Mariael returned to the Bay, leaving her new neighbor behind her in the Inlet with the weight of a changed world resting on his shoulders. It would be wise of her to hope he caved to her rule, but there was a piece of her – that same piece which had so brazenly fought Jasiri – that almost hoped he wouldn’t. Maybe she would always crave chaos. She’d been growing so restless in these last few months of peace and the change of the wind told her to fortify and strengthen her herd rather than let her guard down.
Mariael had learned to listen well to the wind.
The numbers of the Bay herd had slowly dwindled, trickling down until only a few remained. Still, with Paradiso, Avalon, and young Izizel, it felt bigger than it had in years. Mariael felt a stirring deep within, something telling her it was time to stop playing recluse and travel to Crossing Isle to look for those who’d benefit the Bay herd. She had given herself nearly a year without travel, but now was the time to act yet again.
Stepping further into the Bay, Mariael turned to wind through the thick trees of the forest, intent on wandering to where the herd had been last. She needed to find them and tell them of their new neighbor as well as the news to give the Inlet clear space for a few days until they knew if he’d be friend or foe. Yet, as she traveled, her path was diverted by a calling sound – a whinny down among the shoreline to her left. Mariael paused, turning her head, ears forward, and barely breathed while she waited a few moments more. No answering call came, which meant the herd was further in the forest than they’d been earlier where they couldn’t hear those among the shore.
Turning, Mariael started forward, her gait moving to a lofty trot and her hooves making hard thudding sounds against the ground as she moved. She burst around underbrush, her pale hair flowing back behind her, and squinted as she glanced toward the pair moving closer. They looked so… familiar? Mariael drew up her gait, approaching them at a walk (head proudly high as always), and studied them as she rummaged through her mind at where she’d seen them before…
And it clicked.
She had been a year old when Alessandro was born, and she’d been two-years-old when Judicaël was born. They hadn’t been around the herd long enough for her to know them well, but she knew one very, very important thing about them. They were her brothers. Because of this, Mariael elicited a welcome nicker, a deep rumbling noise that most newcomers to her shore would never receive. Her blue eyes bright with mirth, she looked excitedly at them both by the time she stopped before them.
“What brings you home?” Excitement was in her voice, making her breathless with happy surprise.
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