The day itself has been entirely too much for the foals and the prospect of someone to care for them is really all they can ask. Tomorrow as the day dawns and the fear of an ocean trek made far too young wanes, other worries will assert themselves. Tor will be there for Sybil, and both will look to Zjeena for the guidance they will need to sort through emotions too big for their little bodies.

Who else will explain to them why the adults refused to listen to their pleas? Sybil had seen the fire coming, had begged and pleaded with them all to run from it and be safe, but they had laughed at the small filly. Lightning would not spread a fire, they said. Lighting struck and killed one at a time, which was why she should have never been up there alone, they argued. They assured her that rain would douse any flame that magically erupted, and sent her on her way.

Only Alastor had believed her. When she'd gone to bed that night, hungry as punishment for speaking out, her half brother had cuddled up to her and reassured her that he trusted her. When the storm crashed and raged overhead the next day and she'd stood quaking before it, he had leant her his strength. And when the storm cleared and the sky shone in those brief glorious minutes before hell erupted, he'd smiled and agreed to sneak away to the beach against their parent's will. It was Tor's belief in her that kept her faith in herself strong. He had led them both to stand ankle-deep in the waves on her directions, while their home burned down.

And it was Tor that had brought them here, to this wondrous place, and to Zjeena. Heartsore and tired, the girl clings to her new mother, her feelings numbed until only the basics of existence remained. The days to come would bring more trials for them to overcome as she weathered the Atlantean storms that would reduce her to a blubbering mess of terror. Her need for reassurance would be strong, and at first she would hardly leave Zjeena's side for fear of the earth upending itself all over again. In the moments of quiet, her self doubt will flourish until it chokes her into silence that only Tor can coax her from.

Tor, too, would suffer but in a quiet stoic way. His tears, when they come, will be pressed into Zjeena's side as he hides them from Sib and even from himself, ashamed in the moments he cannot be strong for her. He mourns for his mother, and even for their father, although this will leave him confused. The source of his conflict is subtle, seen only in the way he tenses at fast movements and lets Syb eat first, always. These memories he does not share, though they leave him sprawling on the ground, rigid with nightmares. In those moments it is often Sib that reacts unconsciously in her sleep, draping her pale gold neck over his until the fear melts away and sleep returns.

Both of them will cling to Zjeena as their rock, relying on her to guide them through this tumultuous. They will not forget those first weeks of life, but the pain will lessen as they grow confident in their new mother's love and care. And together, the three of them would find some way to heal.