Vesti

Vesti listened closely. There was longing in his voice. He was young enough to be her son. In fact, he and Grai were likely the same age. Maybe they had been born about the same time. Yet Vesti was not certain how she felt about the stallion. They were unrelated, yes, and she had been so guarded over the years. She had never let anyone in; even Badr. But her cursed captor had somehow buried himself into her. It would not matter though.

The Sea had consumed him as it had the others.

Yet this one had returned. She sighed. His words were full of longing. He was young, he had left something behind in the cold. She moved closer, such that their muzzles were almost touching.

He may have left his heart in the ice.

Then he asked about the Sea. Vesti looked at him and shivered. She dropped her head.

“No,” She answered. “The next time I enter the Sea, it will not let me go again.” Do you want to tell him? He will think you crazy. Nikola… Vesti sighed and moved to be a bit closer.

She had kept her fear and anguish locked up for a long time.

“I was barely a weanling when I was first swept away,” She said. The thunder rumbled above. “I don’t even remember my mother’s name. Sometimes, I think I hear her voice in the winds, screaming my name. I don’t remember her face though. I don’t remember my sire.” Her voice carried a deep sorrow. She sighed.

“I was a yearling when I found a small island, alone,” Vesti said. “But the island disappeared in a storm and I was floundering again. It was like that over and over and over again until I washed up on these islands.” She shivered, moving closer to Orhan. “I was on the Crossing for a few weeks when a stallion named Nikola approached me.”

There was anger now in her voice. Many years of replaying him and his herd in Atlantis over and over again. Had she come to hate? Possibly. She had beaten his ghost in the wind many many years ago.

“He convinced me to brave the waves to join him in Atlantis. He seemed trustworthy. I was wrong.” You should stop soon. You don’t need to give all this baggage. Yes. Yes I do. I trust him. You trusted Nikola too. “Badr came for two of us one day. And though I screamed, I couldn’t fight him. He drove me here with tooth and hoof. There was another that came too, but I never saw her after we made landfall. Badr told me that Nikola came to the Dunes, but only wanted her back.”

Vesti looked at Orhan.

“I cannot face the Sea again, Orhan,” she simply said. “I do not have that strength left in me.” There it was. All she had - well, with an exception. She would not divulge the insanity that ate at the edges of her sanity. She couldn’t do that. She laughed suddenly. “I’m sorry. You didn’t need to know my troubles…” She looked away, wondering what he thought of her now.

of course i was afraid but i wasn't going to let fear stop me

mare, seven, 15 hh, morgan x aqh, sorrel, the desert, unknown x unknown