SCREAMING IN THE DARK, I HOWL WHEN WE'RE APART
Pregnant? Úna's eyes widen slightly, the whites of her eyes visible for a moment before the surprise fades from her face. It's the second part of his statement that gives her pause. "Staying? Staying where?" she pauses, furrowing her brow. "My mother is here?" Her hummingbird heart kicks up a tune, thrumming against her chest and for a moment she is elated. Her ears perk and she thinks about how much she loves her mother. But then that same shame from earlier hits her all over again and she thinks it's a blessing she's leaving, if even just for a few hours.
"I know that feeling." Úna turns to look at him, really look at him. The pain and bitterness is reflected in him when she looks at him. She is unsure how to comfort him but she desperately wants to. The way she had wished someone had been her shoulder to cry on when she had arrived in the bad-lands. She spent all her time sobbing by the water, whether it was the shady secluded fresh water or standing on the beach and wondering what would happen if she just...dove into the ocean and fled. "I'm sorry," She takes a step forward, extending her muzzle toward him and puffs a soft breath against his nostrils before retreating to the comfortable distance they had created between themselves.
"It's little consolation that I won't be harmed in a war I never wanted to be a part of," she laughs, bitterly, and yet it's still like silver bells. She takes a deep breath, as eager for a subject change as he is, when he answers her question about the Dunes. It brings a smile back to her face, however small. She bites her lip with a laugh, "I have a remedy for the heat," she says as she turns and leaps into the shallows. She drops down onto her side, and rolls in the water. When she finally stands she's soaked to the bone, rivulets of water running down her side.
"I should be alright now," she says, looking away, suddenly aware of how childish her reaction may be perceived but it had kept her cool for these last months since her arrival. "Shall we?" She asked, falling into step beside him.
"Who are the other horses who rule in Salem?" Úna asked after a period of relative silence, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Tinuvel was basically just my family. Is it the same here? It was kind of strange being related to everyone. Sometimes I just wanted to make a friend that I wasn't related to. Everyone knew everyone. But no one ever really knew me." Except my dad, she thinks, no, he wasn't who I thought. Úna was always known for talking enough for both her and Fell, but it felt good to talk to someone who could talk back.
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