Late summer in the Common is a blessed relief from the oppressive heat of his desert home. Even the ocean is cooler here, and It’s still warm on the main isle, and everything is green. Sometimes he forgets how vivid the colors can be, when it isn’t just the sandy expanses and the silvery-green of the sage scrub that fills the Badlands. Rafe steps out of the ocean onto the easy, sloping beaches of the Common, shaking the salt water from his thin coat. He casts his icy gaze around the empty beach, eyeing the swell of the hill into the center of the land, but he doesn’t make any moves toward the grassy meadow that he knows is on the other side.
The Commons are empty today, few others around, and this may have been a wasted trip. Rafe lets out a disappointed huff, but then his ears perk forward. Further down the beach there is a mare, a pretty pale spotted coat catching his eye. She’s standing quietly and watching the ocean before her. His interest is piqued - she isn’t making her way into the Common, intent on being claimed. She also isn’t fleeing to the next land to avoid the matter being forced. So either she intends to find a home, or isn’t sure where she’s landed. Either way, this is a good opportunity - playing things gentler had paid off with Mae and Sabriel, and Rafe learned from this.
No one seems to be approaching her, and he has never been one to pass up an opportunity to lead another pretty little thing home. He approaches her with purpose, moving down the beach at a quick pace. He makes an effort to be noisy, pointedly announcing his arrival to her. Rafe lets out a low nicker, calling out before stopping a respectful distance back. No use crowding her - not yet, anyway. If he winds up needing to drag her back to the Badlands like he did with Viveka, then there is plenty of time later for pressing the advantage of his size. Until he knows how this will go, though, it’s better not to set her off. “Hello,” he murmurs, extending his head to her. “You seem to be faring better than most that wash up on these beaches. Did you enjoy your swim?”