Chapter Text
Chapter 1: It's All Reborn's Fault
Dino sighed as he rowed away from the sinking small yaht he's sailed to Malta to pick up some luxury goods with the intent to smuggle them back into Sicily. He'd made good time to malta, had the goods loaded onto his ship and departed ahead of schedule. Which was probably why he was now on a life raft rowing for a small island in the distance, if he had run on schedule, the leak would have trapped him in Malta instead of the open water.
Thankfully he knew there had to be a source of fresh water on the un-named island, as a small herd of feral horses was reported to live there. He had about a week and a half worth of MREs, bless Romario's paranoid soul. He also had his emergency beacon running on a flame coded network. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to be picked up.
He beached the raft on the shore and tugged it clear of the tideline. The emergency kit had a small shelter that he could set up, and hoped the batteries in the satellite phone were charged up. He was grumbling to himself; certain this was somehow his Spartan Tutor's doing when a flash of movement caught his eye. He kept his movements steady and reached for the whip on his hip as he locked eyes with a nude young teen standing next to magnificent bay Sicilliano Indigeno.
He took in tanned figure, with his tangled long hair and reached out gently with his flames, "Hello."
The mare snorted and nudged the boy back a step. The boy nickered to the mare and turned away. Dino froze as he took in a set of nasty scars over the boy's back. This wasn't some teen camping and exploring on a remote island or playing a prank. This was someone who had been hurt, and badly. Someone who moved and watched him with wary eyes just as the mare did.
He kept his movements smooth and easy as he finished setting up his shelter and kept his flames soothing as he sat tailor style on the ground. He pretended to ignore the teen as he set up the beacon and turned on the sat phone.
~Boss, we received notification that the Trojan Horse went down.~
"There was a hull rupture. I'm fine and I made it with the shipment to an island. Make arrangements for pickup of the merchandise before making it public that Conte Cavallone ran into a mishap while pleasure sailing."
~How are you for supplies?~
"I have enough MREs for at least a week. I'm on the pony island Captain Superbi was talking about last month."
~Anything else I need to know Boss?~
"I might be bringing home a new friend."
~Boss, no.~
"I make no promises Romario. Get one of the unmarked boats to pick up the merchandise. Then we can see about having you come fetch me."
~Stay safe Boss. I'll call back in the morning to check in and coordinate the retrieval and your 'rescue'.~
"Best if we don't make it public until after I'm home."
~Understood.~
During the conversation the teen had crept closer, much to the disapproval of the mare. She followed the boy slowly, her ears pinned back in warning. Dino pretended to ignore both, and set about building a small campfire to warm his meal. He would look for a source of fresh water in the morning. In the worst case, he knew how to build a solar still to gather water for himself. Who knew Reborn's most brutal survival lessons would actually come in handy?
When he next spoke, he still didn't look at the duo that was slowly moving close, "Do you speak Italian little one?"
The boy blew out a remarkably horsey snort and skittered back. When Dino made no move to try and touch him, the boy edged closer.
"I'll take that as a no then."
He set a couple slices of dried apple on a rock, then slowly scooted away, leaving the pair plenty of room to decide if they wanted to chance the treat.
Tsuna pressed against Kaasan as she surveyed the stranger sitting on the ground. She was ready to trample the outsider at the first sign of threat, but he spoke calmly, his movements small and slow. Other than speaking, and he did have a nice voice, he made no move to acknowledge them.
The scent of the sweet treat sitting on the stone drew the horse and boy. Tsuna judged the distance and focused on the warmth in his chest and head. There was no warning of danger. So he snatched the dried fruit up and danced back to the shelter of the blood red and coal black form of his dam.
He sniffed the treat, checking for anything off before offering Kaasan the first slice. She lipped the slice up from his flat palm and chewed for a few moments. Her gentle nudge with her nose approval for him to take the fruit.
Dino smiled to himself as the pair consumed the dried fruit. As he looked closer, he thought he caught a trace of eastern heritage. Taking a chance, in Japanese he said, "My name is Dino. Do you have a name?"
Tsuna pulled back as the word registered. It had been so long since he'd heard people words. He pressed closer to Kaasan and shivered, people words meant cruelty.
Kaasan, for her part, eyed the golden outsider. Her two legged foal was uneasy, and that was enough for her to contemplate chasing this young bachelor colt away. But the strange visitor had made no move towards them, and had offered no violence. Choice made she began to nudge and guide her little one back up the trail to where the rest of the herd waited. Her pale foal was shivering and needed to rest.
Dino watched as the bay mare coaxed the teen back up the trail, away from his camp. His throughs raced, had he truly found a 'wild child'? How had the teen arrived on the island? How long had he been there? And who or what caused the scars on his back?
"A mystery, and one that begs to be solved. Just who are you little pony. And do you have a home to return to?"
