Jasmine waited with bated breath for an answer to her call - and an answer she received, though for a moment she was unsure if she was seeing a real horse or some kind of apparition. Something - someone - broke through the trees, light as the moon above and glowing radiant under its gaze. This creature floated over the sand towards her, whickering, and though she considered just turning and running from whatever this was, she forced herself to stay put. She had not come all this way to hide. She did not search for so long to reject the first fruits of her labor. Something had brought her to this beach, to this stranger with whom she cautiously reached out and exchanged breaths. Something lead her to this moment. She’d be a fool to dismiss it now.

The young stallion before her spoke, and her ears twitched back briefly. She had not simply stumbled upon this place, upon him, and the thought of just randomly running into another soul after combing every inch of this island felt almost insulting. Jasmine was looking him over, half trying to determine if she could see through him and half planning which of a large array of questions she wanted to ask first when he beat her to it. At his last quip, she met his eyes - bright blue against her dark brown - and couldn’t help a soft bark of a laugh from spilling out between her lips. Isn’t it obvious? she wondered to herself. To him, she simply said, “You.”

It was another beat before she realized how predatory that might sound, and immediately shifted her gaze to the sand. “I mean - obviously I don’t know you,” she stuttered. “I just - I’ve been here for so long and I - I haven’t seen anyone, anyone at all, and I heard you walking, and I’ve been alone all this time and…”

She sighed. After nearly two years of having nobody but herself for company, conversation proved a bit difficult.

The mare lifted her eyes to look at him once more. She still didn’t know for sure if he was a spirit or not, despite feeling his breath on her nose just minutes ago. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch him, but she worried that if she tried to, he’d vanish into thin air.

“You and I… are we alone, here?”

As far as she knew, they had the whole island to themselves. She’d scoured every nook and cranny numerous times and found not a soul. How had he evaded her?