KENDRY
| It feels good to stand in the icy spray, for every time the wind blows it heightens the chill settling over his skin and forces him to feel. He leans a little over the water as he deliberates over the wisdom of striding in, glancing over at Solomon and issuing a small snort of amusement at the other stallion's greeting. The tobiano's grin draws from Kendry an answering smile. Things are not so bad, he reassures himself. Here is one familiar face who is not displeased to see him. Likely when he crosses paths again with the multitude of friends he's made he'll receive a similar welcome. The land comprising these Islands is, however, vast, and Kendry has been quick to forget that not everyone makes the Crossing their home. The swim between islands is arduous even on the best days of the year, but perhaps now that winter is slipping away and he has found himself once again homed in the Lagoon it would behoove him to venture forth again and find the good company for which he's been longing.
"Believe it or not I've yet to set foot on Tinuvel," he admits, thinking back to the standing invitation made by Tavas before they parted ways. While it would have been nice to experience winter on the northernmost isle among the company of the striking golden mare, Kendry's head and heart have been in too much turmoil these past months to consider such a vacation. It would have been wasted on him, but perhaps later this spring he will find himself on one of Tinuvel's beaches. Kendry tilts a hind hoof on its tip and regards Solomon with a grin as he adds, "Rest assured, Solomon, I'll be venturing through your Cove when I do." It's hard not to wonder how his life might be different, now, if there had been room for him there when he first asked. Kendry likes Solomon: he's agreeable and confident, and doesn't wield a hard edge around mares or males alike— though no doubt if provoked the champagne would reveal a blade of honed steel. They've sparred before and the shire found him to be a capable opponent. His blue eyes linger on the other stallion as he considers all this, entertaining a slew of what-ifs before he is recalled to their third party by her feminine voice over the sloshing of water.
He nods as she confirms his unspoken assumption, then sidesteps nearer the waterfall as she wades forward to give her room to emerge. His eyes narrow reflexively against the strength of the spray. It would be so easy to step in to the still-rippling water and take her place, to sink down to his chin and let the cold seep into every bone and numb him to all else, and maybe if he were alone he would do just that for a time and see how helpful it really is. But the water flung by the bald-faced mare as she shakes out her dark, limber body is exacerbated by the thousands of tiny pin-pricks of ice misting over him, and Kendry backs away from the falls to move nearer to the group to share their warmth and camaraderie.
Solomon leads the introductions, and Kendry nods in greeting as he and Aikoh are introduced. She is elegantly built, splashed sparingly with white, and observes the world with an obsidian gaze. "Or you could stand between us," he adds mildly, the corners of his own eyes wrinkling in amusement as he shudders his pale coat to dispel the damp that has accumulated across his body. There will be heat aplenty for her between the two stallions while she dries. "I call the Crossing home, though I was born on Luthien. If fields and forests are your thing, that's what you'll find there," he says once it is clear Solomon has finished. It feels good to engage again with others: he can feel the heaviness lifting from his back as they talk. Aikoh seems unperturbed by the cold —one could argue she welcomes it, based on her foray into the frigid pool— but that isn't enough to hedge a guess at the sort of climate she's used to, and Kendry is endlessly curious. "What's it like where you've traveled from?"
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OF THE LAGOON |
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