I would honestly love you now,
But I would lovingly let you down.
Weeks had passed and Jabari was stuck. He toiled across the Crossing isle, moving from the Meadow to the Falls to the Ruins and back again. His interactions with others were limited - some occasional mutual grazing spots, the infrequent offer of a shared breath. Horses came and went, but Jabari stayed.
He felt paralyzed, unable to move forward and afraid of making a misstep. But above all, the painted stallion was afraid to pick up where he had left off. He was determined not to find a way to reconnect to his roots here on the islands, especially on Luthien.
Outside of where he was born, Jabari knew very little about the islands. The only other places he had actually traversed were the Lagoon and Paradise. Both left a sour taste in his mouth, moreso from the company he was forced to keep rather than the actual landscape. The last thing Jabari wanted to do was to run into his sire's old foe, Rougaru in Paradise, but there was an allure of Atlantis that eventually drew him to the shoreline of the Commons on this particular day.
The stallion was restless. He wanted to leave this place. It was never his intention to wander so aimlessly when he finally left Shamwari back on the mainland. He needed a fresh start. One of his own. One that was new and removed from whom he had been when he was last here. And so, he stood at the shoreline of the Common Isle, breathing easily as the surf lapped at his submerged ankles.
The painted stallion breathed one more heavy sigh, with every intention of trudging into the surf until his hooves no longer touched the murky earth underneath. But then a pale mare emerged farther down the shoreline, her battered, but still-brightly colored essence shining even from here. Jabari felt a lump catch in this throat as he stared from a great distance. But even from here, he could feel her. Calypso. He closed his blue eyes tightly, trying to will her presence away. For so long, all he wished for was to see her again, despite his great guilt for leaving her behind in the first place. But now, he was terrified.
Jabari looked out into the dark sea again, his heat beating quickly in his chest. Go, just go. He told himself, but he stood, frozen. Until finally, he snorted, and took off in the shallow water toward her.
He had no idea what to expect. He had no idea what to say, if the image he'd seen from down the beach was indeed, his Calypso. Terror filled him as he ambled closer, the sense only heightened when the form of another took shape as he inched closer. Jabari slowed his speed, keeping his distance from both horses. But a chill shot down the length of his spine as he recognized the mare in all her glory, despite the obvious disarray she was in.
"Calypso."
He said out loud, ignoring the pale stallion as he gave her a worried look over. He did not step close enough to reach out to her, despite his strong desire to feel her touch again. She should be irate with him, or that's how he imagined it after all this time. "Calypso, are you alright? What happened?" He asked, concern laced in his voice. Only then did he turn his head to acknowledge the stallion. He stiffened instinctively, and his ears lay flat against his poll. But he didn't bother addressing him, not yet at least. Not until he knew she was okay.
Stallion | Brienne x Shamwari | Chesnut Overo | 15.2 h| Photo © Carina Mailwald | © Vinyl |
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