Desert

It was a fools errand, his decision to journey onto the mainlands. Why he thought he might find some sign of Zjeena or Monster was beyond his comprehension. Perhaps it was age beginning to creep up on him. Determination to find the lost pieces of his soul, even if it meant he might lose what remained. He had hoped that Vanya would be up to the task, that in his absence she would soar in the queen role she had always so desperately craved. However, it did not take long for him to realize that in his absence, she too had turned tail and fled. Perhaps now she realized the crown was not quite all glory and golden pillars. Maybe the weight of it finally brought her to reality.

Regardless of why, she had abandoned Paradise and on what had once been the great empire he created, now stood another on empty lands. The very sight was enough to drive him back to the sea before his hooves could even feel the moist jungle floor. The wolf pack had dispersed and it was all his fault. He had been a fool.

Had been was a pretty loose phrase though for one might argue that he was still a fool. Hell, even he knew how foolish he was being in the moments that followed. In truth, he had all intentions of wallowing in his failures. Failure to find Zjeena or Monster. Failure to protect his pack and Paradise. Failure to become King of Atlantis. Failure to crush Solomon beneath his hooves (even if he had put a dent or two in the Tinuvel king’s ego). Failure. Utter failure.

It was cowardly, and a move that would no doubt have resulted in his sons being left with permanent reminders of such reprimand were they ever to do it; but the very sight of what had once been his great kingdom was enough to shame him back to the sea. He could not face them. Dared not to face Vanya’s ire or the questioning depths of Rae’s gentle eyes. Of all the others, he is sure she might be one to understand and yet for once, he is afraid. He returned home as no great victor, no story to tell or prize to show for his travels. If anything he was a mere shadow of his former self, thinned by life wandering the wilds and far from the comforts and tranquility of Atlantis. He was lost. And what better way to be lost than to be adrift to the seas and at the mercy of it’s gods.

He has no purpose, no reason in his churning hooves. Emerald eyes are dull, closed half the time to avoid the spray of salt water from the tumultuous waves. It is the pull of the tide more than anything else that brings him to the shores of this island and only when he drags himself ashore does he dare to look beyond the dry, lifeless dunes and to the island that spread before him.

Desert. As if the dry arid atmosphere had not been enough warning. He blinks rapidly and bends to rub the dried salt from his eyes to cast his roaming gaze over the land before him. Yes, he was once more on the islands and not just any island, he had landed on Salem.

Despite the long years since last he visited, not much had changed here since Cain’s reign. The skeletal tree that stood like a silent sentry on the eastern slope still remained, even if it looked less formidable than it once had. Unlike Paradise, this land did not seem to fall prey to the changing seasons, at least not from what he had ever seen. Wind rustled through the dry grasses, the melody awakening the gnawing hunger that had managed to go dormant during his swim back to the islands. Though the yellow-brown short grass looked far from appealing to the stallion that had grown to enjoy the fresh green shoots that could always be found on Paradise, he dropped his muzzle to snatch up a mouthful of brittle shoots and tried not to think beyond the sustenance that they brought for him.

As he grazed, he let his mind wander to what he had learned since his return. The Paradise he had built was gone, lost amid the crashing waves of time and his own abandonment. No doubt his herd, his fierce, strong herd was spread to the winds, at the mercies of whatever stallion or stallions that had come in his absence. The mountain he had climbed over the years leading to his goal of Atlantis’ kingship seemed as though nothing more than a faded memory and even Annubis had abandoned him. Well, maybe not abandoned really, he knew the boy would be somewhere on Atlantis searching for Solomon’s daughter. She was a pretty creature but what hold she had over him Rougaru did not know. He never seemed to be far from her for very long before they left anyway.

However the thoughts of Annubis bring up a fact that he had forgotten. Nya. Yes, Nyimara had proclaimed that she had taken the Desert under her wing when last she came to Paradise in search of aid to avenge the death of her child. Chocolate ears perk amid the tangle of his cream and caramel tresses as the aged stallion lifts his muzzle to the dry, hot wind. Despite his best effort, he can find no hint of his ambitious daughter’s scent. Was she still here? The Desert is where she said she would be wasn’t it? Before he can stop himself, a deep baritone whicker escapes his lips, calling for the silver haired woman to come and find him. Only after his voice is released does he think back now to why he even called to her. It was not like she would have any use for the washed up stallion he was now. And yet, despite the disappointment he has faced of late, he cannot help but to hope for a familiar face. Perhaps then he might find his mood lightened and the beast within restored to life.