Salt water drenched the white tendrils of hair that clung to her neck and legs. It permeated the air around her with the heady scent of the beach. It coated her tongue with an abhorant taste that swiftly woke her from her unwanted slumber. Blue eyes peeled open and took in the scene around her. She shivered; whether from the cold or fear she couldn't quite tell. She drew herself on shaky limbs. She had known she would be lost if not dead, Gods willing, from the storm that had rent her homeland apart. She had not bargained on the ocean. She hadn't imagined she'd find herself in a place she'd never been before. She willed her heart to slow its terrified beating within her chest. Her nostrils flared and she scented the air. She doubted she would smell her mother or father on the icy breeze. Her brother? Her nieces and nephews? Nothing familiar wafted through the chill air. She was used to doing the comforting. She'd never needed to deal with her own panic or fear. Where was she? Her pale form moved forward, white nostrils flaring as she drank in the cold air searching for something familiar. She couldn't be so far from home could she? She had to force herself to be still. Between the trees that loomed overhead, she sought refuge from her own fear and slid to a stop between two particularly large once. The bit of color that did spatter across her pelt was soon covered by the bark as she leaned against one them. She dropped her skull and dragged in slower breaths, slowing her heart to a more steady rhythm. If she was anything, Evalyn was calm. She was peace. There was no room for panic. No, that would come later with the realization that might not ever see her family again. She stilled her body until she was nothing more than a pale figure against the cold winter backdrop, more invisible than she'd ever been before. She would cope with this. Her blue eyes lifted from the ground, ivory ears tipped as she listened to the crunch of snow in the distance. She pulled herself together, lifted her head and squared her slender shoulders. If anything, she would not show fear. For all any stranger knew she was simply cold. Her slender body was certainly not built for these kinds of conditions. She was so used to the warm valley back home. She was used to dips in the water with the foals that she so often found herself in charge of. She was far more used to walks on the beach with her brother, letting the heat dry them after swimming in the shallow waters of the inlet. She was used to being the one that kept everyone sane when things were falling apart. She didn't quite know how to or perhaps just could not let herself fall apart. She had far more experience with things than most mares her own. She didn't have experience being alone. She didn't have experience being homeless. She didn't know how to panic. |