Desert

Damn her. Once again, like liquid smoke she slips through his fingers and disappears without a trace. Unspent emotions roll within him. Anger, jealousy, irritation, adoration, love, all wrapped up in a barely contained knot. Just when he thought that they might finally be able to come to terms with the past and together might build a future together she goes off once again and disappears.

The desert was silent.

He would have been content being her right-hand man. Would have not minded coming and going as her bidding demanded and had even resigned himself to such a fate. Hell it would have been a far easier life than constantly having to patrol the borders for enemies or making a point to visit with and ask about each lover he has taken beneath his wing. From time to time, he thinks of Rae and the soft doe-like adoration in her eyes as she gazed into his. Only then, does he feel a sense of regret and even guilt. Rae did not deserve to be abandoned like that, and yet still he could not bring himself to return to Paradise where the ghosts of his past were left to torment his soul with vivid memories. If only he had been able to find Zjeena or Monster, then he would not feel like such a failure. Instead he is left with nothing and he can only hope that Rae has found some security with the new leader of Paradise. ’One day… one day’ he promises himself and the wolf. One day he would return to the island of Atlantis and seek out those that were left behind if nothing else but to ensure that they were not being mistreated or enslaved. They had been part of the jungle pack and deserved to be revered even if the pack itself had dispersed.

Rougaru had not expected to find himself a leader of a herd again. The desire to collect and protect pretty trinkets for himself had long begun to mellow in his veins. The wolf longed to roam and wander the islands without any cares or responsibilities to others but still he could not yet give up on the hopes that Titania might find her way back to him again. So here he was, reluctantly meandering the borders of the desert. Occasionally he found himself stopping here and there to examine an unfamiliar insect or munch lazily on a particularly lush patch of grass. He had been pleased to find Nyimara’s scent near the border of the Dunes, at least it was proof enough that she was still alive and well from the small herd he caught grazing on the other side of the oasis. He nickered towards them in mild greeting but received no acknowledgement in return. That had irked his nerves but he knew that he could always smooth over whatever had ruffled the silver bay mare’s feathers easily enough. He could read her like a book, always had.

With a huff and a shake of his skin to rid a light layer of dust from his pelt, Rougaru wanders towards the tall, thick trunk of a nearby acacia tree and settles into the shade to avoid the worst of the afternoon sun. The desert was no paradise, but it wasnt so bad either.