Sticks & Stones Posted on December 10, 2025 at 08:59:49 PM by Tino
The dark grey stallion had been over in the mainland for most of the day, searching for something he wasn’t entirely sure what it was. Nico had taken him on as a son but Tino was still struggling to find his place in the world, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. As a youngster he’d been extremely curious about everything that crossed his path but as he’d gotten older he’d become more reserved with no purpose in his life or direction to follow. He’d not really left the inlet since Nico had taken his mother and him in when Tino was still under 1 year old.
He’d known something was missing but he couldn’t work out what. It was why he had wanted to visit the other islands, starting with the mainland's. He’d noticed a storm rolling in and had decided to leave, wanting to get home to the inlet before it was overhead. However half way through the swim he had realised his mistake as he now found him in a struggle again the storm and a vicious sea. With heavy rain battering him from what felt like all angles, strong waves threatening to take him under and losing sight of any land, he knew he was in trouble.
Refusing to give up though he kept struggling to keep his head above water, even when the waves attempted to pull him under and tried to drown him, he fought to surface and keep kicking in what way he thought land was. Any land would do in this moment. He didn’t know how long it was before he saw land, it gave him an extra boost to fight against the wave as he head for whatever area that was. When his hooves finally hit solid flooring he stumbled forward, struggling to catch his breath and stay upright, he got as far as out of the surf before his body gave up on him and he collapsed onto the sand.
He lay there, working to shift his exhausted body into a better position that might help his breathing, as he struggled to suck in enough oxygen between coughing up water. It was several moments of coughing and trying to simply breath before he felt his world going dark. He didn’t know how long he’d slipped in and out of consciousness, his mind foggy as he struggled to pull himself into the land of the living, taking several moments before he was somewhat alert.