Common

I see her long before she decides to join me, although I could not tell you why my eye was drawn to her. There was something arresting about her, an aura that demanded attention from any that existed in her vicinity. It put me on edge, but considering most horses put me on edge by existing, it didn't necessarily warrant notice. I debated slinking back into the comfortable cloak of the shadows to avoid her, obeying some inner warning sign flashing in the void, but I was too slow.

Those sharp eyes locked on me as a hunting owl might a mouse, and I found my pale limbs frozen and feet unmoving.

By the time she settles across from me, my heart is thrumming against the narrow cage of my ribs and I find that I have forgotten to breathe. Areyu los? The dulcet tone of her voice - so at odds with the arresting qualities of her presence - jostles me from my frozen state and I blink rapidly for a moment before shaking my head no hesitantly. I was not lost, per se. At least, not in the way that she meant. I know who and where I was, for the most part.

I just didn't know where I was supposed to be.

Not for the first time, I wish that I had better command of the language they used on the isles. I was getting better at understanding the meaning of things, but it had been a rough road so far and I still couldn't offer much by the way of answer. I'd had to struggle to even get the first syllable of my name out to the siblings and I hadn't managed anything else since. We'd gotten on mostly by gestures and yes or no questions, but I knew my lack of communication was frustrating.

Maybe not as frustrating as my skittishness, but certainly not pleasant.

Answer given, I stood there awkwardly for a moment, just waiting for the mare to make the realization that I could not answer her. The siblings had often saved me from this uncomfortable hell on the rare occasion we interacted with anyone else but there was no way to avoid it when I was alone. In an effort to at least let her know that I wasn't standing here mute because I was ignoring her, I tentatively extended my muzzle to the sharp-looking mare for an exchange of breath if she were so inclined.

homeless . loveinspired