Vihar fumed over the events at the Ruins for the entire swim to Atlantis. Primarily, the nickname of slave girl given to her by the silver buckskin was what really set her off the worst. The painted mare seemed to steam in the waves as she pushed through them toward the yet-unseen island of Atlantis. Slave girl seemed to replay in her head on repeat, and she growled every time the colt’s voice echoed in her mind. You’ll be the slave, she retorted silently to the voice in her head. You’ll be mine, not the other way around.

Even if Annubis couldn’t claim her spirit entirely, however, the jungle had a much better chance of crushing her. The island of Atlantis reached dauntingly over the horizon as they drew near, and Vihar flinched away from the violent green depths. It was just so unfamiliar. Had they approached Tinuvel instead, her spirits would have soared at the snow-capped mountains and deep grey-green forests, and nothing Annubis could have done would have been able to tie her to him if she did not want to be there.

But the depths of Paradise seemed hungry in a way that the Cove never had been; at least, not for her. She wanted to fall behind Annubis and follow him into the shadow of the canopy, and let it snatch him up first so that she might have time to run away. But even in her fear, her fury at slave girl triumphed with little resistance, and it gave her strength. She surged ahead of Annubis and broke out of the waves with a snort. Before her, the mouth of the jungle seemed to open ravenously, urging her to enter. Vihar’s resolve hardened as she stared into the sun-pierced darkness, and she charged into it. Eat me up, then, she thought to the forest as it engulfed her wholly. I’ll just make you spit me back out.

She did not know whether or not Annubis would follow her into the jungle, or if he would let her explore on her own, but she did her level best to lose him in the dense vegetation as soon as she ran in. For several days she did not stop moving except to sleep and sometimes graze. She spent every waking moment that she could getting as lost as possible, exploring the new landscape and acclimating to the cloying humidity and heat. She wondered if Annubis was trying to find her, but she doubted that - if he wanted to catch her, he probably would have by now. This was, after all, his own home. She guessed that he might be playing along in her game of hide-and-seek. It was also possible he was waiting for her to wear herself out, and would pounce on her as soon as she grew bored of exploring. She hoped it was the first option, and began to think of her travels more as a game of hide-and-seek, and it became somehow more interesting than it had already been.

But she could not keep playing this game forever. Eventually, she had covered the entire area of Paradise in a rough and patternless trail. There were plenty of hiding spots and nooks and crannies that she had not yet discovered, but she had a pretty good idea of the land overall, and she was actually quite tired of running around all the time. It was a good reason to end her game, but it wasn’t the only one.

Without Annubis there for her to observe, she had no idea what he thought of her game. She could not tell how close he got to her, and she could not tell how badly she was getting under his skin or what buttons she was pressing by hiding from him. These were valuable parts of any game, and she found herself needing them from Annubis specifically. There was an entirely different flavor to the games she played with him, than with any of the other foals in the Cove, and it was delicious. Not to mention the changing of the seasons, which she was well aware of, and she wanted to take advantage of this extra level of frustration.

When she had made her decision one morning, Vihar simply stopped moving. There was a light haze of fog in the air, not yet burned off by the heat of the day, and sky was still pale in the dawn. The painted mare could not tell if her new ‘owner’ was nearby, but she suspected that he was. She had found a small clearing in which the grass stretched tall to reach the sun, and she trotted loftily in a few circles around the perimeter, flagging her tail and making certain her scent had marked the area.

It was a trap, and she made no attempt to hide this from Annubis as she set herself up as the bait.

vihar

mare // 2 // EE aa Dd nCh RnT // 14.3hh // Solomon x Nadja