castillon of the prairie.

The call drew Castillon, who’d been idly walking along the shoreline one last time before turning inland for the evening, but he drew up short when a lithe mare blocked his path from the figure slumped on the shoreline not too far away. She commanded him with words he didn’t know, but he could understand the intention well enough and slowed to a stop, peering past her at the collapsed figure and then looking back at her.

Jasper only. She managed the language he knew and though her words were dressed in her native accent, he understood her immediately. Castillon was mostly unaware of his older half-brother’s private life and did not immediately understand the scene in front of him, though the pair had always grown up rather close in the Prairie. Jasper was often the one to babysit the Prairie foals when the mares had enough, especially as they grew older and wanted to explore beyond the comforts of the territory without their mother or father breathing down their neck.

“Okay,” Castillon said with understanding, giving a firm nod before turning himself around and jogging up the shoreline, turning inland to where he had seen the white-flecked figure of his small, pony-like brother last. It was maybe only five minutes if even before he had found him, told him there was a mare on the shore beside a collapsed figure and they were asking for just him. Jasper wasted little time, not needing to ask who it was or why they only wanted him. He heard there was someone injured calling for him and that was all he needed to know. The small stallion turned on his pale hooves and started off quickly for the beach, leaving Castillon to stumble a moment after him and follow.

Once he made for the beach and saw who it was, Jasper gasped out a choked, “Khan!” and collected his legs under him to move with a bit more of a rush the rest of the way to the struggling figure. Castillon hesitated and stopped rather than continuing on with his brother, suddenly aware there were personal things in Jasper’s life that he did not understand or had never been privy to. He shifted briefly, wondering if he should withdraw himself back inland, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed the lithe mare also lingering, looking at him for a moment. He offered her a kind smile, despite the uncertainty of the situation, looked back at Jasper gone to comfort the weakened one and then back at her. “There’s fresh water not too far,” he offered with a hushed voice meant only for her and not to interrupt the reunion happening near the shoreline, “if you wanted.”

At the same time, he understood if she had no interest in leaving her companion to wander with a stranger further inland.

whoever makes my baby cry is gonna lose some teeth tonight
stallion ∙ mutt ∙ zevulun x riesling ∙ buckskin snowcap ∙ 15.3 hands