At the sight of the older boy, Otem bristled immediately. He appeared so strange in appearance - a colourful array of markings seemed to cover every angle of him that she could see. Some of it looked like primitive barring, other bits looking more like lightning streaking across his coat. But it was the feathers around his ears that really drew her attention. She hadn't seen that before. Just as true panic was about to blossom in her narrow chest (he definitely must be native to these lands...), he quickly introduced himself, and all of the filly's fears were put to rest.
Now her eyes were drawn to the floating thing, and her burgundy and gold eyes widened in surprise. On her wither, Pandora hooted loudly and took to the air, flying around the whale as if trying to dislodge any strings that might be holding it afloat. The owlet trilled curiously, large golden eyes following the whale's movements with a friendly (but cautious) stare.
"I'm Otem, and that's Pandora. We used to live in the Throat." The girl murmured distractedly, forcing herself to pull her gaze from the flying sea-creature to look at Iskra. As she did so, the smell struck her and the autumn-coloured child had to force her face to remain neutral. What was that smell?! she wondered to herself, thinking that it must come from the sea-creature, for nothing she'd ever experienced before had ever smelled so foul. But, because of the boy's cheery greeting and his optimistic inquiry about the nature of the Isles and their relation to Helovia, Otem felt obligated to not mention the smell and ruin his mood.
It wasn't his fault that his companion smelled like warm death.
Otem turned her nose towards the sea as if considering his question (but really she just wanted to breathe fresh air). "Maybe.." She began, trying to sound optimistic. In her mind however she was replaying what Erthe had told her - how there was no going back to Helovia. How it was gone. "Who would pull it back? The Gods are gone and-" Otem's voice choked off, the words drying up in the back of her throat. Mention of the Gods made her think of her own mother, and how she had been annihilated in a burst of white light. Otem swallowed her, blinking frantically into the sea air to try and get rid of the tears that threatened to force their way through her eyes. Forcing herself to cough and turn back to the older boy, Otem forced a smile onto her face, never wanting to be the one to cause discomfort in others. "But maybe! You never know!" She concluded, false brightness coating her words.
Riptide Isles
Blu
