Desert

The skin along her back prickled as the silver-maned beast began to follow her, and it took all of her self-control not to skitter away from him like a startled deer. She would have loved to turn herself into one of the small long-fingered creatures in the trees above - monkeys, she thought Temblor had called them; like most of the jungle's creatures, they were well equipped to move with great speed away from threats, swinging their way through the canopy without ever needing to be tied to something as mundane as the ground.

"You didn't," she said a moment later, with some effort. It was hard not to take offense at the way he said it so casually. It made her think of her mother, Lyrae, who was mute. The same mare that had once lived as Rougaru's captive for a brief time. It was perhaps better that Shiloh had no knowledge of this, else her ire might have risen above her fear. As it was, her anxiety made it hard for words to find their way to her lips; a process further complicated by her wish to say nothing out of turn. She wanted no part of Rougaru's attention, but did not know if fighting back or playing dumb were more likely to win his indifference.

"What is there to say?" She offered a moment later, pausing to cast him a mildly baleful look. They both knew that she had had little choice in the matter. The moment Rougaru's eyes landed on her and he issued his challenge, her own wants and desires were of little consequence. "You have not asked me anything."

With the equivalent of a shrug, she turned her attention forward again, and continued on her search for something edible. This land was nothing like Paradise, nor even like the Cove. It looked barren, as though the land had been covered not in snow, but in sand. Instead of tree limbs adorned with icicles and piles of snow, there was only empty space, decorated with a blanket of dry-looking grass. Having grown used to the easy living of Paradise, she wasn't sure where to even begin to quench the fire in her throat, but she would be damned if she had to turn to Rougaru for help before she was desperate.

She paused to scent the air, hoping to catch a whiff of water. Nerves (and the exertion of the swim) had left her dry-mouthed, and she was eager to wash away the acrid taste of fear. She wished she could do the same to the emotion, but she doubted that she would ever feel comfortable here with Rougaru looming nearby. All she could hope now was that he did not know who she was, but she had no way of asking him without tipping him off that she might be someone he should know.