Common

OOC: Preferably not Peak <3 Very mild CW for mentions of death

In the beginning, when the little spotted mare had first told her mother that she wanted to go see the rumored islands, her confession had been met with laughter. Those are old mare's tales, her momma had said, brushing the then-yearling's forelock out of her eyes. They're just stories to pass the evenings along, love.

And at first, Ettie had swallowed that explanation. After all, her mother was very wise and very kind; she would not lie to her daughter if she believed any differently. But, as Ettie eventually came to learn, very wise and very kind sometimes worked together against the truth, and so while Doreen - Ettie's dam - had been lying about the existence of the islands, it was not done out of malice. Rather, Ettie had been her last daughter, one that had come at a surprise to them all due to her advanced age, and had been very much cherished by her parents and extended family. For Doreen, the thought of 'losing' Ettie had made the lie seem worth it.

Of course, the little speckled mare had not found out any of this until a season ago when the fates saw fit to take her mother to her final rest. After she had grieved for a number of days, one of her aunties had pulled her to the side and told her the truth: that the islands did exist, and when Ettie remained skeptical, eventually divulged that she knew this to be true because she had lived there herself. Moreover, not only had she lived there before, but she wanted to return herself, now that her best friend was gone, and would take Ettie there, too, if she wished.

And she did.

The journey had taken them nearly two weeks and they'd taken wrong turns twice, but had finally come ashore somewhere on the far western shore of the island she came to learn was the Crossing. Together, the pair of them threaded their way carefully along the tense border of the Commons and the Peak, only to settle down in the open meadows that were - according to her auntie - the most like her home. The journey had, however, tired her auntie who was already well into twenty years of life. Soon, Ettie had her second taste of death and surrounded her late aunties body with plucked wildflowers and mourned her for a full day.

On the second day, she woke and brushed her lips over her late companion's forehead and then turned in the direction in which they'd come from. She was still undecided about what to do next, only that her heart simply couldn't take another moment being surrounded by death. Going home without her mother to welcome her felt just as terrifying as the thought of staying here in this strange land, and so she hemmed and hawed, hovering on the beach of the Commons like a lost seal pup, half camouflaged by the tall, reedy grasses.

Hours passed in such a fashion, until the telltale hoofbeats of some equine-like creature striding through the sands broke her from her reverie. Quite without even bothering to see who it was, the spotted girl moved toward them, her pretty brow furrowed beneath a fringe of multicolored hair. "Excuse me," she spoke, her voice soft. "Might I ask your opinion on something?" Both ears tipped forward as she emerged from her hiding spot, her gaze locking onto whichever (un)fortunate creature had run into her.

Her freckled lips split reflexively into a shy smile as she spotted them, but she did not hesitate to close the rest of the distance between them before stopping a conversational distance away. "Do you think I should stay, or should I go? I find I cannot decide."