Falls

Ivanna was catastrophically, incredibly, overwhelmingly bored. The Meadow should have given her something exciting to do, but to be quite honest, it had only left her more heartsore than before. When she'd left home - all brash confidence and beaming a smile - it hadn't occurred to her even once that she might miss home.

Why in the world would a girl on the cusp of adulthood ever look back when there was a world of possibilities laid out before her? Ivanna knew why now. Loneliness was why. The elusive feeling of home taunted her from outside her grasp and she could only listen to her heart ache for it daily. Still, she was cautious. She did not go to the commons, despite this longing. Her mother's stern words were always in her thoughts.

No, she would stay here, she thought. At least until summer time. She'd been tempted to leave with Bjorn or Daire and her handsome son Lir, but had not done so. Not yet. She was still too nervous, too skittish of stallions, no matter how nicely they spoke her da's language. Her mother had always said that stallions were a dime a dozen, but a true leader was rare. She'd said that if nothing else, Ivanna should make sure she found herself a leader, and not just some would-be baby daddy that had a collecting problem.

Lost in her thoughts, Ivanna scuffs her pale hooves as she walks across the Falls with no particular destination in mind. She's crisscrossed the Meadow and the Falls so many times in the past few months that she could probably navigate them with her eyes closed. This time though, she nearly walked right past the blue mare without even seeing her. It wasn't until the girl raised her head and some primitive part of Ivanna's brain registered movement that she realized she was no longer alone.

A wild snort of surpise accentuated the startled backward scramble that announced her arrival. A slow rattling breath is almost immediately dragged ino her lungs as she regains her footing and she ducks her head apologetically. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

She perks up as the realization that she wasn't alone and a grin very quickly bubbles onto her lips. A toss of her head disarrays the frizzy strands of her mane and she bobs her head toward the mare in greeting. "Isn't the water really cold? It makes my teeth chatter and the frogs don't come around anymore."

She steps forward toward the mare, neat little ears pricked. "Are you new too?"

Ivanna settles a comfortable distance away, her tail frisking about her hindquarters in eagerness.