Nostrils flaring from the salty air swept up from the ocean, the kelpie stomped her hooves, kicking up sand as she restlessly trotted from side to side. Bowing her head, she scrutinized the white foamy waves that surged over the sand towards them, swirling around her hooves and legs. She inhaled again, sides expanding as she tossed her head back, and waded deeper into the shallows, cautiously following the tug of the retreating waters.
This was new territory, and new territory had the remarkable ability to bring bad things as well as good. But it was water and water was good, water was safe- THIS water was safe, but a little itchy.
A gentle tug from the base of her mane pulled the kelpie from her worries, feeling the near nonexistent weight on her back shift. She nickered, going still as she felt the mermaid’s small hand firmly pat her neck as she stood naturally still, content to survey the beach.
The mermaid on the kelpie’s back was painfully small in comparison to her steed, easily only about as long and as big as one of the horse’s legs. She was more brightly colored too, softer and less fierce looking with long flowing fins; a proper mermaid.
She pushed herself up over the mare’s strong neck, using it as support as she gazed at the water. Patting the kelpie’s neck a little harder than before, she tried to get her attention, pointing at the water as she clicked her tongue. Their nonverbal communication was rough at best, but when one was mute and the other as dumb as a horse, only the simplest of intentions could be understood.
Kelpie refused to budge, eyes closed, oblivious to the mermaid’s desire to wade deeper.
Exasperated, the mermaid heaved a sigh and flicked her tail, trying to shimmy her way from the kelpie’s back. She grabbed fistfuls of the orange fin like mane as her lower body began to slide from the horse’s back, falling unceremoniously into the crashing waves. Sputtering from the rejuvenating cold, her head broke the surface, relishing in the push pull of the waves so close to the beach. A sense of playfulness swept through her as she disappeared under the waves with a flick of her tail, and reappeared letting the waves wash her onto the beach.