Oswin observed the stallion standing in the open from high where she stood on the inclined path to the Peak’s summit, but she did not immediately descend. The Badlands stallion brought mixed feelings. When Bagheera had told Oswin a mare by the name of Viveka had told her a cruel stallion in the Badlands was holding mares against their will she’d leapt to action without hesitation. She couldn’t blame Bagheera for wanting to go after him either, for being just as eager to do what Oswin kept promising her new sister was their sworn duty to these islands. There were stories of him fighting his mares and it had made her think immediately of Koray and her sister. Then there was the day Zevulun told her he’d met an emotionally distraught mare in the Falls who described her home in the Badlands as a prison. It had seemed she had the perfect villain to defeat to make her point on how strong and able she was determined to make the Peak look.

Unfortunately all of that had backfired.

When she returned to the Peak a few years ago, Oswin failed to really grasp the concept that she was coming to a very different Peak than the one she’d left behind.

“Who’s that?” Filumena’s little voice pulled Oswin’s thoughts and she glanced at her daughter (tall and growing taller by the day), then looked back at the waiting stallion. No one had approached him yet and likely no one would. The Peak had become a graveyard yet again.

“His name is Rafe. He leads the Badlands on Salem.” Oswin explained. “Your oldest sister Klara lives with him.” Her heart felt as though it squeezed, but she swallowed against it and started forward. She knew she needed to approach Rafe before he thought the Peak abandoned altogether. He could be bringing her news of Klara, after all.

That put a little more urgency in her step and she trotted down the rest of the path, Filumena a few paces behind her.

Her hooves skittered lightly on the rock as she came to a short, bouncy halt. Her chin lifted as her white tail flicked once behind her, she looked him over but could not see any immediate distress or sign of emergency on him. This likely wasn’t about Klara then.

“Hello again, Rafe.”

Filumena had stopped near her haunches and was clearly eyeing the stallion with a large amount of curiosity (the Peak didn’t see many male visitors).

“This is my daughter, Filumena.” She introduced, nodding slightly toward her red dun, white blanketed daughter.

“What brings you by the Peak?”

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.