Annubis had disappeared yet again, not of his own will, but it had happened nonetheless. By the Gods, he just hoped that Hymn would forgive him. He needed to see her again, to see the light shining brightly in her eyes and feel that warmth that had long been dormant in his very soul.

It was the thought of them that made him fight the waves that threatened to engulf him when the seas decided to rage against him. He, of course, had known the risk of making the trek to Tinuvel during the spring months, but that had not stopped him. In fact, he had not even thought twice about it. Nyimara had been defeated and licked her wounds in Tinuvel, and he needed to find out why. Knowing her plans and any implications that might have for Paradise had been paramount for him in those moments. At least, until the storm descended upon him.

The frothing waves roared into his ears as the sterling stallion was tossed again and again beneath the waves until not even he could discern up from down. His lungs screamed within the confines of his breast as he fought and kicked and thrust with all his might to stay afloat when it seemed the gods of the seas wanted him to drown. It wasn’t until his broken and bruised body found the rocky shores of Tinuvel once more that Annubis was able to drag himself feebly from the tumultuous waters.

Days he slept, sprawled out on uncomfortable rocks and pebbles, the rise of the tide his only waking alarm. It took even longer for the once proud and cocky stallion to manage to hobble himself further into the Cove in search of freshwater to drink and a face that might draw his sister from whatever perch she might have found herself on. Months still, his longing gaze traveled over the rolling waters but did not dare venture into their depths for fear of drawing forth the wrath of the water gods again. The jagged wounds on his hips and shoulders healed, the scars a stark contrast of black against silver. Only when Nyimara, tired of his longing sighs and distant stares, all but drove him into the sea, did he risk the return to Atlantis. But even that held its own levels of uncertainty.

When the vivid green jungles and warm welcoming waters surrounded him, Annubis let loose a breath he had not even realized he had been holding. When his onyx hooves found purchase on the malleable sands beneath the tranquil waters, he all but lept awkwardly to shore with a bugling cry of joy and relief. He had made it.

Antsy to investigate Paradise for any threat to his self-proclaimed throne, the silver beast bid the silver-haired witch farewell with promises renewed of alliances wherever she next chose to roam. Only when she began to retreat down the shorelines does the son of Rougaru turn towards the depths of the jungle to trace the familiar paths that had long since grown dormant in his absence.

He had hoped to find Hymn and Promise grazing peacefully together in the sunlit glens that they often shared on warm summer mornings, but even they seemed to have been left untouched for quite a while.

Part of him felt relieved to find his claim on Paradise untouched in the length of his travel to Tinuvel. There was no angry face barking orders or parading a herd of unfamiliar faces through the precious memories of his homeland. However, that did leave him with a whole new level of anxiety and concern he was not prepared to face. Where was his herd?

After quenching his thirst in the cool spring-fed creek, the sterling stallion made his way once more to the beach and loosed yet another bugling call, summoning his herd from the shadows of the jungle depths. The wolf of the jungle had returned once more.