For having spent nearly an entire year wandering and exploring the central regions of her new island home, becoming wholly distracted by it, it amazed Phoebe to think there was still more yet to see. How was it the land could be so vast and varied, each piece of it distinct and different than the one before? When would it end? When would she finally run out of places to investigate and learn about it? Was such a thing even possible?
She must have been getting close, at least to one piece of this world's edge. The sound of crashing waves, roiling waters, was impossible to mistake for anything else, though she had admittedly only seen such a landscape once before, during her earlier travels. Her bright, purple-pink eyes stared down at the ground before her hooves, carefully picking each step before she took it. There were simply too many rocks to allow for her to move at the speedy, excited pace she wished to travel at.
It showed in the soft pout that had taken up her expression, the irritable sweep of her tail as it brushed against her barred legs. She wasn't near the edge yet, not close enough to have the best view of the wide ocean possible, and the sunset-colored mare wished in that moment for nothing else. But how did she reach that location? How could she get there without twisting an ankle--or worse?
A huff transformed into a snort as she stopped and stomped a hoof dramatically. "How do I get there?" Phoebe asked aloud to the open air, taking another second to reevaluate her options. There didn't appear to be anyone else around--though she'd grown used to the lingering scents of other equine creatures--so she was determined to figure it out on her own.
It is hard to say when exactly she stopped being alone. Was it the moment Anandi left her room in the court (lofty, silken, regal as a princess’ quarters ought to be) to follow the sweet song of the ocean? Was it when Anandi first saw her, a decadence of color against the dreary winter landscape? Or was it later, when the emissary (thoroughly intrigued by those sunset colors, that soft skin) followed her near the edge of the cliff, close enough to hear her say to herself “how do I get there?”
A sharp, angry wind whipped up the rocky bluffs. Winter was heavy upon them and the sea frothed with a cold, sullen tide. From here the two young women could hear the waves crashing angrily below, and they could see the salt spray, foamy white against the dull grey sky, but the ocean itself was not in sight.
Anandi could picture it, though.
All wild, steel blue decadence, rolling with energy that stretched leagues away. The sound as it crashed achingly against the cliffside was a song. It was calling her home.
“Where are you going, Sunshine?” Anandi’s voice is a leonine purr. There is a smile in her eyes. “Nothing that way but a long fall.” And a pretty view, but... she knew well it was far prettier from beneath the waves.
It turned out she didn't need to figure things out on her own after all. Over the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff face below, well out of sight and so very tempting, the sunset-colored mare received an answer to the question spoken aloud. It didn't necessarily jolt her, but the playful comment drew her attention immediately. Phoebe slowly turned around, her bright eyes settling on the regal looking mare who stood there behind her, a pretty lady adorned with an eye catching headdress. Are all the horses here so friendly?
Her gaze shifted briefly in a sidelong look over one shoulder, back toward the cliff, just before she answered. "I didn't want to go over it," she explained with a swish of her tail--such an act was clearly a death sentence--"I just wanted to look." Surely she wasn't the only one drawn to the edge of the cliff, to the beautiful view of the sea that it afforded all those brave and smart enough to get there? Phoebe merely wanted to count herself among those who had.
Which made her wonder about this new stranger, another in a growing list of new faces she had to memorize and name. Thankfully everyone she'd met thus far was incredibly unique and memorable, and by this point she doubted this particular equine would be any different. And maybe--just maybe--she knew how to help the little mare get where she wished to be.
"Do you know how to get over there?" No matter that her words seemed to dissuade against finding a way to the cliff's edge, Phoebe suspected this lady knew more than she was letting on; most of those she'd met so far had all been fairly knowledgeable in one way or another.
Anandi's expression draws pensive as she looks appraisingly at the mare before her. There is nothing subtle about her gaze, not even the slightest attempt to look like she isn't looking. Her glance is a silken dagger that traces Phoebe's outline. Sharp and smooth and wondering, wondering, wondering.
Finally, having come to a conclusion, she answers: "Of course." It wasn't that long ago she was new here too, and welcomed by a pretty stranger on the cliffs. The least she could do was pass it forward. She smiles, warm honey. "Come." Without looking back she leads the stranger further down the coast, where access is a little easier.
Anandi did not navigate these seaside cliffs like the natives did, jumping from rock to rock like billy goats. Simply walking was a relatively new experience for the kelpie. It was a skill she had to practice diligently so that her otherness would not be so blatantly obvious, although the overall effect was probably negligible. Among her otherworldly beauty, her coral fringe, and her hypnotizing seafoam green gaze, a somewhat strange gait was the least of her oddities.
