Falls

Solomon

There is no softening in the pink mare's face as he explains his view of the Peak, and he doubts that he has managed to dissuade her from checking them out. It was frustrating, but there was not much that he could do about it, really. He had done his best to keep the true vitriol from his words, to be as impartial as it was possible for him to be in the fear that being too anti-Peak would swing her closer to them. Fury bubbled in his heart each time he thought of Wasp bodily attempting to force the young golden mare, newly pregnant with the child that they shared, away from his protection. The Peak witch could claim whatever reason she wanted, but her motive had been clear retaliation for not being able to take Coda from him either.

Perhaps even more infuriating, almost immediately following his loss of Quinn, Wasp had then challenged for his queen and young son. She had spouted nonsense then about the Peak needing strong fighters, but how they hoped to gain warriors by force was beyond him. Thankfully, his fury had been enough for him to emerge triumphant, but the anger remained.

Ylva stares at him wide-eyed as he explains their fates, but it is her reaction to Quinn's name that gives him the most pause. It is fleeting, little more than a glassy stare in the midst of a conversation, but it was so far removed from the closed off expression she has worn during the majority of the conversation that he takes note.

There is a note of finality as she thanks him for his input, and his ears turn back. He did not want to part ways with her so soon, but it was evident that she had no intention of staying near him any longer than she had to. It was disappointing, considering the hopes he had harbored when he entered into this conversation, but he knew he could not win every battle. If Ylva was adamant that she wanted to risk her life out here with her young son alone, there would be nothing that he could say that would change her mind.

The bombshell she drops takes him a moment to work through, for he is absolutely certain that Harley Quinn did not share the same bloodlines as the mare before him. However, neither did Daciana and she was not so far removed from Ylva's age range. Which left Quinn. Confusion gives way to surprise as he deciphers the riddle that she places before him, and a harsh snort blows from his nostrils. Ylva was Quinn's mother?

Having dropped that bombshell, the mare is quick to retreat, already calling out to her young son while Solomon recovers from the blow. He could just let her leave, to let the past be the past. Surely some would argue that not knowing your daughter was gone, to live in the delusion that she may be living happily somewhere else was preferable to knowing that they were no longer among those living on the Islands. Solomon was not. He had no proof of her demise, but he was hard-pressed to believe that the young, nervous first time mother would willingly set off for islands unknown days before her due date.

But Solomon would rather know. He wouldn't want to live his life wondering if she was going to show back up again, or to spend months searching for her again. It would have been easier to know.

Solomon's head and neck drop and his ears tilt back, annoyed with himself at the pain such an admission caused. He had failed Harley Quinn by not protecting her well enough, and her disappearance was the punishment. He does not move, but raises his voice slightly to carry to her new position. "I can't."

Finally, his hooves move back within speaking range, although he knows it will be short-lived. She has already ended this conversation and will soon be away, but he cannot let her spend the next few months wondering where Quinn was, and why he had not delivered her message. "Harley Quinn disappeared in the Spring, and I have not seen her since." For once there is no holding back in his tone, no attempt to sway or angle the conversation in his favor. "I... do not think she is still on the isles, but I can't explain why she, or any of the others in the other herds are now gone."

His tail flicks as he looks up to Suleiman and gestures for the young colt to come back. Turning to Ylva one last time, he inclines his head with an expression that has regained it's guarded exterior. "So however unlikely it is, if you do see her, tell her that I miss her, and the Cove will always be open to her. As it is to you now."

Irritated with the situation, both his own vulnerability and the terse nature of their exchange, Solomon inclines his head one last time and backs away before joining with his son. Together they move toward the Cove, with Suleiman already pestering his father for a return playdate.

---

Suleiman leaps into the air as Runar protests, sure that there will be some sort of playful kick in retaliation, but the Fjord colt seems to be a good sport and they soon fall into easy laughter. It is nice to be out with someone new, stretching his legs and seeing more of the world than the Cove. His home was alright, but this place was warmer, and it had waterfalls.

Sul's wiry figure gathers in preparation to jump away from his new friend when the call of the colt's mother rings out. Crestfallen, the young colt drops his head and frowns, frustrated that their fun was to be cut short when it had only just started. Runar seems to match his energy and the two colts turn to look glumly at each other. A half smile quirks along his lips as Runar offers his name, and it grows quickly at the prospect of meeting again in the future. "I will try! Or maybe you can come to the Cove too? That's normally where I am. And then you could meet Reh and Ziva and Galahad!"

The colt's litany of siblings is cut short by the gesture from his father and he ducks his head in a cartoonish 'oops' before trotting back towards him. As he left, he called back over his shoulder, "see you soon!"

Dutch Harness Horse Mutt | Champagne Grullo Tobiano Stallion | 17 Hands | The Cove