Where are you? Heavily lashed eyes flutter open. A wave of fresh salt water crashes against the dark mares frame. She slowly lifts her whiskered muzzle for the sand, confusion riddling her eyes. This was not home. Her bones ache as she tries to slide her heavy feather legs through the muck. She had sunken into the sand in the time she lay motionless on the quiet beach. How long had she been here? How did she get here? Where were the others? The questions fired in her brain as the stark realization that she was alone hit her. Her eyes rolled wildly, revealing the whites, as she pulled herself from the constraints of the sand and ocean. The ebony Friesian mare shook, her dark tresses slapping her thick neck as she tried to shake the cold away. She remembered being loaded into the ship. The journey had been long, that much she recalled. The quarters were cramped for a horse of her size, but the prospect of something new had kept her spirits up. The weather was turbulent, that much was for certain. Once in calm waters, the ship had rocked gently with the movements of the sea. It was dark when the storm hit. A vortex of sea water and wind had sent the ship teetering in the surf. Where were the others? Again she asks herself. The scents that filled her were not familiar, that much she deduced quickly. Her gaze averts to her dark pelt, now riddled with superficial wounds. The ship must have capsized is all she could presume. She shifts her legs nervously as she moves away from the shoreline. She was not used to walking on sand and finding her footing was proving difficult. Years of walking on cobble could not have prepared her for this. Her dark eyes spy the treeline and she advances to it quickly, wincing at the pain in her barrel. She pauses amongst the trees to more thoroughly inspect her coat. An officer's mount should never be this dirty. The thought seems frivolous as she assesses her situation. "Where am I?" She whispers to herself in dismay. Get a grip. You are an officer's mount. She laments herself. She sucks in a deep breath and quivers as the pain in her barrel radiates further. Bruising she presumed. But nothing was broken. At least she hoped. |