Areo Hotah hadn't noticed this stranger.

Jasiri started towards the horse with a quick canter, eyes trained on its average build as she tried to determine how short it was. Its pale coat looked like it had copious amounts of dark bubbles pop at random places, but the silver mare did not stop to contemplate why that type of coat seemed so familiar to her. Instead, she decided this horse was too short to be this far into her tundra, and increased her speed until she was galloping straight at the stranger like she had the last one.

Her subconscious was stuck on the coat still. And as she drew up to the pale horse, stopping short of slamming into it and snapping her yellowing teeth right next to its face, it all clicked. Too late to stop herself from terrifying him. "Jasiri!" Nuru cried, backing up. She stepped back, ears still buried in her mane, tail clamped and head lowered, quietly staring at the appaloosa. He didn't look like a scared puppy, but more like a wounded dog. She could see the whites of his eyes and the tightness of his lips.

"Ni, ni--," she stuttered, "niwie radhi."

But he shook his long muzzle and took another step away. She could practically see the gears in his mind working, turning and grinding as he tried to decide whether it was worth it to stay. "I'll come back later," he looked disappointed, "once you've calmed down." It shocked her to the core. His words, his tone, the look that still covered his face.

He turned and cantered away. She watched his pale shape slowly disappear as he fled back to wherever he called home. She blinked slowly as her ears raised back up, but she could only hear the whistling of the wind and the surging of the ocean. "Ninakupenda," she announced softly. Her eyes stayed trained on the evening horizon until night settled fully onto her land.