Common

Faolain was not offended by touch, but she was not one to seek it out. Having been a nomad all of her adult life and never keeping very close friends, the black mare was incredibly unaccustomed to amicable touch. Consequently, she was surprised at first when Iscariot rushed to her side, and almost habitually moved away, but she allowed him to remain close. She could tell this was a gesture of excitement, and his energy was enticing. She bobbed her head and took off, setting a pace she hoped was not too fast, though their size difference almost evened out the disparity in their strides and Faolain could almost maintain a normal pace without leaving him behind. Still, she kept her stride collected and short, listening to the ivory stallion’s hoofbeats behind her and hearing the gradual change in the soundness of his legs.

She admired his will. They did not have to run for long, and Faolain recognized the landscape quicker than she thought she would. There had been a certain jagged piece of driftwood sticking out of the sand that she saw now, and she dropped to a trot in the sand as they approached it. "This is it," she said. "I recognize this stretch of shoreline. If anyone has been here in the last few hours, their tracks should show."

The black mare turned to face her companion, and found that he had fallen behind to the point that he had probably not heard the beginning of her words. "Are you alright?" she asked as she closed the distance between them with a few short strides. "The hard part is over." She turned away again, dropping her nose to the sand and breathing in the scent of the sea, her eyes sharp for signs just as her nose waited for the scent of any horse that might have come out of the ocean.

They searched for a little while, but Faolain was aware of Iscariot’s increasing pain, and she decided this was a time to push. "I think you should rest," she said, and stood her ground in case he refused, but she knew that whether or not they found traces of Ravaini, the ivory stallion was not in a state to follow the trail. "I will stay with you, if you’d like." The offer was genuine. She had no friends, no family to get back to, but neither of those things she considered negatively. She had freedom, and this morning she chose to spend her freedom on Iscariot, a decision she found very simple to make.

FAOLAIN