Meadow

Mother nature threatened them with winter, sending malingering clouds to skirt the edges of the sky most mornings. She sent frigid winds that skittered down the cliff faces in the Cove and gusted across the sheltering herd. When she thought they had forgotten her might, she sent nights so cold that it hurt to breathe in unless he sheltered near to another being, his muzzle pressed against their coat.

He had learned to appreciate the beauty of Tinuvel's winter, but that did not mean that he hungered for her return.

In a last-ditch effort to vacation before his world was reduced to dodging snow-laden branches and falling icicles, Suleiman fled to the Crossing. He'd been twice before with his father, although a year had passed since his last trip. A year in which he'd witnessed the death of a mare, the fall of a king, and the renewal of his own mother. So much had transpired that he hardly felt like the colt that had once been so eager to stand at Solomon's side.

He felt liquid. Like who he was no longer fit in the mold of who he had been before, but was not yet solid enough to have formed into something new. It was uncomfortable and often led to him striking out on scouting missions alone across Tinuvel, but even those trips were not enough. He needed something more, although he could not name what the more should be.

Suleiman strolled languidly across the wide expanse of the meadow, reveling in the welcome warmth of a rare sunshine laden afternoon. His green gaze roved over the land, hunting for anyone who might spare the almost-two-year-old some time, and ultimately giving up. Autumn was a time for couples, as evidenced by the various pairings that dotted the open space, and Suleiman was not yet man enough to entice any of the mares to say hello, nor enough of a threat to force a stallion to try to shoo him away.

He was in-between.

Eventually, he dropped his head to graze, figuring that if nothing else, being able to gorge on the more readily available Crossing-fare was worth the trip, even if he didn't find anyone to quell his boredom.