Nebulous mist swept over the dense agrarian landscape. A blanket of onyx had settled over the vast clearing, and a young girl paced anxiously about the ellipse. A series of beating hooves snapped her gaze onto the series of pines concealing her location. Beyond the border a mounted figure lurked and ambled, haze billowing over the horse's knees. Hastily, she tugged her hoody over her head and vanished into the sinuous labyrinth of a forest.
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After scanning over the barren area three times, Hazel concluded she was merely delusional with distraught. Behind blurry wells of grief she believed she had spotted a person in the fog. Odyssey shifted and began to graze, her ears disappearing into the thick haze. Illuminated only by the frosty moon, Hazel began to tremble. Unfamiliar surroundings filled her visions, strange noises sounded like alarms and Hazel realized she was lost.
Im such an idiot! She scolded herself, desperately searching for a beacon of humanity in the the deserted woods.
Shivering, due to the arctic chill and the unavoidable fear, Hazel nudged her mare onwards.
Maybe I actually saw someone, Hazel reasoned as the duo wandered.
"You're pretty well trained for a youngster." Hazel commented idly, trying to mask the radiant fear seeping through her voice. A harrowing screech jolted the pair into action, Odyssey leaped into a frantic gallop and Hazel urged her onwards. She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched clumps of thick mane.
"HEY!" A rough, yet unmistakably feminine voice sounded. Hazel's eyes flicked open mere moments before the collision. Adrenaline surgeing, she tugged on the reins and Odyssey swerved, narrowly missing the petite girl in their path.
"YOU ALMOST RAN ME OVER!" She screeched, emiting labourous breaths.
"Um, sorry," Hazel murmered awkwardly, trying to calm her pacing mare. "Look, I'm really lost. Do you know a way out of here?"
The girl stared. Her azure eyes bored into Hazel's skull and she suddenly felt extremely self aware.
"Oh, let's just ignore that you almost trampled me shall we?" She said, evidently irritated.
Hazel sighed. All of a sudden, tears were cascading down her cheeks.
"I'm really sorry. Odyssey just took off I mean -"
"Odyssey?" The girl interjected. Hazel nodded and gestured to her mare.
Exasperated, the girl murmered "Follow me."
The five minute walk stretched like a rubber band in utter silence. Finally, the trio arrived at a barren clearing, similar to the before. However, this one harboured a small firepit, a pile of blankets and a slumbering child. Stunned, Hazel slid off the pinto's back.
"Do you live here?" Hazel inquired, gazing at the miniscule civilization. The girl nodded, slumping onto the array of blankets.
"What's your name?" Hazel asked, crouching on the damp grass.
"Kristen." She replied, pushing back her hood. Her cropped hair was slathered in a coating of dirt, but underneath the layer of brown Hazel indentified a ginger hue. Her startling azure eyes seemed to radiant confidence and her lips were twisting into a contemplative pout.
"I'm Hazel Allens."
"You know you won't get out of here tonight." Kristen announced casually.
"What?"
"You can't leave. It's too dark to know which way you're going for starters. Not to mention the bears."
Hazel gasped "There are bears in here?"
Kristen chuckled.
"No."
Oh. Hazel thought.
"So, how long have you had Odyssey?" Kristen asked, Hazel dected tones of suspicion in her words.
"Well, since this morning."
The girl frowned, Hazel could practically see her suspicion enflate like a balloon.
"Someone gave her to me. Wanted her off his hands."
Kristen leapt upwards. Suddenly, Hazel was being interrogated.
"What did he look like?"
"Did he tell you where he was going?"
"You're in danger."
Her last statement left Hazel hollow.
How can I be in danger? Odyssey's only a horse!
For a while, Kristen was engulfed in thought, a distant gleam in her cerulean orbs. Hazel fiddled idly with Odyssey's bridle. Then she corrected herself.
Shade's bridle.
"So, uh, how do you know my horse?"
Kristen looked at her blankly.
"Loonng story." Kristen muttered, prodding the radiant embers in the stone pit.
Disheartened, Hazel rested upon the thin layers of cloth separating her from the grassy carpet. Guilt lurched in her heart as she contemplated her Mother's reaction to her disapperance, if only she had inherited her rational mind.
Sleep seemed an abstract concept when dozens of threats and thoughts bounced about her head. Instead she gazed at the stars, flickering like candles over her head. The noises of nature streamed through her ears, as did the gentle breathing of her dozing comoanions. With a content sigh, she finally closed her eyes.
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So, um long awaited chapter.
Absolutely unedited and poorly written on a phone. Sorry!
Really important development s here! Hopefully I can edit it when I get home (writing this on the go!)