[ I'd really love for the real Mauja to meat Hiedrun some day too! ^^ ]

The lessons my father had taught me, about warriors and bravery, slowly come back to me as I stare at the lake and wonder what it feels like to drown. Would it be swift? Painless? Yet I feel like a coward for hoping it does, thinking of the scars I had seen and the stories I had heard, the pain those brave soldiers had endured.. bravery was not my forte, however. If I did not find a way back home soon I would go mad, and if I went mad, I'd rather it all end, swiftly. So would it be so bad to drown?

Yes, I decide. First off, I'm preeetty sure no one would admire me for throwing myself in a lake instead of finding the god damn way back. Surely it was somewhere, something I was missing.. (unless I'd died in my sleep that fateful day). And the more time I spent wishing I was dead? That was time I wasted, when I could find the way, but I'm not used to doing things all alone, least of all difficult things like finding a way back when I hadn't even walked to get here. It was just such a daunting task and it hung over me like a leaden weight, and HOLY SHIT SOMEONE IS TOUCHING ME!

I jump, startled, my perhaps a little too fat frame taking off at least half a foot into the air and landing a little to the side of whatever it was. My first instinct is to run but I do no more than flex my muscles before I recognize the outline of a horse.

A black horse.
Hidden in the goddamn gloom.

"Are you lost?" she asks and I cannot stop myself from laughing bitterly; with adrenaline still in my system it comes out high-pitched and nervous. "Yes!" I say, with an edge of hysteria, before drawing a deep breath and trying to disentangle my head from the mess of vines I'd thrown it up into. I'm looking like a real fool now, aren't I? Jerking my head from side to side I rip the vegetation apart, but a little of it settles on my face, around my horn, and I grimace in distaste. I'd have a real hard time getting this off, and peer sideways at her, hoping she's not about to run off screaming just because I'm a bit skittish. I lower my horn towards her, oblivious to the threat it might be. "Care to help me get this off?" I ask, my voice steadier now that the initial surprise of her appearance had worn off. Gods, I really needed to learn to keep an eye on things now that I had no one else to do it for me. The next horse to sneak up on me might have the intent of doing more than just touching me.