clarity, paint me bright like stars in the dark of night
The older that she got, the wilder Hawke got.
She was no longer a girl, but now a young woman, her body having lengthened and then filled out. But still, even with the curves that now made up her body, there was still a wildness to her—a ranginess in her coltish legs and bright eyes. She still called Tephra home, but she rarely rested there, rarely found herself closing her eyes on its shores. Instead, she roamed the entirety of Beqanna, skirting around the edges of the different lands and finding beauty in the middle, the places where no one lived, no one stayed.
It brought a spark to her eye, the look of adventure that she had never been able to shake, not from her first breath. As she moved through the forest, mountain air clung to her, fresh and icy, despite the coming warmth of spring. Her hazel eyes swept across the horses who gathered, her gaze kind as she studied them each in turn. She couldn’t help the warmth that exploded in her chest, that affection that crawled toward them—it was part of her DNA, as much as the sun and the sea and the wind. Love was who she was.
These thoughts though were interrupted when she caught his scent, mixed with a metallic bite. Her eyes instantly narrowed as she swung her head toward the source of it, worry instantly creasing her features. She ran—rushing past the souls she just been so intent on studying—until she found him, bowed at the base of a large tree. “Ruan!” she cried, racing up him until she was near enough to lean down, her nose brushing against his jaw. “Ruan, are you okay?” She lipped at his cheek. “Ruan, please wake up.”