Regardless, activities requiring the use of all four legs were not her strong suit. But she had been to these cliffs many times now, and knew them well. Body and soul, she needed the ocean-- not just to look at it but to hunt and play and simply be. And the Praistaigia Cliffs were Terrastella's most direct access point to the sea.
When Anandi reaches a section of the bluff she finds acceptable, she turns and begins to probe at the jagged terrain. It is not particularly graceful, the way she pokes at rocks testingly before putting her weight on them, but every step somehow oozes confidence anyway. "You can lean on me, if you like." She darts a glance behind her, lips pursed in a smile. The wind grows wicked as they draw nearer the edge of the world, and it fights to rip the words from her as she asks: "so where are you from, anyway?"
Phoebe is still with anticipation as the other mare looks her over, seemingly unaware of the silent assessment taking place. Her bright eyes are hopeful, full of an innocent light that expresses her anticipation, her wish that this lady would kindly offer her assistance and allow her to see the oceanic expanse just across the rocks. She sees no reason for her to deny the request--unless it is far trickier to travel than she originally thought it could be. Perhaps that is why she looks at her so closely, to gauge whether the girl has it in her to make the short trek without injury.
As if this is true, the sunset mare straightens and draws in a deep breath, trying to make herself look as strong and sure as she suspects someone who could cross to the edge might look. It appears to do the trick; the lady agrees, and Phoebe's hopeful expression breaks out into a delighted grin. "Thank you!" she answers, clearly excited as she takes a couple dancing steps in place with an eager swish of her long tail. The moment Anandi begins to lead the way, Phoebe follows.
Her mind is too distracted by her small victory to notice the calculated way in which the pretty pale mare moves, at least until they come to the more challenging section of rocks to cross. She steps just a little to the side to see the way her leader tests each step, carefully choosing where to put her weight before fully moving forward. It is a smart thing, the young mare decides, and is quick to mimic the motions demonstrated, more often opting to place her own steps where the lady before her has already tested.
She continues in this manner, quietly focused, until she is addressed, the mare's side offered to steady her. Phoebe can't deny that the wind is strong here, pushing gently against her as if to test her balance, but she doesn't do more than accept the kind gesture with an appreciative smile, deciding to answer the following question instead. "Another land, quite far from here," she admits without caution, her attention still mostly fixated upon her footing as she continues to follow. "I think I like this place better though. I'm Phoebe, by the way. Are you from here?" Her voice raises enough to be heard over the wind as she tries to keep the conversation going.
@Anandi (Changing tenses bc it's easier this way xD)
Anandi had great potential to be deeply terrible, but it was not her natural state. She much preferred to keep her monsters hidden, their secret presence giving her power. She was aware of the repulsive urges to snap the other mare’s neck or shove her off the cliff, but they were not uncontrollable. It was easy enough to keep them safely tucked away, ready to be unleashed in a split second of indiscretion or rage or self-defense.
That was the power with which the emissary moved. It was the knowing that she could kill, if she had to. Not only that, she would enjoy it. Test me, her body begged. Push me. Bite me.
Let me show you my teeth.
With all her monsters and sharp teeth tucked away neatly, it’s hard not to be charmed by the other mare’s open-book sweetness. When Phoebe grins delightedly, Anandi can’t help but to smile warmly (almost defeatedly) in return. “Of course.” She says dismissively. It really was not a huge inconvenience. Anyway, getting to know the populace of Dusk, particularly the newest members, felt like one of her responsibilities as a regime member.
They slowly work their way across the jagged cliffside. Anandi moves slowly and keeps a careful eye on her protege, nodding in understanding as the younger girl says she was from a faraway land, and found Novus preferable to her tastes. “I'm Phoebe, by the way. Are you from here?”
Anandi feels something hot flush behind her cheeks, and she is not sure if it is shame or pride. She’s never been mistaken for a native before, not in the entire year she’s lived here. “Oh, no.” She laughs like a flower blooming. “I come from beneath the sea.” Nonchalant as sand on a beach. She carefully watches the mare’s reaction for a long, drawn out moment...
And then she looks forward. The scent of the ocean is growing stronger, more urgent. It smells like freedom and ruin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Phoebe. I’m Anandi, princess of Minn and Emissary of Terrastella. And this,” a few more steps forward and the ocean is before and beneath them. A hundred shades of blue and wild, wild, wild. “is the Terminus Sea.”
