Common

Rougaru always regretted not going back to paradise, if only to seek out the delicate Sonorae and at the very least beg for her forgiveness. The wolf imagined himself no coward, but the only explanation for why he had allowed the demons and ghosts to make him avoid Atlantis like the plague could simply be cowardice. He was afraid. Afraid of the ghosts and memories that haunted every well known path and trail into the dense jungle home, afraid of the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ that might still find themselves notched into the thick, twisting trunks of the woody trees. More than that, he was afraid to meet the eyes of Rae. Always she looked upon his with such reverence and adoration, he promised to protect and shield her always and at the first doubt, he left without even a word… only a promise and that he had broken.

He was not immune to her heartbreaking call that day on the beach, when he had come for Temblor’s mare Shiloh and left her standing alone in the wake of the reaching waves. Though he could not see it, he felt the crystal tears as they poured from her eyes and stained paths down the angular sides of her cheeks that he had once kissed with such tenderness and affection. He should have returned for her then, he should have beaten back land and beast alike if only it meant that he would reunite himself with the gentle beauty that had become so innocent and precious to him. He should have done… something more than turn his back and keep on swimming away.

The wolf hated him for it, for the cowardly way he avoided her searching eyes for an answer he knew she deserved. He hated himself for longing for the warmth of her body pressed tenderly against his own in the darkest hours of the night. ’She deserved better.’ the only solace that he and the beast can agree upon. She did deserve better than the beast that haunted the nightmares of so many on these islands. She deserved better than to have to spend her days making excuses for his behavior and promising that what happened in the past would never happen again because he was not quite sure that he nor the beast would be able to keep that promise for her. He was a monster and that has not changed.

What he did not expect to see, when he came to the common island this day in search of new potential members of his herd, is her…

Or not her.

The muscular silver bay stallion halts on the beach, his fluted ears perked high amid the wind swept tangle of his cream and carmel mane. Paper thin nostrils flare as he inhales another strong gust of the billowing breeze. Rae. Cloaked by the sea and covered in fear and sweat, the familiar sweet scent of Sonorae blew fresh into his senses. Multifaceted eyes of emerald blink back their surprise and confusion clouds his gaze as he progresses now at a slower pace, his graying muzzle bent inches above the sand and rock to seek her out if only to ensure that she was safe. Why would she be here? Why was Temblor not keeping her safe in Paradise where she belonged? What happened? So many questions come one after the other, piling up in his mind like a volcano voicing its impending eruption. She should not be here. She did not belong here.

The first he sees is the rust and white stallion, poking and prodding at the porous rocks beyond the break of frothing waves. At first he dismisses the boy as nothing more than a curious youth, hellbent on exploring every last nook and cranny of the islands in an effort to establish himself. Why the rocky outcropping, he did not rightly know but well, most young stallions made little sense. But then he notices what it was that held the stallion’s attention.

”Rae…” his voice faltered as he studied the drenched pile of horseflesh more carefully. Despite the frothing of foaming waves and gathering of seaweed and other debris clinging to her, the limp body clinging desperately to the wooden refuse what eerily familiar. ”Rae?!” the wolf surges to the surface now as the muscular stallion thrusts himself into the waist high waves. Chocolate colored ears pin back against his skullcap as he draws nearer, his emerald eyes narrowed into slits as teeth bare a sign of warning to the younger stallion. ”Away!” he snarls, a feral sound reverberating deep within his breast as he halts beside the fallen mare. From his peripheral vision, he recognizes the rise and fall of her chest, breath albeit shallow, still causing her heart to beat strongly. ”Rae.” he murmurs, turning his attention back to the bloodmarked mare as his graying muzzle exhales a soft breath against her cheek, his dark labrums brushing gently against her drenched face. ”Wake up Rae…. wake up.” he begs. He has no right to ask it of her, no reason that she should hear his voice and return to the land of the waking and yet he cannot help but the plea that comes from his lips. ’This is YOUR fault!’ the beast snarls, for the first time its golden eyes filled with anger and rage directed towards him. Somewhere within, the stallion shrinks away from the ire, defeated and submissive. IT was right. If he had only gone back…this would not have happened. ”I’m sorry.” the words whisper past his lips, as much directed at the beast as to the sleeping beauty clinging to life before him.