[open] tomorrow is a long time - any

[Thia]

T H I A  The white mare didn’t know how long or how far she had flown, but it was as far as her lightly-tested wings could carry her.  She’d crossed the sea and countless unknown lands before finally returning to earth in a less than graceful stumble - equal parts elated and exhausted. Her very bones ached as she had never faced such a physical test before. But she didn’t mind the pain, because each and every step further from the crumbling kingdom she’d left only reinforced the fact that she was finally free. The chances of encountering anyone from her homeland were slim.  Few were blessed with wings, or so her father had said as he gloated, unabashed.  Few would have been able to escape the fury of the earth, for she had seen how high the column of ash had risen as she fled.  Those bound to the earth would have had nowhere to run as the mountain erupted around them.  The priestess finds it difficult to have empathy for this population that she knew nothing of.  As far as she was concerned, it was simply their fate. If they blindly followed such a ruthless king, she found it difficult to pity them.  It was easy for one so isolated to come to such a judgment.  She certainly did not know the world to be a kind place.  She wandered on a whim, with no particular destination in mind. She knew next to nothing about the world she’d been born into.  She’d never needed such knowledge, having been confined for so long.  But here, now, staring out on an unfamiliar world the young mare found that she had no idea what she was supposed to do.  And for the first time, the idea of freedom seemed daunting.  So, she could do nothing but pull her wings more closely to her sides as eerie black eyes flicked uncomfortably across the strange landscape. image credit