Isabella runs because she is afraid.

Though she and her mother and Jay have left the marauding stallions far below this incline, her heart hammers still to recall the chaos erupting in the afternoon. All of it seems a whirlwind in her memory, save for that touch by the darkly-gold stallion; her skin quivers and skips whenever she thinks of it, her heart leaping between fear and favor in a way she can't discern. And so when the trio finally, finally emerge from the stand of trees that mark the edge of her happiest home, her safest haven, Isabella launches herself out of the shade and into the full light of the sun in hopes it will warm the fear from her heart. It helps, a little, and she forgets to be afraid as she splashes into the shallows of the lake, knocking flat pebbles aside with her hooves before she comes to a halt and turns just in time to witness the black-and-white colt charge toward her. Izzy's heart skips and freezes, her breath catching high and tight in her throat. Come nightfall, she won't be able to discourage the memories of the frightful raid and another moment like this will arise, and for many moons following her sleeping hours will be plagued by panic and nightmares barely soothed by her mother's touch, but today— for today, she calms to see the joyful expression on Jay's face. Her heart unclenches to fall back into its natural beat inside her chest as the colt plunges into the water and, laughing, Izzy tries to duck away from the splash.

He surges deeper into the ordinarily calm mountain pool and Isabella sloshes a little ways after him, pausing when the water touches her chest. It's chilly despite the sun, kept cold by its rocky depths and their high altitude. She lifts one leg as if to stamp, the motion slowed by the drag of the lake, and points her ears toward where Jay approaches dangerous depths. "Jay!" she calls. "That's too far!" But even as she chastises, her young voice pitched with fear, his head slips under the surface. She dares another step forward, then glances back to where her mother has come to graze near the lake's edge. Though she seems unconcerned, Izzy is not convinced this isn't a problem; always she has been cautioned to keep her feet firmed on the lakebed and her head high above the surface.

She flicks one ear back, then swivels her full attention to where Jay disappeared just as the curly-eared colt surfaces, spraying water from his nostrils like some great beast of the deep. He's too small to be as imposing as the fabled whale, and the idea of it draws a shaky laugh from her, one that grows as the Marawari boy swims back. He is unharmed, not even a little upset by his plunge under, and she regards him with awe for having achieved something so effortlessly that she herself has hesitated to try for her entire life.

When he nudges her, Izzy squeals and hops back, every movement hindered by the lake, until she's in shallow enough water where she can lift her legs more easily to paw at the water and try to catch him in the face with it. It feels good to be dramatic about something so innocent, almost like they've just met by that swift creek and their afternoon had not been at all disturbed. The memory is too close; it chills her like a cloud passing between the world and the sun, and she jumps forward as if that will help her escape it, plunging chest-first into the water and sending a larger wave surging toward Jay. Much of it goes directly up her nose. Izzy plants her feet, coughing, and is alarmed to find one hoof groping for purchase as the other slips. Her eyes are tightly closed as she inadvertently dunks herself, and she keeps them shut as she paddles frantically.

Everything sounds muted underwater. She is distantly aware of her own movements, the soft slosh of Jay's legs, the dart of fish away from all this commotion, and then her head pops above water and the world blips back into high-volume. Her short hair is slicked down her forehead and cheek and she blows water from her nose without any of Jay's competence as her feet finally feel true lakebed again. She stands wheezing for a moment. In reality, she had not fallen very far in nor been under for long, but for someone whose head had never before been below water it had felt a little like eternity.

It had also felt a little freeing, in that dark, muted world as her muscles burned from the panic of reaching for light and air— a little exciting in a way that this afternoon had not been. Izzy blinks the water out of her eyes and gives her head a shake, shooting a mischievous glance at Jay. "I wanna do that again," she says in a low voice, wrinkling her nose in amusement as she flicks her blazed muzzle toward him, throwing the last drops of water streaming down her face in his direction.