“It just goes on for miles!” Ramiel said, blue eyes open and searching the horizon, marveling at the lack of forest trees that’d congest the land and throw shadows thick over its ground. There were plants, but these were different types of shrubs and the like he wasn’t used to seeing. Ramiel wanted to leave the shifting sand of the tall dune and find where the sand became packed, hard, and plants sprung from deep cracks. He wanted to continue to soak everything in with awe – even how the sun beat down with an intensity like they didn’t often experience.
A sudden commotion below pulled his eyes and Raziel’s too, seeing a mare with a sleek, dark body, silver threads in her tail that caught the light and contrasted her coat enough to draw their eyes immediately to it. Ramiel’s half dark, half pink lips curved into a smile, excited to have come across a horse who actually lived here and could hopefully tell them more about this place. Raziel’s eyes narrowed and he glanced away from the figure and beyond, looking to see what they’d been running from and whether or not he and his brother should run too.
That was when the whinny came, beckoning them to come below. Immedietely Ramiel kicked the sand with his exuberance, tossing his chin and starting down the slope of the dune almost a little recklessly. “Wait Ramiel!” Raziel hissed under his breath, still not comfortable with knowing what the situation was and if there were others, but to no avail. Ramiel was already halfway down the dune, leaving his brother behind with glee and overly excited to meet the horse who stood below.
When he arrived closer, he caught their scent. A mare. This didn’t falter Ramiel’s excitement, but it did add further worry to Raziel’s. Their years of nomadic traveling often had them cross paths with more territorial stallions and oftentimes when a stallion saw the pair of them, he assumed the worst, already counting himself outnumbered. Raziel didn’t quite feel like fighting today and worried this mare might have a stallion who’d come after them the minute they caught wind of their being here.
Ramiel hadn’t thought of any of that. Or he had, and he didn’t care. So what if they were chased off?! So what if some lumbering bully of a stallion got angry at them for having a conversation and wanted to pick a fight over it? Ramiel knew his intentions and those were simply to learn. To learn about her, to learn about Salem, and anything in between.
He smiled bright and happy, blowing a heavy exhale from his awkward trot down the slope of the dune, giving his head a toss to upset his dark mane on either side of his rich, golden neck. “Hello!” He greeted cheerfully, while Raziel sulked a little more watchfully behind, glancing away from her and behind her again, ears tipped forward as he waited for whatever she’d been running from.
“I’m Ramiel,” his twin brother carried on without skipping a beat, “this is my brother, Raziel. We’d never seen Salem before, and I was curious.” He tilted his head and looked innocent in earnest. “I hope that’s okay? We didn’t mean to trespass.”
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