Falls

He was no longer homeless, once again succumbing to the inherent instinct to call somewhere home. The ridge seemed nice enough, though quiet, and before long he was wondering the common isles as he had days before. Ashe could survive in solitude, but company was enjoyable and a lack thereof at home caused him to stray - not necessarily to do as many men had done before and call women to his home and cloak them, conceal them as the night concealed the treacherous rocks, the hidden caves of his new terrain. It wasn't Tinuvel, but in all honesty, the capped boy wasn't sure he was quite ready to reside in the place where he'd seen so much death and sorrow; at least in the ridge he could pull the wool over his eyes, keep his head down and distract himself from the ghosts of his past.

The day began to melt away into night, the sun dipped halfway below the horizon setting the sky alight with crimson, the falls in the distance glinting in the little left over light and the soft hissing sounds echoing over the meadows surrounding. Legs began to beat the ground, sending up small clouds of dusty debris around his hocks as the man, alone and suddenly a child again, picked up a brisk canter towards the falls with his nostrils flared and his head held high. As he reached the pool of water he slowed, watching his reflection as he moved, the image distorted by ripples and body slowly being coated with droplets from the tumbling currents. Inch by inch he strode into the water, cooling his body, allowing his muscles to release, relax and be vulnerable for a rare moment. It had always been told to him he must keep up appearances - but for whom? At this moment, there was nobody around but himself, his reflection and his shadow. Or so he thought.

A sound behind him caused his ivory body to freeze, dark ears alert, eyes wide as he turned his head to look over his right shoulder with a cautious air, almost too frenzied to let out a bantam breath."Hello?" he enquired into the darkness, not afraid, but defensive, perhaps curious.

He wondered if the eyes who had been watching had liked what they had seen, for there was somebody out there - but were they friend or foe?