Gilded Bay see the mountains where they meet, smothering me

the ocean is so vast and beautiful; it strikes her all at once as she stands in the water, as still as she can manage. she takes in a slow, deep breath, and watches her breath cloud in front of her as she exhales. she hardly feels the cold — which should probably concern her more. but she feels at peace.
until she hears her brother calling for her from the shore. she hesitates, heart suddenly racing again. if she turns around, she knows she'll go back to him, and that she'll never distance herself again. it's what she wants, more than anything, but something stops her. maybe the knowledge that she is cursed, she is twisted; she will love him too fiercely, grip too tightly, and he will drown in her cold embrace. if she turns around, she will destroy him. she's certain of it.
his desperate please replays in her head. she turns around, choking on a sob, and slowly makes her way back to athris.