The shoreline bore the deep tracks of Skadi's anxious pacing. Her brilliant blue eyes, usually bright with joy, were now laser-focused on the unwavering horizon, desperately searching. Her daughter's absence was a gaping wound, and Evrain... still missing. A cold dread clenched her insides, a feeling of wrongness that defied definition. Abruptly halting her restless march, she pivoted inland, her ears twitching beneath her tangled dark mane, picking up the faintest sounds. She needed answers. Leaving the packed sand, her hooves found the familiar trails, each stride a sharp, rapid beat against the earth, echoing the frantic rhythm of her heart. The movement offered a fleeting solace, but the gnawing worry persisted.

Her hooves carried her across the Hills, until whispers, like fragments of a shattered mirror, reached her ears. Evrain was alive? She hadn't even heard of his death. A wave of conflicting emotions – terror and relief – crashed over her, leaving her breathless. He was on Luthien, an island seldom visited. Why? What had driven him there? Who had chased him from their home?

She whirled, her brilliant gaze now fixed on the distant ocean shore. She had to find him. And with the same urgency that had brought her this far, her hooves pounded against the hardened ground, sweat beading beneath her thick mane and dripping onto the parched earth. Arriving at the sandy shore, white flecked foam clung to her coat, and her nostrils flared, tasting the salt spray. Skadi paused only momentarily, weighing her options for approaching Luthien. Her time in the Hills had taught her that the Prairie had always been their ally, and at least if she came ashore there, she had little risk of immediate confrontation with strangers.

She plunged into the cool water, washing away the sweat and apprehension, her intense gaze never leaving the distant shores of Luthien.

Luthien loomed before her, an alien silhouette against the horizon. Wearily, she hauled herself from the hissing surf onto the hardened sands. Her dark, tangled tresses clung to her neck, her tail hung limp, and her brilliant blue eyes scanned the land beyond. The landscape that stretched before her was a stark contrast to the familiar Hills.

Tall grasses swayed in the soft autumn breeze, dotted with trees whose leaves blazed in vibrant yellows and oranges. Skadi stepped forward cautiously, testing the breeze, her ears wavering. It was an unfamiliar scent, sweet with succulent grasses and the faintest hint of a herd. Her heart began to patter rapidly against her chest, a frantic bird beating against its cage.

What if he wasn't here? What if the rumors were just that: rumors? What if he wasn't alive? The familiar dread clawed at her stomach, and the anxiety surged back. What would she do then? Her steps faltered. Perhaps ignorance was better. Her heart lurched, and a sudden wave of weariness overwhelmed her. Her bravery suddenly abandoned her, replaced by a coward too afraid to face the truth, a coward who was chasing a ghost.

Overwhelmed by uncertainty, she turned her back. She couldn't face the truth, the possibility that he was gone. And that she was all alone.