THESE NIGHTS ARE GETTIN' DARKERThings were changing. The mare that Vhagar had seen from a distance was gone. Estella kept the growing filly as close to her as possible most of the time, much to the curious Vhagar's chagrin. She had kept her mother awake the night before, peppering her with incessant questions and the plan had worked. Estella was curled up beneath the tropical canopy with her neck curled around her beloved daughter. Or at least, it had been. Vhagar had managed to wiggle her way free from her mother's embrace. She had leapt through the jungle, giggling and kicking her heels, giddy with her first taste of freedom. She didn't know that her very existence here was possibly temporary depending on if the new king of the ridge would allow her family to stay. But those were worries for adults.
Vhagar followed her quivering nostrils to the beach. The water was mostly quiet as it lapped gently upon the pale shore. Estella had warned her many times about the currents and how dangerous the sea could be. Vhagar approached the water and dropped her nose to give it a sniff. An approaching wave reached out and touched her nostrils, causing the filly to squeal and reach for the clouds as she darted away with a laugh. Her hoofprints crisscrossed the sands in erratic patterns before she finally fell into a heap in the grasses just off-shore.
From there, hidden in her tiny little den covered in leaves, she watched Oswin's arrival. Her small ears pricked forward and her brows knit. Her pinkish nostrils flared as she tried desperately to pick up her scent. The wind twisted, finally, and Vhagar's ears flipped back upon realizing it was unfamiliar. Oswin comes closer and her ever-green eyes widen. She is thankful her coat is so much dark than her mother's as she shrinks into the shadows of the large jungle leaves.
The strange mare, who looked quite like the personification of sunlight sighs as she watches the shore, and Vhagar scrambles to her feet. She is tempted, for a moment, to duck deeper into the jungle and retrace her steps to find her sleeping dam. Though she is not ready to give up her newfound freedom quite yet. With her own gentle sigh she steps from the darkness, ears pricked, to make herself known. "Who are you?" She cocks her head, unable to hide both her confusion and curiosity. |
MY CLAWS ARE GETTIN' SHARPER |