no one really knows what the ocean hides
but you and I, bird, we’re gonna find out
Reia has enjoyed her independence; honestly, she is thriving. Food oftentimes fills her stomach as she scavenges the small mammals. It isn’t much, but it’s enough. Her eyes are bright with curiosity as they drink in this new world. Even in its pestilence, it’s more beautiful than the darkness that shrouded her in mother’s womb.
There had been the river where she took her first breath with mother and father watching with an unsettling intensity that gradually softened into awe and adoration.
The Playground was next where she came across a girl approximately her age.
And finally, the forest with a boy colored similarly to the towering evergreens.
This is a beginning, she tells herself with half-lidded eyes as she stands on the coast of Tephra. Of course, she knows not of where she is. When she glances back across her shoulder, she sees a titanic volcano overshadowing much of the land, rimmed by gray clouds. Looking ahead again, there is open water with a speck of land far in the distance. There it is, her memory advises her. The island everyone is whispering about. It’s there, hovering on the horizon seemingly miles away in a child’s eyes. Reia’s nostrils dilate, huffing as though trying to drink in the scents from where many others have flocked. Adamant, she unfurls her wings and takes flight. This is her longest attempt to fly, her balance greatly unsteady as she wobbles side-to-side, though remaining, somehow, airborne.
Exhaustion seeps into her muscles in the final stretch, weighing her down until her legs submerge into the water just off shore. Her wings tiredly fan out across the water’s surface, her entire body now embraced by the cold ocean. Fortunately, she is close enough for the tide to grab her and slowly rock her to shore. It’s a gruelingly slow process until Reia’s small hooves find traction on the sand, the tide having been a calm lull with minimal wind and effort. Soaked to the bone, the girl – her mane and tail extinguished and bald – stands on the rim of the island, her eyes darting across the faces and the wintry scene, her body trembling from the cold and her wings drooped to the ground.
and I'll be next to you when the lights go out
@[Sochi]