That smell. A knowledgable shudder runs down my spine. I drink it in like a babe to milk. He seemed so eager to get to Tinuvel. The place he suggested rose up in the distance. In front of it, a breadth of ocean, not too wide to swim across. It seemed like to only way.

I was not against swimming, i had done it plenty of times before, but the day was cold, and therefore so would the water. She plunged in, the most disorganised manoeuvre she had done in a long time.

The further she swam, the more the smell enveloped her in it's grasp.

home. It was all i could think. It had been years since a smell so salty and pure had come to me. The grasses here would be tinged with it, of that, I am sure.

I sighed heavily as I picked my way behind the Grulla. He was calmer here. His body moved with ease over the rocks and grasses he has navigated so many times. I thought of so many things to say to him. But what could i say. That the simple smell of his home reminded him of my own home when i was a child? When everything was so innocent and pure and right and wrong was black and white. As life went on, it all blurred. Life was a single shade of grey where nothing was clear anymore.

I follow him willingly. Part of me is increasingly curious of his proud, father like nature to this land of his. The other part, not wanting to leave the smell that drags my heart to that of a child.

My feet pull me to the grassy knoll. My heart stops. Or maybe it drops, or skips a beat. I don’t know really, but the sight was breathtaking. Taken right out of strand of my memory. The mountainous regions as far as you could see, dense forests. The land was full of life. It was full of hope.

As a sigh escapes his body, i look at him. He seems so proud, his dark face glowing with it. My eyes betray my astonishment. ”Dögun” i breathed, ”it’s beautiful”. It’s just like home.

i turned back to the landscape again before returning my glance to Dögun. ”How long have you been in this land?” I supposed i had to be kind to him, i would be here for a while. Plus, i am not bad natured unless pushed the wrong way. My upbringing had assured of that.

The stallion so far, had been different to that of the first taste i got of him. So cold and slightly pushy i almost feared him. The way he stood on this grassy top, staring down lovingly at his kingdom. It was a gentle side to him, i would never guess was there.

“i apologise for my rudeness at the commons earlier” I blurt out before i could stop myself. I felt it was like an awkwardness between us. That moment when he pushed and i pushed back. I suppose i was stubborn, though i am not blind, or else i wouldn’t be here now.

I almost blush from embarrassment. Had i completely lost my composure?