She’d never asked him, her black-as-night friend, what had happened to his sister. She supported his search as best she could, for her heart longed for family too (though she’d never had a sibling). With the vigor in which she searched, Avangeline added Al-Hattaal’s name to her morning prayers, when Tsura’s light first soaked into the sky. She asked that some good news be delivered onto the pair of them, that her sorrows may not be as great if Al-Hattaal could find his sister.
Avangeline’s gaze drifted from Al-Hattaal to the thick-bodied stallion with hair laid over his hooves and a shaggier coat than she or Al-Hattaal sported. As he focused on Al-Hattaal and Al-Hattaal focused on him, she glanced behind him, further into his home. It was such a curious place, so different from both Crossing Isle and from the other island they’d visited previously…
Her long ears flicked, refocused on the thickly built stallion as he spoke once more. She felt her hopes plummet when he mentioned that he hadn’t seen a mare who might be Al-Hattaal’s sister. Reaching out, just briefly, she bumped her muzzle against Al-Hattaal’s shoulder, as though to offer a consoling touch. She tucked back almost immediately, vaguely aware she’d never caressed him in such a way before, not knowing why she had.
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