As her head broke the surface of the water she desperately gasped for breath, her throat burned and she flared her nostrils. An empty mind, thoughtless, blank and confused. Nothing made sense, everything was wrong. Who was she? Where was she? Why had this happened? A cough that sounded like it belonged to the dying filled the air around her with sound, water flooded her open mouth and gushed down her throat. Gargled noises escaped her neck, as the creature choked. This must be a punishment for something. Someone was angry with her. Like a bird trying to escape it's cage, her heart thudded against her bones. The entirety of her body shook, yet she could not tell if it was from the cold or her terror. Sinking again the water rose to her chin, this must be her death then. The final moments of a lost, desperate woman. What a dismal sight it was. Black spots began to form in her vision, water gently rippled around her sinking body. It was a peaceful way to go, once you got past the first stages of panic. Exhausted and weak her heart sank as her body gave in to death's embrace, should she wish it, he would warm her tonight. A name she would claim from his lips, her past she would beg from whomever else was listening. Would it please her to know such things? Had her life meant anything? Or had she simply existed while others around her became great? Was she alone in the end?
'Swim.' The voice was quiet, not her own but utterly familiar as if it came from her own soul. 'I can't.' Arah whispered back, the blackness at the edges of her vision was growing thicker. She was fading, it would be over soon now. Already she could feel the dark shadowy tendrils of death wrapping around her legs and pulling her further into the depths of the water. 'I don't care. Move.' A spark of annoyance stirred in her gut, as she was dying someone had the audacity to give her orders. She's been looking for peace, not company. 'NOW ARAH!' The voice filled her head, but it was the sound of her name that shocked her back to life. Images flooded through her mind, Deimos, Crowley, Roland, Farenjer, Lakota, Mauja, Arwen and Asch. The Ghosts of her past. Tilney. Maude. Rhiannon. Wynter. Her future. For them she could break out of death's grasp. They needed her and in turn they would look after her but if she died her, now with no witnesses to her termination, her family would never know what happened to her. Would they continue on with their lives always looking over their shoulder for her? No. She knew how it felt to have the dead as your companions. She would not do that to them.
Eyes wide despite the water burning her orbs she raised her gaze to the surface and began kicking, forcing her wretched body to move. Each muscle screamed in defiance, begging her to stop. The closer the doe came to the surface the bigger the desire to inhale. She had to hold out, could not let herself swallow anymore water. But it was the natural reaction of her body and under the depths of darkness she inhaled lungfuls of water. Death was chasing after her, grasping, promising her a respite. Her mind pleaded with her to listen to him, allow him to take her away. No. Breaking the surface of the water again, Arah could hardly force enough air into her lungs to flush the water out. Furiously blinking she managed to make out a blurry outline of land, her waterlogged eyes assessed the distance. Maybe five meters, she could swim the five meters to safety surely. Arah could not ignore the protests of her body but if she gave in there would be no coming back. Instead she focused on a single spot, watching as it gradually grew closer.
Eventually, after moving slowly, ever so gods-damned slowly, her hoof brushed the loose bank. It signified her refuge, her rebellion against death that had sought to claim her. They would meet someday, but they already knew each other well, perhaps he would embrace her and greet her like an old friend. He'd taken so many from her but tonight he was not able to complete his set. She'd been saved by the voice of her bonded, the brattish griffin who tonight would not let her give up on life. "Wynter." The doe's voice did not reach her own ears. 'I'll find you.' Then nothing, the feeling of her bonded vanished without a trace. A sob broke from her lips, had she not faced enough in her life? Why did the gods still want to punish her? She had done horrible things but she had paid for those sins dearly time and time again.
Pushing up way up through the shore Arah managed to only make it a few steps from the water before collapsing. The violent shiver encompassed her entire being, her mind, soul and physical body. At least her vision her cleared slightly allowing her to survey her surroundings, what should have brought her comfort did not. The world was unfamiliar, not even the outline of the surrounding terrain were unrecognisable. The fauna was not from the lands that she'd grown to call home. Arah knew without a doubt that she was no longer within the lands of Helovia. A full moon filled the sky with it's pale light, the dark shadows played hide and seek with the trees shivering in the light breeze. The shadows watched her, played with her even, threatening to engulf and hide her away from any salvation.
