Son of a Red-eyed Ghost [Diplomatic Visit]

[wound]

I t’s an exceptionally hot summer on Tephra. When Wound had first arrived on the shores of her home the weather had been humid but bearable — much like it is most seasons. The areas of the island more closely intertwined with the foothills of the volcano are often sweltering in comparison to the rest of the territory, which is still hot with lava streams winding between tropical foliage and grassy hills. Perhaps it’s just her post-pregnancy hormones causing her to think the temperatures are worse than they normally are. She’s enjoying a swim among the waves when a call rides on the salt-scented breeze. Although Wound will later regret the swim (the sand always makes her skin itch and crawl afterward, a side-effect from her family’s poor bloodline of impurities), the water feels delicious against her burning skin. Her silver-tipped ears twist toward the sound of the announcement and locates that it comes from the mainland. It’s not low tide when she makes her way across the channel. But the water is shallow enough that she can just barely catch the tips of her hooves on the ground when she needs an extra boost to help push her forward. Wound has grown relatively skilled at swimming (for a horse with a malformed front leg, that is) since coming to Tephra and so the swim across the channel is tiring but not impossible. Wound pulls herself from the waves and moves to greet the stallion and the young girl beside him. She makes sure to give herself a rough shake before fully approaching them, but droplets of salted water still drip off the ends of her tangled mane when she stops in front of them. “Excuse the water; at low tide the channel becomes a sandbank and it’s much easier to cross.” Wound’s mouth pulls into a friendly, deliciously sunny smile. “I’m Wound, and you’ve reached Tephra.” She eyes the pair of them for a minute while many scents flood her nostrils (forests and beaches and trails) but the most thickly-slathered is Loess. “Is there something I can help you two with?”

credit to nat of adoxography.