She was not afraid of the dark. Or at least, she hadn't been. When it was a predictable thing that gave relief from the island sun, it had been a welcome part of her days. Things were different now, and she had begun to feel uncertainty about the night.
There was no answer she could think of to explain the darkness, and it was beginning to take its toll on the tropical territory. Her home needed the sun. It was as vital as fresh water to the lush jungle, and the coral reefs. Without the sun... Her heart had sunk a little more every day that went by without a dawn, as she felt the air temperature drop and the humidity with it.
The pearl mare found herself reluctant to leave the beaches. The dark was oppressive the further inland she traveled, at least on the shore the waves still danced with their glowing planktons. A blue glow that persisted with every beat of the ocean's heart, and fortified her own. It was the only reason she noticed him emerge from the water.
"Who are you?" she snapped as loudly as she dared to. Sound seemed to carry so much further in the dark. Her normally genial tone that she greeted guests with was gone. The sun had gone out and with it her trust in strangers on her shore. Not that anyone had visited recently, but she was off-kilter without her sight to rely on.
It was a grim sort of karma, maybe. Her first thought when the darkness had come was that her father's from-birth blindness had caught up with her. An unkind thought. With every day that passed, she found herself only marveling more at how confident Hod was without his sight. How easy her father made navigating a dark world seem. Did he ever feel as lost as she did now? Or was it easier with her mother by his side.
Chagrined, she shook her head unseen and tried again, with apology in her voice. "I'm sorry," she began, and meant it. "Every stranger seems like an enemy in the dark... But declare yourself, please. My nerves have not been this frayed in a long while." She finished on a dry laugh, amazed at how quickly the world changed, and never once did it ask permission.
@[Tiercel]