[/html]Ethereal Eclipse proved never ending. It was ridiculously mystifying to even know of the day's forecast since the Eclipse was tightly packed with dense flora; most of the branches above tangled beyond any method to break them apart to make them linear. The forest was damp and shadowy, secrets behind every bend and crevice, and no true significance if it was a sunny afternoon or overcast. There was always an encroaching loom, one that Kaitriona could grow used to in its comfortable serenity, but also one of caution. The sharpness of marine salt, however, struck Kaitriona bewildered to smell such a fragrance even in the deep tangle of the woodland. At a comfortable gait, Outlaw guided them through the Eclipse while the sudden marine salt aroma sent her short follicles of black to stand on end. Her entire existence froze upon the equine, her sapphire eyes zoning out into nothingness ahead. Her nostrils flared, almost hesitantly, at the reverie of what the coastline smelled like. To others, it might remind them of sandy shores, squawking seagulls, and light sunburns, but to Kaitriona… it reminded her of her almost demise.
Kaitriona didn't direct Outlaw in another direction from the salty aroma. She was intently curious if the coastline was the case a couple miles forward, and at the same time… the memories of escaping the Aleutian Islands reminded her of the exact smell, the exact choking of salt water, she remembered when escaping to the mainland. The sting of saltwater could be felt in the back of her nose and throat again, remembering the ocean's cold waves attempting to suffocate her, drown her. The duo migrated westward, the flora beginning to gradually pull itself apart the more they edged toward the coastal peninsular. Gradually growing brighter, Kaitriona's sapphire eyes squinted once the dense forest was left behind, and before them was the open horizon of creamy sand and endless blue.
Apache Outlaw stopped himself to crane his neck higher, looking onward. The sea side was no place for an equine, and moving tediously forward, was not accustomed to walking in sinkable sand. Hooves and strong legs gave under the easy sink, to which Kaitriona nudged him to halt before it grew any more tedious for him to go forward. Mounting off, her feet were met with the wonderful warm sensation of tickling sand falling between her claws and toes. Stumbling slightly, as she was not perfected to walking perfectly in sinkable sand, Kaitriona approached the hardened coastline where the waves rushed up the shore.
… Which was where she clambered with half her life out of the ocean swallowing her whole, the tides attempting to drag her back into the abyss one last time with the strength it held in heavy waves. A mermaid merely spat out as a poor rejection, saltwater filled her lungs and nose to suffocation with no mercy. Her chest heaved in painful convulsions, choking out spittle of water and attempting to suck in fresh oxygen at the same time, the process difficult. The ocean waters were unforgiving in icy touch, falling prey to tremors of hypothermia instantly. She almost didn't survive the cliff dive down, injuring her upper thigh in the process, and then having to fight off the onslaught of waves churned angry by the previous sea storm. Kaitriona picked the wrong day to execute her false death to the Aleutians during a coastal storm, but if she would have waited any longer, she would have been done for; a fate much worse than dealing with the sea would have killed her…
The reverie sent chills spiraling down her spine, shaking her head of the memories as a seagull squalled in the distance. The horizon was beautiful, but an even better reason to fear deep bodies of any water. The ocean was a beautiful but dangerous entity, one that Kaitriona hoped never to cross again. She didn't realize she suddenly sat on the warm sandy bank, legs outstretched in front. Perhaps Kaitriona collapsed in the midst of her daze, or apprehensively welcomed the strange touch of warm sand against her fur. It was almost comforting, in a strange sense.
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