NAMI

The soft swishing of sand under hoof and a dark smudge on the horizon alerted Nami to the other mare’s approach, and her pale ears flicked forward in curiosity as she watched the stranger draw nearer. Her expression seemed to be tainted with faint confusion and surprise, and so Nami offered her a small, unsure smile in an effort to try and ingratiate herself with the stranger, who she could only assume was one of the mares that Olaf had rounded up.

She was a pretty young thing, her rich red-brown pelt splattered intriguingly with white. The huge variety of colours and patterns that adorned all of the strangers on these islands were still surprising and new to Nami, and they reminded her of how small and unvaried her own herd had truly been.

If the mare’s curious expression had not given her confusion away, her words certainly did. Judging by her question, she had turned up here by herself as well if Olaf wasn’t with her.

“I’m Nami,” she replied simply, offering the girl a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Just as she was about to offer her own thoughts and guesses at to where Olaf was, the sound of hooves trudging through the sound caught her attention and she turned her head to see his familiar white-faced figure coming towards them. He paused at the crest of the nearest dune just a little way from them.

“Speak of the devil,” she said, turning back to the other mare with an amused grin. “And he shall appear.”

Nami was glad of the distraction this company had provided her with. She didn’t want to linger on her thoughts of Orochi and her unsuccessful days wasted hoping that he would return. She turned to look at Olaf again, and a soft nicker rippled gently from her velvety nostrils in greeting.

{ a heart of steel starts to grow }
grey . percheron mutt . 16.0hh