Jetta NOTES: 620 words, crossing for both Jetta and Blossom tagged

Jetta paced on the edge of the water, hooves dancing just out of reach from the lapping waves. She paused and raised her head. She looked Northward toward the mountains. She could still feel the stones dug into her hooves, the exhaustion of not just pulling her own body up the winding cliffs, but pushing Blossom up them as well.
The filly slept not far from the ocean. She lay curled up in a patch of beach grass, peacefully unaware of her mother’s anxious thoughts. Blossom had eagerly agreed with Asami’s suggestion to swim to the islands, but Jetta doubted she understood how difficult it would be.
Soft slivers of light lit up the tips of the mountains as the sun started to rise above the waves. Were the humans even still looking for them? Probably not, but even beyond the mountains fear clung to the seal bay mare’s heart. It made her flighty, panicked, and she worried that this constant dread might kill her if it continued. Crossing to the islands was the only way to ensure that she and Blossom could never be found. They could never be separated.
Jetta turned her gaze Southward, to the islands that awaited them. The wild mare they had met told them the location to swim toward, and how long it would take to get there. Asami seemed sure they could make it, and Jetta tried to let that soothe her fears. Blossom was just under two years old, and despite her strengthening in the time they traveled, the mare feared she would not make the crossing.
They would need to cross soon. Her eyes narrowed with that realization and she shook her head of those thoughts. The water was still at low tide, and she hoped the calm waves would hold for their swim.
Jetta plodded over to her daughter. She nuzzled the young mare’s forelock and whispered her name. Blossom blinked awake and rose her head groggily.
“Wha? Hmm.. What’s up,” she said through a stifled yawn.
“You should get up and eat. We’re leaving soon,” Jetta replied.
Blossom drew herself up and shook the sand from her fur. She slowly began to recognize her surroundings. “So we’re really going, then?”
“Yes. We’ll be safest on the islands, safe from… from them.” Jetta did not say the word. “And I will be behind you the entire way. Now eat,” she insisted, bumping her daughter’s rump with her nose.
Together, they pulled at the clumps of coarse grass clinging to the dunes. It took several patches of the stringy beach grass for Jetta to feel full, and she didn’t know how fast it would burn when they swam. She stayed close to Blossom’s side while she ate her own fill. The sun was fully out of the water by the time they stepped toward the ocean. The pinks had disappeared, the yellow of the sky transitioning to a soft blue.
Jetta looked to her daughter.
“You go first. I’ll follow behind and make sure you make it. It’s no different than you’ve practiced, just a longer distance,” she assured the younger mare.
Blossom nodded and took a few cautious steps into the salt water. It took no more than a minute for blue water to swallow her back. True to her word, Jetta kept close behind, nudging Blossom gently to remind her of her presence. They kicked and paddled away from the mainland, toward the opposite shore.
Jetta tried to believe it wasn’t too far, that Blossom could make it with ease. She struggled to swim slow enough to stay behind her daughter, but did her best not to overtake her. She prayed to the ocean to let them cross safely.

OWL

Success.

It was a long, semi-perilous journey for the pair, but eventually their hooves were able to find the sands of Laipawa Island. The ocean's waves certainly gave the two horses a difficult time, with strong currents pushing them in many different directions, even threatening to overtake them at times . . . but being well-rested, the two were fortunate enough to complete the journey, and almost entirely unscathed. Jetta and Blossom should take care to enjoy their new lives on the islands, for they may not face the same trials should they decide to return to the main land.

moonwings