Bitterness stung at the back of her tongue, pale face shifting a little lower as her blue eyes glowered at the lean stallion taking Fishbone away. Her front hoof stomped indignantly and her tail flicked out with a snap behind her. It felt like a hot stone sunk deep in her belly, watching a sister taken from the Peak who hadn’t wanted to go. Oswin’s skin itched with the desire to move, wanting to charge the fight-weakened gray and pummel him into the Peak’s dirt.

It’d been some time since she felt such rage. Considering these days Oswin felt next to nothing - numb - it was almost… intoxicating.

She snorted at his comment, but surprisingly managed to hold her tongue rather than spit something angrily back. The fact that the Peak was so empty was a raw wound that never healed. Every time it seemed Oswin was one of the few left among these hills she felt her heart plummet a little further. But it wasn’t the numbers that held her sisters here, or at least… It wasn't the numbers or lack thereof that held Oswin here.

As he swung his head to speak a parting offer, Oswin’s pale ears flicked off her head and a smile curled over her lips. “I have no interest in leaving my Peak.” The words were delivered definitively. “It would be a waste for Marceline to try and hold me in Salem, or… to send her little pet to do the dirty work for her, since that appears to be more her style.” She indicated with a pointed look at him and Fishbone beyond. There was more heat in those words, a sort of truth that he’d gotten under her skin more than she might’ve hoped. A weak attempt to prod and see how big his ego was.

An invitation for him to return and spark this fire back inside her she hadn’t felt in so long…

Self-destructive?

Definitely.

But there was a light in Oswin’s eyes that hadn’t been there in so long as they stared down the lean gray beast.

Passion.

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.