we have arrived; the lost boys, residents of hyaline

[Iset]

Iset

goddamn right
you should be scared of me

Butterflies of nervous excitement dance unhindered in her stomach, fluttering from her bellybutton all the way up into her throat until it felt as though her stomach would fall out her butt. She leads the way with Maugrim trailing close beside her, his breath hot on her skin and his twitchy tail occasionally snapping her in the back of the leg. Iset didn’t do very well with people encroaching upon her personal space, and it is because of this that she pauses, turns to the colt and snaps, “If you got any closer I’d be carrying you-back off.”

She is learning quickly that Maugrim is a colt of very few words, so she turns sharply and sets their pace again before waiting for a response. A short time later, his blunt shoulder nudges her own delicate one, a movement so like the ones that pass between her and Amet. A pang of guilt settles deep in her gut. She and her brother had made so much progress in the short time that they had been in Beqanna, both becoming more understanding and forgiving to each other’s quirks. The filly shakes her head to clear the thoughts of her brothers and tracks Maugrim’s eyes to where they rest greedily on her lake.

She pulls quickly and harshly on his mane, “No one gets seriously hurt. No permanent damage is done,” she growls, not giving the colt any room to question her. With that she picks her way more slowly and carefully into the craggy mountain peaks, knowing that they are less likely to come across someone in the difficult terrain.

She was wrong though, and before long a silhouette almost identical to hers was visible through the trees, albeit a fair distance off. She paused momentarily and her golden eyes squinted, trying and failing to identify the stranger in the trees. She had an inkling though, of who it could be, and the thought nearly made her heart stop. 

Sakir couldn’t be involved in this. He had only just recovered from his previous stint in and escaping the Dunes, what if his body couldn’t handle this? What if they couldn’t find a healer this time? She couldn’t and wouldn’t lose her twin tonight. Rubble sprayed down from his hooves as he leapt nimbly from one rock to another, slowly making his way to them. 

He called her name, once, twice, and Iset felt her heart stop at the danger he was putting himself in. With a hurried look at Maugrim, she pulls forward a few steps. She has to warn him, to make him understand that this is one thing they can’t do together, that he can’t be a part of. With another cautious glance to the colt at her side, she hurries forward a few steps before he has a chance to stop her. “Sakir! Go!"