Belle
It had been a longer trip than he usually made; being away from Lily was no easier now than it had been before, but he had become more withdrawn since the delivery. In a way, he saw the horrific delivery as his fault. Without him, she would not have been close to death; yet without him, they would not have Iris either. It was a difficult feeling for him to process, and he needed time to think about what had gone wrong. He dreaded the inevitable moment when she would want another child; he was unsure what his answer would be. Still, he could not deny that watching his daughter grow in size and strength had been wonderful, and once Lilika's strength had returned as well, Gnome finally was able to relax and enjoy observing as the dark filly pranced about the prairie. It was almost as if she contained a higher level of energy simply to spite whatever had caused the circumstances of her birth. Gnome admired her spirit and vigor; she very much reminded him, in looks and actions, of his mother.
He had come ashore before the rain started, further down the coastline from the mare and filly, and as he made his way inland he could hear the squeals of play coming from the tiny dark mouth of Iris. They fell silent through the quick squall, during which Gnome sheltered under a tree. He was in no real rush; though he of course was eager to see his family, there was no apparent danger and therefore no reason to keep moving if the rain fogged his vision, as it had momentarily.
When the call rang out in the thick post-rain air, he was just mildly concerned; his family was closer to him than to the stranger, and he would easily be capable of checking on them. He casually continued on his way, though he angled back toward the shore in order to greet the newcomer. It seemed that Lily had other ideas, as she nearly instantly bolted in the direction of the noise. The stallion saw her crashing through the long grasses without her tiny shadow, and hesitated for a moment. Though the predators did not see him or Lily as easy prey, a sleeping filly would be quite the snatch for a coyote.
Changing his course, he carefully picked his way along the roan's path in the opposite direction, eventually finding the girl peacefully curled where her mother had left her. He glanced over his shoulder to check the distance to where Lily now stood, facing a stranger whose stance spoke of her fatigue. They were no threat to each other, and if danger should arise he would be able to come to the aid of his daughter. His muzzle brushed softly across her spotted hindquarters as he watched her for just a moment more. Turning away from Iris's slumbering form, he picked up an easy canter over to the pair that stood where the sand met the prairie.
Gnome approached from Lily's left, falling into place beside her as she inquired whether he had invited the mare here. He took a good look at the stranger, noting her two-toned face that would one day grey out completely. She was not familiar to him, though it did not mean she was unwelcome. He stretched his nose out in the same gesture Lilika had given earlier. "Welcome to the Prairie, stranger! I'm Gnome, and Lily's already introduced herself to you." His ears flicked then as he again checked to be sure all was well behind the group. "You look like you've had a difficult journey. What brings you here?" A smile fell upon his lips after he finished speaking to the newcomer. The mare looked harmless, but he still wished to discover her motives for arriving before he invited her to stay.
selle français cross; mare; palomino; 16.1hh; 6 years
character played by ali.