It had been some time since the sea had delivered her once more to the familiar shores of her birth – Beqanna. Although the land felt different beneath her hooves and the salted scent of Nerine was vastly different than the perfume of her beloved Jungle home. She had arrived there only to discover that the Jungle was no more and, with it, the remnants of all she had known. Crippled by her lack of sight she’d been wholly reliant upon her families’ ability to guide her in this new version of home. Without them, she had learned to content herself within the protective shadow of one of the many caves that freckled the Nerinian cliffsides. That was, until Drustan.
The adventurous colt had brought a glimmer of hope back into her life. Since his arrival she had a reason and a newfound desire to press on. Without him – she did not care to think upon such things. It did not matter that she could not recall his conception and, thus, was unaware of who had fathered him. It was almost to easy to fool herself into believing that she had followed Astray into the unknown, and together, created another perfect baby, just as they had Reshi. Sweet, sweet Reshi. Her heart ached and longed for a reunion with her eldest child. Reshi was just another example, another remnant of all that she had lost. Time had not been as kind to her as it had been to her other siblings, it would seem. Another cruel twist of fate’s humor. Whilst of her aging had stolen away precious time, leaving her tired and empty. Stiffened joints complained every morning, a scar from some unknown struggle…
It frightened her – the sudden gift of clarity she awoke to each morning. A trickling of a distant memory had slowly begun to offer itself to her, shedding light on a truth she did not care to acknowledge. It was comfortable, her ignorance and she was loath to give it up. Still, the cruel hissing of distant laughter plagued her as a shadowed figure danced just beyond her comprehension.
There was movement, suddenly, just behind the place where she stood. Nerine was well attended, and it did not come as a great shock to think that another resident might stumble upon her. Vast though it was, the coastal kingdom did not offer many hiding places. Curious, her ears ticked towards the sound of exploratory hoof-falls. Whoever was there was not familiar with the land and Vi grimaced to think of the stranger’s luck. She could be of no help if the visitor had found themselves lost. As she listened, however, something within her changed – an instinctive reaction as her heartbeat slowed to match the pace of the unknown figure’s. Warmth flooded Vi’s senses and she stood perfectly still, her milky eyes blinking wildly as they attempted to make sense of the shadows that compiled to make up her world.
Drustan was off with his grandfather, receiving one of Hestoni’s many lessons. She was alone and that vacancy frightened her.
“Hello?” She called out despite her hesitance to do so. “Who is there?”
VI
lights will guide you home