The swim had been more difficult for the filly than Vita Nova had anticipated. The small, striking girl struggled to keep her small head above the waves as they moved off the coast of Tinuvel toward the hazy mass of the Crossing Isle. It had been nearly two full seasons since Nyah was born in the Inlet, and the herd that was once there had seemingly disappeared. Nova was on edge, tired of wandering around the woods with only her child at her side, and thus, she chose the end of summer as a fine time to go somewhere else. Nyah was growing bigger by the day, taller and stronger. She was stout and thick in places that Nova never was, showing just how much the mare would take after her draft-breed father. Despite the kindness that Orkaan had showed Nova and her daughter over the short course of time they'd spent under his care, something about the way the painted stallion wished to step in as a father to Nyah just didn't sit well in Nova's gut. Whether Nova liked it or not, Fallo was the filly's father. And whether Fallo liked it or not, he had a daughter in this world.
So as the infrastructure of the herd in the Inlet fell a part, Nova found this moment as the right time to abandon Tinuvel and figure out what her next steps should be. Occasionally she'd catch the scent of someone new in the chilly breeze in the Inlet. Someone -- masculine -- but the fear of the unknown, of not knowing if whoever was lingering about could be a tyrant like Koray, drove her to the sea. As the pair emerged from the surf onto the Crossing Isle, Nova was silently thankful to feel the humid and warm air of a drier, more mild climate. It had been a rough winter, being pregnant with Nyah and thrust into such a polar opposite environment weather wise. But Nova's mood quickly soured as she and her daughter traversed the semi-familiar terrain of the commons and the meadow. Nova couldn't help but feel like she was about to start all over again. Like how she had to after Nephilim, after Koray, and now after Orkaan.
She thought briefly about returning to her brother in the Prairie, or even going back to Salem to her mother or Evren. But she worried that Nyah wouldn't be able to make the swim, given how exhausted the filly seemed after the short jaunt from Tinuvel to here. And besides, Nova didn't know who or what would be waiting for her on Salem -- no matter how badly she wanted to see her friend, she would never step foot again in the Desert if Koray was still there. Even now, she felt slightly on edge being out in the open. What if he found her here?
Nova's icy blue eyes surveyed the otherwise quiet meadow and shoved her daughter along with a few gentle nudges from her soft, grey nose. Nova let out a long sigh, unsure of what their next steps should be. Either way, it looked like the pair would be spending the night here, no matter if she decided to return to Tinuvel again or not.
4 | Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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