breaking like the wine-stained glass that held my drink
From the mouth of the river she had stayed, uncertain and frighten for what lurked in the shadows of the dryland. Eva has yet to convince herself there is nothing to be fearful of down the large mouth of the river. She knows the ocean better than anyone. A narrow path of the waters would protect her if there was to be danger. But it still did not feel enough for her.
However, a stir within her heart blossomed. A call to come forward, down to the river, beckoned her. As if the call of the ocean was calling her to come onto the dryland. It felt foreign and strange, but at the same time there was comfort in the ocean-like breeze voice. As if her own mother, the dying body she found besides her on the bone-bleached beach, was waiting for her at the end of the river.
With her new sense of bravery, Eva answers the call. She swims down the river, keeping her eyes only focused on the ocean-voice that summoned her. She does not notice the world around her, the new sights do not intrigue her for some reason. When she reaches the base of the mountain, she stumbles, keeping at the edge of where water and land meet. Eva bites her tongue, her fearlessness crumbles as her anxious heart beats heavily in her chest.
But the call comes again, welcoming her. It embraces her with warm encouragement. Eva answers the voice blindly, like a naïve like-minded child she is. One hoof is placed slowly on the rock-hard surface, she stumbles once and then twice. But she is determined to find balance just like she was when she was a newborn. Eva smiles with confidence when she finds her balance and takes several steps forward.
“I’m coming!” She says as she feels the ocean-breeze brush against her fine-chiseled cheekbone. The purple filly makes her way up the steep slopes of the mountain. Eventually, she reaches the top. Her warm orange-gold eyes catch ahold of the small group of others that have gathered in front of a fae (she knows this is the voice of the ocean-breeze somehow). Eva swallows hard at the sight that has unfolded before her, but she does not linger back long as being one of the last to arrive. She makes her way to the group, surveying them as she goes, noticing there are others near her age. It can’t be, she thinks with be wilderment as she looks at the dark teal filly with seashell markings and how dangerous her beauty is.
Eva shakes her head, pushing the thought aside once the bright blue fae steps forward. Her voice is soothing just like the waters of Beqanna—her home. She is drawn to the fae, as if she has known this creature her entire life and beyond her own birth. She feels safe and comfort in her presence. Seashells? What exactly was this? Eva knows all about the seashells. She has found pretty and shinny ones all over Beqanna. But on Island Resort? Well, she never had been on the land there.
“I’m not scared of no waters,” she says with a smile, obviously showing her confidence. “You’ll have your seashells in no time!” She says with a smile to the blue fae. Was she about to go on another adventure? It seemed so. I guess the dryland isn’t so bad, she thinks with a laugh as she turns and makes a quick run down to where she had come from the river.
Retracing her steps back to the river ad to swim around the large dryland was the quickest way she could get to the Island Resort. She knew nothing about the other parts of the dryland, but in the water, she was the quickest and safest. So, the purple girl makes her way back down the river and out into the open waters that is her domain.
She finds herself I absolute comfort and bliss when she is within the water. The sea salt fills her with joy, and the sound of the ocean breeze fills her with confidence. There is nothing she fears within the waters. It was what had shaped her and given her what she has become today. Giving her life and a sense of purpose to rule and protect the wide-open waters. Never has Eva ever confronted anything in these waters that she could not handle.
“Is there even anything scary lurking around?” She asks out loud with a laugh as she rounds the bend of the dryland, marking the half-way point to Island Resort. There was nothing the sea of the daughter could not handle in these waters. “Nothing scares me!” She yells as she pushes through the waves at full-speed with ease. Her words are almost inviting to any monster that lurks within, challenging them to come and fight her.
With the passing of time and speed, the tip of the island is seen in the horizon. Eva feels a wide smile spread across her lips. “Well, there you are!” She says with a laugh, pushing herself faster than the speed she currently was swimming at. “No monst-“ she says, but her words are suddenly cut off as she feels the entanglement of a strange and slimy thing on her right hindleg.
Eva screams out, pushing and pulling. “What the hell!” She says twisting and turning to get whatever is holding her back. The more movement and effort she tries into pulling from the grip of whatever has her, the tighter it becomes. The nereid kicks and twists, but suddenly the water stirs around her, several tentacles wrap around her.
The girl screams out again. She kicks and turns to try and loosen herself from the tentacles that grip her. But the more and more she tries, the tighter it becomes. Eva can feel the oxygen in her lungs being sucked away. She chokes hard, tasting the saltwater in her lungs. As if she is a drylander drowning for the first time. It violently shakes her now, pulling tighter on her limbs and slowly making his way around her body and to her neck with several tentacles.
I can’t die like this! There was no way she was going to let this strange creature take her down. Evan snorts, finding her last sense of strength, and takes control of the ocean around her. She pulls it, bringing the current to her and the beast that entangles around her. The current is strong. It lashes against the beast. She creates a whip-like current out of the waters she brings into her control. Lashing and beating at the shadowy-murky beast.
Each time the current hits hard she can feel the grip of the tentacles loosening up. She continues, fighting against the tentacles wrapped around her and the sea monster’s attempt to keep her still and within its grip. But she doesn’t stop, she is determined to be free from the monster.
Suddenly, there is a moment where she struggles free. The beast loosens its grip, retreating its long murky tentacles. Eva takes another current of the water, ripping across the murky beast’s shadowy-form in the water. “Get out of here!!!” She says loudly, demanding the beast to be gone. She pushes herself away from the beast, keeping her distance but all the while continually to lash out if the monster wishes to get closer. “That’s what I thought!” She says with a mischief smirk and soft laugh. “You better run!” She says as the strange, tentacled-sea monster retreats to the depths of the waters from where it came from.
Eva laughs wildly at realizing now what she has done. “I’m definitely queen of these waters,” she says as she quickly turns towards the direction of Island Resort. Slowly but surely, the purple nereid reaches the shore of the dryland. She pushes herself onto where sand and water meet. Her body aches, but with what strength she has left she stumbles onto the shore to rest for a moment.
Eva