It felt like hours that the young cream boy found himself wandering across the lands of sagebrush and dry land. The sticky salt water of the ocean had quickly been replaced by a new layer of sweat enhanced by his headlong race at the height of midday. The shame and embarrassment he felt is quickly being replaced by frustration and anxiety. His tongue feels swollen and cotton-like in the dry confines of his jaws and he absently licks his lips in hopes of relief but to no avail. His mouth is just as dry and parched as it had been.

Tawny ears tilt backwards in defeat as he pauses in his aimless journey to cast his blue-green eyes about him in hopes that something might appear familiar. One Joshua tree looks vaguely familiar, but then again, so did the one to the right of it and the one beyond that. As much as he hated to admit it, perhaps Nyimara was right. It would have been safer to return at her side than trying to prove his prowess.

”Damn it.” the princeling mutters, stomping a single hoof against the dry earth in frustration. If only he had paid better attention to mother and father when they paraded him endlessly around the Desert.

The sound of shuffling hooves alert him to the approaching stranger. Despite himself, excitement dances in his eyes as the boy wheels around to face his persuer. Only, instead of seeing his tall, tri-colored sire approaching with approval in his ocean eyes; it is a stranger. Honey-brown eyes gaze at him with curiosity that screamed of patrol. Did that mean that Asmodeus no longer lived here? Had his sire abandoned the desert when mother took him on her quest?

He does not necessarily mean to, yet he cannot completely hide the disappointment from his young face as the stallion comes to a halt before him with cautious warnings. Cheekily, Cahyr huffs a snort and gives his dejected muzzle a toss, replacing the disappointment with cocky indifference. ”I know that.” he replies, his tone blunt. Ivory tail snaps against his muscled hip as a flash of shame crosses his features. ”Sorry…” he mumbles, pausing a moment to let his gaze roam over the silent, lifeless sands once more before turning his seafoam gaze back to the concerned stallion. ”Its just… I thought you might be someone else.” he sighs.

CAHYR

firebringer son of the Desert sands