He dithered still longer, unsure just how much he wanted to plunge into the sanctuary offered by another mare, another mother, potentially. Fathomless blue pools watched carefully from the distance he’d chosen as the one-winged mare who had been so pleasant in the cave (she alone had offered to help him find Shadow), gestured for him to come; but he didn’t, tiny, fawn-like frame swaying as uncertainty in the warm sunlight, as introversion, plumed through his core. Perhaps it was his curse to be alone... though I don’t know why, he mused silently, eyes wandering hurriedly away from the endearing lull of her white-golden gaze. Kari was reluctant to place his trust in another like her (like Shadow, or Circe). It seemed that his touch was a deterrent, his faith a joke.

Another arrived soon after. It was Alija, coloured like the clash of sunset against a sunrise; an ocean in the desert; snow on a summer’s day. His gaze was equally as confused as her coat, dizzy, stunned (even after their first encounter) and he thought as she introduced herself to the few gathered before him, that she was far too gaudy for his liking.

The clatter of hooves across gravel, and the whoosh as they neared through the sand, pulled the little colt’s attention around suddenly. He was both glad for the distraction and surprised by the source; the crimson stained colt and his friend, met when the unruly rock had been rambling so recklessly below the Heart. A half-smile was given by the child with bruised trust, and with reserved curiosity Kari watched him still by the side of the horned mare he had followed. Why is he here? he questioned, eyes narrowing as they stared unabashedly at the still nameless Unicorn. It never occurred to him that any not discovered before the darkness might actually belong- before the monsters and the caves when still he’d strolled by the flank of Shadow. Though wise on matters passed, the grey colt had a very narrow perspective about the wide world surrounding.

His stomach groaned, irritated and empty. Hush, not right now , he scolded.

Eyes ahead turned, and Kari hunched his shoulders reflexively, but they were looked well beyond his insignificant form. Relieved (and ever so slightly insulted), he turned to find what had captured their attention- the girl who fell from the sun... another foal found on the brink oblivion. Small ears fluttered curiously for a moment, she looked older now; and fleetingly he glanced to check the black and red boy. His form too was less childlike, it was not as gangly as the little winged colt remembered, and a sigh was pushed from his lungs. The world was moving ahead, leaving me behind, and he couldn’t help but sulk a little at the thought; pulling resentfully from her golden-red presence, jealous.

The hum of her voice- a sound perhaps he thought was forgotten; pulled back up his ocean-blue eyes and they widened, carefully interested that she had remembered his name. She had moved closer as well- she was standing by his side, and Kari shifted his weight restlessly, put off by her bold arrival and yet excited all the same. What he felt begin to boil through his mind was not the same as that which the vast proclamations of well-meaning mares stirred. She was still young, like him, maybe, and cheeks blushed helplessly as her (he thought) exclusive attention flattered his immature ego. Her eyes were just as he remembered, as black as an empty night, but he was startled because they were no longer bathed in the shadows of that cavern. Kari couldn’t bring his own gaze away, he was perplexed, fascinated.

His jaw dropped to speak, to impress, but the name of her was gone. His mind drew a blank, and he stiffened uncomfortably, searching desperately for the memory they’d shared- but it never came. He was frustrated, and his nose pinched beneath his shifting expression, displaying all bother candidly, oblivious. She spoke again, and Kari was secretly thankful. “I missed you too,” he answered, speaking as though she’d never left his thoughts; like their paths had been clearly bound for eternity. He was glad for her company then, and his focus strayed as the one-winged mare began to speak again, towards the strange, three-tailed canine brooding by her legs.

Kari didn’t know what Africa was talking about, but excitement seemed to radiate around her- mist from a waterfall, and it took all his strength to not sink beneath the contagious lull her mirth. She was soon leading them from the parched, uncomfortable desert sands, and north along the cliff-flanked bridge he’d followed to find home. He was careful not to stray from the side of the girl with the flaxen braids, her hair shimmering as sunlight caught between tendrils dancing to the rhythm of her stride; but he walked quite independently all the same, unconvinced that she wouldn’t just evaporate like the others.

Before he knew it, the intimate troupe had wandered along another peninsula, and even before they’d set foot upon it, a giant mass of land suspended midair had given reason for concern. It all seemed to make sense, the dots were connecting, and the colt gazed warily upwards, into its dark shadow. Blue lava bubbled by their feet, even more unsettling, and suddenly the clouds mentioned while he’d half-heartedly been listening, began to collect around his feet. They hardened like little concrete pedestals, and eyes wandered down to assess them. When he lifted, the beginning of the ascent to Sky Island above, his legs splayed apart and be glanced to see the reaction as the same happened to those around him.

Small, weak wings opened as though to balance him (they had lost their capacity to fly altogether), but there was no need. Each support beneath his diminutive weight held firm and Kari was carried to a lush carpet of green, a valley spreading before him like nothing he had encountered previously. Africa led them to a camp nestled amid others, an arena (with great rolling potential), and various other structures that defied his narrow-minded belief. There was an oasis which they did not enter, and he peered curiously around the dappled mare to view all that lay behind. Still he said nothing, and soon retired to the relative safety of his copper chestnut friend, right as the red-horned colt spoke.