Gabbar
stallion . arabian . bay . 14.3hh . 6
Gabbar is at a loss of what to do.
Iftikhar has not yet returned, and each day that the red mare does not appear on the horizon fills him with another iota of unease. He does not want to seek her out, and he justifies remaining in the Dunes by reminding himself that the mare ordered him to wait. But every day that passes is one more day that the lead mare and her High Seer are not setting out for home. That in itself is a long journey, one that will take over a season to conclude, and already the three Arabians have been gone from their desert for over two years. Will a third pass before he completes his mission and sends Iftikhar and El Halin home?
He snorts, shakes his head. The bay stallion is wandering his home, ostensibly to keep an eye out for Iftikhar but mostly so that he does not have to consider Valve, or A’idah, or Sekhmet.
Gabbar never anticipated meeting so many mares and feeling so conflicted about each of them. He assumed, at the start of his journey, that he would arrive on the fabled Isles and, if the two Arabians he sought were there, he would find them and deliver his message and travel home with them.
The Gods have other plans for him, it seems.
He snorts again and when he inhales he picks up A’idah’s scent. He feels guilty for his abrupt departure last time they spoke, and guiltier still for actively avoiding her company. Things must change, he decides. His behavior has been inexcusable and unfitting of a band stallion. Gabbar has finally accepted that he is more than a breeder, here, and it has been exhilarating but also a bit frightening. This culture is still strange to him, but he enjoys the lack of constant violence. He does not want to return to a land so ravaged by war that there is no room for love.
A’idah’s scent mingles with others as he crests a dune, and there are hoofprints in the sands— a pair of them. El Halin and Iftikhar, he thinks, and panics at the thought of the two warriors cornering the pale-haired chestnut. She is too kind to engage with them, her way of life too soft. They will destroy her.
Gabbar flings himself down the dune and hurries to meet up with the trio of horses, praying to Uzay that he will not be forced to throw himself between A’idah and the mares he has been raised to submit to. When he comes upon the group, he is startled (and relieved) to discover an unfamiliar pair of Akhal-Tekes. He glances up and scans the surrounding area as he joins them in the shaded valley between dunes, half expecting Valve to be approaching at the same time.
As the black warrior is not yet here, however, he joins A’idah as she greets the strangers and stands at her shoulder to see what brings a pair of Akhal-Tekes to their home. A’idah stands with her head high, staring down at the slender pair of horses (truly, they almost look like one, so identical are their features) with the characteristically proud expression of a Purebred. He flags his tail and lifts his dished head to mirror her stance as he adds, “Are you friends of Valve’s?”
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