Aela can recall little of the day that Heartfire brought her to Taiga.
There is no memory of the silver mare from the River and even less of what happened that day by the crashing waves on Beqanna's wild shore. She has no recollection of the dark stallion that chased after her (though she has retained a weariness for water and aversion to coastlines). If she remembers anything at all, it is only Beryl's dark that enveloped her and took her away from a life she might have otherwise led (and that is how Lilliana had wanted it - a small sliver of hope in that Aela would never know of her or Wolfbane).
What Aela remembers are those she considers the most important in her young life: Kota and Heartfire.
It's been months since she has last seen her foster mother but the spotted mare is often among the thoughts of the golden girl. Leaving Taiga (and the entirety of the North) has been the best decision she has yet made but separating from Kota hadn't been as easy as she had anticipated. After the Pangean attack on Nerine and the magical barrier fell across the North, the striped filly had followed Straia on a path that she had assumed would lead to her eventual ascent to...
Well, to what was what Aela was still attempting to figure out.
But she still follows the advice of the once-Chamber queen and strolls easily through the cracks and caverns of ravined Pangea in a confident manner. The almost-palomino has little to concern herself with. Her flaxen tail brushes away the rising heat of the day and the insects it brings along with it. Aela goes searching for the small river that cuts across the arid landscape but she becomes sidetracked by a call on the breeze.
A familial one that brings the start of a genuine smile on her pale lips.
She finds herself still smiling when comes around the corner to find her spotted dam. Words still don't come easily though she practices earnestly. And so she falls into the old habit of sending an echo, of her memories with Kota when they existed like ghosts that haunted the Taigan fog. Her head tilts - a sign that more memories will follow - and Aela shares with her some of the sights within Pangea - the armored horses, the dragon-like ones, numerous star-marked ones (those legionary descendants of Carnage). The empty silence that follows is explanatory enough as her blue eyes peer curiously at her mother.
Where had @[kota] been all this time?
<3