It seemed like ages to the young boy, since last his hooves touched the malleable sands of the arid desert. Why it was that mother felt the need to drag him off with her on one of her many quests to the mainland was beyond him. Truth be told, he might not have faired well without his milk supply... but surely there were other mares around that he could leech from right? At least that was part of the arguement he hounded her with.

Yet no matter the excuses he laid so plainly before her, the silver haired witch seemed determined to continue on her trek and drag him along with promises of adventure and knowledge. At least that part had indeed been true. If Nyimara was nothing else, she was at least consistent in teaching her children to defend themselves.

When she finally declared their return to the islands, Cahyr was estatic. It had been far too long since he felt the hot desert sun upon his back of stared up into the blue green eyes of his sire. But when Nyimara decides to detour their return to Salem with a trip to the main island, his frustration begins to become more evident. Despite promising the mare to "stay put" as she commanded, Cahyr was more condifant in himself and his abilities to continue the trek without her guidance. He would show her just how grown he was.

That confidence continued to brim as his damp hooves finally felt the soft red sands of Salem beneath the waves and he hopped joyiously through the shallows to shake himself free of the saltwater than clung to his pale skin. A cocky smile wormed its way across his pink lips as the stallion/colt yearling pranced past the waterbreak and onto the dry sand dunes. However, despite how vividly he remembered the desert in his mind, the land of constant change seemed to have changed again. The pathway cut towards his grandsire's bleaching bones is gone, instead replaced by a new dune? 'No, that cannot be right.' he tells himself as his small head shakes as if to clear the memories. Small, fluted ears twitch atop his head, rising and falling as his gaze searched the familiar and yet unfamiliar landscape. In the distance, he can just make out the tops of the palms rising above the horizon, marking the location of the nearest oasis. A place where the herd had generally gathered in the late evenings to listen to the distant ocean lullaby as they slept. But he did not remember the small tunnel dug into the backside of the sand dune as he passed it by. At least not until its occupant appeared from deep in the shadows with a snarling growl and sharp yip.

Coyotes

HE squeals in surprise and anger as the nursemaid lupine took a warning charge towards him. Ears lace tightly against his crown as he pivots on his heels and rears, drawing his sensitive face away from the angry coyote. Heels kick outwards behind him in warning of his own as the boy fled the dunes of sand. Headlong he gallops over the rock and brush covered hills until his sides are thoroughly drenched in sweat. Only then does he stop to make sure his persuer had given up (had he taken a moment earily to notice he would have seen the creature disappear back into the makeshift den to tend the whimpering pups).

At this point, Cahyr is completely lost. He thought he had been charging in the direction of the oasis but now, even the palms were invisable. Winded and determined, yet not without feeling the second rush of fear now mingled with shame, the pale cream boy begns to trudge on again, this time, hopefully in the right direction. The desert wasn't that big.... was it?

”speech”

CAHYR

firebringer son of the Desert sands