another mind, another soul, another body to grow old. it's not complicated.
"I met them!" The words burst from the ram-headed girl's lips, fueled by her excitement and desire to please. If asked, she likely wouldn't have been able to articulate the names of the odd twins that she had met, but hearing their names rolling of off Amaris' tongue struck an instant chord of recognition in the girl's mind. "They are young, and one is blind?" She hesitantly added, still feeling confident, but wanting to be sure. "They were in the woods..well, not really woods. There wasn't nothing like it back in Helovia. The trees were.." Otem paused. She had no words for many of the things she'd come across already in the Rift, but if felt strange not to be able to describe the types of trees there were. Then again, how could she possibly know it was a tropical rainforest? "...well, different. But it isn't far. Should we go there next?"
At Yael's approach, Otem could feel her body (and mind) want to instinctively harden. So she worked extra hard to smooth out the creases of her face and smile as the golden mare arrived. Inside her body the filly could feel a shard of ice begin to gather, poking her in the gut. The two mares addressed each other with such familiarity that Otem felt nearly certain Amaris' would bid her goodbye and go off now that she had located someone she actually knew. If life hadn't been so rough on the girl from the very start it likely would have taken her much longer to become as jaded as she already was.
That was why, even as Amaris introduced the mare as Yael, a woman that Isopia had indeed told her daughter about many times, the autumn-coloured girl was still skeptical that she would now be anything but a third wheel. Just as she was about to make up an excuse to leave before she was pushed out ("I really have to go find my twin, I just remembered! Sorry! Bye!"), the last bit of Amaris' words to Yael caught in her ears the way a branch might snag ones' mane: ...and my treasured friend and knowledgeable companion in this strange place. For a moment Otem thought that Amaris must be speaking of Isopia, but of course that couldn't be...
..so then...then Amaris was talking about her?
Joy filled her small chest like a helium balloon, and a glistening smile replaced the falsely polite one which she had donned for Yael's arrival. "Hello Yael." She greeted, mis-matched eyes closing as her head dipped slightly. "My mother told me about you. She didn't often speak highly of anyone ... but she did of you. It's nice to meet you."
The Portal
