Tarrant’s trained attention unnerved the youth. the energy and free spirit that consumed his soul trembled under the gaze. Ailill was determined to have and to keep his home, but the face of a much older and experienced stallion had him falling back into place. Fuzzy tufty ears twitched this way and that, struggling with his desires to prance about, kick the stallion out, and bow down before the wisdom this man would commanded.
It was the kind tones Tarrant took that encouraged Ailill’s face to brighten. It appeared as though even if the stallion did try to take over this land he so clearly belonged to, Ailill would still have a place to stay. The colt breathed an audible sigh of relief. His face relaxed and smile grew brighter. If there was anything the boy was proud of, it was his parents. Or at least his upbringing. “My mother is Taytim! She is a wanderer, but I was born on the Peak! My sister is a Vulcan.” It was clear he held the two women in very high regard and with the utmost respect. As he spoke of them he trotted out of the water, his head held high to bravely approach the stallion. “I never met my father. I think his name is Lyden?” Naive, he had no notion that it was his father’s bloodline most inquirers would be concerned about. All he had known was the company of women, with the occasional encounter with a stallion.
Within reach, he poked his head out to Tarrrant’s nose and snorted softly at the bigger man in their traditional equine greetings. Ears and eyes forward, he had begun to completely lose his fear, the curiosity growing in him instead. Once a sound to their side caught his attention, his blue eyes shifted off the man to the mare he had met on the beach. The kind woman who had kept him company, and whose company he had come to enjoy. Brightening still more, he brayed a greeting to her, obviously happy to see her.
An odd realization dawned on him as he looked between the two adults. Once more his feelings were torn. He was not so clueless as to believe he would be able to convince any full grown horse he was worthy of his title or claimed rank. There was nothing he could say to assure either of them that he desired their presence. It had happened before with the blind mare in the crossing.
He snorted once in his frustration but then shook it away. One day they would realize the truth of his intentions. He would never be considered a liar to his herd. Nor disloyal to his friends.
“Hello Macabre!” He greeted in his usual joyful tones. “This is…” The words trailed off, but eyes looked to the stallion. He never mentioned his name. “...A creature of the forest! He had roamed with the powers that rule here. Like you, he knows this place well!” Consumed by excitement that occasionally flared in his young soul (how could it not, sharing blood with Taika) he cantered around the two adults. “The spirits decided he should visit us! He is as real as we are!” Ailill stopped his movement next to the stallion, his foreboding a thing of the past. “What is your name...sir?” He questioned, looking up into the green eyes.
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