Quiet. This had been what Idelle had known since the day she had been born. A sweet silence, for it was filled by the love and closeness of her mother. Idelle knew nothing else and was not a soul which craved the great adventures to be had. She did not wander far from her dam’s sight, she did not disobey what words were spoken to her in hushed urgency… maybe it was because of her mother’s subliminal tone when she said these things. Instinct overpowered want and Idelle learned to remain hidden, not to engage, even when she listened to the squeals and giggles of foals in play.
Yet one day, one fateful day, a voice reached into their quiet time together and Idelle swung her head curiously. One side of her would forever be shroud in darkness, presented by a milky white/blue pupil which gave away the true curse of her birth. Idelle would forever be half-blind.
Her ears flicked as she watched the shape through the foliage and something, for the first time in her young life, seemed to be pulling her from her dam’s side. Thin legs took her forward, one hushed step at a time… she had just paused at the thick line of leaves, where a few more steps through thin twigs would lead her to see what had beckoned her when her name was hissed at her back. Idelle paused in step, heart beginning to beat in her chest. She swung her head over her shoulder, keeping her mother in her sight, which unfortunately shrouded the shape of the stranger in inky blackness. “Mama,” she whispered back, “there’s someone here.” As though her mother hadn’t known. All the innocence of a child, not understanding the importance of the one who lingered just on the other side of the trees.
Surely, given how close she was, the figure would no doubt hear her young, soft voice. Given her size as well, for she was already past six months, they might even see the shape of her through the trees just as she saw them (when she was looking out of the proper eye, that is).
She turned her head, a little stream of light pouring through a gap in the leady canopy, shining brightly onto the bold white star shining on her forehead. “Who are you?” She asked the shape, curiosity burning her inside. |