Eden pulled herself from the icy water with a stretch and a shake. Trying to keep the damp on her coat from sinking into her bones would be a losing battle, but she wasn’t altogether upset about it. The damp, you see, had been her home for far too long. She does okay, honestly. She always will. Eden would always come out stronger, wiser, and smarter. She’d never lose-- you win or you learn. She was coming into her element and coming into her own as a young woman, and it was excellent.
Eden feels excellent. The cold makes her feel alive, for the most part. At least now, while the sun is shining on her back. It dripped over her shoulders, catching the droplets of water as they splashed to the thin coat of frost on the ground. She stretched her neck, trying to chase away the stiffness that came with a long swim. Yes, it certainly had been a long one.
The falls were quiet, nearly too quiet for her liking. Eden is not paranoid, but she’s guarded. There was a history in this land. Generational trauma, if you would. Tales as old as time. A pang in her chest, and a pull… that pull would take her home, sometime. To her grandmother’s home. Ancestral home. It’s a strange thing, to be back here.
For now, she stands at the base of the Falls and lowers her muzzle to the water. It’s clean and cold, sending a chill racing down her spine. Things here weren’t so bad. Maybe she’d be happy here.
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