| but it’s not burning for you
With adrenaline still hot under her skin, Everglow nearly flinched when the other mare touched her. It took her a moment, but quickly she realized that the mare was attempting to guide her. One of Everglow’s golden ears twisted back, but she kept her mouth shut. She despised others invading her personal space to help her without her consent. The only exception was Iskulan, but that was only because they had been joined at the hip, as if they had been two halves of the same horse. And even he had learned there were limits to that.
However, in these circumstances she would allow it, in the hopes it got her to safety quicker.
Her mild irritation was forgotten when a string of strange words left the mare’s mouth. She had heard the mare utter something incomprehensible when she had first arrived, but in the heat of the moment, Everglow had assumed she just had not heard her properly. Now that the mare was up close, Everglow noticed the strange cadence to her voice and her broken way of speaking. So she was foreign.
Everglow did not know what to make of that, but now was not the time to ponder it. She allowed herself to be led away, glad to put some space between her and that bully of a stallion. She paid close attention to the speed and closeness of the mare’s gait - as well as any sounds of pursuit behind them - and though she bumped into the mare’s hindquarters a few times, they got away with little issue. When they finally stopped, Everglow turned to the mare, ready to thank her and send her on her way, but then the mare spoke.
For a moment Everglow was confused - was this stranger called Ajanabee, or Vihaan? Then she decided that Vihaan must be her name, and Ajanabee her people. The Ajanabee must have lived far away, for in all her travels and encounters with strange horses, Everglow had never heard of them. This put her on edge, for Everglow’s experiences with foreigners were… not positive. So many herds she and Iskulan had encountered had seemed strangely wary of them, as though they were reluctant to take in a blind horse. The only place Everglow could recall being treated warmly was here on the islands.
Yet so far this stranger called Vihaan did not seem put off by her. She had come when Everglow had called, and helped her even though she evidently knew and understood that Everglow was blind.
“No, I’m not hurt,” Everglow said in response to Vihaan’s question, “Not unless you count my wounded pride.” A wry smile briefly touched her lips. “Thanks for your help, Vihaan; I don’t know what I would have done if you and that stallion hadn’t turned up. I’m Everglow, by the way.”
When Vihaan said next made Everglow’s mouth drop open, and excitement flared in her stomach. “How did you know I was going to Luthien? You must be some kind of spirit. I was on my way to see my family there. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them. Have you been there before?”
4; mutt; palomino; 15.1hh; blind
shamwari x brienne |