اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
The hoofbeats of two horses could be heard along the dirt path, nothing but field surrounding the trio. Alida had kept silent throughout their journey, struggling to find a way to convince Nimue to stay. Pym, however, couldn't go a moment without speaking. It was more amusing than irritating, Pym always knew how to do that. Even in the most serious situations, she somehow knew how to crack a joke in the worst tension.
Alida had been stuck in her own thoughts rampaging in her mind, hands gripped onto the reins of her stallion so tight they might have fallen off. Her space blue cloak glided over her figure, casting shadows that concealed her painted tears. Her sister had been given a title no one wanted her to have, and Alida had to understand why that would make her want to leave. Alida and Nimue were two outcasts. They understood. But Alida did her best to give people reasons to like her for who she was. All Nimue ever did was prove everyone right when they called her a witch. Alida hated admitting that.
The trio stepped through the gates, Alida now holding the reins of her horses as she left herself to walk on foot. "Are you really doing this?" Alida asked Nimue, moving her head to look at the brunette as she and Pym slid from the saddle of Old Boy. Nimue looked at her, like she was saying her final goodbye. Because that was what was meant to occur just then. They were meant to part, find their own paths and perhaps reunite and catch up when they're older. Or maybe they would never find each other again.
"I am," Nimue said, puffing out her chest in a way to find confidence in her own words. Alida responded with a nod, sharing a glance with Pym. A quiet sigh escaped Alida's lips, as Nimue let her horse be put in the stable. Alida wasn't trusting enough to give her horse away even to the stables. She didn't want to risk being discovered and having her horse taken from her because of it, so she guided him by the reins. Her black stallion, which she had named Anvil for no particular reason other than she considered it to be a name that could represent strength.
She carried her horse with her, their footsteps tapping against the wood as they led themselves to the docks. The scent of the waters only became louder the closer Alida got to it, and she wouldn't deny that she enjoyed the smell of salt water. It just had it's own calming affect. Though, the open waters were void of the ship Nimue was hoping to board. "Nimue, I don't see your ship anywhere and I know it can't be that hard to miss," Alida said, squinting her eyes in hopes the blurry, distant figure would appear. It never did.
"It was supposed to be here," Nimue muttered, and Alida could have sworn she nearly went weak in the knees from shock. Her head shook gently, and it was clear that she didn't want to believe it. That she couldn't leave like she planned to. She stood for a moment, like it would come from nowhere. As much as Alida wouldn't like to bid farewell to her sister, she felt upset for her that this happened. Nimue was distressed, and that only worsened at the newfound news.
She whipped her torso around, hair swaying quickly behind her. Her dress twirled, eventually falling normal after a few swings. Nimue began to walk further down the docks in a new direction, Alida following behind. Pym had other plans which included hopping around with a wide grin spread across her lips. At least she was trying to make an effort to be more positive. Nimue's features fell still as she sent a hard glare towards Pym, which quickly caused her high spirits to deplete as she, too, fell in step with Nimue and Alida.
A man, tall with dark skin came into view as we walked. Alida figured it would be a good idea to find answers to Nimue's questions if she could. "Excuse me, sir," she piped up, a sweet smile on her pink lips. Strangers had a habit of being short tempered, and if you paid close enough attention to Alida's skin, you'd see every flaw. Every intricate detail, every pore, every tear whether it was real or not. Whether there was a shimmering on her skin in the sunlight, or a smudge of dirt on her pink flesh. You could see everything within those eyes which were brown by the iris and faded into a parakeet green. The fear of what would come of the future that was held within them, and the hope that something great may come out of it.
Alida would probably never see this man again, really. "The Brass Shield. When was it supposed to arrive?" Alida asked, but Pym was quick to jump in. "She's not going, by the way," she said. Pym grabbed Nimue's arm as if it'd glue her in place. "Brash Shield left yesterday," he told the girls, his feet shifting in place. He appeared impatient with the conversation. "But it's not supposed to leave for another week," Nimue stammers as her head shakes. "Yeah, tell that to the easterly winds." The man scoffed, waving his arms about in the air. "When does it return?"
He rolled his eyes. Yet another question. "Six months. Now do you mind?" he snapped, averting his gaze. His attention was caught by another and Alida failed to pay any attention. Alida pulls her bottom lip between her teeth while Nimue takes a step forward. "Look at it this way," Alida steps forward as well to place a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You've got six more months with us," she pointed out with a small smile on her lips. Nimue was still letting the news sink in. "Six months," she repeated.
"I know. I will be summoner and you can marry Stinky Aaron," Pym suggest while wrapping her slim arm around Nimue's shoulders. Her words caused the three of them to break out into chuckles, all glancing at one another. Nimue and Pym were stronger than Pym and Alida. But so was Alida and Nimue. They were better as duos than a trio, but still a fantastic trio.
"Well, let's see what Hawksbridge has to offer while we're head," Pym recommends. I smile, nodding my head gently. "You two go ahead. I think I'll look around myself. But we can meet up," Alida tells them. They all come to the agreement that Pym will be with Nimue and Alida will be with her horse.
She'd traveled to a more secluded area by accident, her horse's hooves clicking behind her. His head was just above her shoulder. A black figure comes into view when she turns a corner. At first, Alida suspected nothing of it until the two walked past one another. Whoever it was would be covered head to toe in black, which made Alida shift her torso as she slowed her pace to get a better look. The figure did the same, and both of them stopped like a mirror with different figures in the reflection.
"Who are you?" Alida asked the figure, and when they speak, it appears to be a woman. It catches Alida by surprise as well, and her hands grasp the reins tighter. She wasn't going to hide her nerves when talking to a stranger while she was a creature herself. If anybody took notice of the marks on her skin, she was done for. "The widow," the woman replies. "I can sense when someone is about to die."
The two step closer to on another, Alida's brows furrowed while she tilts her head in curiosity. "I can see your death in the future as well. In the arms of another," She predicts, but Alida is having none of it. "Excuse me?" she cuts in, but it's too late. The woman dressed in black, The Widow, is gone. Leaving Alida with many questions and a bubbling confusion. How soon was Alida going to die?
