give me darkness when I'm dreaming; Posted on July 7, 2024 at 08:09:15 AM by Arroyo
It has been long since Arroyo has left the Harbor. Why he decides to go now, after countess nights staring out to sea, he cannot say for certain. Much has changed on Atlantis. Tyr has abdicated the monarchy, and the island has fallen back into anarchy. Snapdragon has lost her home and a stranger now shares his border. If he were wiser, perhaps he would seek to meet his new neighbors, but instead he comes here to the Crossing.
The swim is longer than he remembered, but he finds his stride amidst the vastness of the sea, blood surging with each thrum of his heart. He remembers the journey to these islands and the hope he had for starting a life and family of his own. Sometimes he still feels three years old adrift at sea, but his family in the Harbor steadies him. He has what he wanted and he does not want for more. At least, not consciously. Yet still he is pulled to wander.
He tells himself he won't be gone long, that Ignacio and Vulcan can be trusted to watch over the herd while he is gone. That all he needs to do is shake some dust off. He gives into that pull of wanderlust that never really leaves his belly, and it feels magnificent. He wishes he would have brought Sionainn with him so she could feel what he feels - give her a small dose of how it feels to let your whims take you. He thinks of Matoska, seasons gone now, and smiles a knowing smile though he misses him so.
The meadow is dressed in dawn's colors, soft pink and orange as the sun raises lazily. The chill of autumn is far more noticeable here than it is on Atlantis where it either rains or does not rain depending on the turning of the earth. Arroyo has become very accustomed to the sweltering humid heat of the jungle and has lost his tolerance for cold - if this could be characterized as cold at all, autumn having only just begun.
He is following a well worn trail along the treeline, nipping here and there at the meadow grass as birds flit and titter around him. The morning sun is warm on his back as it peers through the trees. Arroyo breathes deep taking in the ever changing scents of the Meadow. He had lived a few seasons on the Crossing before he had found his bearings - found family in Aventuras and Deirdre. Those days feel long ago now.
A pale mare comes into view and Arroyo pauses in his advance. They are headed for each other and she hasn't seemed to notice him yet. She is limping slightly, though from here Arroyo cannot see any obvious wound. She does not appear to be in distress, and despite her limp there is an air of elegance about her.
He is woefully out of practice, but Arroyo decides to try his luck and offers a low whicker as she comes near.
"Lovely morning, don't you think?" He says with a gentlemanly smile, hoping she might be amicable to his company. "The flowers are quite something." Replies: There have been no replies.