First she lost her mother. Then found herself in an unknown place, even realising that her adoptive mother was nowhere to be found too. Last came the fire, which set a single tree on the mountain on fire. After that she had been too afraid and upset to notice anything else. Jinju didn’t link the fire to herself either, so she was also unaware of the fact that the magic got pulled from her upon leaving the mountain. Yes, the black filly had felt something, something that pulled on her as she barged through the invisible barrier, but she hadn’t really paid much attention to it. The other emotions kept her mind busy enough.

The field she barged into was another unfamiliar place, but at least it was something you would expect to find. Maybe, just maybe, her mother had found herself a way to this meadow? ”Momma!” she calls again, again and again. Jinju’s voice is all shrill and her throat sore, but nothing compared to the tills that spill from her red eyes. ”Oh mom, please! Where are you?” One last time she whinnies, standing completely still, even holding her breath, to carefully listen if Lexa responded to her calls. When no answer follows, she breaks.

Once again she stands somewhere, completely lost and alone. This time she’s older and holds more experiences and memories, but that is exactly what makes it harder. Jinju clearly remembers her adoptive mother, the Jungle and the life she had lived there. The first time it had been different, she had been aware of the ‘missing’ of her mother, but she couldn’t remember how the mare had looked like. Mostly knew of her existence basically, and the one of her older brother. With Lexa it was different and Jinju had learned how to love the appaloosa mare if she was her real mother. And now she was gone too.

Her calls have died down, now knowing better than keep calling out, since there weren’t any ears to hear them. The tears, however, don’t stop. She’s crying, hiccupping and desperately gasping for breath in between. Trying to find some comfort and shelter Jinju starts walking, head lowered towards the ground, hoping to find a small collection of trees or bushes to hide.

Her calls aren’t the only ones, just as that she wasn’t really alone out there. Many, many others had gathered, all searching for their loved ones, all missing someone. But no-one seemed to pay any attention to the little black filly that obviously shouldn’t be out here alone. None, except for one. By the time Jinju notices the rhythm of galloping hooves, hooves that were rushing in her direction, her head jerks up, hopefully to lay her eyes upon Lexa’s spotted form.

It are not Lexa’s eyes that meet hers. Instead her teary red orbs take in a stranger, shorter than her mother, but still much taller than Jinju herself. As she stumbles upon her feet, reaching out towards the stranger, the gray mare had already closed the little distance that was left between them. It’s soothing and comforting, what the feeling of being cared for could pull from a child. Silently Jinju starts to cry again, basking herself in the embrace that she much needed.

”Momma..” she murmurs in between the sobs, slowly looking up to meet the gray mare’s gaze. ”My.. my mother. Lexa.. She took me home to the Jungle.” With those simple words she suggested how it had been. No, Lexa hadn’t birthed her in the Jungle, instead the Amazonian Queen had found her at the Den and had offered her a place among the warrior women. But at least Lexa had proven herself as a mother, unless the dam that had given life to her. ”Do.. do you know where momma is?”

She had been there when the Jungle had vanished and at the same time she wasn’t there when it had happened. Instead she had been on this mountain, the one she could clearly see from the meadow she stood in, but she didn’t have memories of how she had gotten there. And honestly, due to the panic and fear she also couldn’t exactly remember much detail of her flight down the mountain. Jinju didn’t really have to either, rather forgetting it and soothing herself in the gray mare’s presence.

Lexa. The stranger called her mother by her name, that would make her an acquaintance, right? She knew the former Amazonian queen, but at the same time she didn’t know where her mother was. No-one seemed to know and neither did the appaloosa mare answer her calls. Lexa always got to her when she called. ”Momma isn’t here..” she mumbled, more to herself than in a reaction to the gray mare. Her head dropped somewhat to the ground, tears flowing silently.

By the time the stream of tears stops, Jinju finds herself still pressed against the mare’s side. Swallowing the dry lump in her throat she looks up, red eyes still teary, but at the same time dull. ”I.. Thank you for the offer, but I no longer feed of milk.” She almost speaks too formal, obviously having collected herself but clearly not in the right way. ”I’m Jinju” she finally drops her name, pausing a moment before continuing. ”Can.. Can I stay with you, aunt …?”

She hoped she could.

She had meant to ask for the gray mare’s name. She had given her own, but didn’t get a name in return. Jinju had hoped that the mare would’ve filled in her own name in the blank after ‘aunt’, but she didn’t. The black girl wanted to refer to the mare on a familiar base, one that would make it clear what kind of relationship they hold, but Jinju wouldn’t be able to call her mom or mother. Lexa was the one to hold that title. In her opinion aunt would be a good alternative. ”What… No. May I ask for your name?”

For a short moment her eyes widen as the gray mare heads of, leaving an obvious confused and slowly panicking Jinju behind. ”Coming!” It doesn’t take her long to catch up – even though she’s exhausted from the running/fleeing and crying – when her new found aunt calls out to her. Her voice had sounded almost too cheerful, but the relief was adamant. She nods, telling the other mare that she had understood it.

It takes Jinju a while to notice that they were going in the direction of the mountain. She doesn’t want to go there, remembering she had left the place with a fire burning behind her. ”No.. Not there. Fire..” She lightly protests, her mumbling loud enough to be heard, just as the fear that suddenly controls her voice again.

How could she have known about her nature? Never before had Jinju been in contact with fire, nor seen it, but she had sensed the danger of it immediately. It wasn’t logical to link the fire to herself, she had always been just Jinju. A little – and soon to be not so little – black filly who had inherited her father’s red eyes. It had been the eyes that had made Esileif believe that her daughter had some kind of hidden power, but when it hadn’t shown itself she hadn’t hesitated to drop her daughter off at the Den. She had no use for untraited children. Wasn’t it kind of comical that Jinju turned out to be special anyway?

So when Reagan starts to speak, the truth startles the young girl. The fire was hers? Had she been the one that had created it? But how was that even possible? Never before had her power shown itself, why would it now? She was too young to understand how the change, the mountain and Beqanna influenced them all, including her.

Jinju can only look up at Reagan baffled. ”M-my fire?” It somehow made sense – the fire must come from somewhere and it had just started like that – but at the same time the idea was ridiculous. But which child didn’t believe in magic and dream of all the possibilities in the world? Jinju certainly was one who did, the comfort dreams gave her had pulled her through the hard times. And they would again.

She nods, pressing herself closer against Reagan’s side as her eyes close for a short moment. It still sounded a bit strange to her, but she trusted the gray mare. And thus she followed her, fear still adamant and heart beating loudly in her chest, but ready to follow Reagan to the end of the world. After all, aunt Reagan would keep her safe, right?