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She was going this way today.

It happened to be almost the complete opposite direction to the way she was going yesterday; in fact, she was quite sure at some points that she recognised the precise sighing of the trees, and the beautiful although hardly comprehendable conversations amongst colonies of treebirds, but there was no way to really be sure, seeing as she hardly remembered yesterday anyway. The little bay mare was ever restless, but didn't really know where she was going or why. So on some days, such as this day, with nothing else to guide her, she simply followed the direction of the wind... and as the wind may change direction several times within a day, this either delivered her to new territory, or right back where she started.

Barely a twig snapped nor leafy branch disturbed as she moved through the forest, content in deliberate silence. To make noise was not only unnecessary, but also tended to draw unwanted attention, and in the worst case scenario, the company of predators. Her life of unnatural solitude left her vulnerable, but although seemingly directionless, Evanthe was not ignorant. She moved lithely, swiftly, gently, part of the wind she followed, enveloped in the scents and sounds of a damp and thriving woodland, flesh amongst earth and yet somehow the same. It became almost a deafening companion of predictable sounds and smells, so loud in its uniformity that if something were to intrude, however subtle, it had the opposite effect to the one you might expect it to have.

Instead of being masked by the harmonious music, the strange scent of the equine burst through the cacophony like a wrong note. It struck her in a millisecond. Within two separate breaths, the air filling her lungs went from cold and pure to... different. Evanthe stopped dead in her tracks, frozen solid, nostrils quivering and ears and eyes fervently searching for the source of the intrusion. It did not take her long, to determine a bearing, and even less time for her to decidedly start moving in the opposite direction. She even risked picking up a quicker pace so that perhaps she might avoid her own presence being discovered, but she knew that in travelling with the wind, this hastening most likely came too late.

For hours she continued in this new direction, sometimes even changing again, just to be sure. Or, it was likely just as possible, that she simply forgot where she was going and ended up swerving like a blind man following nothing. It would seem to all appearances that she was shaken by this close encounter. Rarely did she ever come across another loner. Horses, by nature, did not travel alone. If she were usually to find her own, they would be together. Least of all did any have a reason to be wandering alone in a forest. This observation was made of course without acknowledging that she was doing that very thing. And so, with no way to know of intentions, it was far easier to just avoid at all costs.

Eventually, her mounting thirst could not be denied, so she eventually sought the water of the stream she vaguely recalled to weave through the trees. It flowed strong and fresh. It had to be sourced from a large body of water close by, and she decided to follow it later so that perhaps she might find it. She stood at the edge for a moment after drinking, enchanted by its lullaby, watching the moving light fall through the canopy and touch the pure water, bubbling and glistening as though it had everything in the world to be happy about.

It was infectious, and for a little while, the constant restlessness in her breast yielded. Rather rebelliously, she considered, she even let out a long sigh ending in a sharp snort. She listened as it travelled through the hollow spaces between the trees and simply dissolved into the birdsong and wind whispers. Quite forgetting, again, that she was positive just that morning that she had somewhere she ought to be, she closed her eyes and was lost to the forest.

EVANTHE

Just like a dragonfly