Meadow

He had not come.

Deep down, Ayiana knew that she had no right to blame him, no right to think less of his failure to appear at her call and yet she cannot help the feeling of betrayal that stings her heart. Gavriel had promised to help her, he had promised to welcome her with open arms into the Arch should she choose to find herself there and yet when she had need of him, he had disappeared. Memory was all she found herself with as she took to the ocean again, not sure of herself enough to continue further onto Tinuvel without him as her guardian. Though Larka never meant to scare her, Ayiana still remembered the haunting stories that mother had often regaled her with as a child where monsters with great white fangs roamed the shadows and tall trees whose leaves were sharp as needles that poked into the flesh. In the haze of snowflakes and gusting winds, Ayiana had heard the voices of others but she did not dare progress to find them on her own. The last thing she wanted was to freeze to death in the snow.

Instead she had run. She had run from Tinuvel and the Arch that promised her a new life devoid of search and expectations. She had run from any hopes of finding the giant pink and white stallion that had been such a breath of fresh air in her long tired soul. She had run and run straight back into the biting cold of the ocean in hopes of freezing away any sense of feeling. She should have returned to Luthien and sought the comfort of Larka and Darshan. Surely the two older mares would sympathize with the situation she found herself in. She knew that she could turn to them for advice and guidance without finding any judgement in their eyes and yet she cannot help but to feel that somewhere deep down, she would see pity shining in their bright blue eyes as they gazed upon her.

So, instead of returning to the Prairie and her family, Ayiana sought the constant change of the main island. With great effort she dragged herself ashore, the salt of her own tears masked by the droplets of ocean water that plaster the golden fur against her body. Silently she sobs to herself, breathing heavily into the dry sands beneath her, scattering the earth with each blow of breath. Golden ears twist backwards as the tawny woman gives her body a shake, bulging barrel swinging heavily beneath her. She was a lost soul. A soul who had no path in life and no plans for a future. Dark eyes close firmly, shutting out the bright sunlight, she did not deserve it. This monster, this child did not deserve it. Hatred seeped into her veins as slowly she tottered farther away from the water’s reach and beyond the dunes. Hatred for the damned chimera stallion that had turned his nose at her in the Ridge when she sought answers. Hatred for her own body that welcomed his sin and hatred for the child that already stirred within her. It would not be long now. Soon, soon she would be forced to bring this atrocity into the world and then where would she be? A mother with a newborn and no home. She could not bring that strife down on Darshan and mother. She would not ruin what peace they managed to bring to themselves with Balor. Shamwari’s departure had shattered them all but especially Larka. She had watched as her lover and young son left the shores with no promise of return. She could not force herself to do that to them.

So instead she wanders the main island in search of nothing in particular, grazing here and there along the way on green shoots exposed by the digging hooves of others. Occasionally she would come across a familiar face, but her own shame at the condition she found herself in allowed her to close the gap between them to join in idle conversation. Instead she sought companionship with her own conscience.

The meadow was relatively quiet today save for the soft call of a strange red stallion. The hard look in his fierce eyes and the soft rumbling call in his throat is enough to deter her from responding but it was not until after her curious gaze found the focus of his attention that excitement bled back into her veins.

Jabari.

For a moment she is almost unsure if it truly was him. After all, it has been several years now since last he disappeared into the ocean with Shamwari and Castiel. However there was something in the set of his jaw and the curve of his neck that was so like the way Shamwari carried his own. Paper thin nostrils flare with excitement as all thoughts of her unborn child and its conception is forgotten. An excited nicker rumbles from her lips as she picks up a quick trot, closing the distance that separated them with sudden urgency. ”Jabari?!?” she asks, her timid voice lifted by the hope that lit her breast. ”Uncle??? Is that you?” desperately she needed it to be..