Common

TW: past mention of near death




A blink.


There it was.


Why did everything feel so gritty?


There it was again, a roar.


Another slow blink, followed by a distant crash.


The shore.


She was on the shore, but she wasn't standing was she? No. The shadow draped in silver lay sprawled across the sand, motionless save for steady rise and fall of her ribs.. It was then that her mind began to turn. She blinked her eyes again, dragging her head upwards, sand filtered from her coat, though most of it was remised to stay stuck to the side of her face.


Had she finally taken that swim she had often dreamed of?


Or was this no dream at all, but a subtle nightmare caressing her subconscious?


She knew what it was: a reminder. Her leap into the shores of the Badlands, a desperation to end. Though it never did end, because he was there. Despite all, he'd pulled her from those murky depths. A shake of her head muddles the memory away. She couldn't go back there. Not now. Not when he had been gone so long. A weary breath escapes her. Numb limbs tucked beneath her sleek frame as she struggled upright. An aggressive shake does nothing to rinse the grit from her body.


Has she been here before?


She couldn't remember.


Narrowing her eyes, she studies the landscape. A sandy shore with rolling waves that explained the roar and subtle crash that roused her from memory. Beyond the beach stood a dense line of trees, their tangle branches forming a living wall that concealed whatever lay beyond.


Another crash.


Another unwanted flicker of memory.


Before the memory could choke her again, she turned away from the sea and moved toward the shelter of the trees. Instinctually, she knew that she had lost time. She couldn't recall how she'd ended up in the water, only that she'd somehow survived.