To look and truly see someone or something is a concept I’d never been capable of, but with Caneo I didn’t feel the need to try. He was there before me like a mountain, tall and unmoving. Perhaps it was the idea that we remained twin peaks, two stones carved by the elements, that gave me hope for him- for myself. Even in the hazy morning glow, I felt settled instead of restless, peaceful instead of melancholy. His presence soothed me in ways that I didn’t understand nor had the patience to question… We just were, no matter how vague and unreliable such sentiments undoubtedly seemed.

As we neared the wide rift between the Dragon’s Throat and the outlying borders of our home, I noticed his closeness and his presumed hesitation. Whatever it was that troubled him I could not know, but I attempted to try and offered him an encouraging smile. “What do you think Dreamer?”

The cliff and the sands and the world beyond the waters that clung to dry-washed banks were but an illusion to fool the ignorant. But I knew what lie ahead and the individuals that inhabited such a majestic land, even if I knew them without names. Warriors. They were a people made up of warriors, ones I respected and trusted in the wake of falling victim to invasion. It was in the Throat that I knew we would both prosper and grow- together. Yet, fear still found home in my heart for the consequences I would face if I didn’t prove my own worth as I’d done once before. Leaving had made me weak, but returning with my tail tucked between my legs would only be my figurative death.

As if on cue, a creature breeched the calmness of the heavens, her voice ringing out above us- my name. Never before had we spoken and yet as always, out of duty or respect, I knew that she –Ampere- would one day make my acquaintance. In a rush of electric blues and deep, midnight sapphires, the Pegasus departed from the skies to alight alongside us. She appeared a jovial sort of creature, though still hardened by war, and I nodded cordially to the Gladiator. “Thank you. It is good to feel the sand beneath my feet again,” I offered warmly. With Caneo still close by my side, I radiated strength and confidence… traits that had been robbed of me in the darkness of my wandering.

The Mother of Companions was in no way my equal when it came to her cool self-awareness and rigid charms, but I wished for such power one day… if only because I’d once been as poised.

Instead of picking up her string of conversation, I allowed Dreamer the chance to afford his own choices and his own voice. His name was not mine to give or take, but simply to know. He didn’t need me to fill his voids any longer. That much I could see.

essetia