They said we'd burn so bright.
We burn this city and go.
Normally the spotted stallion would feel small under the hardened gaze of a stranger. Valerian was no different than any other horse -- she oozed confidence. She was well poised. This was clearly a mare who knew her place in the world, and her place was to rule it. Despite this, Paradiso did not cower under her gaze. Instead he stood coolly in her presence, watching with some colt-like awkwardness as she listened to his long winded explanation.
When she speaks again, her black ear lobes flick forward and at attention. His heart flutters in his chest if only for a moment, as he realizes that Menkhet is long gone. Part of him felt somewhat responsible for that. He should have done more to help protect her and this land from Asp. But it didn't matter now. Asp too was gone, and hopefully for good. He bobbed in his head in understanding as she explained what he had gathered too -- their scents were fading, and being replaced by hers and perhaps his, if he chose to stick around.
Paradiso flicks the tuft he called a tail across his haunches her propsal. Thus far Paradiso didn't mind being a nomad. It certainly had come with its own set of perks. He got to see strange of foreign lands, meet a few new horses along the way, and only answer to himself. But this road was a lonely one, and even if it made him more bold and brazen in the long run, he still craved the attention and conversation of those of his own kind. He wanted to care about something greater than his next short-term adventure. He wanted to care about other horses who cared about him.
The stallion swallowed hard as he weighed this. He had horses in his life that cared about him. Shamwari, for one. But a fire raged inside him when he thought about his brother now, and what kind of condition he'd let their mother fall into. He knew he couldn't avoid the chestnut stallion forever. Perhaps if he remained here on Luthien, he would have more of a say in what went on with his family, like with Evaline and Vita Nova, than he had in the past. After all, he wasn't just a colt anymore.
"Thank you for that." He said sheepishly, picking up that mercy wasn't exactly this mare's strong suit. So far that was OK with him. I do know this land fairly well. Luthien is where I was born." He suggests. "If you'll have me, I'd be honored to serve you and the Forest... again."
Stallion | Evaline x Valentine | Smokey black pintaloosa | 15 hh | Photo © Carina Mailwald | © Vinyl |
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