 Estella had been strict with Vhagar. She had watched over her every moment she could, and whenever she blinked the filly had vanished. She found adventures all over the island, content to remain on Atlantis. For a time, at least. She had been different with Balerion. She had been less suffocating and in turn he stayed closer, of his own volition. He was young and curious, barely a year old. Estella had seemed distant lately, saddened by something she wouldn't say and Balerion had taken to giving his mother space. She spent many of her days laying on the beach and staring off into the distance as if she was waiting for something.
While Vhagar had been far more adventurous than he had, Balerion still enjoyed his walks through the territory. He hadn't made any friends, except his sister, and she was decidedly missing at the moment. The smell of something unknown hit his nostrils and he stopped in his tracks, turning his scrunched muzzle in the direction. It was a foolish thing to go off on his own, he knew that, but when had a fresh yearling ever made a good decision.
He ducked through the underbrush with purpose, ignoring the pit of dread in his stomach as he approached the smell. It was only when he stepped from the shadows that he saw what it was. A mare, he had briefly seen before with the herd, staring at a small bundle of cream on the ground. He blinked a few times, taking in the sight and what the strange smell was.
"Wow," he finally utters, cocking his head to the side. "Do you think I was ever that small?" Truthfully he was not that big now, seeing as he'd be less than sixteen hands fully grown, but the tiny foal looked impossibly small to him. He dared not to take another step forward, content to leave space between the mother and him, though he wondered if the foal was small enough to be carried off by a bird. He didn't know much about foals. Was there a bird that big? He hoped not.
"Why are you all the way over here?" Curiosity got the better of him and he gnawed at his lip. From the look on the mare's face she was terrified, he'd seen the same look on his mother's face the first time Vhagar returned home covered in blood from some ill-fated adventure. The fear was palpable and he awkwardly cleared his throat as he shuffled on his feet, too nervous to move forward but not wanting to leave. |
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