you can run but you can't hide
breath on your skin, I've arrived
She has felt the pull for a while now. Had recognized it as the same whisper that had woken her months ago, but stronger. She hadn't imagined ignoring it would make it vanish, but she had hoped time would temper it.
Especially when she had finally realized exactly what (or rather who) it was.
But the fear draws her. Her life has never been a suitable one for children, but even though it has long been buried deep, a living heart still beats beneath it all. And the fear unsettles her, stirring a long suppressed instinct. Though she does not answer it heedlessly, she does (finally) answer.
She knows what this means, of course. Once acknowledged, the girl would be vulnerable. Not just to the heartache she had been born into, but also that which follows Heartfire, a weighty stone she could not shake.
But as she breaks into the clearing bordering the slow summer currents of the river, it could no longer be helped.
She doesn't announce her arrival. It would be unneeded. Just as she knew exactly where they were, no doubt Aela would know she was close. Her own ineffable calm counters the young filly's fear as she approaches, eyes skimming over the dapple gray mare before falling to the red and gold youth.
"I've been expecting you," she offers by way of greeting. As though she had not been the one to crash their solitude.
heartfire