The change had been happening slowly, and with the world plunged into near-darkness Catryn wasn’t even sure when it began. She’d spooked something awful when she caught the glimmer of light in the corner of her eye while walking one day and had to lie down somewhere for a long time before her heart stopped feeling like it would burst right out of her chest.

One day, if the sun returns, she’ll be thankful she gained her sight while the world was in darkness - thankful for the ease of the transition that it allowed her.

Right now, though, she’s just trading a world of utter blackness for a world of almost shadows.

It’s a confusing thing to happen and certainly not one that Catryn had ever expected. She’d grown accustomed to navigating the world relying on her other senses and she did not know what had changed. Why was this happening to her?

She’d noticed the absence of her wings when the sun above ceased to shine but once looking around stopped being so frightening, Catryn looked back and found her pink and black sides were bare. She knows the names of the colours on her coat and in the world (though she cannot see them well at the moment) from Sixteen’s descriptions.

Her black eyes blink and Catryn slowly moves through the meadow, with more care than she had when she was blind. Now, she can see the shadows move. Can see the figures that correspond with the sound of hoofbeats she’s heard all her life. It is tempting to close her eyes and shut out this strange new world but - much like those first few attempts at flying - she tries to be brave. Without Targaryen here to fill the silence, she whispers soft words of encouragement under her breath as she takes a tour around the meadow and sees everything for the first time.

At first, Catryn had been given her eyesight and her wings had been lost. It had not felt like much of a lost because she had needed to learn how to adjust. She had learned quickly that the darkness was not how the world normally is and it had felt like a blessing. A way to ease her into the new world she had discovered.

And then the sun had returned.

It had been frightening at first - Catryn had actually hidden in the forest for the first few days - but then it became wonderful. Her eyes had burned and it was completely overwhelming and she enjoyed every minute of it. Her favourite hobby was just standing or lying (when she got so overwhelmed she couldn’t even stand) and just watching. It didn’t matter if no one wandered by, there was just so much happening. The sway of the grass in the sunlight that she had only felt. The movement of clouds across the sky. The flint of light on the surface of water or leaves.

The stars.

She’s finally stopped crying whenever she catches something new, at least. Or, so she thinks.

Today is another day spent observing, a blissful smile on her face. There’s a new halo above her head, faint in the light of day, and her sunlight wings have returned though she’s been so busy just looking at everything that she hasn’t practiced flying again even though she should.

As if summoned by those thoughts, a familiar scent comes to her. She closes her eyes to focus on it, and when she opens them again she begins to walk, following it as best as she can but the scents of different horses cross each other. After a while, there’s a white-patched pegasus ahead - she’s coming up behind him and she thinks… is that him?  She pauses, hesitates, tilting her head - but decides there’s nothing for it. If it’s not him, no harm, right? She’ll know as soon as he speaks if it's the same kind voice she thinks of often.

“Targaryen?”

Delight easily replaces the uncertainty when he turns and greets her - her smile shining just as brightly as the wings at her side. She missed out before, she thinks, not seeing the warmth of his eyes - but it matches his voice so perfectly that it doesn’t surprise her. A small laugh escapes her at his question and she turns to look at those wings, enjoying the ability to do so. To be able to see for herself what others are referring to. “Not much, they disappeared when the sun did so I couldn't fly that whole time.”

Catryn doesn’t want to look at her wings - she wants to look at him. To see the smile that she had heard in his voice when he taught her how to fly. She barely wants to blink as she gets this first chance to take her friend in. “And then… I’ve been a little distracted since its return.” Her black eyes trace his face, the patterns of his coat, the way the feathers of his wings shimmer, and her nose crinkles with her smile. “I should’ve known you’d be handsome.” The compliment comes out easily and right in this moment, she doesn’t think to be embarrassed about it. It is the truth, after all, and one of her new joys is speaking these truths she’s discovering with her sight.

Her eyes dance a little as she moves on, curious about how he’s been since they parted. From what she's understood, everyone had a chance to live in the world she had been in for the first three years of her life. “How did you find it, living in the dark?”

Catryn is distracted enough by her own survey of him that she doesn’t notice how his eyes trail over her body. She assumes she looks much the same as last time - just a little older, a little taller - and can’t imagine that there is much new to take in, but she is fascinated by everything about him. She brightens at his compliment, looking down at her legs for a moment, catching just the edge of the swirling nebula that is housed on her chest. “Yeah? You think?” She poses a little, lifting her head again and her smile feels permanent.

Catryn doesn’t think too much of it, but she’s glad Targaryen doesn’t think she’s ugly. She’s not too bad.

Concern flickers through her expression, causing her bright smile to falter slightly. She hates the idea of him being lost in the darkness, even if it is something that he chuckles about now. Catyrn knew what it was like to feel afraid of your surroundings, but she had just been in a position where she had to keep pushing through no matter what. If she got lost, she needed to either sit there forever or try to find her way back home somehow. And after a while, she had gotten pretty good at finding her way.

Her grin softens when he calls her brave, eyes not moving from his. “I don’t know if it was brave, I didn’t really have a choice.” This feels a little ungrateful to say, though, even though she does not mean for it to be - so she follows it up with a warm “But thank you. I like the idea of you thinking I’m brave.”

Another grin and she can feel this one spread through her entire body, warmth that has nothing to do with the sun in the sky or the light of her wings that mimics it.

“I’m glad you came out the other side of it okay, even though you got lost for a bit. It’s too bad you didn’t find me, I would’ve been able to give you some tips. That would’ve been a good way to start repaying you for teaching me how to fly.”

A soft laugh escapes her when he steps forward to nudge her and tells her that is going to be the first of many compliments. Her black eyes seem brighter than they should, give their colour, and she cannot help but take advantage of the nearness to nudge him right back.

She had liked him on their first meeting, but she enjoys the warmth that spreads through her now and at the idea of future compliments that delight her the same way as she feels when he calls her brave.

Words, though - they escape her for now.

Fortunately she doesn’t have to fumble for words, she can simply watch the way his eyes warm and how it matches the feeling inside her. She had already been smiling, had never even stopped for a moment, but his question turns her entire body luminescent with joy and those sunlight wings unfurl excitedly before curling back at her sides. 

“Very interested! Especially with you up there with me, Targaryen.” Again those boldly spoken truths, not even hesitating to share them. When she does hesitate, it is only to look around the landscape. She’s no idea if they are near to where they had first met, with the river and the trees. “Last time we jumped off of a hill to get going, should we find one again?” Because even though he had been joking with his disappointment, she was terribly out of practice and it may just be like learning all over again.