Bellisma

There was a lot to take in with the scene before her, made all the more overwhelming by her ability to only hear about half of what was being said. This distance was bothersome, but her sense of self-preservation won out over the need to be included, especially since @tae had just arrived.

Bellisma's attention was stolen away momentarily by the sound of a loud call - out of place in this setting, she thought. Head swiveling to find the course, emeralds rested on a black and white child , moving back and forth in a gesture that screamed fear to the seasoned mare. She wanted to go comfort the girl, but knew doing so would potentially draw attention to the mysterious bodiless footprints in the sand. Thus the bronze woman remained where she was, silently wishing the filly well.

Once this was decided, she allowed her wonderings to drift back to the group gathered before her. More were still arriving, and the unnerving sense of being observed had the mare glancing around sidelong. Hey eye cause on a peculiar one-winged pegasus, heart nearly skipping out of her chest in her fear of having been discovered. Surely the cloak did lose its magic that quickly - it had only been a matter of minutes since she'd donned it. The way his gaze never seemed to settle on any one part of her, though, had her thinking that perhaps he didn't really visualize her. Just in case, Bellisma refused to move a muscle for fear of inciting further interest.

That was, until @tembovu entered the scene. Not expecting to be in the same vicinity as the father of her late captive for many more days, if not months, his sudden arrival had the mare taking a cautious step back. She had never seen him before, but his name was well-known around Helovia and his son was a spitting image of the sire. His deep voice was clearly heard even from the current distance, and for being so large he came across oddly... friendly, at least to Bellisma's ear.

It wasn't long before the head of the figurative meeting spoke again. His flippancy toward entering the water made her wary - more than that, actually, considering his tone. Unbidden, a memory she would rather erase came flooding back to her mind's eye, of a brutish stallion gently brushing her ear and whispering, "You're free." The first few times he'd said it, Bellisma had run. And every. Single. Time. His hounds caught her. Eventually, she stopped falling victim to the tantalizing words, accepting her fate for what it was, and his words no longer elicited a reaction from her broken soul. The strange creature now, though he had done nothing to personally wrong Bellisma, could very well be doing the same thing. Yet this was how magic was obtained, was it not? By completing strange tasks for the gods of these lands? That was the rumor, though the mare was understandably atheist; no one could endure the torture she had and still feel someone was watching out for them.

She watched as one by one the others dove in willingly after the creature. Many were young and pliable, but some were not. Hesitant, Bellisma weighed her options: follow and potentially obtain magic, or remain on land where she knew she was safe, and forever be the same plain mare she'd always been. Brow drawing together in frustration, she pawed the earth once before steadily back-stepping, looking over her shoulder from time to time to ensure she was not bringing herself within visible distance of anyone. This was a bad idea - a terrible idea, actually, and she needed to not fall for it. Besides, getting to the water meant bypassing Tae and the larger mare that had recently approached her, and if diving headlong into the ocean wasn't asking for trouble, that definitely was.

Bellisma had crested a small dune, taking her out of sight of the masses, when a familiar figure came into view. @kianzo? What was he doing here? Rapidly changing plans, she drew nearer to him, yanked the cloak off her back with her teeth, and tossed it over the colt. "Hold this for me," she request-demanded, offering him a quick smile before changing directions. A few steps away she stopped, looked back at him, and whispered, "I'd prefer getting it back once this is all over, but if you-know-who starts sniffing around, take off with it."

With that she trotted back to the dwindling group and, steadfastly ignoring Tae and the mare beside her, grabbed a piece of seaweed betwen her teeth. Clamping her lips tightly around it, Bellisma took one final breath of real air and plunged into the water.