Essetia

”What makes you so certain Essetia?”

It was a fair question that the sleuth had somehow been expecting, but still wasn’t certain she could answer. She’d only been a member of the Throat for a short time after all. Yet, there was something powerful about the south, something grand and unusual from her previous homes in both the World’s Edge and the Hidden Falls. They were just as mysterious to her as Bucephalus had been when mentioning his plans for the sneak ranks. Essetia hoped to one day understand what he’d meant and also find her place within the desert family… but what made her so certain that she would never find disappointment?

Perhaps it was the fact that she was riding on them, hoping that the dragons of the south were all that they were rumored to be. She assumed it was her faith in them that allowed her such confidence… and she wasn’t planning on confessing otherwise.

The mare turned slowly to face her newest recruit, her eyes a glazed mirror of wonder and doubt. “Each of us has a path I think… and fate saw it fit that I find you,” the bay began softly. Her stare travelled the expanse of her home, tracing the flat line of glittering, snow-touched sands and barren, browned palm trees. Summer would bring life back to the south as well as the vibrant colors she’d so longingly imagined. Everything around them had faded and dulled without the heat of the Tallsun climate, but the Throat had only succumbed to a wintry sleep. When its eyes again opened to peer back at them, Masanori would understand how unique the desert was. “Besides, I’ve been to every corner of Helovia and I’ve seen the exotic jungle of the Hidden Falls, lived alongside the mists of the World’s Edge, and even spent a short time beneath the great northern lights of the Aurora Basin. This-” she motioned resolutely toward the shimmering waters as they lapped against opposing shores, “-is where I’ve felt most at home.”

When her attention was restored to the paint with eyes of contrasting color, one blue and one brown, she smiled. She noticed two themes there: the ocean and the earth. He’d said that he’d travelled for most of his life and Essetia could see it there in his eyes. She thought that maybe Masanori had gathered pieces of his travels and taken them with him everywhere he went. Perhaps he’d seen what secrets existed beyond the Endless Blue or he’d managed to take refuge even further north than the Bain itself. Yet, somehow he’d ended up in the Throat with her. It didn’t matter now what she said to try and convince him of the land’s magnificence- he could clearly see it for himself if he wanted.

He just had to overcome whatever doubts hindered his interpretation of it, just like she had done only a few weeks prior.