the lightning strike

"Eska"

A stolen alpaca had led Eska far from home. By the time she'd located the beast, it was nothing but bones and a puddle of dried, crusted blood. The long walk was nothing for the silvered fae. Walking had been her life up until now. Now, she had a home, a place to call her own, and a family, so to speak. She and Ulric were now a mated pair, so she considered his children part of her family as well. Then there were her mother's adopted children. Eska had more family now than she'd ever had in all of her life. It wasn't an unwelcome feeling in the least.

As she moved across the tide pools and sandy stretches, a storm followed. In the end, the storm was much quicker than she was and soon it began to fall down upon her. Eska was no stranger to rain. Being wet didn't bother her. In fact, she rather enjoyed the smell of rain; the sound of thunder; the crisp feel of electricity in the air. The sounds and feels of the storm were expected, but meeting another out in the middle of the storm was not expected. The wind of the storm whipped the salty water of the sea inward and Eska could taste it on her blackened lips. The woman stood still, watching the much larger brute as he moved along towards her. Eska was not frightened; only wary. Years of traveling on her own had enlightened her to the darker side of the world. She trusted no one until they gave her reason to.

Above, thunder rumbled and lightning arced like a dancer to touch land somewhere in the distance. Sulfur pools stared out from the woman's silvered face, eyes only narrowing reflexively against the brilliant flash of light. Perhaps her silver, ash and onyx form was lost in the grey landscape, for a moment later the man called out, beckoning. Someone. Anyone. She made no answer, only continued to watch the vibrantly striped brute as he continued to draw ever nearer. By now, Eska's thick pelt was soaked and water ran off of her frame in thick rivulets much as they ran off of the brute before her. Eska had no expectations of the oncoming meeting. Only her natural caution existed. She stood tall, obsidian ears alert and shifted forward to keep from being filled with rain. She watched. She waited.