Meadow

Hawke

xxy / six / grullo tobiano / mixed breed / 15.3hh

Bacardi's explanation was sufficient to ease the painted grullo's concerns, if not erase them. So much had changed that shi was relieved to discover that the governance of the Peak had remained as unmoved as the mountain itself. Yet despite the reassurance he had offered, Hawke noted that the stallion's golden eyes were troubled when he briefly glanced back in the direction of his home. In addition, apprehension seemed to hang in the air around him in a cloud not unlike the warm breath that was expelled from his nostrils at regular intervals. Hir skull tipped gently to one side from curiosity, but shi held the questions that lingered on the tip of hir tongue.

Hawke could hardly deny anyone the sanctity of thought that shi so heavily leaned upon.

It was in this place that the androgynous equine sought to contain hir disappointment at hir companion's lack of knowledge about Mouse. Shi could not entirely conceal the downward twist of hir dark lips however, nor the downward droop of hir ears. The Peak mare had been the closest thing to a friend Hawke had possessed on the islands. And while Bacardi's revelation did not entirely rule out the possibility that the plain grullo still made her home on one of the outlying islands, Hawke thought it a grasping hope at best. The fervor in Mouse's voice when she had spoken of her home - and her freedom - had been undeniable.

A creature like her could never bear the shackles of life in a conventional herd - much like Hawke hirself.

"I would welcome your company - and your offer of assistance," the dun spoke with genuine gratitude, lowering hir head deferentially to the younger stallion as shi waited for him to lead the way. The sable strand of hir forelock fell across Hawke's single working eye, though shi could still glimpse the spotted figure of hir companion between the shadowy strands. It had been a long time since Hawke had shared the company of another creature for more than a passing moment; with each second that passed, a greater weight seemed to settle on hir chest, and an inexplicable tension gripped hir more tightly.

And though shi sought to swat the unwelcome memories that flitted through hir thoughts like gnats, Hawke knew the complicated tangle of emotion for what it was: fear. Fear of being left behind, fear of being abandoned as shi had more than once in the past. Aveline. Hollowpoint. Kasabian. And other names and faces that flashed too rapidly through hir thoughts to place. Every piece of Hawke's family, every friend shi had ever made, everyone shi had ever reached out to - gone and dust. A life of solitude might not have been absent of pain, but it was a pain of hir own choosing.

It was a distinction that made all the difference as Hawke stood and waited, wondering when Bacardi would fade from hir life as well. And why - in a world where such goodbyes were inevitable - there were still creatures who willingly embraced the pain.

*hir and shi are gender-neutral pronouns