Real life came for Valentina, and fast. She'd thought she was ready to leave the sheltered bubble she'd grown up in, shattering the protective shield her parents had built around her so that she could experience everything she'd heard them talk about for herself. Catalina was already so worldly, so accomplished, and she spent no small amount of time rubbing it in her younger sister's nose, so when she'd had the opportunity to run away with her first father, she'd taken it. It was supposed to be an escape, an adventure, but in reality, it was little more than a babysitting job. Then she swam back to the Islands, alone for the first time in her short life. Freedom never tasted so sweet. She could go anywhere, and yet... all she wanted - all she craved - was the warmth of her mother's embrace.

Unfortunately, the bubble that had kept her so safe had also left her ignorant. She'd been shielded from the consequences of her actions, had the effects of her carelessness hidden behind shimmering opalescent film, and without its protection managed to stumble headfirst into a situation her parents could not fix for her. The painted stallion from the Common was rude, he was abrasive, he was callous and cruel and when she'd tried to fend him off, he'd hurt her. The battle between them was nothing like the play-fights she'd had with Khajiit, the little practice scuffles they'd shared where he held back the full strength of his body and always let her win. It was humbling, and as she soon realized, it was also for keeps.

She fought like Hell against it - her wounded pride wouldn't let her do anything else - but it didn't matter. The same body that battered her into the ground was driving her into the sea, carving more marks into her soft flesh, pressing deeper the more she resisted. In another light, another time, another mood, he might have once been handsome... but as he took her from the Crossing, into the chilly, stinging ocean water, and eastward towards Atlantis, farther and farther away from Salem, he became nothing more than a monster. When she reached the shores of the Harbor, she wanted nothing to do with him. The white-flecked mare was tired, and sore, and hungry, but she scrambled up the beach and darted into the jungle, giving him no more than a glare over her shoulder to make sure he would not follow. As far as she knew, he didn't - and why would he? He'd won.

Valentina walked further and further inland, wanting to put as much distance between her and that asshole as possible. Eventually she came upon a river, her pale hooves following its winding path of their own volition. When a voice called out to her, she froze. Only when he pointed it out did she realize she'd been crying, her dark cheeks and long lashes stained with glittering teardrops.

Tina blinks them away, bringing the night-cloaked creature before her into sharp focus. It isn't him, but another unknown stallion, swathed in shades of mahogany and meal and carrying a smile. When she flares her nostrils, he smells similar - like Atlantis, damp soil, ferns, and eternal blooms - but somehow... different. She glances around, noting the closeness of the jungle. This, too, feels different than the forest she'd first walked into, however many hours ago.

He speaks again. At his offer, she laughs, though there is no humor in it. "I already tried that," she says, her words bitter on her lips. "It didn't go so well."

Tina lets her words hang between them. Her wounds ache more strongly now that she's been reminded of them, her mouth dry, eyes stinging from the salt of her tears. She glances towards the water, swallowing back a sniffle, then lifts her eyes to the stranger's handsome face. "Can you show me," she asks, "to a place where I might rinse off? I would go in the river myself, but I don't know if I'll be able to get myself back out.

Please," she adds, belated and half-hearted. Part of her knows she should be nicer, play up her charm and hide the vulnerable parts of herself that had made her such a target to the creature lurking somewhere far behind her, but she's just so tired, and something about the look in his eyes seems to hint that she's already pitiful enough to make it work, regardless. She doesn't need to play damsel-in-distress, she is one, and if he's looking to be the prince that saves her from the dragon in the castle, she's happy to let him do it.