Once in closer proximity, her soft eyes studied him more closely, remembering every detail to perfection, down the the last strand of white hair. Having an eidetic memory was the only life she knew but a difficult one. Without searching, she could become lost in the past as if it were reality, and differentiating the two would be almost impossible now, if not for Tinek.
The silver dragon kept her firmly rooted in reality. He only knew the now, so he guided her through the world and helped push aside the past that was so... temptingly real in her mind. A single look and she would remember the bend of the grass, the pitch of the wind, the swell in her heart, and the smell of the earth. Naturally, such gifts (or curses) did not come without their price. Her instincts - those that would keep her safe, tell her to run, force her to be slave to the frantic beat of her heart - were gone. Even in the face of death, she had naught but wonder and a hint of fear of the unknown in the after life - no urge to run or scream.
And so, as she stood in front of this stranger, she held no signs of fear or discomfort. Only a certain sad softness to her eyes, holding age well beyond her years. The inability to forget forces years on the young mind, but even with her tragedy, she can still spare a smile - one that reaches her eyes in a genuine way.
He is very handsome, she's decided. The stallion holds himself in a way that is subtly powerful without being an arrogant arse. Absently she wonders how the gods decided to fit him with such a strange, white marking through his eye and down his face - was it prophecy? Did it mean something? Or, like most mortals, was he simply blessed with unique features by random combination of parentage? Curiosity would never leave her for long.
"Torleik," she repeated with a smile. Then, she glanced down at Tinek who peered up from over the tower of snow. "Did you hear that?" she asked, blinking at her friend to rid her lashes of flakes of snow. "Our friend's name is Torleik. Similar to your name in sound, hm?" Tinek nodded his head up and down like he had seen her do before and then glanced at the stranger, inching forward like a hesitant child. Paw after paw, with an arched back of spines, wings tightly folded to his sides, the dragon approached.
His question brought a pleasant smile to her lips. "We are bonded in mind and soul," she replied. "I need him and he needs me - together, we survive." The tone of her voice softened as she recalled the bond she shared, a bond she helped to strengthen not too long ago by making her mind a pleasant place to stay. Hellena's advice was sound. "My sister and I found his egg, and she won him for me from some strange creatures, nearly a year ago," she murmured, recalling the event in vivid detail. A frown crossed her lips. How had she and her sister gone from being so close to what they were now?
"Why marks on horns?" Tinek asked, looking between Ophelia and the stranger, Torleik.
Ophelia smiled. "Tinek wants to know why you have markings on your horns," she relayed. "I find myself curious to know the answer to that question as well." A pleasant sparkle filled her eyes.
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