The ocean stings insistently at her nostrils, salt building along the line of her poll. She eyes it speculatively, careful to keep forehooves just out of its reach, shuffling uneasily at the motion of the waves. They make her dizzy in an odd, tantalizing way, as though their ebb and flow pulls at her mind, pushing at her bones. For a moment the world spins around her, and all she sees is waves, water, a speck of foam; then she blinks, and realizes she is dangerously close to collapse, and laughs.

She used to visit the sea, when she lived in the Throat, used to stare at its depths and wonder when her mother would come. Now she knows her mother will not come, and the sharp ache of it is a constant thing, a piercing blow she cannot forget, only ignore. Instead she thinks of the sea, and the secrets within, secrets she questioned then and still. She wonders what it feels like to swim, the way distant whales and fish and seals do, wonders what that submersion would do to her; but just as flying, she doubts she shall ever know, and that frustrates her.

With a swish of her tail she turns away from the sea, angry now, black eyes bright and ears turned back. Far ahead, the black spot of Natraj howls, sensing her anger and sending back mirth, enticing her to try and catch him. She frowns, unwilling, but his joy is infectious, and she finds herself moving against desire. Natraj's love of sand and sea courses merrily through her veins; the girl's frown softens, lines shifting slowly into a mischievous grin. Long limbs limber, pace is quick- and then she is running after her brother and friend, braided mane and tail bold banners in the wind, laughter caught and thrown away as she hurls through the playful breeze.

It is impossible to stay unhappy, on a day like today.

It is as she flees from him, having caught and deemed him "It", that the awareness of others enters her periphery. Still caught in the thrill of her game, she casts her eyes wildly around, attempting to pinpoint the others nearby. A stallion flickers into her gaze, large and brown with a spiraling horn; she arcs away neatly, attention torn between the stranger and Natraj, hooves flying wildly in the sand and the---

"Oof!"

Her left shoulder makes contact with the younger boy first, and she stumbles and swings her head back around, wincing as that, too, collides with hard flesh. A sharp whinny tears its way from her throat, even as she bounces away from the boy, snorting in the sand, ears pinned back tight. Anger bubbles beneath her skin, temper enticed once more and threatening to blow; then Natraj is there, coiling around her hooves, soothing and slight in the shadow of flame. But it is not the boy who most upsets her- it is the feeling of his power riding the waves of her bursting emotion. She breathes heavy and closes her eyes, taking in his scent of smoke and the black of his magic, focusing on the tingle of it now in her, willing her heart to not explode as stone begins to crust over the gold of her legs, the specks on her back, and the slash in her face.

@[Reginald]