When at last they arrived on the desert’s shores, Ylva’s first priority was checking over her children - first Torsten, then Joker, then Harley - to be certain that they were all right. Ylva was exhausted from the swim, so she could only begin to imagine how tiring (and frightening) it had been for them. But she would do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant taking her family as far away from Warsaw as possible.
Despite being soaked from the swim, Ylva did not shiver. Already the baking sun was drying her thick Tinuvel fur, and she could tell that, soon enough, she would be warm enough to sweat. They would need to find shade and water soon, very soon, lest she and her children get sunstroke. Where has this mare brought us? Ylva wondered as she took in the vast, empty landscape. It was like nothing she had ever seen, almost alien with its pale, sandy hills and lack of any trees. In the distance, the land itself even seemed to shimmer and move. Ylva had never before seen heat haze, but it simultaneously fascinated and frightened her.
Finally she turned to the mare who had brought them here, and she regarded her curiously yet shyly. As thankful as she was for having been freed from Warsaw’s clutches, she did not know what kind of mare Shaydowfax was. For all Ylva knew, she could be a tyrant in her own way - after all, what kind of mare stole from another’s herd? Was she a herd leader herself? That was a foreign concept to Ylva, and she was not sure whether to be suspicious or intrigued.
She looked out across the landscape once more, feeling like she should compliment the mare’s home, but not knowing what to say. Then, out of nowhere, a sob seized her throat, and Ylva ducked her head but could not stop the tears from streaming. All of this - Shaydowfax, the swim, the desert, the strangeness of being in a new place, and the relief of finally being free from Warsaw - was suddenly too much to bear.
3; norwegian fjord; red dun pangare; 14hh
mother of harley quinn, joker, & torsten |