Common

CW: Description of wolves feeding

They circled together like birds of prey, each of them swooping in on the kill as if even eating in a pack was its own intricate dance. A curled lip and a flick of the tongue sent a less dominant male scurrying away from a large female, who held the pose until the offender was out of her reach. Her red-flecked face was beautiful in its own way, a painting of brutality and strength. Even her half-grown pups were not immune to the snap of her jaws when they presumed her passivity, too old now for her to be as lenient with them as she used to be.

The influx of new horses to the Commons was undoubtedly forcing them to be more careful in their prey selection, which meant that meals as rich as the deer upon which they feasted were less common and now consumed in near silence. Unlike most prey animals, I had witnessed my equine brethren intentionally challenge wolves. It went against our very nature, but who was I to pass judgement? We all did things against our own self-interest often enough that to do otherwise was almost more surprising.

Like my presence in the Commons today. I had no real business being here, and the odds of me escaping unscathed were slim. Most likely the Lagoon's ragtag bunch of hounds would find me and demand a loyalty they had not earned, but I was not particularly worried. If I had learned anything in my years, it was that things often had a way of working out the way they meant to, whether I intentionally attempted to orchestrate them or not.

I turned away from the wolves feeding at the territory's edge and made my way deeper into the Commons, edging closer to the center with each additional step. I couldn't help but wonder if any of my siblings remained alive on the isles or if they, like both of my parents, had already passed on to the next life. Either way did not matter to me given that I had hardly met any of them, but I did find myself slightly wistful for that sense of belonging that came from being a part of a pack… even if the pack I'd been raised in had been deeply flawed and hardly functional.

I let my gaze skim across the open Commons with concealed interest, sweeping over the pinkish figure of a young mare and the pair of painted figures not much farther away. They were engrossed in their own conversations and I let them continue, opting to keep to myself for now. I wasn't even sure there would be anyone interested, much less if I would end up interested in a life with them. So few were worth the company these days.