They said we'd burn so bright.
We burn this city and go.
The first time the young spotted stallion had ever left Luthien, he fled to Tinuvel. The pintaloosa boy swam with vigor, his heart beating furiously against the confines of his small chest. He tried not to think of what could be hiding underneath him in the dark mass of the ocean, and kicked feverishly with his spindly little legs to propel him closer to the island in the distance. Evaline and Shamwari had talked about the chain of several isles that served as the homes for the horses who lived here. This seemed as good of a spot as any to embark on the next chapter of his life, or so Shamwari called it. He'd met a kind mare here during that first visit. But Paradiso was too young and aloof to want to accomplish anything beyond making friends and meeting as many new faces as he could.
This time, Paradiso had other plans. After galavanting across the mainlands for many months in an effort to get as far away from his family as possible, he was drawn back to the islands. His head was still a mess, his thoughts muddled and clouded by misplaced feelings he seemed incapable of processing after the incident in the Lagoon that changed his family forever. He spent a few days lingering in the Lagoon -- it was his first time there ever in his life -- but it brought no more clarity. Feeling more foolish in the aftermath of his short stay than when he arrived, Paradiso fled the crossing isle, braved the dark waters and headed toward the closest hazy land mass in the distance. Tinuvel.
The smokey black spotted stallion emerged from the chilly depths of the sea and onto the shoreline of a foreign beach. His dark, soft-skinned nostrils flared as his barrel rose and fell in consistent huffs, exhaustion causing him to pause in the dark pebbles that made up a beach while he caught his breathe. The young stallion's crystal blue eyes were bright and wide as he took in the surroundings. From the beach he could see the towering, snow covered peaks of the mountains in the distance. Creamy plumes of carbon dioxide were expelled from his nostrils with every breathe. The crisp and cool air bit at his damp coat and so, Paradiso made his way from the shore and onto more firm ground, the pebbles giving way to a somewhat grassy meadow surrounded by tall trees and other dense foliage. Paradiso held his head high over his withers, the muscles along his thin neck tense and bulging as he took in the somewhat familiar sights of this place. He could smell others of his kind in the air, but couldn't spy any equine in the distance.
Stallion | Evaline x Valentine | Smokey black pintaloosa | 15 hh | Photo © Carina Mailwald | © Vinyl |
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