JAY
sister to verdin
The swim was much too long for both mother and daughter. In her haste Jay barely looked back to see if Magnus was following them and when she did she would forget what his condition was as soon as she spotted how much closer the island seemed to have gotten. The greying mare was almost too fast for her daughter, which only urged Mjar's own excitement on. If her mother was in such a hurry to get to the tree-filled island, well, there had to be something better there than trees. Night had stretched its dark blanket across the sky and sprinkled it with stars by the time Jay was climbing out of the ocean. Mjar followed and galloped ahead of her mother with her nostrils wide.
The dark yearling did not smell nor spot anything different about the island compared to the Bay and the Falls. It was a regular island that was about as warm as the Falls and was covered with trees with some dense underbrush. She snorted and decided to examine the trees since they were much taller and bigger. She did not notice her pale mother, who was standing at the forest's edge with her nostrils and eyes stretched wide.
Jay was slowly inhaling and exhaling, breathing in an old scent that she recognized. It wasn't anyone she had met on the Islands or during her travel to the Islands. No, the scent was from earlier in her life, something she had searched for ever since the wildfire. Jay was sure that it was her brother's scent that was wafting, stale and old, from the beach into the trees. Her first thought was to follow the scent, but his scent would be stronger if he was still there. It would be best to speak to a herd member would had hopefully met him. If she was lucky, the mare would not wander upon the stench of death while looking for the herd. Jay slowly turned her head back to look for Magnus, feeling bad for nearly abandoning him. She tried not to let the fear and joy show fully on her face as she let her eyes scan the horizon.
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