A P O L L O

And how can you say that your truth is better than ours?
Shoulder to shoulder, now brother, we carry no arms

Before his eyes, Antheia woke and greeted him with a smile, before pushing herself upright and to her feet. The stallion eyed her warily for a moment, clearly uncertain, and just for good measure he sized her up. The medic in him would never be able to turn away someone who could possibly be hurt... It was something he had noticed since obtaining his healing abilities.

Still, as his eyes roamed over the ebonite mare, Apollo couldn't help but notice the slight bulge in her stomach. It was minute, barely there, but... Goodness, was Antheia pregnant? The thought caused his mind to tilt, thinking back to their brief meetings they had shared in the past. Never had she mentioned there being a stallion that had caught her fancy, and honesty the Chief didn't take her as the type to simply have a one-night-stand with someone, like some of the mares in Helovia. The thought caused Apollo to grimace and nearly scoff, but he refrained. Hopefully Antheia wasn't like that.

As the dark mare steadied herself and began to move away, thankfully further from the churning waters of the ocean, Apollo hesitated before following her. There was something amiss, and despite his uncertainty about Antheia, the black and white overo was curious to discover what it was. The stallion's frame followed a short distance behind the mare, tail snapping left and right, hooves sinking downwards in the granules of sand with each step that he took... But luckily he was further from the suffocating waves of the damned ocean. Apollo spared the liquid a look of contempt.

Stay.

A snort, and then Apollo's eyes found Antheia once more. Extending his steps, he moved to stand beside her and glanced almost hesitantly to her face. "Antheia?" He questioned, questions brimming in his head. Did she hate him? Did it bother him that she might? The thought that she might caused his chest to twinge, but in what? "I, well... I apologize, I suppose, for how I acted when we last met... But I hope you would understand; there truly was nothing that I could do. I was snared by the laws of my herd, and the laws of my family."

The stallion sucked in a sharp breath, releasing it slowly and almost pensively through his nostrils. "Do you hate me for it?" There. The question was honest, blunt, and Apollo asked it as emotionally void as he could. How many friends had he lost since coming to Helovia, living the life of a mercenary? Would he lose Antheia, too...? Or had she even been a friend to begin with? The questions were abuzz in his head, but the only one who could answer stood in front of him now.