06-28-2016, 01:59 PM
The forest here isn't so different from Echo Trails. Towering old trees and slender young ones, most of them bare of leaves and heavily laden with snow. Little clearings here and there, where I can see more of the sky than just glimpses of grey peeking through interlaced branches. I've come across a few frozen-over streams, the ice too thick to paw through and reach the bit of water still managing to flow beneath the surface. This latest one is the same, too long frozen to break through. That's something I like about home; we've got a nice river running through our herd land that still flows, and I'd much rather drink than munch on snow.
Still. I'm damn thirsty, so I scoop up a mouthful of the crunchy white and follow the stream. Maybe it'll flow into a nice little pond or a lake, or even a big river that's still liquid all the way up. And maybe I'll find someone to talk to along the way. I'd hate to go home and have to tell my dads I'd gone all the way to the Forest and all I'd done was wander around.
Wandering might be fine for my aunt, Daeryssa. My cousin Tycho seems to enjoy it too. Me, though? I don't really like being on my own, and experiences are more fun when you have someone to share them with. That's the whole point of being out and about even in this weather, after all! I could be curled up against dragon skin, keeping nice and cozy and listening to Grandma's stories. But we came all this way to Beqanna, and I'm damn well going to make some friends. Get to know people. Maybe even...I mean, someday maybe even find someone to love. If I'm lucky.
And brave. I've seen what love can do to people when it goes wrong. Still Dad is so much happier now that he has Papa back. Aunt Ryss is much happier too, now that she broke free of her self-imposed imprisonment and fell for Uncle Zuzu. So. Maybe it's worth the risk. I guess it doesn't matter at this point. I'm young yet, only about four in this body according to Grandma. There's plenty of time to worry about things like love later.
With a sigh, I walk on, searching for some sign of life. Snow begins falling gently, dainty flakes catching on my white hair and lashes, lingering on the platinum-pale roaning that frosts my almost black coat and making most of my body look even lighter than usual. Still I wander, finally coming to the end of the stream, where it empties into a lake. The water is no less frozen here, but something more determined or gifted than I am has carved out some of the ice and left a place to drink. It's already started to freeze again, crystals forming on the surface and turning water to slush. I'd take slush over snow any day, so I lower my head to drink deep, my thick forelock obscuring my vision a little, falling over one gold eye.
Still. I'm damn thirsty, so I scoop up a mouthful of the crunchy white and follow the stream. Maybe it'll flow into a nice little pond or a lake, or even a big river that's still liquid all the way up. And maybe I'll find someone to talk to along the way. I'd hate to go home and have to tell my dads I'd gone all the way to the Forest and all I'd done was wander around.
Wandering might be fine for my aunt, Daeryssa. My cousin Tycho seems to enjoy it too. Me, though? I don't really like being on my own, and experiences are more fun when you have someone to share them with. That's the whole point of being out and about even in this weather, after all! I could be curled up against dragon skin, keeping nice and cozy and listening to Grandma's stories. But we came all this way to Beqanna, and I'm damn well going to make some friends. Get to know people. Maybe even...I mean, someday maybe even find someone to love. If I'm lucky.
And brave. I've seen what love can do to people when it goes wrong. Still Dad is so much happier now that he has Papa back. Aunt Ryss is much happier too, now that she broke free of her self-imposed imprisonment and fell for Uncle Zuzu. So. Maybe it's worth the risk. I guess it doesn't matter at this point. I'm young yet, only about four in this body according to Grandma. There's plenty of time to worry about things like love later.
With a sigh, I walk on, searching for some sign of life. Snow begins falling gently, dainty flakes catching on my white hair and lashes, lingering on the platinum-pale roaning that frosts my almost black coat and making most of my body look even lighter than usual. Still I wander, finally coming to the end of the stream, where it empties into a lake. The water is no less frozen here, but something more determined or gifted than I am has carved out some of the ice and left a place to drink. It's already started to freeze again, crystals forming on the surface and turning water to slush. I'd take slush over snow any day, so I lower my head to drink deep, my thick forelock obscuring my vision a little, falling over one gold eye.