Mouse had been so thoroughly focused on her journey that she had failed to perceive the faint rustlings behind her. Perhaps it was due to the fact that her mind still lacked the capacity to consider independent thoughts along with her surroundings. Or perhaps she had momentarily forgotten Impa’s warning. Either way, she thought nothing of the faint footfalls that followed her to the base of the rocky tower before her. Until she had stopped. Then she noticed, and her entire frame tensed. She suspiciously gazed around her, hoping that it was not a predator about which she had been warned. When the equine entered her vision, she flinched. Regarding the figure, she noted the pale face, the crystalline eyes. A ghost? she thought. She could not quite grasp what the concept of ghosts was, but instinctively the term had entered her mind upon seeing the strange pale face.
Mouse braced herself for something terrifying and painful. She was unsure of what to expect from this creature. Closing her eyes, she strained to remember anything that would help her in this situation. After a deep breath, it came to her. When she had been very small, the others had told her tales of frightening apparitions that would come steal her away. Her mother, so kind and gentle, had said that ghosts only existed if the mind allowed it. Relief flooded her with the newly recovered memory and she pushed thoughts of ghosts away. Willing this figure to also leave her, she took a few more gulps of warm air before peeking through an eyelid to test her strategy. Crap, it’s still there.
It approached her with ears back, and tension filled her hind limbs as she prepared to flee. Where she would go, it did not matter. She simply knew that she should get away, because this ghost was different, more tangible and more dangerous than the ones she knew about. Or her mother had been wrong. She preferred option one. Quivering with anticipation, she hesitated as the form closed the distance between them. Just as she was about to spring into action, the other slowed and made a noise. Mouse paused, still tense but not quite so rigid as before. Craning her neck to gaze at the “ghost,” she realized that it was not an apparition at all but an equine figure that appeared just as solid as she. Internally, she rolled her eyes at herself for being so easily startled. Her memory loss was no excuse for such unwarranted fear. She allowed her dark eyes to meet the newcomer’s blue ones, and gave the mare a quick once-over. Mouse decided she was non-threatening and gave a soft response to the grey mare’s original greeting.
Now that her body had relaxed some, she allowed herself to fully turn toward the mare with the ghostly face. Her ears flipped forward in interest, for there was a reservation about the other that Mouse could not understand. The grey mare seemed withdrawn, but at the same time had made the initial contact. Mouse wondered if perhaps the other were there to harm her, and if she had made a mistake in turning to reveal her injury to her. She decided to give the girl the benefit of the doubt and greet her properly. ”Hello, my name is Mouse. Do you live here?" Her words, simple but friendly, hung in the thick atmosphere, waiting to be answered.