It was a relatively cool day in the desert, for which Orhan was most grateful. The heat made him irritable. And with the desert herd undergoing several changes recently, he was already more than a little on-edge.
Soon the rains would come, he told himself, and hopefully everything would have sorted itself out by then.
Taking advantage of the mild temperatures, the buckskin stallion let his restless feet carry him out past the disused smaller oasis and all the way to his border. There he spent a few moments gazing longingly off into his neighbor's territory, before forcing himself into a brisk trot along the desert's boundary and toward the ocean. After checking that there were no signs of strange equine entering his home, Orhan arced back around into the heart of the sands and began to head back to the main oasis.
He was just beginning to relish the thought of a good, long drink when a tall golden figure appeared on the horizon. He instantly recognized it as Carisa, and after taking a moment to wonder what she was doing out here he let out a friendly call and closed the distance between them with tail flagged and ears pricked.
"Hello," he said simply as he reached her, and took a moment to look her over. They had not spent a great deal of time together recently, but at least she appeared to be in good form. "What are you doing all the way out here?" His tone was jovial, and his face was bright with a smile, but his concern was secretly genuine. With Carisa's disability, he had always disliked the thought of her being anywhere alone.
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