His face has grown gaunt, sunken around the bone protrusions that mark the ridges of his jaw and the flat plain of his face. His green eyes are darker than the last time he had seen Hyaline but they are still his ─ deep emerald, glimmering bright, but perhaps more dull than mischievous these days. The bone-armored stallion is exhausted ─ so exhausted ─ from the efforts of his travels.
He had searched. And searched. And searched.
But his parents had disappeared from Beqanna. And he has come to terms with their absence now, at least to the point of realization that he has done everything in his power to find them. If they had remained on the island, he would have found them. But how had they gotten off the island? Their scents had not disappeared into the sea ─ they had manifested in Sylva, in the depths of their golden forest, and without a trace they were gone. His nostrils quiver as he pushes the thought from his head, burying it deep as his green eyes fall on Solace's sanctum.
Gone is the boy she had known. A tired, empty man has returned in his place.
The light bay stallion follows a well-worn path towards the crystalline basin, his hooves working their way down the shale of the outer territory. He travels further and further in, the air growing warmer as he meanders but never bringing the wisteria to blossom. One more season, he realizes, and then the flowers will bloom their brilliant purple. He hopes he is still here to see them then.
The son of Dahmer and Ellyse breaks through the inner forest of red maple and cherry, green eyes finally settling on the crystalline lake that is Hyaline's heart. He is awestruck for a moment, heart pattering excitedly for the first time in what feels like forever, before he whinnies hoarsely into the crisp spring air.
"Solace?" he questions across the lake, his throat suddenly very dry.
here's a handshake, soldier, 'cause we both lost the war
@[Solace]