skywalker
I want my life to be art."
-Carrie Fisher
A soothing heat, reminiscent of the kind she’d found while basking in the summer sun just a few months ago, spreads from the tips of her ears down to the very bottoms of her hooves. It is not unpleasant in the least, and she would not mind if it lasted forever, as she’s not overly fond of the colder months. Alas, it disappears all too quickly and is replaced by a milder warmth perfumed by rich, earthy scents—really, not much different than place where the light had appeared to her. Her storm-colored eyes, which had closed upon entering the portal, flutter open and take in the scene that has been laid before her.
Gnarled trunks crowd the soft, leaf-cushioned ground and the quiet chatter of woodland creatures drifts through the breezeless air. A slight finger of disappointment presses at her chest as she wonders if she has left Beqanna at all; it certainly does not feel or look any different than the Forest (although she has only been there a few times, otherwise she might notice the subtle differences in foliage). With a heavy sigh, she looks deeper into the woods, looking for areas of brighter light and thinning trees, the telltale signs of the forest’s edge. But there is nothing to visually lead her to an open area where she could resume her flight.
As she stands there, frustration blooming in her core, she realizes that a new sound has filtered through the typical forest-y noises. Her ears swivel, trying to determine the direction the sound is coming from and she slowly recognizes the sound; running water, likely a creek or stream cutting through the wooded ground. Even if it lies at the heart of the forest, she knows that it must eventually drain into a larger body of water, thus she could follow it to a place that would permit takeoff.
She moves forward with a weak semblance of the energy she’d built up just before passing through the glittering light, but a small flicker of hope still burns quietly within, hoping that something exciting still lies in wait for her. It does not take nearly as long as she expected to find the creek, so she opts for a long drink before continuing along, following the water’s natural flow. As she walks along in search of an exit, she thinks of Myrna and the seemingly unending depths of her abilities. In comparison, she feels so plain and boring, so small and weak, next to the pale mare.
She pauses for a moment, though she can see a broad expanse of light peeking through the widened gaps between the trees. Her grey eyes close once more as she attempts to swallow down the lump that has formed in her throat. She wants to attribute the longing to her fascination with the magical women she’d met on her arrival, but she’s not so sure that this is a harmless child’s yearning to fit in. A shiver licks its way slowly along her spine as she wrestles with her emotions and the tingle spreads through the rest of her body, creating an entirely different kind of warmth that creeps beneath her skin. The sensation does not last long though and she sighs once more. She really needs to get a grip.
When her eyes open again, she immediately knows that something is wrong. She is acutely aware of the missing weight of her wings on her back (which she might have noticed earlier, had she been paying more attention), but that is not the worst of it. She is not sure how, but the forest looms around her in an entirely different way now. The trees remain, but they seem far larger than they’d been just a few minutes ago. Looking down, she notices that what looks like the leaves that had crunched beneath her feet now threaten to swallow her into the dark gaps that stretch endlessly between them. A loud rustle, with an accompanying physical rumble, comes from her right and she spins quickly to find the source.
A rabbit, not unlike those she’d chased through the Gates, hops demurely along, snuffling through the litter occasionally. If she’d only been suspicious before, the rabbit’s appearance confirms the rapidly growing fear that had settled over her. The rabbit stands taller than she, as though she is standing at the base of a miles-high cliff. Terror seizes her limbs, temporarily locking them into place as she considers the very real possibility of being stepped on by a rabbit. But it does not take long to recover and before she knows what she is doing, she launches into a sprint and somehow manages to continue following the creek until she bursts into the bright light of the open area she’d been looking for.
The sound of rushing water is louder here and at first, she assumes it is because of her newfound tininess, but a fierce glint of sunlight tells her otherwise. Indeed, the creek feeds into a wide river that now sprawls before her. She looks up and down the length of the river as best she can, but there is not much to see past the short grasses that are still taller than she. Annoyance quickly replaces her fear and she fights her way through the blades; she is not too keen on getting closer to the water, but surely there is something she could scale to get a better look at her surroundings.
She’s not wrong. A large, rough rock lies among several smaller ones, providing a perfect vantage point (if she can reach the top, that is). Determined, she bounds over to the outcropping. It takes some time and skill, but after accumulating a series of scrapes and cuts, she manages to find her way to the apex of the largest rock and, sides heaving with exertion, she takes another look around. Ah, what is that in the distance? A dark brown structure stretches across the river, but she cannot discern any other features. A frown tugs at the corners of her lips as she realizes it is quite far away and it might take days, weeks even, to reach the structure. She stomps a hoof to underline her frustration at being such a wretchedly small size.
Without warning, that warm tingle returns, and she is frozen in shock as she abruptly shoots up to her normal height. The rock, mountainous just a minute ago, now prods painfully at the bottom of one of her feet and she moves away from it. What on earth is going on here? Perhaps it is a bit reckless of her, but she bolts for the structure she’d spotted earlier and finds that the distance is not nearly as daunting now. In fact, she covers the ground quickly and easily. She pulls up just short of the structure and begins to inspect it, though from a healthy distance…