Meadow

Hawke

x^aisy/ six / grullo tobiano / mixed breed / 15.3hh

As different as the two creatures might appear to be on the outside, there were similarities that no pair of eyes could discern. Both had their share of scars - not only those that marked their coats, but also those that marked their hearts. Hawke could not have known Cain's history but shi guessed from his confessions - and his insecurities - that the tobiano stallion had not lived an easy life. And shi had known nothing but an endless struggle to survive since hir youth. Aveline's abandonment, losing hir eye at only a year of age, wandering every island in search of Hollowpoint. Exploring the mainland in hopes of finding him, and then finally resigning hirself to a lonely existence in the only home shi'd ever known.

But now Cain offered the grullo something more: a chance to know what it was to have a true home. And though Hawke should have been elated and eager to pursue the offer, in truth shi was terrified of the unknown that loomed before hir. Sorrow and solitude had been hir constant companions for long that the thought of abandoning them was unnerving. And yet in the time shi had spent on Salem, Hawke had felt a sort of kinship with its barren landscape. Unlike the other islands, Salem did not seek to conceal the difficulty of one's survival beneath a honeyed exterior. Its appearance was every bit as bleak - and strangely beautiful - as life itself.

Despite the strides shi had made today, however, Hawke was not yet ready to change course so absolutely. It was all too much, too fast. "I will remember, Cain," the grullo solemnly vowed in response to the stallion's reiterated offer. And shi would. In time, shi was certain, shi would go to him. And until then, the androgynous creature would keep Cain in hir thoughts, and hope that the wounds in his heart would heal. He deserved no less. "When we cross paths again, you can call me Hawke." As with hir voice and build, the grullo's name offered no aid in ascertaining a gender, but it was of little matter. The more the pair had interact, the more hir feminine aspects had surfaced, until only the thickness of crest, deeper timbre of voice, and slightly-masculine scent revealed Hawke as something other than.

Knowing that the moment of their parting would be difficult, the not-quite-mare chose to make the transition abrupt - like shi might have torn off a hanging flap of infected flesh. One moment shi was standing before Cain, the amber of hir eye luminous was sorrow - the next, heels had dug deep into the earth as Hawke launched hirself forward and past the stallion, disappearing into the darkness of the trees with a final whicker of farewell.

But shi could not - would not - forget Cain as easily. Remembering was both a blessing and a curse, but Hawke would gladly bear the pain of missing the Vanner stallion for the joy of having known him, and for the transformation that he had wrought in hir.

*hir and shi are gender-neutral pronouns