When he smelled the air his heart sighed in longing. That morning when the stallion had stood at the beach of Crossing Isle he’d meant to take the waves and leave the islands rather than linger behind. Tarrant was not the same as he had been the last few times these islands had seen his presence. He was older, yes, but there was more to it… His spirit was gone. Absent was the carelessness that had always lifted his mood, turned his lips upwards and spilled laughter loud and boyishly from his lungs. It hadn’t even been his idea to return to these islands. Never again, he’d thought. Never again would he return here.

And now he stood on Atlantis. He had been born on the cold, icy ground of Tinuvel; it had not been until shortly after his father’s death that Tarrant had discovered Atlantis. From that point on the island had always won his heart and it still did, even to this day.

The crunch of the sand cradling his hooves as he began to walk, the distant caws of birds he knew to have a myriad of colors, and the explosion of bright greens all made the stallion’s heart ache. Tarrant walked slowly, his head held low and his ears turned out to the side. The stride he had was closer to plodding than anything, the front of his hooves scraping up and throwing little piles of warm sand before him. There was no point to his arrival here just as there had been no point to his travels that brought him back to the islands. He simply was here, existing.

Ultimately it was the sharp, thickly condensed smell of horses that brought him from his silent wanderings to a full stop, lingering where the scents grew and imagining he must be standing at some invisible territorial border. His green eyes focused as he blinked slowly, pupils sharp as he scanned the length of the beach. He imagined he must be in Paradise though it was really the crop of real estate known as the Shore that he’d be more interested in seeing. His tail, slightly heavy by a few clumps of dreadlocks from lack of grooming, twitched at his hindquarters. Tarrant thought of turning and leaving, not wanting to be a bother to anyone (so unlike him!!), but it seemed that very moment he’d caught the attention of someone who was approaching.

Ah, best not to be rude and leave without saying hello.