God I hated this cold. It bit into my thinly coated skin and dug deep into my flesh, making my memories of the warm sand of home little more than a distant, wishful memory. I found that I couldn't stop shaking, and this even more than the swim was sapping my strength.
Wistfully I cast my honey gaze back over the angry ocean with it's punishing waves, back toward where I assumed home was. Or, where I thought it was at least. No land such as this had ever been mentioned to me, and my sense of direction had been hopelessly waylaid in my desperate swim through the winter storm that had delivered me here. I was lucky to still be breathing, with only sore muscles to show for my adventure. This, I supposed, I should be thankful for.
Should be, but was not.
Somewhere over the frothing water was my home and my family. They would worry about me. They would come for me. They had to, or else I feared I would perish in this unforgiving wasteland of a territory. Surely they wouldn't let the 'amira of the Steppes disappear without bringing me home. My alab would simply not allow me to disappear like this without mounting a crusade. I was his favorite, his little bird.
He simply had to.
I refused to let the tear fall from my eye, and wiped it against his slender foreleg fiercely to stop it from falling. Miserable and shaking like a leaf, I huddled deeper into the scant bush I'd found for shelter against the biting winter wind. I just needed to wait them out and all would be well.
OOC: As per usual, if you've already got a critter of mine in the herd you're trying to claim her into please hold off for a few days at least to give others a chance.