"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Gritty sand clung to her small hooves like disgusting sea urchins, loathe to relinquish their hold on her. If only men were so determined. But that was hardly fair, she supposed. Wallace was still a child to a stranger's eyes. Well, her adopted mother would have also agreed.
Details.
She usually liked when the sun baked down on her, but she was too irritated to find any joy in it today, fervently scrubbing her feet against a discarded log of driftwood. The blasted sand absolutely refused to release her, abundantly itchy and not at all attractive lacing up her dark grullo legs and dusting her boring slate grey belly. Not to mention the sting of it as it caked into a fresh wound.
A frustrated growl purred her annoyance. Had she wings or bloody magic she'd have just flown here, but no. Cursed with utter normalcy she had to -ugh and it was just awful too! She'd never admit to anyone how long she'd huddled miserably on the far shore, waiting for nearly eternity for the blasted tide to chill-the-hell-out. Once it was low enough to show a slender little sandbar, she scuttled across before anyone could see her at her worst. Her hair was a ratty mess; wind-whipped and tangled, and stiff with salty moisture. A fair bit of sand dusting there, too, no doubt.
This terrible gash on her foreleg certainly didn't help her appearances. If she had not already been well familiar with hard times, she might have burst into pathetic tears, but really this was nothing a good wash couldn't fix. Assuming they had fresh water here.
Oddly enough, Ea’s snobbery had never been focused on her looks. She had always been focused on power; her mother had taught her the kingdoms’ history, their rulers and ruling family, how to conduct herself as a princess. Scorch had even taught her how to hone her traits, though Ea had always felt a reliance on one’s physical powers showed weakness. She had gone to the Dale to find power, to become its Queen and bridge an alliance between the Dale and the Amazons -- and while she had done those things, Ea had also fallen in love with her king. Ramiel, and their children, were her weakness.
After the reckoning, she seemed to fall back easily into another position of power. The loss of Ramiel and two of their three children had shaken her, but luckily there were former Dale members who trusted her to help form a new land. She loved Ischia already, though they’d only spent a few months here; the island was stunningly beautiful, the perfect mix between the geography of the Jungle she’d grown up in, and the spirit of the Dale. It was quickly becoming home.
Ea spent most of her time walking now. With her frequent trips to the field, Ea had also done her fair share of swimming back and forth, and her mane and tail looked especially drab from the excess of salt. She had yet to take a dip into their freshwater springs, as it had only begun to get warm again, but as she walked past one, the gleaming blue water tempted her.
As she continues walking, Ea notices a young girl, grumpy and dirty. She smiles a bit in amusement, hopefully far enough away that the girl doesn’t notice. “Hello!” She calls out as she gets closer, then comes to a stop in front of the grullo, noticing her bleeding leg. “I’m Ea; you’ve made it to Ischia, if that’s where you meant to be. It looks like you could use some help.”
"Hello," a voice like bells chimed at her. Wallace looked her over as she came to a stop in front of her, the mare's eyes glancing down at her fresh injury. She shifted self-consciously, determined to play it off like no big deal. She'd not appear weak in front of anyone, lest they be tempted to send her back to that awful prison they called the adoption den. Whatever, she could take care of herself.
"I'm Ea; you've made it to Ischia, if that's where you meant to be. It looks like you could use some help," the stranger continued. Wallace got the impression she should know this person, but clearly didn't. What, was she some kind of appointed greeter or something?
Nah, even with equally salt-tangled hair she seemed too regal. Must be a higher-up sort of person. She shrugged inwardly, and turned her attention to her not-quite-offer of assistance. Plain brown eyes slid to her leg, still slick with blood. Her young features distorted in a grimace.
The salty sea had numbed her legs and she hadn't a clue what actually ripped her open. She twisted the limb casually as she examined it a moment. It would probably heal just fine with time. Well, she didn't really know that, but she could imagine that's what her adoptive mother would have said if she'd been here. Maybe with a cleaning sort of lick. Yuck, there was no way she was eating sand and blood.
Wallace returned her stare to Ea, noting the easy sort of grace she seemed to naturally possess. The young girl mimicked her, squaring her shoulders a little and standing just a mite taller. Confident, but not cocky. Hmm, she thought she could pull it off. Didn't seem too hard, anyway. Some things were learn-able even to rebellious little orphans.
"Yes, Ischia was my intended destination. Phaedrus, with the wings and all the blue, sort of invited me." Well, he'd meant to, she was sure, but something had come up and they'd split ways rather suddenly. She had overheard the tidbit about the sandbar and took matters into her own hand, though, as was her way.
"It'll heal," she said nonchalantly regarding her aching leg, more confidence in her tone than she truly felt as she really had no idea if it would heal well on it's own.
"What's there to do around here?" she asked, directing the attention away from her unfortunate state and trying to figure out what the hell she was going to do with herself now that she was here. There was probably some seriously adorable men around somewhere to stare down. She hoped so, anyway.
Ea