11-15-2018, 03:53 AM
Many more horses took the treacherous journey to the Isle from the mainland, some of them pushing their pace faster than Nalia, others taking their time to save their energy for later in the trip. Nalia's vision was a bit hazy from how tired she was, but looking around at the variety of horses that came to the Isle, she was grateful that so many like her were willing to give up their own safety, their lives, to try and help the other residents of Beqanna.
She saw a few familiar faces in the herd, but a majority were completely new to her. Not that she minded of course; the more there were, the greater the chance they had of trying to figure this situation out. Of course, it didn't seem like any of them were really in the mood since they were all still freezing from the swim over here, Nalia herself included. Her fur was plastered to her body and her mane and tail made her look like a drowned field rat and shaking it off didn't seem to help much.
But something out there appeared to feel sorry for those who had come here, for one minute, Nalia's body was shaking from the cold; the next, she felt a warm breeze ruffling her coat, mane, and tail, slowly but effectively removing all the water and warming her from her hooves to her belly, causing the filly to let out a relieved sigh. Well, at least that was one less issue to deal with. The weather here in the Isle was still not good, given it was cold, but at least the horses were no longer wet and had to take the brunt of mother nature's force.
The breeze continued to blow across the beach where the horses were gathered, fluffing Nalia's mane and causing the half of it close to her withers to flop onto the other side of her neck. She suddenly felt vulnerable, a bit naked as it were, since she was used to her hair being on one side of her neck, but she was too distracted by what she saw up ahead to pay much attention to it.
In front of the herd of horses stretched two paths leading into the Isle; one that disappeared to the right, the other on the left. Nalia continued to stare at them, in their direction, long after darkness covered the land due to the storm clouds and the warm breeze turned a 180 so that it once again matched the temperature of the ocean.
Snow began to fall from the clouds, further hampering everyone's visibility more than a few feet, and Nalia found herself snorting in displeasure. This was getting beyond ridiculous; she knew the quest wouldn't be easy, but now they had to compete with this just after being dried up? Nalia had never believed in karma before but she had a sneaking suspicion that something she'd done was leading to whatever force was out there to punish the others by making this challenge even more difficult than others they may have been part of.
What made it even more difficult was the physical pain the storm was causing; not even counting the chilling cold the blizzard came with, the wind was whipping around at such a speed that Nalia felt it penetrate her coat like a predator's claws, practically cutting into her skin and leaving tiny marks. She didn't feel any blood dripping yet, but knew that if she stayed here and allowed the wind to continue it's torment, she'd end up being worse off. Question was, which was was she supposed to go?
Nalia had to focus to maintain her wits in the middle of this blizzard, but it was taking its toll on every horse. Those who had been standing near her were now masked by the whiteout, hiding the salty scent of the ocean and the Isle stretching out in front of her so she knew where to go. Nalia looked around frantically, letting out a call to see if anyone was nearby. She worried that over the noise, no horse would be able to hear her, and now that she'd seen there were others here on the Isle, she began to grow nervous at being alone again.
What if any of the horses who made the journey here got stuck in the whiteout and couldn't figure out where to go next? As it was, Nalia was having a tough time navigating forward, relying on her memory from where she stood and how far it was to get to the two paths that forked off, heading in different directions deeper into the Isle. She purposely dragged her hooves through the snow to try and feel the ground underneath, finding the task to be fatiguing after a while due to how the amount of snow was building up the longer the storm remained.
This part of the quest was already her least favorite, and she still didn't know how much left there was to go. Continuing her blind search, Nalia felt the ground beneath the snow each time she dragged her feet, eventually feeling the texture change that signaled the beach ended and the trail began. It was slight, but enough to tell her she found what she was looking for, despite having to squint her eyes to avoid getting fully blinded.
Glancing back toward the beach, the filly let out another call, louder this time, praying with every beat of her heart that at least one horse heard her so she could give them a clue as to where they needed to go to get off the beach and onto one of the trails. Wishing them the best, and that hopefully she'd have a chance to meet up with them again when they were out of the storm, the filly took a few more steps down the trail that headed to the left, gritting her teeth against the chilling pain the winter storm was causing her.
