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She leaned in close to inspect his necklace and Cathun had to suppress an urge to retreat again. Close contact with others was foreign still, a thing he longed for yet feared. The consequences whenever he had tried had always been horrendous, and after a while he had stopped trying completely. It was Lace that had started to open his heart again - glistening, strong, seemingly immortal in the eyes of the colt as raging flames had been unable to keep up with the stallion's regenerative body. How it must have hurt! Yet father had only smiled gently, like Mother once had done, and Cathun had found it impossible to keep himself cold to the nostalgic kindness.

It was just as hard to keep the distance from Amaris now. Her scent surrounded him and drowned out all else, he felt dizzy as he stared down at her with emotions of unease, reluctance, relief raging within. He thought he saw something glisten in her eyes before she blinked and looked up, making him hastily turn is gaze elsewhere with cheeks burning in embarrassment. Had she been holding back tears? Why? Was it something he said or did? But the dragon girl stayed with him, spoke encouraging words even and suddenly looking as confident and strong as Fajira after she'd caught a rabbit - why were girls so complicated?

"Y-yeah, of course. You're right, I'll.... uh?"

Golden scales suddenly wrapped around his neck in a tight embrace and the colt froze in shock. Wide eyes glanced down in surprise, brain working hard to understand what was going through her mind. But for all that he tried Cathun couldn't figure out what was so - wait, was she comforting him?

Ah. He really must have been sounding pathetic. How lame, how incredibly graceless of him, to make a girl worry like this - someone he had only recently met, a stranger in anything but name. A small, wry smile twisted his mouth into a bitter grimace. Slowly, gradually he relaxed under her hug and let out the air that filled his lungs, emptying them completely before he drew a new breath, deep and fresh increasingly determined. Once the feeling spread enough through him to steady the knees Cathun gave the silky, caramel hair a quick (rather awkward) brush with the nose and pulled away again.

"Yeah, of course" he said, voice filled with new confidence. "But are you sure you want to get involved? It might turn out to be dangerous, it might not even be possible in the end..." He would hate to cause her pain after being this kind to him. The storm-colored colt had lived with the knowledge of what fate might have in store for him all his life and while he was striving to change it a part of him was resigned to the possibility that it might not be possible. Yet Amaris... she didn't know the true meaning behind the seal that bound him, had no idea what could happen to anyone around him if it finally broke. If he had a choice Cathun would have handled the matter on his own, involving no one. But he was in no position to act proud. So at the very least, he would give anyone involved the option of remaining ignorant and he would spare her the knowledge of what was going on as long as possible.

Flaming orbs regarded her quietly for a moment, then he sighed and turned his attention to the surrounding landscape.

What he saw was red. Red sand, blue sky, a glittering ocean that surrounded them on all sides and in the distance a giant tree that rose up towards the heavens, more massive and imposing than any tree he had ever seen.

"So this is Dragon's Throat. Fitting name... but is it really possible to live here? There's nothing but sand anywhere." A dark hoof pawed at the shifting grains to demonstrate his point, and as he returned the eyes to Amaris the ears pricked attentively, wordlessly asking her to explain.

Between the barren ground and the hot sun it didn't exactly look inviting... but Cathun had a feeling his mission to mend the seal would take quite a while, and in the meantime he would have to stay somewhere. "Say, Rii, do you think I'll be able to stay here for a while? I can work, so..."


@[Amaris] Still open to anyone, just drop in if you want to!