I'll be almost to the ocean when you open your eyes
The world felt like slow motion. Like watching sunlight filter through the water from below. She missed the flash of anger on the stallion's face as she addressed his daughter, too caught up in falling to care.
She was in pain, and she was tired, and she wasn't sure yet which one she felt more. Laying her head in the scrubby grass sounded nice, but she couldn't. His dark leg prevented it. "That's a pity," she murmured, eyes taking a moment to track from his knee to his oddly marked face. "Welcome to Tephra." It was an out-of-place phrase, one she couldn't hold back if she tried.
The pearl mare had been a hostess far too long to ignore propriety, even if she was just as much of a stranger to this area as he was. More, actually. The scripts and habits gave her something to cling to when the world seemed insistent on shaking itself to bits.
Stand, stand, he wanted her to stand. She pondered the request, thoughts struggling to the surface of her bogged down mind. Every muscle and bone ached, and her hind quarters felt like they were on fire where barbs had torn. A grim smile sat vague on her lips. "I don't think that's going to happen," she admitted quietly, throat dry and gritty. All the saliva in her mouth seemed to have vanished.
"Oh," she hummed as the tiny girl approached. "So you do, they're lovely. Just like my daughter's." The gentle touch was about as innocent a thing as Aquaria could remember. This had been one of her favorite ages to experience with her own children. A time that was best used exploring the world and pushing everything to its limits.
That wasn't the childhood many were having now, though. Not with the dark and the fear as thick as honey, touching everything it could reach. In a miraculous way that comes naturally to small children, this girl seemed to carry her own sunshine with her. "I believe it," she replied, words sticking together in her mouth, missing her own children fiercely in that moment. She wasn't certain she'd ever see them again.
Aquaria
@[Dace]