I love you more in my head

but I’ll love you better when I’m dead

⬡ ⬡ ⬡
In those few breaths of relative quiet (beneath the rushing thunder of the Falls in her ear) Naydra becomes terrifyingly aware of someone else in this frigid, cramped space. Her head snaps toward the stallion just as he begins to speak, and her body wrenches ungracefully in alarm, but she cannot fully turn without dousing herself in the bitter torrent. In a split-second of consideration, Naydra opts for dignity over suspicion. It is obvious that the stallion is not immediately aggressive toward her, and with the abhorrent tidal wave of snow plummeting toward them at the base of the mountain, Naydra sees very little point in bolting out from the shelter of the waterfall. No, she will take her chances in here, with this… stranger.

She twists her neck uncomfortably toward the unknown man, trying to get a good look at him. It is incredibly dim in this cave (if you could call it a cave, really) but even with the dismal lighting, the silver-black can tell that there is much to admire in the stallion crammed in here with her. He is tall, spotted, and sports an admirable scar across the flat plane of his face. Her eyes narrow in the gloom, her hooked Marwari ears unpinning themselves with skeptical curiosity.

Snow-demon, he had said. Naydra hums a thoughtful chuckle at the thought. “Agreed,” she purrs. “And I apologize for the… venue. I didn’t realize I would be entertaining company.” Her slitted eyes flick between the stallion and the sheet of waterfall into which he appears to be gazing. “I think we would know by now if the snow was going to hit us,” she says, one ear ticked toward the sliver of space between the waterfall and cliff face. She can see no great slurry of snow and dirt outside.

With an effort, Naydra recoils her neck and straightens again, facing forward once more. She noses the cold, slick stones at her side, and finds that they bow away from the falls a short distance. She inches forward, feeling her way along the wall until she is no longer being actively drenched in spray. It’s still not a cave, but it’s a little more comfortable. “Come,” she says. “There is more space up here. Unless you’re ready to stick your head outside to see if we’ll be buried any time soon; in which case, I commend your bravery.” Truthfully, Naydra doubts the avalanche will reach them, but the line between stupidity and courage is a thin one, and Naydra tends to avoid the both of them altogether. Intelligence and cowardice have served her just fine so far.

Naydra

mare. 16hh. silver black. rougaru x visurix.