Don’t forget who you are even though you are hurt
Together, the pair of them left the stormswept Commons, and it filled Tigerlily with immense relief that they did not head north towards the mountain, and Tinuvel (
the Bay, the Inlet) beyond. Of course, the mare was aware that the tundra was home to Björn, just as it was her, and she would have kept true to her word and her heart by sticking to him no matter where he led her. But, to have a little more time to know him, and to be able to keep Tinuvel, and all that had transpired there at a distance (at least for a time) was like a balm to her bruised soul. The truth would out eventually, and Tigerlily looked forwards to the day when she would tell Björn all, but, just as he’d murmured to her in the meadow:
in time.
And so, the Tigress followed her Bear into the starlit sea, and swam a short distance to the island they called Atlantis. The deep darkness of the night was slowly fading away, and as eager as Tigerlily was to venture further inland, to become acquainted with her new home, the night that had passed had tired her body, and the roil of emotions she’d experienced had drained her mentally. And so, quietly she asked Björn if she could stop to rest. It was not long before the buckskin mare, splashed with white, fell into a light and peaceful sleep, safe in the knowledge that Björn would not leave her defenceless.
As dawn broke, and the sunlight at last warmed her skin once more, Tigerlily stirred, her sleepy blue eyes immediately searching for Björn. And there he was. With a soft snort, Tigerlily closed what little distance there was between them, her muzzle brushing his. The featherlight touch was a far cry from the first moment of physical contact between them which, at least in the moment, had rattled them like thunder. Tigerlily shared breath with him a few moments, before trailing her muzzle up his neck and briefly lipping at a knotted tangle of his mane. She tasted salt on her lips, and turned her head to meet his gaze.
“It’s beautiful Björn,” Tigerlily remarked, though since waking to the dawn, she’d barely settled her bright eyes upon anything other than him.
“Your home,” she added, after a moment, and finally tore herself away from him to behold the Ridge in the soft golden glow of the morning.
“Our home,” she corrected herself, and the tigress turned to the bear and smiled.
T I G E R L I L Y
you are caught in a wire and soon it will burst.