Gabbar
stallion . arabian . bay . 14.3hh . 6
The buckskin stallion retreats while still facing Gabbar as if he is afraid to show the Arabian warrior his back. Gabbar stares after the intruder with his dark, steady gaze. Their brief interaction has intrigued the bay breeder, and he considers it as his muscles loosen and his unwelcome visitor disappears over a far dune.
A stranger came into his personal territory unsolicited to make an ostensible offer of peace. Tacked onto that offer was an ultimatum: if Gabbar refused to ally with the Lagoon, there would be consequences for him. Gabbar knows this is not how a true alliance works. There is compromise and a balance of equality between two individuals, two lands, or two peoples, such as between the two Purebred breeds who dominate his desert home, so that one party does not have more control over the other. No, this is how bullies and tyrants control others— he would know, having witnessed his people’s alliance with the Akhal-Tekes, and also having witnessed the Purebreds deliver a similar deal to the mixed breeds. Leave this desert, the Purebreds said, or we will kill you. It is a more extreme version of the ultimatum issued personally to Gabbar, but the two “offers” are the same at the base: We have more power than you, and if you don’t do what we want we’ll make your life difficult for refusing our authority.
This behavior fascinates Gabbar every time he sees it. The Lagoon must be a powerful force on these Isles if they are confident enough to deliver such a threat to a complete stranger. Or perhaps they are weak and, like bullies are wont to do, saw that Gabbar is not a native and mistakenly decided they could bend the foreigner to their will. He will have to do some reconnaissance, and speak with Valve to see what she knows of the Lagoon.
For now he turns and strides across the sands of his home to return to the bank of the river that cuts through the territory to follow it further inland. He keeps an eye out for the metallic gleam of the Valve’s coat as he walks, eager to share the slender black mare’s company once again.
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