“Why don’t you go to Atlantis today Rayusha?” The soft whisper of her mother came to her ears which were currently turned and pointed to the sides while her head hung depressingly low. Her eyes burned with unshed tears as the world shimmered and swirled behind them but Raisa refused to let them go. With her throat thickened by emotion she didn’t want to speak and have it crack, giving away her obvious difficulty in dealing with the current situation.

A lovely golden palomino mare was standing on the beach with her coat dripping in the waters of the ocean with her milky pale eyes not quite looking at the face of her equally wet two-year old daughter. There was no snow around where the pair stood and the world smelled foreign to Raisa’s nostrils. This was the Mainlands but her heart was lacking the sense of adventure she’d always lived by. She wanted to reach out, grab a lock of her mother’s silver white mane, and tug her back toward Tinuvel. She wanted to collapse against her like a month old filly and beg her not to leave. “Rayusha…” the soft and all knowing voice of her mother tore down the walls she was attempting to construct and Raisa shuddered before breaking. The tears fell and she pressed herself suddenly against Anzhelina, crying hot tears into her coat. “Wha-wha-what if I ne-ne-never see you aga-in?”

Anzhelina smiled so sweetly, so gently, and in that moment she reflected her mother more than she ever had in her entire life. “Rayusha,” she whispered and turned her neck to brush her lips lovingly across her daughters forehead. “I have to go my sweet and you have to go too.” They had had this conversation many nights before and Raisa knew what this meant. “Go to Atlantis, visit your friend Hollowpoint, and try not to be too sad. We will see each other again.” Raisa took a deep breath as the tears slowed and tucked herself close to Anzhelina, dragging in a deep breath of her mother’s scent.

******

And so that was how, hours later, Raisa wound up on Atlantis. Her tears were dried and her smile was wide across her lips as her eyes attempted to soak in everything knew that stretched as far as the eye could see. The heart in her chest was pounding rapidly in excitement and she could hardly believe the beautiful sites she had passed. It was tempting to linger and travel on little alcoves or other worn trails but each scent of Hollowpoint mixed into the sand and ocean breeze was enough to keep her moving onward to the Ridge. With each step his scent seemed to grow in its intensity and a rush of emotions flooded her young body. There was overwhelming joy and frighteningly strong nervousness that collided together until she was jittery and shaking her head while having to constantly correct her path and refocus herself.