[open] Ice forged in fire - any

[Nashua]

NASHUA

Nash knows he isn’t supposed to wander this far.

But the seasons are changing again - something he can feel clearly enough in the brisk mornings - and when the world is changing, he should see it for himself. He can hear his older sister, Celina, confirm this in the back of his mind. Can see the sharp nod of approval with her predatory-like teeth glinting in the daylight.

Besides, his Mother hasn’t been home for a few days now.

It’s part of the reason he roams so far. His sister tells him and Yanhua that they shouldn’t worry so he tries not to.

But the nights feel very long and the cold seems to reach his bones in a way he’s never experienced before. So since the world is changing and his world is changing, Nashua thinks he should see it. The flaxen pegasus hadn’t been able to find Yanhua and that upsets him more than it usually does - Yanhua losing himself in the Redwood Forest wasn’t an uncommon occurrence.

Yan’s absence upsets him more than he cares to tell the trees and so he decides to try the River instead.

For a few hours, Nashua wanders. He roams the trails and slips between the trees. He rather enjoys this freedom - the coming and going and everything in between. It makes him forget (temporarily) about the empty spaces in his home.

Nashua emerges from underneath a bush, having followed a small squirrel that skittered from the trunk of one tree to another. He hears a muffled sound that makes one ear prick and he turns a corner to find an animal he’s never seen before. The boy stops and blows his exclamation through his nostrils, raising his head to peer at the strange creature. The metallic scent of iron is strong and Nashua stops, pressing his wings uneasily against his ribs.

He fully emerges to come beside a woman (with wings, like him!) and he edges a little closer to her, curious about the creature but not wanting to get too close. His green eyes look up to her amber ones, widening a little. "It can read minds too?”

Nashua - not sure exactly what his thoughts are at this moment - tells himself to stop thinking.

and for every king that died
they would crown another

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