[P] though there be fury on the waves

[Charlotte]

Charlie’s last breath is filled with saltwater, as the current drags her, kicking, further out to sea. Her legs make very little headway against the rough waters, and her wings are simply useless. They are like two dead weights at her sides, wanting to drag her further and further down.

The pegasus has always admired the ocean, always longed to be out upon it. And now, even young as she is still, she thinks it might be the same ocean that kills her as all her attempts to surface are in vain. She can hear Indy’s voice echoing in her thoughts, panicked and nearly louder than the sound of her heart. Charlie kicks, and kicks, and even if she were getting anywhere she’s not certain which way is up as the waves tumble her head over hooves.

She thinks her lungs are going to explode. She thinks… almost nothing at all, as things begin to grow soft and slow and groggy.

Until the pain.

It is bright, and blooming, and about her neck. Her mouth opens in a silent gasp, precious air bubbling away as harsh salt water rushes to fill its place. For a wild moment Charlie allows herself to wonder which will happen first: she will drown or she will be eaten alive by whatever has grabbed a hold of her. Until she glances back and she sees the kelpie, bright red and deepest black.

The kelpie (her rescuer?) jerks their head toward the surface. So, not a meal then. The pegasus girl bobs her own head quickly as her lungs painfully, painfully beg for air in her chest. Together, they make their way toward the surface, toward the sky. When her head breaks past the line of the water, she doesn’t even manage to gasp for breath.

No, she begins to cough, ungracefully, her body expelling all the salt water she had inhaled. And then she starts to take in big, deep breaths, as though her body has never experienced anything as sweet as air. “You… saved me,” Charlie says between breaths, and glances upward as a shadow falls over them. Indy is flying frantic, low circles above them. “It’s okay Indy… I’m okay,” she tells her bonded, though her attention is quickly back on the kelpie, who is mostly hidden beneath the water.

A pair of twisting horns, crimson eyes, is all she can really see. “Who are you?” Her legs are tired. She is tired, and she really shouldn’t continue to be out here treading water after having nearly drowned but… she wants to know more.

“I will take you back,” says the woman, though everything about her tells the girl a different story. Her heart is racing. Has her heart been racing this whole time? “I…” why does she want to stay? She nearly died! But if she stayed… would she be like this woman? Able to swim so deftly, like how the girl flies? Able to breathe in the water? “No… I should go back. Indy is worried about me.” She can’t think of a time she has ever felt so conflicted.

"Speaking."

---

@Boudika

☸