-Adria-

If one listens hard enough news will travel fast enough, and the news of another Nereid mare washing onto Ischia’s shores quickly comes around to her leader. Currently the small group of islands were keeping a vacant, sleepy eye on who was and was not here, which suited those gathered just fine. But the horses who specifically lived an elementalist lifestyle were the ones that interested Adria the most. Two Kelpie could be accounted for, Eva’s son who was neither Kelpie nor Nereid but something else entirely, and Brennen (sly, scandalous dog; Adria’s affection for him grew the longer he crept around trying to be secretive) meant that this newcomer would make a third Nereid.

That was if Adria could find her roaming around and convince her to stay, whoever she was.

So she leaves the ragged humidity of the suffocating jungle and heads for the shore, toting her young protégée Sande along for the adventure. The pale palomino filly seemed just as interested to be tagging behind, furiously tromping down broad leaves with even paler legs that looked adorably too long. Not to be forgotten, her companion animal (a hefty little brown Fossa) skittered around the filly’s hooves and chattered away.

Not for the first time, Adria rolled her eyes as they walked single-file down the sand dunes, hips dipping and trailing dark furrows in the sand behind them. She adored Sande to the point that she considered giving next season a rest, but the constant company of her chittering Fossa could sometimes drive Adria to the brink of insanity.

It would be nice, she breathed to herself as the first ocean breakers slapped against her pink fetlocks, to enjoy the silence of the ocean floor for a while.

So the mother mare dunked underneath with an almost audible sigh, and Sande trotted over the waves without falling through. Swimming out, Adria could still clearly see the dark points of splashing water where Sande stepped. To her, it appeared that the filly was suspended over a piece of clear glass, disturbing only a thin sheet of water at the surface. She could look up and see Sande’s belly, and Sande could look down and see the glimmering sparkles of light that were her mother’s scales.

For about a mile or so the two inched further out. Soon enough the outer reefs of bright, neon coral began to sprout up from the ocean bed and Adria slowed down to linger among them. Her daughter stalled and peered below, then wheeled around to canter off nearby so she could talk to whatever other animal might be lurking.

Looking through fans of yellow and green, past rough-looking tubes of bubbling water, Adria wondered if the neighboring fish of this island were getting just as exhausted with her chatterbox foal as she was.

Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me

-Adria-

Neither Adria nor Sande heard what Aquaria had said at first, but the moment her mouth popped open and bubbles floated out, Adria knew that she and her daughter weren’t alone anymore. The little carbon-filled sphere's journey up to the surface left a tension that Adria could feel in the soft currents underwater, since she’d been spending her time learning the distinct patterns of this particular ocean with her magic. Her vermillion head turned sharply, aimed at the source rising from the seabed a few meters away. The culprit, a pearlescent gray mare, hovered in Adria’s line of sight before asking The Dame a question.

“That baby,” Adria replied dryly, kicking off from the ocean floor without disturbing any sand, “is named Sande and yes, fanmi mwen, she’s mine.” The elder Nereid informed Aquaria, floating eerily. Her bright yellow eyes could hardly be seen from between her narrowed lids, and the undulating curtain of her hair was spread out behind Adria in all directions.

For a moment she looked mythically dark; entirely capable of summoning the wrath of a hundred thousand oceans…

…and then her stormy expression burst apart into a wide, mischievous smile.

“And don’t call me ‘lady’, Aquaria. Ou son tankou manman, so rough when you speak!” Her elder sister dissolved into a cascade of her own bubbling laughter. Sande was hovering above them, a dark little shadow curiously making out the two horses swimming under her. “You may have gotten older but I would know those fins and that attitude anywhere.” Adria sighed, tilting her head, “Byenveni lakay, little sibling.”

Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me

-Adria-

Each mare Adria happened across on Ischia had been captivatingly alluring, beautifully unqiue and lovely specimens that washed up on her shore and sat like jewels in her island coven. But Aquaria, her youngest sibling, was perhaps the most lovely of the Nereid she’d ever seen. Both her skin and scales glinted like pearls, their rainbows of light dancing over her sister’s flared tail and fins. Aquaria was built to live underwater and she did that with every bit of liquid grace her powers could afford.

It was thrilling to see her sister grown; Adria thrilled even more when her name passed through the water like a warbling echo. “Of course you may stay! You’re not getting away from me so easily now that I’ve found your hiding place, Akwaryòm.” The Dame threatened with a playful current of rolling water. The years between their last meeting fell away; it seemed appropriate to tease her little sister with the horrible nickname of their youth.

“Okipe anpil!” She sighed, twirling through the water to turn and look at the other Nereid. What basic common tongue she knew filtered out, replaced by the steady, rolling sound of their shared language. Adria reasoned it easier to have a fast-flowing conversation when her tongue wasn’t tripping over pronunciation. “Mother? Have you seen her recently? Because I haven’t.” The islander mare told her sister. Above them Sande stomped impatiently on the surface water.

“I’ve turned this loud shade of pink, had three foals thank you very much, and built a proper home all without seeing Nyxa or Hod once.” Adria huffed, looking up and summoning a bit of power. The ocean surged and rose over Sande, crashing into itself to form a neat dome before the leader of Ischia plucked her daughter down to the depths inside a sturdy little bubble. “That’s why I’m so freaked out to see you!”

Through her curved window of clear water, Sande peeped at her dam and the floating fin-mare, perking her ears. A few cichlid fish and one skate from the surface sank down, hovering in neat circles above the water-cage to keep an eye on their chatty little friend.

“I thought you’d all disappeared and left me behind… ”

Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me