The dark stallion flicked his ears towards the smaller mare as she approached, his eyes struggling to distingue her pale body from the light sand they stood upon. She was perhaps the palest horse he had ever laid eyes on. Her own eyes were as blue as the gentle sky above. He shivered to think of a horse with eyes as dark and deep as the ocean.

The foreign word, rolling so effortlessly from her mouth, sounded vaguely familiar. Qadir stood silently for a moment, trying to recall its meaning. He shortly gave up and decided it only paralleled a language he used to speak as easily as the common tongue. "Is lost another word for exploring?" he asked, grinning affably at her. Did it bother him to not remember what the word meant? Yes, but what use was it for him to worry over something so trivial? Or past decisions, he reflected bitterly as the earlier quarrel with himself intruded into his mind again.

His grin relaxed to a cautious smile. He could only assume this mare had claimed this place as her own, and he did not want to step on her toes (er– hooves) by being overly intrusive. "I am Qadir. This is your home?" There. Now he would know for sure. He wasn't sure what he would do with the information, but it would be wise to befriend horses with homes. He wished to explore all the islands first, then finally settle down. Friends would be all too useful once that time came.