mostly void, partially stars

It was the first land the big stallion had come upon that was absolutely barren.

It felt like a ghost land. There were signs of life, but they were old and brief. The dry wind breathed over shallow tracks, moving dust over them as Nils watched, swallowing them back into the thirsty earth. There was no scent to accompany the prints, though for a while the huge lilac stallion pushed his nose along the sand, searching for a hint of… anything.

He wasn’t sure what it was he expected. A land like this was unlikely to have too many inhabitants, and he hadn’t exactly expected to find it bustling with life. He hadn’t really wanted to find it that way, either. The big roan was solitary, shy of the company of others, although he was not cold to the presence of another. Not intentionally, at least. He was sure there were times he had been judged more rude than simply reserved, but he didn’t dwell on those offenses. It wasn’t something he could help. He was just… quiet.

Which wasn’t to say Nils wasn’t lonely. Most of the time he was apathetic to his isolation, but every once in a while, his life did feel a little empty. He never enjoyed talking, and he never had a particular yearning for someone with whom to share in conversation, but just to have another person stand quietly by and exist beside him… well, he thought that might be nice.

In the beginning, though it was far more barren than he had expected, the emptiness of this dusty land was comforting. The huge beast had been able to wander contentedly, unafraid of being confronted by any other soul. He had quickly become well acquainted with the territory, for he spent more time wandering through the sand quite aimlessly than he thought he had ever explored before. From a distance, this place had seemed quite empty and boring, but the more ground he covered, the more Nils realized this was simply not true. Surely, the heat was intense, and the thirst was almost unbearable until he found a reliable water source, but he had found just that after a bit of searching on his third or fourth day. Small watering holes were survivable, but not exactly… lovely.

In the heart of the Dunes was an oasis, and it was lovely indeed. Nils was not used to such open exposure to the sun, or the dryness of the air, or spending so much of his days looking for water. Once he had found it, his experience brightened considerably, and the Dunes were favorable to him beyond just their emptiness. He thought, the moment he dipped his dusky nose into the chill waters of the oasis, that this was a moment he would have liked to share with somebody.

But there was no one he could invite to the crystal waters to share their gifts. At least, no one he knew. It was several days after he had found the gem in the middle of the Dunes that he picked up, on a light breeze, the scent of another.

With intense curiosity, Nils ventured beyond the comfortable shade of the trees surrounding the spring and followed the scent. His dark ears cupped forward through the dark locks of his mane, which were far too heavy to be comfortable in such a climate. He was not well equipped to live in such a place, except that his hooves were so large that they ate up the sandy ground without difficulty. He used this advantage to lurch his way to the crest of a dune and scan the rolling waves of desert that stretched beyond.

Across a few rising mounds of sand, a figure stood atop another crest. It was the same color as the sand, or at least, it looked that way from the distance. The figure was not terribly far away, but far enough that Nils could not be sure if they could even see them. As the sun began to set over the ocean in the distance, Nils raised his head and gave out a bellowing call.

stallion | liver chestnut roan | 18hh | belgian draft