Hi! I'm posting early because I have a philosophy exam tomorrow and the stress will probably erase all my memories. Anyways, wish me luck! (I'm going to fail, it's a fact, but who cares about the future, right?)
"Slow down, Tris."
Onya reached out her hand as if to hold back the girl's reins, but Tris was doing just fine on her own, slowing her horse down by herself.
"Good," Onya resumed.
"Wormana," Tris whispered, but she stopped immediately, uncomfortable.
"What is it?" Onya asked.
Tris simply pointed behind her and Onya turned around.
"YiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIPPP!"
Natshana sped past them, leaning over her horse's neck, bawling in a high pitched voice. Onya sighed before accelerating as Natshana spun her horse around, slowing him down.
Onya had a hard time admitting when she made a mistake, but she knew she had made one. Introducing Natshana to this horse had been a big mistake. They were both as fiery, unpredictable and energetic as each other. Natshana insisted on calling him Toothless, but Onya still had trouble coming to terms with that name. It was a horse.
It seemed that neither Natshana nor her horse were aware that they were in the middle of the wood. They were running as freely as if they had been in an empty field. They slalomed between the trees, jumped over crevices, raced down the slopes screaming. Well, Natshanagada howled more than the horse, but still.
With rosy cheeks and bright eyes, the Skaigada gave her a huge delighted smile.
"That was awesome!"
"That was reckless," Onya corrected. "We are hunting, Natshana, we are not running like crazy to scare away all the animals."
A big smile on her lips, Natshana leaned forward and Onya did her best to cool her warming cheeks. She had no will before that smile.
"Awh, come on! That was fun! Look, the sky is blue, the weather is not too cold, the birds are singing. It's a beautiful day!"
Her horse almost knocked her to the side, the Skaigada getting entangled with her own clothes. Onya rolled her eyes.
"Tris is much better than you. Perhaps I should have left you in Polis."
"Nuh-uh! Lexa said she didn't want any distraction, and that I was so funny I would probably distract the shit out of her."
"I am not sure that is how she said it."
"That's what I heard."
"Of course. Look, I am trying to teach Tris something right now, so can you at least be quiet?"
Natshana shrugged.
"I'll do better. I'm gonna go on my own with Toothless."
"Yes, please, do that," Onya sighed.
"Okay. Bye Tris! Bye bestie!"
She put her horse back into a gallop and rode away, bawling louder.
Tris chuckled next to her, Onya didn't have the courage to scold her.
"Alright. Now that we have some peace and quiet, what do you hear?"
Tris looked around, seeming to listen. Onya, instinctively, did the same.
"I hear the birds. The trees moving, their branches rustling. I hear the bushes creaking."
"Is that all?"
Tris closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could.
"I hear…Something walking. It has four legs, I think."
"Pull out an arrow, cock your bow."
Tris obeyed a silence, then went back to listening. Onya doesn't tell her anything more, leaving her to draw her own conclusions. When Tris opened her eyes again, a deer was moving slowly through the clearing. Onya did not move, her horse completely motionless. Slowly, diligently, Tris raised her bow, drawing her arrow back. Carefree, the doe was grazing peacefully in a bush.
Tris was about to shoot her arrow when a noise in the distance made the deer leap forward, and it disappeared into the woods.
Disappointed, Tris lowered her bow.
Onya was about to assure her that everything was fine, that she didn't do anything wrong, when she noticed that the noise seemed to be getting closer. It looked like a galloping horse.
A second later, Toothless appeared in the clearing. Onya was about to yell at Natshana for scaring off their prey, but there was no one on Toothless's back.
"Tris, the horse!"
They immediately set off at a gallop, catching up with Toothless. Onya managed to grab his bridle and slow him down, and the panicked horse seemed to calm down.
"Where is Kassy?" Tris asked.
Perplexed, Onya observed the horse's hair. He was soaked.
Onya's eyes widened in horror.
"The river!"
She tossed Toothless's reins at Tris, then turned and spurred her horse into a gallop.
She slalomed between the trees, jumped over the bushes, leaning on the neck of her horse. The river was half a kilometer away. Onya rushed to the watercourse, her horse came to a halt in front of the torrents of cold waters that poured in front of them.
Onya jumped off her horse and stood there for a few seconds, her heart pounding.
"Skaigada!" she called.
No answer.
Onya threw away her bow and quiver, dropped her coat, and ran into the river. The water was up to her knees, but several crevices formed much deeper pools in which it would have been easy to drown.
"Skaigada!" Onya cried above the roar of the river.
Onya took a deep breath and dove into the freezing water, groping for a body. The torrent of water nearly knocked her aside, she struggled, searching for the Skaigada. When she was certain the crevasse was empty, she emerged from the water, frozen to the bone, and took another gulp of air before plunging into the second crevasse.
Panicked, she searched desperately in the cold water, finding no trace of Natshana. No body, no clothes, not even the shadow of a shoe. Her fingers just found emptiness in front of her.
Kassy had disappeared.
As Onya surfaced again, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the water. Onya struggled, screamed until her vocal cords broke, protested loudly. She had to find her. She had to keep looking.
"Anya! Step out of it!"
Pulled out of her torpor, Onya had no choice but to let herself be pulled to the shore.
Natshana was spitting out gallons of water, soaked from head to toe. She was shivering, her white hair sticking to her face. But she was alive, and that was the only thing Onya was thinking about as she coughed, spitting out the water she had swallowed during her mad dash.
"What the fuck was that?" Natshana asked.
"What?" Gasped Onya.
"You, running into the river while yelling my name. What the Hell, dude?"
"I was scared," Onya admitted. "I thought you had drowned."
Natshana shook her head.
"Nope. Luckily, Toothless didn't drop me in a spot where there wasn't too much water. I almost got swept away by the current, but I was lucky."
Onya was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Sitting on the floor, wringing out her hair, the Moon's Daughter had never been more beautifully alive.
In the distance, Tris was coming with the horses.
Onya shook her head, shaking the water out of her hair. Hit with icy droplets, Natshana burst into laughter and Onya smiled as she wrapped her in her discarded coat.