Spring and summer were spent in the Prairie, watching Klara grow from a tiny little thing on uncertain, shaky legs to a little confident, excitable ball of energy. Though Oswin worried over the welfare of her Peak sisters, the moments spent in her birth home felt almost like a dream. To awake to the rich smell of grass, to feel the tips brush her belly as she walked over the hills, and to laugh as her daughter kicked and reared and jumped about just as she used to do as a filly soothed an ache inside her she hadn’t realized was there. She missed her father. She missed her mother. The next best thing she had to Valentine and Dock was to be here among the home they’d provided for her when she was young, doing the same for her daughter. It was meant to be this way, Oswin thought, watching Klara grow and play in the very same place she had.

Oswin had Shamwari to thank, for even when Vita Nova had to go live with a stallion by the name of Orkaan, he’d been kind enough to allow her to stay here. Klara had been too weak to survive such a long swim back to Crossing Isle and though it bothered Oswin she couldn’t be completely certain Vita Nova was alright, she knew the time would come where she could see her again.

But first it was time to wake from this dream. Oswin bumped Klara lovingly on the neck and lipped at her daughters fuzzy, upright, wispy mane. “Come now love,” she said with a smile, “it’s time to go home.” The Peak was home, even if the Prairie might always feel like it in her heart. Klara beamed with excited joy, for she’d heard all her mother’s stories of the Peak and was excited to go. After their parting of ways and Oswin expressing gratitude to Shamwari for his hospitality, the pair swam through the surf, Oswin keeping an eye on her daughter as they went.

Eventually the pair returned to Crossing Isle. Oswin could see Klara’s little legs shaking from the exertion, but her eyes were bright and wide as she looked at everything around her. Just a little more push to get her to the safety of the Peak’s foothills and Klara could sleep soundly. “This way, Klara.” Oswin said, beckoning her daughter as she turned to make a clear path to the Peak. One day Klara and she would explore Crossing, but today was not that day.

“Woah,” her daughter breathed and Oswin glanced toward her daughter to see her staring in awe at the rise of the Peak. “It must touch the sky!” Klara exclaimed and looked back at her mother. “Does it, mama? Does it touch the sky?”

Oswin thought about how high up the Peak went and standing atop, looking over what felt like the world. “It might as well,” she said with a smile, “one day I’ll take you up there and you can see for yourself.”

Then, she smelled it – a familiar, musky scent. Stallion. Oswin tensed, her eyes narrowing. What was the Boss of the Lagoon doing in Peak territory? These months of tending to her daughter in the Prairie clearly hadn’t dulled the sharp point of vengeance in her heart, for Oswin was immediately prepared for action. “Klara,” she spoke sharply and her daughter looked at her with wide blue eyes, knowing immediately by her mother’s tone something was amiss. “Go into the bushes and do not move until I return for you, no matter what you hear.”

“Yes mama,” Klara said with a small, frightened voice, and the sound of such fear in her daughter’s tone squeezed Oswin’s heart. How dare this stallion think he had some right to come into the Peak and harass her sisters simply because the grounds were clear of Oswin’s presence. She’d shown him she meant business before and she’d do it again. With adrenaline coursing through her veins and her heart pounding hard in her chest, Oswin felt alive.

Quick steps led her around a turn in the trees where she saw him, her ears immediately turned back and her blue eyes flashed with irritation. “What do you think you’re doing in Peak territory?”

It was only then she took note of the dark, unknown mare who'd already come to greet the Lagoon boss. Oswin had jumped so quickly to her anger at his presence here, she hadn't thought to take a breath and come in a little slower... then again, this was more Oswin's style - kick first, ask questions later.

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.