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Mantis does not like this land.
The sun hangs low in the sky and even with everything dipped in golden hues, it's rays still burnt her skin. The people she's met here were unfriendly and disrespectful and in no way like the noble public back in Aed. She can't return now, though. With how the way things were going, it's probably in ashes by now, anyways. She tries not to think about the things she left behind.
Instead, she turns to wade into the water. She really had not anticipated to travel for this long, so finding this oasis was a relief. The cold liquid pools around her legs and she sighs, ears pushing forward as she carefully places her hooves to travel further into the small lake. Her fins fan inwards and out again repeatedly, as if she's trying to fan herself to endure the heat, but she was never able to control her fins very well - it was most likely a natural reaction to finally being in the water again, as Mantis hadn't indulged herself in any bathing during her travel. The hippocampi genes in her were probably dancing in joy right now.
While Mantis' father had been a common horse, her mother had been a hippocamp, being able to fully turn into her fish form in the water. She had never done so often, Mantis only having seen her in her fish form maybe twice - Mantis ended up being a hybrid of the two, ending up with fins and lures sitting on top of her had, but not having a fish form. She was glad for it, as she knew most found the fish part of her to look unsightly and bug-like. Her lures flicker at the thought. Ever since she entered Solterra, they haven't been able to light up all the way. All the more reason to hate this place. The golden light that used to always emit from her lures in the dark were the only thing sightly about the fish in her.
The water gathers at her shoulders, now. Her white tail travels behind her body as she sinks even lower and as she turns her head to look at the sunset, a dark horse at the other coast of the oasis catches her eye. Her ears immediately flicker backwards. She's in a vulnerable position, not being able to move as quick as on land with the liquid resisting her muscles, so it's a natural reaction for her to immediately back out, quickly regaining her footing on the gravel underneath. She does not think about the way her entire body tenses up and prepares for the worst. She's been taught that way.
A small part in her brain tells her to investigate, though. Her body is still thrumming with the need to leave, but she turns anyways, looking at the mare standing in the water at the other side of the coast.
Her entire coat is dipped in a dark brown, but she looks like a canvas painted with gold - both her mane and tail as well as the underside of her wings that she sees flicker up now and then reflect in a gilded color that rivals the rays of the sun. Mantis presses her lips together.
Might as well try to make some friends.
She slowly rounds the pond of the oasis, hooves carefully treading the gravel that crunches underneath them, and as soon as she knows she's in hearing range of the mare in front of her, she exhales, letting her lungs produce a sound. It's a calculated move, just like every other thing she does. Her body language does not tell a thing as she stands there, face schooled neutral, ears pricked.
She's been taught that way.
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