Meadow

The palomino mare was relieved when the beached stallion looked at her and actually comprehended her presence. She was worried he might be too delirious, and for a few seconds he did not move. But the blue eyes did eventually roll to gaze up at her, and she nickered gently at him before giving him space to rise.

When prompted, Sæunn began making her way away from the beach. She knew generally where the Falls were, and she knew that several streams branched off from that pool to feed into the ocean. They were not hard to find, and Sæunn lead the unknown stallion into the trees where she knew fresh water ran. Ilías ran ahead of them, and the pale golden mare let him go on his own. She had only so much worry to spare for him in a day, and most of it had been used up just getting to the Crossing. (This wasn’t entirely true, but she doubted anything would happen to him while he ran amok nearby, and she was pretty much spent for patience after his little adventure to the Crossing on his own, and then his little excursion on the beach.)

She did not have to search long before she heard the gentle sounds of a narrow stream. She followed this until she reached the fast-moving water, and was glad to see Ilías making himself busy playing in the shallow water. Turning, she beckoned the bay stallion to the water. ”Come,” she said again.

She wanted to ask what had happened to him. She wanted to ask why he had followed her without question, which she hadn’t really expected, but was grateful for. But Sæunn did not think those questions were polite, and she had a fairly limited English vocabulary with which to work. Instead, she watched the ragged stranger curiously. There wasn’t much else she could do for him now that she had shown him water, but she was not ready to leave him yet. His silence was curious to her, and she wondered if he also struggled with the common tongue, or kept quiet for another reason. She did not ask these questions either. Truthfully, Sæunn was simply unsure how to have a conversation. In her old home, she had spoken more, but even then the mountain-bred mare had been introverted and quiet. She had only grown more so since coming to the Islands, and speaking almost exclusively with Ilías and Valka.

She might have thought this interaction uncomfortable, having gone so many seasons without socialization. To an extent, she did feel awkward, but the fact that the bay stallion seemed comfortable with body language rather than vocal speech helped take the pressure off. She didn’t feel like she needed to stumble through her sentences in order to brokenly communicate. There wasn’t much to say between them, anyway, despite Sæunn’s vague curiosity. Their pasts were not important right now.