Tamran
I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.
The Faithful

   He had never lived in a desert before, didn't know what to expect and so every day was a little more... interesting. He had found a cactus that shot out it's spines-dear Light it hurt why did that thing exist??-, a mouse that howled at him when he walked past, but best and highest of all in his mind was the discovery of the date-palms. He didn't know the dates were edible, not at first, though they smelled intriguing and made his mouth water. He was wise enough to not eat them despite that, not until he knew what they were-he had seen the trauma and illnesses brought on by those who ate first and asked questions after, if they lived- but when he saw another equine passing through the oasis take a date in her mouth and chew it... well, for a short span the sandy boy followed her, observing her, waiting to see if she would keel over.

   When she didn't, and she left the oasis, he once more returned to the date palms to examine the drying fruit scattered about the sand. They seemed innocuous enough, and finally the young healer's curiosity got the better of him as he gingerly picked up a date in his lips, probing it with his tongue and rolling it around on his teeth before crunching down.

   Sweetness, sweet and sugary nirvana exploded on his tongue, and it startled him a great deal, his hooves scuffling in the sand as he rolled the sweet fruit against his teeth. Sweetness, pure, nothing else. No foul taste, no shocking bitterness. Just.... sweet. It made him long for something, something that suddenly made his heart twist and clench in his chest with a choked sob. It was a taste of mother's milk, of warm eyes and soft scents washing over him, of a deep voice and booming laughter. The date choked him with it's sweetness, sweetness he adored and hurt for, and his head dropped to search out more, to chase those sweet memories despite their cruel twisting in his heart. He wept, he sobbed, he searched, gathering the sweet fruits until his cheeks strained, until the cloying sweetness flooded his mouth and throat and he drowned in the nostalgia of his childhood. Until he could recall with such painful, vivid detail the carved face of his father who's name he didn't even remember. Until he could remember his mother's heartbroken cry as he was pulled from her, silenced so abruptly.

   They were gone, and for the first time in years, he wept not just for himself but for them, for the parents who had loved him, fought for him, died for him. For the boy of spun sugar who melted away at the first rain of hardship. For a homeland he could hardly remember burned away in the bloodied fires of war.

He wept, with the sweetest taste of childhood lost on his lips.

Siavax
 When it was dark, you always carried the sun in your hand for me
The unsurE

His bones ached, and his eyes lay half-lidded, heavy with the sleep that seemed to escape him on these long journeys. While he adored his mother - gentle, sweet little healer Araxes - he was burdened time and time again with the task of trekking all the way to Solterra to either bring something to his father, or to carry some form of news. It was always met with a gruff receival frm the Warden, and Siavax was left feeling spurned once more. An endless cycle that chiseled away at the chip on his shoulder, leaving him bitter and resentful.

So with each trip, he took his time exploring the lands and took longer and longer to deliver what he was sent there for. He was never chastised, for Torstein was never told to expect his speckled son... so Sia found some semblance of solace in the little ounces of freedom he was able to garnish along the way. He soaked up the cold light of the moon, soaked his shins in sweeping waters, comforted wilting flowers with soft words in their dying days, wove bright and blooming chrysanthemums into his braided, void-colored locks.. For a few fleeting moments, weight fell off his shoulders and smiles graced his lips.

And it was on one such journey that such happiness fell off his lips quicker than any other times.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hooves felt the heat of the sand radiate through their core, warming his bones. The Oasis was someplace he always stopped before venturing into Solterra's core, because even as isolated as it was... something about it, in all its beautiful loneliness, was serene to him. The warm waters, the light breeze, the small bubbling waterfall... it called to him, through the malicious sands of the Mors. Thankfully, through the various treks he had made, and with how many times his father had led him to the Oasis... he somehow remembered the path there.

But this time, when he stumbled upon the worn limestone that skirted the edge of the Oasis, the tune that hummed in his throat and the quiet smile on his lips faded away to the sound of choked sobs. An ear flicked forward ever so slightly, steps falling silent as he stood there, searching for the source of tearful agony. Eventually, he stepped forward and peered around a large palm.. only to see the sandy colored caretaker sobbing, cheeks stuffed full with dates.

Blue eyes stared at the other, trying to register.. what on earth was happening. He was certain that the other had not seen him, as the minute or so he stood by unnoticed felt like an hour... until eventually, he cleared his throat. 

"Um, excuse me?" he murmured, stepping forward with head low and ears tilted back sympathetically. "Is.... everything okay?" His voice was alarmingly soft and gentle, although that was not abnormal for Sia. But there was something so familiar about this sad soul that he just couldn't place. A coat the color of sand, peppered with dark stripes and slashes of ivory.. It was only when he saw a few especially unique features - the horns, that small purple lantern, the cut of white across his face and muzzle - that he realized something was familiar about him. This was the poor soul he had pulled from the sands of the desert, and brought to this very Oasis. 

.... Had- had he been here this entire time?

@tamran, you know you love me