[open] From the ashes a fire shall be woken; Pteron, any

[Pteron]

finger trips across my cheek----------------
----------------kiss me until i can't speak

Pteron loses sight of Aodhan as soon as he takes off, though the streaking golden shape that he’d seen from the corner of his eye suggests that his companion will be taking an alternate route. The thrill of flight sends a shiver down his blue spine, as does the pull and strain of his wing beats as he quickly gains altitude. The clearing where dragon-Aodhan had landed makes for easy take-off; far better than if he’d been in the heart of the woods.

An eagle joins him just after he crosses the Sylvan border, soaring up from the earth and toward him in a way that makes him suspect it might be Aodhan in another form. Pteron is sure of that when the eagle becomes a falcon, one that catches up with him easily, and then transforms into a little bird that tucks itself into his mane. Pteron laughs, though the sound is carried away by the whipping wind, and is still laughing when he touches down in the soft white sand beside the parrot that is Aodhan.

“I do,” he chuckles, using one front hoof to playfully toss a light shower of sand in the birds’ direction as he teases, “A cheater!”

The beach where they’d landed is not one that Pteron has been to before. He usually circles overhead until he finds Aquaria, and it is almost odd to stand on the white shore and not have her in sight. The nereids keep close watch on their shores though, and the tobiano stallion is sure that they will not be alone for long. In the meantime, he glances back toward the emerald green bird, and asks with a gleam in his olive eye and mock sobriety in his voice:

“Is that the shape you wore when you wooed Eva?” He grins, adding with false concern“What would that make your children? Puffins? Seagulls?”

@[Aodhan]

-- pteron --