give me darkness when I'm dreaming; aventuras and deirdre Posted on November 6, 2023 at 00:39:32 AM by Arroyo
Arroyo had grown restless in the Harbor. Many nights he spent pacing the beach, wishing to leave - to roam, but not quite knowing how to ask his family to come with him. They had children now. The comfort and security of a home. It was his duty to provide that for them, Deirdre and Aventuras and little Sionainn and not-so-little-anymore Matoskah.
He feels guilty now as the travel the outskirts of territories, displaced because when the stallion, Vulcan, came calling, Arroyo was not mentally fit to fight him, to protect them. No, instead he gathered them up and they quietly slipped into the deep jungles of Atlantis, the liminal spaces between territories, careful not to linger in one place for long.
When it was just him, back when he first came to the islands, he relished in the wandering. It did not bother him to claim a territory, lose it, then claim another for that season. It did not bother him to wait out winter on the Crossing. Lone stallions don't have much to worry about other than food in their belly. He has much more to worry over now.
They've been grazing along the outskirts of the Ridge for a couple hours today, Arroyo keeping a watchful eye, but not really eating. He hasn't said much since they left the Harbor. Hasn't apologized. Hasn't really even told them where they are going, because he does not know. But as the days have passed, he has come to realize that they cannot live like this much longer.
"We need to talk," he says to his family, finally. Matoskah grunts at him, but perks his ears. "It is difficult for me to stay in one place for longer than a season or two," Arroyo says. "Where I came from, my family wandered with the seasons. I have done so since I was just a colt." He misses those days - his mother and sisters. "I came here when I came of age, like so many do, to make my own way, and start my own family." He looks to each of them. "I am so thankful for you and I want to take care of you, but I have failed." He swallows back the choking guilt. "I should have fought for the Harbor, but I had grown so restless these past few weeks, I was not prepared when Vulcan came, and for that I am sorry."
"We need a safe place to land until I can fight for our home." He looks at each of them. "Perhaps the leader of this land will be accomodating, perhaps not." He shrugs. "I will find us somewhere, and then we will return to the Harbor if," he pauses, "we are all in agreement." Replies: