It took Vita Nova a long time to stop day dreaming of Nephilim. After his sudden disappearance those years ago, which uprooted her life completely, she fantasized about the stallion she was so infatuated with for so long. Even more recently, during the lowest lows of her captivity in the Desert, she returned to him in her mind, forever a bright spot, despite the mixed and complicated feelings she felt for the golden-speckled stallion, even now. It was Oswin, her sister in the Peak, who'd drummed it all back to the surface recently. Nephilim was still around, lurking at the edge of the mainland. He was alive but barely, according to Oswin. And for whatever reason, her sister thought she was compelling enough to help him and his family. This last part weighed heavily on Nova's heart lately. It was a monumental moment for the otherwise mostly self-serving mare, to put her own feelings aside in an attempt to help others. She didn't want to. But she also didn't know if she could live with herself if she didn't try to help his children. She knew what it felt like to be deserted: first by her father, then her mother, and then Nephilim himself. Plenty of others came and went, too. His children in the Bay didn't deserve that.
So the day finally came that it was time to see him. Nova was nervous. She offered her sister a sheepish grin as they stood at the shoreline of the Crossing Isle, the hazy mass of the mainland barely visible in the distance. Nova bumped her sister lightly on the shoulder with her muzzle in good spirits, and bobbed her head in response. "You know I will." She said slyly, before flicking her tail over her haunches and wading into the shallow, cold seawater.
The swim brought back memories of her first and only trek to the mainlands when she was still just a filly, still reliant on her mother's milk. She had vague memories of forests and open pastures. Alongside Evaline, Vita Nova traversed many miles before she got sick of the whole delusional journey, and made her way back to the islands on her own. Nephilim had been the first horse she'd met when she returned.
The ashen mare pulled herself onto the shoreline of the mainlands after sometime, her nostrils flaring and her lungs burning from the vigorous swim. After a good shake, her blue eyes looked out over the sea she just swam across, and she could barely make out the islands in the distance. "Jesus, Oswin." She said hoarsely under her breathe, winded and tired from the endeavor. She was, however, impressed that Oswin made this trek to see Nephilim so often and clearly so easily.
The nerves set in again as she focused her attention on the foreign land ahead. She recited her sister's directions over and over again in her mind, and left the sea and the sand behind her. Oswin had warned her of the poor condition Nephilim was in after an attack on Tinuvel. But nothing could prepare her for what she saw as she crested the last hill.
The mare stared down at the small valley below, circled by trees and woodland. There among the grasses was the golden-spotted stallion she knew. He was skinny and missing an eye. His coat held no fur in certain places. He was hardly the handsome young stallion she'd kept with her in her mind. A chill ran down the length of her spine and her throat tightened. But she called to him -- weakly -- nevertheless, her high-pitched whinny ringing out in the air before she apprehensively scaled the hill and moved forward to meet him. Her heart was beating so fiercely in her chest, she could barely hear anything else, as she approached. She noticed his one ear, the other mostly missing, and what remained was mauled into mutilation. Her heart ached for him, if only for a moment.
Nephilim was standing by the time she reached him, but he looked frail and stiff. Nova breathed a heavy sigh before saying anything, trying to toughen herself up. She wasn't here to nurse his wounds and coddle him. She was here to tell him to grow up. "Oswin had better things to do. So I'm here." She said bluntly, her tail flicking back and forth over her haunches. She tried to hold her gaze with his, but the one eye made her nervous, and as such, her stare continually dropped to the grass at their hooves. "You're an uncle. She has a beautiful daughter. Her name is Klara."
4 | Mare | Evaline x Valentine | Smoky Back Splash | 15 hh | © Vinyl |
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