Loupgaru did not bother to linger long in Paradise after father left the islands with Annubis in tow. He had been furious. Why had father taken Annubis and not him? Wasn’t Monster HIS mother? Had he not proven he could take care of himself by fighting off the jungle cat? I mean he had even sired his own foal AND won several of his mock fights against strangers. Was that not good enough?

Apparently not for Rougaru because the silver bay stallion still left him standing there alone on the beach of Paradise with Annubis in tow. Never before had he truly resented his sire until that moment and by the gods he would make him pay for the betrayal. Without waiting, or even considering the safety of the mares that resided in Paradise, the young prince charged out into the surf and dove into the deep waters of the channel. Damn the old wolf.

He had not necessarily meant to be gone quite so long, nor did he really pay attention to the time that he had been gone. Of course he recognized the changing of seasons as they passed over the main island chain, but he had half expected Rougaru to be back and showering him with threats and promises of retribution as he kicked his ass back to Atlantis and his responsibilities. Any day now he found himself repeating over and over as he meandered over meadows and field even venturing up to the lower levels of the peak in an attempt to see what lay beyond the distant horizon. Yet regardless where he went, father never came.

Like a reluctant child he returned to Paradise only to discover that the scent of the old wolf had long disappeared and instead was replaced by someone new and unfamiliar to him. Just his damn luck. Surely the old wolf would blame him now when he returned and discovered his son’s abandonment of their home.

But why should he care? He didn’t and he would show them just how much.

Angry and fuming with both shame and abandonment, he found himself drifting towards the land of ice and snow. Parva…something or other… yeah that was what her name was. Doe eyed and seductive she had led him on many an eventful night filled with lust filled passion and coy conversation. Somewhere in the depths of their conversation he remembered her mentioning that she was a princess… queen or some such… well, more than once. It was part of what had drawn him to her really. No doubt that their days and nights spent coupling together would have resulted in a foal or two. Hell Annubis told him on more than one occasion it only took one time before the trap managed to slam closed around a stallion’s neck. Part of the reason why he had not really bothered to seek her out again before now. A small part.

Now that the great reign of Rougaru seemed to have disappeared and with it any claim to fame he might himself have, why should he not seek to strike out on his own and reconnect with a lost fling? Fall was not far off either to be honest and the painted girl had been his first taste at what it was like to be a true stallion and quite frankly, he enjoyed it.

Excitement drove his thrusting hooves now as he found purchase on the smooth round stones of the cold shores. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he lifted his head proudly and screamed his commanding voice over the roar of the waves that crashed around him. Droplets of salt water clung to his own painted coat as he pranced free of the water’s grasp and gave his skin a shake. For the first time, he let his golden eyes scan the lands of Tinuvel.

From the picture she had painted for him, the young wolf expected to see thick drifts of snow piling up on every unmoving surface. The scene that lay before him was far from it. Tall trees reach high into the sky, covering the hills and peaks of rock in thick dark shadows. There is no white blanket for the open expanses of land between the large crumbles of granite. Rich green grasses dotted with tiny flowers of purple, pink and yellow rolled out before him in a thick carpet. Was he on the right island?

Confusion flashed through his golden eyes as paper thin nostrils flared and exhaled a sharp breath in a loud snort. The air was cool and void of the same thick humidity that seemed to constantly hang over Atlantis. It had to be Tinuvel didn’t it? Unless he found himself a whole new island that was unexplored and ripe for the taking. The thought was exhilarating but he was not foolish enough to completely believe it. His keen senses had found the hints of horseflesh on the breeze long before his hooves touched the ground.

With a proud prance to his gait, the stallion draws away from the shoreline, his gaze searching. He just needed to find one face on a whole island he had never explored before. Not that hard. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to be right now anyway.