Paradise was… empty.

It had taken some time for Vihar to realize that Rougaru was actually just gone. She spent so much time traversing the territory that it should have been obvious immediately, but most of her attention up until this point was focused on finding Annubis, who had also simply disappeared. She had been frustrated to learn that she was pregnant again, but that frustration slowly turned to fury the more time she spent searching for the father.

How dare he, she thought as she crashed through the thick vegetation of the Paradisian jungle. How dare he abandon his own child.

And then, one day, the anger simply… vanished.

Paradise was EMPTY, Vihar realized, and she stomped about the vacant territory with a brand new attitude. She had no doubt the old herd was scattered about here somewhere, tucked away and waiting for Rougaru to return, but none of them was coming out to replace him. Vihar was the only one still scrambling around the place, wearing trenches in the rich black soil and kicking up mud with all her temperamental bucking.

Paradise is MINE.

For a while, Vihar remained somewhat irked that she was going to have to deliver the foal on her own, but really, she knew it was for the best. Hyperion’s delivery had been anything but peaceful, both from first-time nerves and Rougaru’s intrusion. She had been lucky that Annubis had stuck up for her, and not for the first time, she felt a pang of not-anger at his absence. Was it possible she actually missed the infuriating silvery stallion?

Well, there was nothing she could do about the situation other than take over in Rougaru’s absence and make the best of things here. At least until her child was born, anyway. She sorely missed the bitter cold embrace of Tinuvel, and while Vihar was certainly an opportunistic type of mare, an empty Paradise was an opportunity that outweighed that of her escape home. She could do more here, and in any case, she was too pregnant at this point to be going anywhere.

“We’ll go home one of these days, once you can swim on your own,” Vi promised the swell of her belly as she looked out over the peaceful spring waves. She stood on a cliff near the border to the Ridge, and as she gazed out over the ocean — for once, she was standing still — she saw the bobbing head of a swimming horse.

Immediately alarmed, Vi watched with intensity as the intruder climbed onto the beach and bellowed his challenge. With his voice came recognition, and the painted mare immediately turned to scramble down from her perch. She crashed along one of Paradise’s many twisting paths until she could actually see Solomon ahead of her, and she slid to a clumsy halt, nearly crashing right into him.

“Dad!” she shouted happily, recovering from her less-than-graceful approach and immediately crashing into him again, this time on purpose. “What are you doing here?” she asked, breathless, throwing her head over his withers in a hug.