"It's so cold."
Spoken as a fact, the quick sentence met no other ears than her own, not that she had expected otherwise. Cold was an understatement, she mused, eyes cast towards the blurry, blizzard-riddled horizon. Her tail snapped behind her, slapping against the frigid water surface with a twist of irritation. She had been waiting for a land-dwelling friend at the beach's edge, but the weather had other plans for the frozen mer. Would he even come, now that the snow had turned into an unrelenting blizzard? A part of her hoped him smarter than that, but, well... Lance wasn't a thoughtful type.
"I'm not waiting," she grumbled under her breath. "Big ol' idiot probably got himself frozen, with his luck." Or lack of wits. Her eyes flicked back to the shoreline, trailing past the white, snow covered sand and towards the forest edge. "I'm not any better, I guess."
While her words lacked patience of kindness for her missing friend, Nerina remained in place, half on the beach, half in the water itself, waiting. She reasoned that she didn't want to make his trip not worth it, if he happened to show up, but perhaps it was something else, too. She was lonely, for one -- she lacked a single friend, aside for the idiot she waited for. The long days alone were maddening enough, and the promise of a familiar friend offered reprieve from her isolation. Maybe, if she was honest, she was excited to see him again and hear his outlandish adventures. Whatever it was, Nerina stayed in place, tail lashing wildly behind her.
It was so cold.
A particularly shrill gust of wind send a horrible, deep frost through her veins, her mouth gaping open in shock. Her lungs ached, breath snatched by icy claws. A shiver ran up her spine as she flailed, pushing further into the ocean. No, nope, screw this, she wasn't going to die for the dum-
"Excuse me!"
Her head snapped sharply towards the right, where a soft voice had come from, revealing a small flutter. No, she was something more than just an everyday flutter, but that hardly mattered enough for her to wonder further. Nerina's eyes widened before sharply turning into a confused, irritated scowl; what in the world was the mare doing out here, in such a horrific storm?
Well, what was Nerina doing out here?
"I-" The winged mare shivered and tucked her chin against her neck. "Ohhhh, wow, um-" She interrupted herself with another sharp shudder, hooves dancing in place in what Nerina assumed was an attempt to generate some sort of heat. "Sorry- have you seen a tall stallion t-trotting by? He has f-flames on him, hard t-to miss."
Nerina squinted at the mare, eyes trailing away from the pale horse and back to the forest edge. "No," she answered quickly. "W-wish I had -- sounds like someone a-awfully useful right now." There was a pause between the two, where both shifted and wiggled in place to fight the cold. Nerina tossed her head back towards the mare, her ears flattening against the wind..
"Have you seen a s-stallion with, uh," she struggled to remember anything to define Lance by, her brain struggling to keep up. "He has a silk head piece," she finally landed on. The flutter-something shook her head, brows furrowed.
"I can't say I-I have, I'm sorry."
Damn. Nerina snorted. "It's fine. For the best, really." Another sharp, frigid snap of cold up her spine, another reminder she needed to leave, soon. Her eyes turned back towards the mare, a flash of sympathy finding its way into her heart. The poor thing was both tiny, and clearly reaching her limit. She also looked afraid, once Nerina took the time to properly scan her face. While Nerina could disappear into the watery depths, the winged mare had less of a chance to find safety before her body would give out.
"Hey," Nerina called over the wind. The mare had been staring back towards the forest, her turning to meet the mer's gaze. "I'm sure whoever he is wouldn't want you to freeze to death. I know of a cave on the beach edge you can camp out in, until the worst of this blizzard passes."
The mare looked conflicted, fluttering her wings and dancing in place as her mouth tightened into a thin line. Her head whipped back to the forest, and then to the mer, only managing to nod her head. Quickly, Nerina returned the gesture and pushed off the sand and into the water.
"I'll stay close to the surface. Follow my back fins," she called back before dipping fully underwater. She hoped the mare had heard her, but Nerina wasn't going to waste time by checking. True to her word, she kept close to the surface, allowing her spine fins to peek through the water despite the growingly bitter cold. It was a struggle in itself to not speed through the water, but she managed a moderate pace in hopes the smaller mare would find it easier to keep up. She'd feel awful if she left the mare behind and the poor thing ended up freezing to death...
She spotted the indent of the land's edge into what she remembered was the shallow tunnel into the cave and popped her head over the surface to check her surroundings. She was met both with a horrible blast of wind to her face, and the sight of wide, bewildered eyes from the mare she was leading.
"Get in!" Nerina called, tossing her head towards the open mouth of a dark cave. The mare wasted no time, hurrying forward with clumsy, frozen steps. She stumbled into the cave and paused, casting a glance towards the mer with grateful, warm eyes.
"Thank you! I'm Serendipity! I hope to see you again!" The mare shouted over the wind, barely audible. Nerina nodded shakily and flailed a hoof out of the water, motioning for the mare to go inside.
"I'm Nerina! Stay alive!"
The moment Serendipity vanishd into the cave she was gone into the depths of the ocean. She promised herself to check on the cave again, once the blizzard subsided. Right now, however, she needed to get warm and get out of the bloody storm.
[WC]: 1052
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