walking away from death (open to all)

She passed him silently, and thought that was the end of it. She felt a great relief in knowing she could leave this strange, sickly beast behind her, and forget him in the light of younger, stronger unicorns. But alas, it was not to be; he called out to her in a voice as frightful as his visage, and for a second she considered pretending she had not heard. But she had stopped at the sound of his voice, and there was no graceful way to keep going, without him knowing she was intentionally ignoring him. And, and much as she wanted to, she did not have the courage to try. So, hiding her disgust and nerves as best she could, she pivoted and faced him, her silver eyes wary.

He was smiling, and Sanctify took heart from that, but she knew enough, naive though she was, to know even the unkind could hide behind smiles. She offered one in return, shy and forced. "Forgive me, sir, I did not expect someone out here in this solitude to want to talk. I only thought to..." she trailed off nervously, "To give you your privacy." It was rather weak, but believable, she thought; was that not why she had come out here? To have time alone to think? She swished her long leonine tail, the blue hairs flashing amongst the sea of white.

She did not know what to say; she was not much for talking, and had rarely encountered strangers without her mother present to lead the conversation. She was at a loss, not wanting to continue the conversation, but not knowing an elegant way to dismiss herself. Finally, awkwardly, she tried, "Do you live around here, sir? I am not from the area." She had thought about giving her name, but saw no reason to do so unless he offered his first, or asked her directly.