Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe every single moment leading up to this one had also been a mistake. Zira's hooves sank into the wet sand as she approached the shore. It was a similar sensation to being sucked into the muck of the lagoon, but lighter somehow. She wondered how long the feeling would last. For her last two years of existence she'd kept to herself and avoided even her father. Atticus did what he could to keep her safe, she knew that, but the subject of her lineage had never come up. He had no claimed her, nor did she want him to. However as she grew the familiarities between the two of them were becoming far more pronounced. She had his lean build and long legs, chiseled face and sharp eye. She wore his skin, though their personalities were far apart. Atticus was charming, or at least he had been, and it had never truly gone away. The darkness he shrouded himself in now was a ruse, and Zira knew it. His moment of change had come when he was older, prepared, and it was all his own fault. His loss of the shore had sent him on a downward spiral that landed him here.
Zira's moment was no fault of her own.
She can remember the last time she stood on this shore, screaming and pleading. She begged Vitani not to go, not to leave her in this place that reeked of testosterone and dirty water. She hated the way the stink stuck to her flesh and in her hair, there was nowhere to get away from it. Even here the overwhelming smell of salt could not rid her senses of the lagoon.
She turned slightly, casting one last glance at what had been her "home." Or at least what she hoped was the last glance. With a shuddering breath, Zira dove into the water. It was cool against her skin and she relished the feeling of the acrid swamp being washed away with every thunder kick of her legs as she swam. She'd never truly swam, not like this at least. Her lungs shuddered in her chest and her nostrils quivered. She wondered where the last place they'd look for her was. She wondered where she might be safe.
Going to another island could be a mistake, for all she knew she might be walking right into another cage. She was old enough to know better, but not old enough to not be a fool. She swam and swam until she thought her lungs might give out as she dragged herself up onto an unfamiliar shore. It smelled so much different here. The acrid smells she had grown to know were nowhere to be found, except perhaps dotted sparingly on her now-cleansed pelt. She shook the excess water from her body as she tentatively stepped further into the territory. She checked over her shoulder once or twice but didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't coming. |
| ATTICUS X VITANI | 17.1HH | PALOMINO | LAGOON | KIWI |
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