is anybody out there

Vinati

Vinati hated the Rift.

She had been a blessed child for most of her short life, her days revolving around the oasis and her few friends. For a while, she'd had both parents; then, after her father's death, she had spent much of her time with her mother. Now, she had neither. She didn't know where her siblings were, or if they were even still alive. Nor did she know where her friends may have gone. This world was dark and dank and terrifying. She hadn't the slightest idea of where she was or how to fend for herself without a herd to protect her. And, even worse, she had never before felt so horribly alone. She'd always had the ghosts to turn to, back home. Here, her ghost-seeing powers seemed to have disappeared. Try as she might, she could not seem to summon Father or Mother, and she could not seem to find a single stranger's ghost to ask for directions. Did this odd new world just not have ghosts? It seemed impossible, and yet... why couldn't she see them?

Frustrated and frightened, the girl had wandered south, away from the Portal that stood as a stark reminder of everything she had lost. Always fair, Vinati reminded herself constantly of the large cat that could have eaten her but didn't, so it could have been worse... but even that was little help, not when she could still hear screams reverberating in her hear. Perhaps, she reasoned, the lands surrounding her landing place were better, lighter, filled with friendly folk. It seemed doubtful, but the sand princess had always been a dreamer. It was the hope for something better that drove her on now, through dark and lonely woods, past strange and eerie plants, ignoring frightful sounds and Gods only knew what might be lurking just beyond her line of sight.

The ooze that had settled onto her wings disgusted her. She hadn't the word for it - ectoplasm - but it was nasty stuff, coating her feathers with slime and dripping onto the forest floor with soft plops. When she looked behind herself, she found that she had left a lovely trail for just anyone to follow. The gel-like substance weighed her down, preventing her from leaping into flight and getting her bearings in her new surroundings. Twigs and leaves got stuck in it, and the girl could only imagine what would happen were she to lie down in the dirt and sleep. She had never thought herself vain, but this seemed to be asking a bit much of a child, even one normally as calm and cheerful as she.

She really, really, really hated the Rift.

"Talk talk talk."

Image by Brit

@Otem maybe? :3