Ridge

They were gone. Mother. Father, All of them.

For a little while after the large gray stallion appeared in Paradise, Rivka remained as father asked of her. She was supposed to be looking after the herd and helping to keep all her siblings in line. At least that was what he had told her. She tried her best, but that wasn't good enough. The stranger was tall and formidable, much more so than she was prepared to deal with. She kept to the shadows, huddling here and there against the roots of the trees and scampering deeper into the twisting tangle of vines and palms whenever he wandered near. She just knew the wolf would come back for her. Mother would come for her. However as the days turned into nights, and the residents that had once flourished in abundance began to disappear, the realization began to slowly set in. She was alone.

Silently she drew herself further and further away from what was familiar to her and beyond the borders that she had sworn not to cross. The Ridge was much like the jungles of Paradise in the brightly colored parrots that hopped from branch to branch in the treetops above. Even the flat faced creatures with their long, curling tails seemed to be the same. So why was it that mother and father never wanted her to come here?

For the first time in a long time, she tosses caution to the wind. Small dark muzzle drops to scent the markings of horses left on the strange trail that stretched out before her. None of them were familiar.

Suddenly, a thin green snake scuttles out from the leaf litter beneath her hooves. With a surprised squeal, Rivka launches herself down the trail. Sweat coats her smoky black and white skin by the time she bursts free of the shadowy jungle. She slides to a halt with a loud snort, her sides heaving. Unlike Paradise with its wide beaches of white sands, the edge of this part of the island crumble off in steep cliffs of rock and stone. Was this why she was not allowed to come here? Did the wolf think she might fall? It was true she would have felt safer with the silver haired stallion at her side, but that was not about to stop her from investigating.

Tentatively she takes a step closer to the edge, extending her long neck to allow her muzzle to peer down over the rocky ledge. White capped waves foamed against the rocks far below. "It's so high!" she exclaims to no one in particular. Dark eyes blink rapidly against the buffeting winds that blow her salt and pepper locks back from her face. For the first time since Rougaru disappeared into the ocean, Rivka forgets that she is alone. She is lost instead in the outstretched wings of the white birds that hovered over the rocks below.