Otter Creek it was alright just to be alive

She doesn't want to complain within earshot of her brother but her feet are throbbing and sore by the time night settles around them, their first break in what feels like ages makes her sigh wearily, but Ibis slinks alongside her brother and keeps watch while he drinks. She isn't nervous of the area because she is too tired to think about it, yet as her gaze slips across a swatch of ominous black upon the horizon Ibis' spine shivers. She thinks about the cute boy from before - Tristan - and feels warmth spread in abundance across her wind-weathered cheeks; she wonders what he is up to, where he has gone, if he has found what he was looking for - and if he ever thinks of her. 

Then, as she turns towards the water to sip and satiate her own thirst, she catches a glance at herself in the ripples left by Okeanos. His reflection warps and bleeds in to her own; neither face is recognizable at first but she blinks away her sleepiness and focuses on the water's surface as it calms, and observes herself. Ibis knows she isn't a child anymore. A study of her features makes her think of mom; they share a symmetry and structure, but there's a new wild quality wrought across her youthful face. She smiles thinly down at her reflection and then quietly dips down to drink.