Meadow

Let’s just stay here.

Psychedelic kept walking or, limping, as it were. The swim from Atlantis to the Crossing Isle had worked blood through his sore, stiff muscle that wanted nothing but to swell and lock and refuse to comfortably move. Xiomara’s hooves had planted a firm kick and he knew from experience he wouldn’t be running any time soon. He’d need a little while to heal and then…

He pictured it. Those sandy beaches. That turquoise ocean. The sticky humidity that sat in the air so thick it was nearly palpable. It brought peace to his aching heart.

Accusatory eyes shot to the late afternoon sky, knowing soon they’d be overcast and drab, filled with dark clouds that’d dump snow and bring a chill to his bones he had no interest in feeling. By winter he needed to be on Atlantis permanently. But plans had changed. Xiomara proved a tougher battle mate than he’d anticipated.

Hello? Are you even listening to me?

“Huh?” He grunted, clearing his throat and blinking as he came back to focus.

Of course you weren’t listening! I said we should just stay here. Fuck the girl. Let whatever is going to happen to her happen to her, it’s about time you did. This is where we belong.

The Lagoon. It was the nearest point to the shore, so he’d swam into its shallow, muddy shores and was walking through it to return to where he’d left Talya. The smell of stallion and mud and sea was strong and familiar.

Home. You’re more cut from your grandfather’s cloth than your own father was, you know that. This is where we belong. You’ve let yourself be distracted by that little brat for too long.

“Stuff it,” Psychedelic muttered, ears flicking back with irritation. He shook his head, offsetting his tangled, cream mane on either side of his splotched neck. “You don’t understand.”

Well, duh. We already knew that. I seriously don’t get why you’re so hung up on her. You’ve sired so many foals and you don’t even know their names! And you don’t care!

“Talya’s different.”

Maybe Psychedelic was different. Maybe the heart that had afflicted his grandfather to care when he feigned innocence had been given to his grandson, and it’d rooted itself a little more prominently. Maybe he had some level of caring inside himself that he’d be loathe to admit existed. Maybe he’d been able to avoid its temptations until a scared, wobbly-legged filly with big, tear-filled blue eyes clung to him and called him Mamapapa and made him feel important in a way he never had before.

Maybe he didn’t handle things right by her, but Psychedelic knew one thing: He could never lose her, and he would never leave her. His daughter was the only thing that mattered to him and he would secure them a home on Atlantis where no one could tell him anything and he’d keep her safe. She’d be happy there. Atlantis was full of things that’d entertain Talya. He wouldn’t have to worry about her wandering off. He wouldn’t be as distracted as he was before.

You’re hopeless. Can I get in someone else’s brain? I’m tired of being along for this ride. Two thumbs WAY down buddy. Booooooriiiiiing!!!!

Psychedelic snorted and shook his head as the voice echoed and bounced at an almost painful volume.

Talya had been talking to Nobody, excited about showing her how to play the game where they tried to catch fish. “It’s easier to play when there’s no shadows and the sun is really high!” She’d said, smiling and turning her ears toward the creek bubbling happily along side them. “But if you see one you have to put your hooves in the water,” she’d started to walk toward the water and splashed into it, glancing around her, tail flagged happily behind her haunches as she pranced with obvious excitement. Talya’s eyes were on the water’s surface, but she’d yet to spot any fish. She’d frowned and said, “well, I don’t see any, but you stand completely still and lower your nose to the water and then when they’re right under you, you try and grab them! If you touch them you get a point, but if you manage to catch them you get two! You have to put them back quick though or –”

It had been at that moment she heard Mamapapa’s snort. It seemed strange to be able to tell so much as a snort apart from another horse’s, especially at the distance it was, but Talya knew. Her body went rigid and her head shot up, she began to scramble in the water and slip nervously over rocks, threatening to tumble down. “Mamapapa!” She hissed desperately at Nobody. “Mamapapa’s back!”

And she darted, like a frightened deer, making her way with quick panic back to where she’d initially ventured from. The branches of the underbrush still shook from being disturbed when Psychedelic stepped into the Meadow’s opening.

He glanced toward the black mare with her white feather socks and white blaze marking, eyes narrowing with curiosity. He could smell Talya and highly suspected, knowing his daughter, that she hadn’t behaved like he’d asked her to. His stomach twisted and he swallowed back the bitterness of anger that rose in his throat. He cracked his tail and limped forward, giving the dark mare another eyeful

He didn’t recognize her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a threat.

Psychedelic made to walk past her, heading toward the underbrush where he’d last left Talya.

(ooc: if you need me to I can totally edit this to give you more to go off of and for Rhadra to react to!!! I’m not sure if I gave her enough but I didn’t want to get TOO rambly)