Meadow

The Lagoon had been eerily quiet but for the boy who’d approached with a boldness that, despite everything, endeared the enigmatic mare to him just a little. Offering a soft murmur of apology, and her narrowed eyes sweeping the dense marshland with suspicion that was not entirely unwarranted, she took her leave, and spent the following nights looking to the night sky, until dawn broke one day, and there, in the northern expanse, low to the horizon, she briefly glimpsed a familiar array of stars, and took their appearance as an auspicious sign.

Days later, her patience was rewarded. She caught the faintest trace of it on the warming wind, and like a huntress, latched onto it, weaving her way north through the Common land, and toward the sprawling Meadow. A thin figure in the distance caught her eye, and her heart hammered in her breast, not because of what she saw, but what it might yet mean for her. Finally, finally, maybe she’d be granted safe passage across the straight, to the place she Belonged and Longed to Be.

Still, Senu remained somewhat reserved in her approach, her honey-gold eyes bright and discerning, seeking to find any sign that she was recognised by the blanketed male. The mare who was with him, Senu did not know, and out of common courtesy, she dipped her head to this one as she approached. “Greetings,” the finely-built mare said softly to them both. And then she angled her narrow, refined muzzle toward the stallion, speaking to him alone now in her accented tone. “I remember you.” Senu hoped that he remembered her too, if only as a figure often standing vigil from atop one of the hills over which Marceline reigned.

“Where I am from... Taurus - it is called al-dabarān. I saw it in the sky, a heavenly sign,” she began by way of a cryptic explanation for her being here, and not there. “Please, I have been lost from my Home, Taurus. Too long I have been lost.” And what was it that she wanted, nay, needed from him? He could lead her back, guide her safely. There was no shame in her voice at the admission she made next. Only a softened sorrow that ran deep, the edges of it worn smooth by the winds and rains she had weathered alone. “The journey, I can’t make it on my own.”

The striped, golden mare inclined her head, and retreated a step.

“Do not mean to disturb, but when you can, please... I go, and wait at the edge of the sea.” And without intruding upon the pair any longer, the slender mare turns and departs, allowing them to resume their conversation if they wish, and feeling confident that Taurus would come and find her, when he was ready. Perhaps it was foolish of her to hold such faith in one she barely knew, but the stars she’d glimpsed with tired eyes days before, the heavenly sign she’d spoken of… So strong was her desire to race across Salem’s sands again, swiftly to the side of her red Queen, it burned in her like a fire in her that could not be extinguished.