The Dunes have fallen to new leadership. Nyimara has returned to Salem, and Joachim is long gone.
Marceline is pleased to know that one of her allies has made a reappearance and her gnat of a son has slunk back to wherever it is he came from last. Nevermind why Nyimara disappeared in the first place. The spotted sovereign doesn't think she should question why her silver-haired compatriot disappeared in the first place. That's information Nyimara will disclose if she feels so inclined. Marceline of all horses knows that sometimes, the pieces don't always fall the way they're expected, and life pulls you other directions.
With Nyimara back, that means a social call is due between the two desert queens - and that her and Rafe's dreams of Salem united are one step closer to coming true. Marceline sets off early one winter morning as the sun is rising into a cloudless star-speckled sky, fire orange bleeding into inky blue above her. there's a nip in the air, but as the sun begins to stretch its warm golden fingers across the desert she can feel the chill quickly dissipating. She's high in spirits, a spring in her step and her tail raised high as she trots towards the Dunes.
But her good mood disappears as quickly as her breath into the cool air when she breathes in a familiar scent at the border.
Joachim.
He's returned? Anger sparks to life inside her, setting her blood aflame. How did she not know this?! She thought she'd finally been rid of him when he disappeared off the face of the islands, leaving the Dunes empty in his wake. But like a cockroach he continues to survive, infesting the islands with no sign of being eradicated anytime soon.
But a small part of her feels glad he's back. A small part that she won't ever acknowledge out loud, but exists nonetheless. The same part of her had been worried sick when he'd disappeared in the first place, wondering what ill fate might have befallen him. He is her son, after all, a living breathing being she'd grown in her womb for almost a year. As much as she hates what he had done to her, there will always be a small part of her that loves him dearly.
Still, her hate is a powerful thing, and it quickly overpowers that sentimental part of her that aches to reach for her oldest born. Marceline approaches the invisible border between the Hills and the Dunes, delicate ears flipping to and fro atop her head and amber eyes scanning the horizon.
She pauses just before she breaches Nyimara's territory, nostrils flaring wide. Another scent, subtler than the others, piques her interest. Is that... Rehoboam? Marceline remembers him quite vividly, and how bold he'd been in coming to Salem seeking to bolster the Lagoon's numbers. She wonders now how that worked out for him in the end, and what the hell he's still doing on Salem, but the thought is quickly cast to the wayside when she catches a fresh waft of Joachim's musky smell, and annoyance flares anew inside her.
With a half-rear, Marceline looses a shrill call for the Dunes queen.
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