covering over her teeth. If Dustin said they were okay, then they had to be okay.

As far as Rex went... Dustin had earned his respect for today just before the girl and her dog appeared, so with a quick and light smack of the end of the lead rope against the horse's shoulder, the animal relaxed a bit more, and his ears rotated back up into a more neutral position. With that, everything was back under control, and hopefully pandemonium wouldn't break out. It should be safe then for both girl and dog to come closer if they wanted to, Dustin had fixed it... one of the few things he was good at doing... keeping control of his "family." It's alright Dustin said, no traces of the Spanish he had been formerly speaking in his voice, not even a hint of an accent, I understand that. He glanced down at Razzle who was squirming around to get out from under Chaos's paw, obviously a trouble maker.

Dustin wasn't a very social person, and he didn't really talk much... so he wouldn't be instigating any conversation with her... she would have to lead the conversation if there was to be one. He'd been forced into silence by his parents at a very young age, and he had learned a long time ago that it was better to just be silent. Of course, that wasn't true, but it was a habit now that he was older to just be quiet and only speak when spoken to. That was the way he worked. People generally got used to his silence quite quickly. His input was usually quite intelligent, but he would never put it out there unless asked to. He was the silent and unknown "hero" of sorts in Pinewood, and he preferred to keep it that way.