Things had not gone according to plan.
The plan had been for she and her boys to visit for a few days, and then return home with their guests in tow. How quickly things had changed when the two youngsters vanished in the night. The seamare had been less surprised than the frantic Oceane was, had known that Cormorant was perhaps a bit more mischievous than the average foal. He was every bit as wild as the sea, and now that he'd found a playmate to encourage along with his ideas, well. She'd figured out wasn't anything more than a childish adventure that had taken the boys away that morning.
Oceane had been wiser. She'd been quick to look and find no sign of their youngest sons, and had set them both of on a fruitless search. When news came along finally that Alcinder had been snatched away Pangea, and Cormorant had returned soon after on his own, she found out that the troublesome colt had taken it upon himself to follow his new friend across borders and into the aggressing kingdom. Foolish little boy!
She could not leave though. Not while her friend was still missing her own child. So the seamare had stayed for the season, feeling the pull of her own home all the while but doing what she could to support Oceane and watching her boys with a closer eye than before. If she had wanted to get to know Loess, now she had every opportunity to do so.
Of course, this was only her first official visit to the mountainous land. She had been here once before, some years ago. Only touched the very northern edge, where the stony beach met the water, and a pair of natives had greeted her briefly. It might have been a naive venture, one based on curiosity as more than on anything really useful. It wasn't surprising then that they crossed her mind now that she wandered their home.
One pleasant discovery had been the hot springs. Steaming pools of mineral-rich waters that kept her scales hydrated and her fins supple. The pearl mare had taken to spending her evenings in the soothing waters, sometimes with her sons or with Oceane, sometimes without.
Tonight she watched the sun dip lower on the western horizon by herself, Ischia on her mind. She had never meant to get mixed up in the world. In the fear and the fighting. The intricacies of her own kin kept her busy enough most days. Alcinder had found his way home some days ago, and then Oceane herself had been taken. Laying in the shallow pool, she felt the weight of uncertainty heavy on her.
@[Bronsonn] sorry this is all over the place but here!