Arcana has always been a proficient swimmer, but this turbulence is unlike any she's experienced before. Just when she thinks she and Orhan have found the surface, a strong undercurrent drags them both under. Arcana's eyes are open but moving waters bend the light and confuse her. She is slipping out to sea, when she too finds rock bottom.

The pregnant mare is caught by the violent undertow, and sent sliding sideways across the jagged ocean floor. She doesn't feel the abrasive surface tear the skin from her hide, but she does feel the pain that grips her abdomen. A strong will to live rights herself and finds purchase on the rocks below. Just when the tide returns to shore, Arcana gives herself a mighty push and rides the current to safety.

The ocean spits her out on her knees. Arcana stumbles but doesn't fall. Swaying on shaky legs, she finds herself standing by her mate. A fit of coughing expels impossible amounts of sea water from her lungs. Arcana's left side is littered with superficial scratches and abrasions, including a small laceration above her left eye. The amount of blood mixing with the water saturating her mostly-white coat gives the illusion that she's hurt much much worse than she truly is.

What feels like hours pass, but it is probably only mere minutes, where Arcana can do nothing but gasp for air. But when her heart finally does slow, and her lungs have had their fill, she turns her blood-streaked face to Orhan. For the first time since they've met, Arcana's ears flatten against her neck and she cries out with rage, "What were you thinking, Orhan?! Don't you ever, ever do something like that again! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" If Arcana had the energy, she would grab his crest and shake him, but instead, she heaves a trembling sigh, and begins to cry. She takes a step back and turns her face away. Great sobs cut through the white noise of the rolling waves beside them, and through the silence of the desert beyond.