Solitude was Vadim's frequent companion these days, though of late he had begun to meet a few of his fellow Day Court members. Still, when he wasn't needed at the Court he stayed far from it's walls, drifting in the Mors Desert that reminded him so much of his home. The thing he missed the most, perhaps, were the salt flats that gleamed white under the sun, cracked and hard. Just after an infrequent rain the flats would shine like a mirror of the heavens and the whole herd (the few of them there were), would race across it and revel in the novelty and beauty of it.
What mirror was there here, to bring the sky to them? He supposed there was less need for it in a place where some equines were blessed with the wings of birds to reach the heavens themselves. Such windwalkers had become his envy on days when he was close to court and saw them here and there. So again today found him in the desert. He lashed out with hooves to the brilliant sky, throwing his head down towards the sand. It was a primal set of movements, learned from his youth, and practiced now to the chanting of words in his own mind. His breath kept time in harsh exhalations and deep inhales, filling his lungs with the wind that brought life. Eventually the story- and his dance- came to an end. He stopped, panting, and his thoughts turned towards the cool water of the oasis. If he could find it again. But Vadim was a desert horse in his blood and in his bones. He stepped off purposefully, in the direction he recalled the oasis being. It wasn't long before his wide nostrils caught the scent of trees and water.
Moments of travelling beneath the hot sand dried the sweat on his coat to an itchy white crust in his joints and he paused once or twice in his easy walk to ease the itch. His pace picked up when the mirage-like vision of the trees came into view and by the time he got to them he was moving at a trot. Like a stray beam of sunlight he plunged through the shadows and straight into the still water in a less than graceful splash. It was only after he had plunged his head beneath the water and flung it skyward again to scatter the drops did he realize that he wasn't the only one to enjoy the oasis today. It was not really that secret to Solterrans after all. It was the heart of their home.
His pale blue eyes settled on the silver mare, equal parts sheepish and good natured. "Apologies, I should have realized someone else would be here. Did I splash you?" He left the water with a little more grace and care than he'd entered and stood dripping on the sand, looking almost tail-less as he was maneless, all the pale strands sodden and twisted together.
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