She saw a few familiar faces in the herd, but a majority were completely new to her. Not that she minded of course; the more there were, the greater the chance they had of trying to figure this situation out. Of course, it didn't seem like any of them were really in the mood since they were all still freezing from the swim over here, Nalia herself included. Her fur was plastered to her body and her mane and tail made her look like a drowned field rat and shaking it off didn't seem to help much.
But something out there appeared to feel sorry for those who had come here, for one minute, Nalia's body was shaking from the cold; the next, she felt a warm breeze ruffling her coat, mane, and tail, slowly but effectively removing all the water and warming her from her hooves to her belly, causing the filly to let out a relieved sigh. Well, at least that was one less issue to deal with. The weather here in the Isle was still not good, given it was cold, but at least the horses were no longer wet and had to take the brunt of mother nature's force.
The breeze continued to blow across the beach where the horses were gathered, fluffing Nalia's mane and causing the half of it close to her withers to flop onto the other side of her neck. She suddenly felt vulnerable, a bit naked as it were, since she was used to her hair being on one side of her neck, but she was too distracted by what she saw up ahead to pay much attention to it.
In front of the herd of horses stretched two paths leading into the Isle; one that disappeared to the right, the other on the left. Nalia continued to stare at them, in their direction, long after darkness covered the land due to the storm clouds and the warm breeze turned a 180 so that it once again matched the temperature of the ocean.
Snow began to fall from the clouds, further hampering everyone's visibility more than a few feet, and Nalia found herself snorting in displeasure. This was getting beyond ridiculous; she knew the quest wouldn't be easy, but now they had to compete with this just after being dried up? Nalia had never believed in karma before but she had a sneaking suspicion that something she'd done was leading to whatever force was out there to punish the others by making this challenge even more difficult than others they may have been part of.
What made it even more difficult was the physical pain the storm was causing; not even counting the chilling cold the blizzard came with, the wind was whipping around at such a speed that Nalia felt it penetrate her coat like a predator's claws, practically cutting into her skin and leaving tiny marks. She didn't feel any blood dripping yet, but knew that if she stayed here and allowed the wind to continue it's torment, she'd end up being worse off. Question was, which was was she supposed to go?
Nalia had to focus to maintain her wits in the middle of this blizzard, but it was taking its toll on every horse. Those who had been standing near her were now masked by the whiteout, hiding the salty scent of the ocean and the Isle stretching out in front of her so she knew where to go. Nalia looked around frantically, letting out a call to see if anyone was nearby. She worried that over the noise, no horse would be able to hear her, and now that she'd seen there were others here on the Isle, she began to grow nervous at being alone again.
What if any of the horses who made the journey here got stuck in the whiteout and couldn't figure out where to go next? As it was, Nalia was having a tough time navigating forward, relying on her memory from where she stood and how far it was to get to the two paths that forked off, heading in different directions deeper into the Isle. She purposely dragged her hooves through the snow to try and feel the ground underneath, finding the task to be fatiguing after a while due to how the amount of snow was building up the longer the storm remained.
This part of the quest was already her least favorite, and she still didn't know how much left there was to go. Continuing her blind search, Nalia felt the ground beneath the snow each time she dragged her feet, eventually feeling the texture change that signaled the beach ended and the trail began. It was slight, but enough to tell her she found what she was looking for, despite having to squint her eyes to avoid getting fully blinded.
Glancing back toward the beach, the filly let out another call, louder this time, praying with every beat of her heart that at least one horse heard her so she could give them a clue as to where they needed to go to get off the beach and onto one of the trails. Wishing them the best, and that hopefully she'd have a chance to meet up with them again when they were out of the storm, the filly took a few more steps down the trail that headed to the left, gritting her teeth against the chilling pain the winter storm was causing her.