Tsuna and Kaasan made their way back to their tiny band. Dapple gray mare Obaasan, delicate chestnut filly Imouto, and Kaasan made up his herd. The larger herd stayed on the far side of the island, as the stallion had no desire to tangle with Kaasan over her strange two-legged foal that followed her everywhere. With Imouto now reaching two seasons, Kaasan might indulge in a heat, if she felt like it.
No one had challenged her claim on her little one in some time. And Tsuna was grateful everyday for the clever dam that had pulled him from the surf by his blood soaked clothes and adopted him. Kaasan was fierce in her protection, always able to find her odd little foal and more than willing to fight and kill to protect the foundling.
The Sky and Storm settled into the shelter of the tree lined meadow with the other two members of the herd and slept.
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Dawn came too early for Dino's taste, and he warmed up an MRE, it was a module F so his morning meal was made up of biscuits, fruit jam, tea with sugar, and an instant cappuccino. Not the best fare, but serviceable. He dug through his pack and found a little more dried fruit. Hopefully his visitor would re-appear by the time he'd eaten. He could set aside the bran crackers from his lunch serving for his visitor as well.
He sipped the tea and set the water purification tablets to the side. He could use those once he found where the fresh water on the island pooled at. He picked up the sat phone and tucked it into his jacket pocket, grabbed his canteen and the now empty water jug before setting off in search of a place to collect water. He was aware he was being tracked from a distance, but he sensed no malice, and was fairly certain the wild child was following him.
He was half right. Kaasan had made her way to the far side of the island to put the stallion to use while she was in heat, so Tsuna and Imouto had decided to see what the golden stranger was up to. Baasan was napping off her morning graze, and the two trotted off to find a bit of adventure. The pair of youngsters watched as Dino stumbled his way up the trail and followed the various tracks to find the stream that fed fresh water into the small pool that lay further inland. The taller human had shed his shirt and splashed water onto his chest. The drops glittered as they rolled down the toned chest and abs. Tsuna pressed his thighs together, wondering if this is what Kaasan meant by being 'in season'
His little sister nickered softly and gave him a playful bump with her nose. Tsuna bumped her with his shoulder in return. The older human chuckled at their antics and both froze as the sound. Still he did not move towards them, instead, he filled his water vessels and dropped some tablets into them. He slid the jug into his pack and hooked the canteen to his hip before making his way back to his camp, being sure to give the duo a generous berth.
'Well he might sire a golden foal for you brother.'
'Sister! Kaasan said we are too young to foal.'
'No she said I'm too young for a foal. You are older than I am and that one is a nicely built two legged stallion. Do you want him to put a foal in your belly?'
'No! I'm... I'm not ready.'
Imouto nickered sorrowfully, 'I'm sorry. I did not mean to tease you.'
'It's okay. Lets get back to the meadow before Kaasan returns. Ahou always puts her in a bad mood even when he does give her a foal.'
'If he wasn't the strongest stallion on the island Kaasan would not bother herself with him.'
The pair shadowed the stranger until they path split off, leading them back to their meadow.
Dino was careful as he returned to his camp, shirt still tucked in his pack around the water jug. There was a convenience in finding fresh water plentiful and just a short trek from his camp. He set out the fruit on the edge of his camp, along with the bran biscuits. Hopefully he would have guests to take the snacks.
It became his routine in the coming days. He would leave a treat out for the teen, who he realized held sky flames, then go fetch his water for the day. The boy would follow him at a distance with one of the three mares he traveled with. A quiet rainy dapple gray, a sunny sassy chestnut, and the lead mare, a protective stormy Bay. Dino could feel their flames like he could feel Kelpie, Stella, and the other flame aware Cavallone horses. And the feral teen was their sky.
Dino could admit to himself at least, that he was desperate to know the teen's story. The feral sky had stopped shying away when he spoke but refused to come within an arm's reach. Dino was aware it might take quite some time to earn his trust. But he was willing to work for it.
And with his Spartan of a tutor having left for a new victim, Dino didn't have to worry about traumatizing the key further.
His men had dropped off additional supplies and a solar charger for the phone. Once able to meet in person, he explained the situation to Romario and advised he wanted to take the small band with him off the island. Logistically, tranquilizing all four and then air lifting them to a ship would be the easiest, but Dino didn't like the idea of losing the trust he'd built with the island band. They were in the process of adapting the plane to land on water near the shore or find a mist willing to craft a bridge from the shore to the bay door of the plane.
Romario had taken one look at the pictures of the teen, sighed and advised he would have a stalls readied in the empty pony stable. A few discrete inquiries had Trident Shamal waiting in the wings to provide a 'vet check' once they were back at the villa. Now all he had to do was convince the feral little sky to trust him enough to leave.