There was not much she remembered of her moments before arriving here. A flash of blue, lighting violently lighting up the entire sky above her crowned head. Arah vaguely remembered someone shouting about unstable magic...is that what had caused her to turn up here? The doe had so many questions but there was not a soul around to answer them. Coughing up a mouthful of water she wondered if the water she'd inhaled would cause her any permeant damage, with her luck that was the most likely outcome. All the same it would not so to lay here forever, not when she could still feel death's gaze upon her. Firstly she needed to make sure that Maude, Tinley and the rest of her family were safe. If they'd wound up in this land then no doubt they'd be just as confused and frightened, especially her daughter if she'd wound up alone. Trying to raise herself Arah only successfully stumbled a step forward before her legs gave out again. The fight for survival had left her utterly devoid of strength, in truth her numb mind was also still not fully functioning. Without assistance she would not be able to move, not until her strength returned at least.
She did not know when that would happen.
The dappled girl shivers beneath the moon’s pale light. She had gone out earlier in the day, as the sun had been sinking towards the horizon, to help collect fuel for one of Denocte’s evening fires. Beneath the top set of wings, browned grasses and dried wildflowers are tucked within her neat rows of feathers, and clamped to her sides below her lower wings are several long sticks. She had worked diligently to collect her kindling, but had found herself distracted by the soothing openness of the prairie. Now, as she wanders beneath the clear open sky, she finds herself wishing she had remained closer to the festivities.
Still, even the night here is beautiful. Despite how frigid she is, she enjoys the sweetness of the night, moving with a carefree bounding step towards the lake. The surface of the lake is like glass- smooth and still, nearly unnaturally so, with the moon a full silver disk upon the black water. A whistling chirp breaks the stillness of the air, and she looks up as a pair of bats flutter over her head. One dips down, breaking the stillness of the water as it grabs an insect, and ripples spread across the lake. As the bat returns to the sky and disappears upon the black backdrop, something else appears. It is as though the sky is rippling, reflecting the surface of the water. Akeli grows dizzy for a moment, trying to figure out what is happening and why the wrong thing is reflecting the other, and suddenly an entire unicorn falls through the ripple in the sky. With a splash, the unicorn, with a rack of antlers well more impressive than her own, plunges into the silver of the moon’s twin, thrashing violently as she tries to escape the lake’s clutches.
Akeli leaps forward, flying on long legs along the muddy shore of the lake, until she skids to a stop at the closest point to the struggling woman. She then begins to pace wildly, wings clapping against her sides, as she drops her bundles. The woman’s head disappears beneath the surface of the water, and it begins to grow still again. “Oh no,” the girl gasps, her motions dangerous within the slick mud. She wants to help, but she knows it would be futile- she knows not how to swim, and even if she could try, swimming with one set of wings was hard enough, two sets of wings made the task nearly impossible. Then, again, after moments too long, in a spray of droplets, the woman bursts free.
The sigh of relief barely had time to escape before the girl is yelling. “Swim! You’re almost there!” She leaps into the water, wading clumsily until she is chest deep, and the other woman’s hooves barely have time to reach the lake’s floor before Akeli is beside her, providing gentle support, assisting the woman in her struggle to reach dry land. “Come, come,” the girl encourages, and as the woman collapses, Akeli continues to work.
“Sit up,” she cooed, the order soft, yet firm. Akeli moves purposefully towards the bank, collecting her previous hoard, making several trips back to pile the woody debris nearby the unicorn mare. “Don’t move too fast, but you mustn’t sleep.” Once content with her pile, she pushes over a flat stone, placing it by the pile. Striking her antler against the stone, one, two, three times, the flint stone secured to the highest tine finally produces enough sparks to set the driest of the grasses alight. Pursing her lips, she blows softly upon the embers, until it the smaller twigs go up. Leaving the woman to her silence, incase she needs that much, she continues to pile slightly larger branches onto the blaze, and piles more beside the fire for later on. Content with her work, she moves on, gingerly lipping mouthfuls of green grass, careful not to crush them or taint them too much, and lays the small amount of greens beside the woman.
Her diligent work completed, the girl, who looks surprisingly mature suddenly in the glow of the flames, warms her own wet body near the heat, before settling down upon folded legs. She had always desired to help others, intended on pursuing a life of service, but tonight has been her first test. But that thought hasn’t passed through her mind during this ordeal. All she can think of was the unwell woman before her, freezing in the cold autumn night. She hopes her fire will help, at least a little, until the woman is well enough to stand. Then, they could go together to the heart of Denocte, to where more experienced healers could help. But for now, this needed to be enough.
Akeli’s eyes, glowing molten gold within the fire’s light, watch the woman intently. Then, quietly, she finally speaks again. “I fell through one of those, too.”
![[Image: table_onearah_by_frostie_spirits-dbs0bn2.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/31f5/f/2017/301/f/d/table_onearah_by_frostie_spirits-dbs0bn2.png)
