Orhan

There were storm clouds on the horizon, brewing dark and ominous like a harbinger of doom. Orhan gave them only a cursory glance before putting his head down and braving his way further into the vast sea of sand. He wanted to get this over and done with before the heavens opened.

This was the last stop on Orhan's months-long journey, and he had been dreading it. Now, half-starved and weary from exhaustion, the buckskin stallion wished he had done it sooner. Really, it should have been his first stop.

He was a sorry sight as he slowly tread his way into the dunes. His limp had worsened on his journey, his coat was dull, and his brown eyes were empty as they stared out at the sands. When a scent eventually reached him, he came to a stop and lifted his head only a couple inches to test the air. His brain was muddled with fatigue and it took him longer than usual to process it, but soon enough he realized that it was a scent he recognized. It was not, however, Gabbar's scent. It was a mare's, and though he could not put a name to it right this moment, it made his heart begin to race with a sense of forboding. He lifted his head a little higher and spied a black silhouette perched atop a distant dune.

Orhan took a moment to collect himself, then continued to limp further into his neighbor's territory. Patches of damp began to cling to his body in a suffocating embrace, and not just from the humidity.