Falls

done a lot of things wrong; loving you being one

She isn’t alone. God, how stupid could she be? For all her creeping around, for all her caution and her hesitance to leave the Peak, she’d just missed the stallion standing there. He speaks, and she flinches back, ears pinned and heart racing. She know she shouldn't show just how afraid she is - she should pretend at the boldness of Bagheera, or the friendliness of Roisin.

But Hollis cannot. She isn’t them, will never be them - there is no security or ease to be found around stallions, especially not strange ones yelling over the roaring water. He stares at her, and Hollis shifts uncomfortably. Perhaps if she were more familiar with others, she would notice the chewed lip, the nervousness that matches her own. But Hollis doesn’t, sees only someone blocking her path out, sees only someone cornering her alone.

Steeling herself, she takes a breath to speak. And the pretty pale mare has every intention of swapping pleasantries, of trying to play at being normal but what comes out instead, in a rush is, “Are you following me? What do you want?” her voice taking on a hysterical edge. Her blue eyes are wide, the whites around the edges obvious in her panic. Is this it, then? Is it all over? She’s left the Peak, only to be dragged home by the first stallion she comes across, all of her fears coming true.