Falls

Ayiana felt the flutterings of curiosity growing within her the longer she found herself in the company of Balor and Darshan. Though she was beyond the years of following the guardians around like a helpless foal, still the pictures they painted of long lost worlds was enough to keep her at their heels like a moon-eyed calf. Her world, aside from an occasional trip to the meadows on the main island, had always revolved around family and the Prairie. Everything she knew was on Luthien. The longing to venture away had tugged at her for a long time, but with father’s and Castiel’s departure coupled with the loss of Sanibel, she dared not mention the idea lest mother break the porcelain resolve that kept her alive. Larka was careful to keep a smile on her lips, but Ayiana did not miss the sadness in her mother’s eyes as she and Darshan shared a glance, or the heavy sigh that lingered on her lips when she looked towards the shores where father left. Mother was caught, like the rest of the Prairie herd, one foot in the present and the other lingering in the past. Ayiana was determined that she would not be this way. Forever the tenderness of father’s embrace would linger on her heart. ’Never be afraid my dear daughter… I will always be with you’ even now she can hear the deep tenor of his voice against her ears and the ghostly whisper of his scent on the breeze as she draws herself from the sandy beach of the main island. Reassurance presses on her heart as she draws her head up, sleek golden yellow neck arching as slender legs pick up a dancing gait. Sorrow that so long dragged at her breast is replaced with excitement as she navigates the myriad of twisting trails, amazed at how quickly the island here changes as the seasons pass. She had been to the meadows before, enjoying the company of Ryder as he drew her mind from the raw absence father left in his wake. Together they had raced carefree and with childish pleasure through the open grassland. It had been a fun afternoon that took the weight from her shoulders that she felt slowly tightening like a noose around her neck. His presence, more than anything else, had revived her and forever Ayiana would feel grateful to him. However he was familiar. From foal-hood she had known him, his father had long been the Prairie second in command and though his father remained for the most part, reclusive as his dam, Ryder had been there.

Today she needed to sate the hunger for newness and mystery. Dark auburn eyes blink against the bright sunlight that dapples through the canopy above as she slows her dancing gait and instead moves with a bit more caution and curiosity. Ears perk forward at the roaring sound of falling water. A broad smile tugs her lips upward as she ducks beneath a low hanging branch and comes upon the rushing waterfall for the first time. Breath hitches in her throat as she admires the beautiful sight. Never before had she seen such a sight. Sure she had seen the rise and fall of water over rocks. During the peak of the dry season on Luthien, often the slow moving river that separated the Prairie from the Forest dropped low enough that the large rocks usually hidden by the river were visible for all eyes to see. When this happened, Ayiana found herself lost for hours as she watched the waters trickle between the rocks. Here, here the volume of water that fell was much different from the slow moving river of Luthien. Curiously the steps towards the water’s edge, her feet sinking into the soft sands along the bank. ”Wow.. she murmured to herself, blinking against the spray of water that gathered on her lashes and muzzle. Excitement caused her pale cream tail to flick back and forth against her sleek tawny gold haunches as she dropped her muzzle to the cool waters. Deeply she drank from the pool, quenching the thirst she had not realized lingered on her dry tongue.

Once she fills her belly, only then does she draw back to let her gaze linger on the land around her. Tall trees line the rocky pool, drawing away from the main source to the east by a narrow stream shrouded by trees. Nearby, a few horses gathered in loose groups, too lost in conversations to acknowledge the curious mare that lingered there in wide-eyed wonder. Paper thin nostrils flare as she inhales the scents both familiar and foreign to her, relishing in the small freedom that she had found. Casually she wanders towards the bright green grasses that the strangers waded through, her dark gaze flitting from one figure to another as she tore a mouthful of grass and relished the sweet flavors.