Falls

Nadja’s heart fluttered nervously as the ears of both stallions turned towards her, drawn no doubt by the sound of her attempts to rise to her feet. For a moment she remained frozen, ears straining towards the strangers as the darker one approached, and her heart escalated from a fluttering to a thundering as she realized, oh gods, I cannot get up. Panic began to nip at the edges of her vision, blinding her to the friendliness and concern of the strangers’ body language, and the blue mare’s ears flattened. The tiniest squeal escaped her muzzle, rising above her whiskers as a thin flag of steam in the cold air.

“Are you okay?” the dark one asked, after politely introducing himself, and his calm voice broke through Nadja’s sudden panic. It was not something she had expected, and she looked at him stupidly for a second. "Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m alright. Thank you," she said. Her words sounded silly to her now, and the back-and-forth switching from panic to not panic had left her feeling a little off. "I fell asleep after swimming from the mainland, and I fear my legs have not yet woken up from my nap." Her amber eyes flicked over to the very tall (or maybe he just seemed that way because Nadja was on the ground) perlino stallion who had come up behind Noctis. He asked if she was cold, and she had to think about it for a second. If her legs had not begun to burn as the blood started flowing back into them, she thought she might have been fairly cold, but the sensation of hot needles was a bit distracting. She might have been sitting on a very sharp rock and not noticed it with the tantrum her limbs were throwing.

"A little, yes. It is winter, after all. I’m very sorry for squealing, that was rude," she said. "My name is Nadja." She briefly extended her nose in greeting, blowing air at the muzzles of the two strangers. Then, ignoring the protests of her legs, she gave a great shove against the ground and rolled onto them, then shakily rose to her feet. She winced at the hot needle sensation. "That’s better," she said. "I hope I did not interrupt your conversation, but I appreciate the both of you coming to check on me. Is this place your home?"

NADJA