[private] for every king that died, they would crown another

[Nashua]

Nashua and Yanhua had both been reared on the old stories.

When he and his twin had been small and dusk gave way to darkness, Lilliana would murmur the tales about Paraiso. She used her magic - many times - to show them her favorite places in Murmuring Rivers, her favorite memories of the faces that she had loved so much. Elena, Malachi, Jay and Brielle, Marcelo and Ori, Ruth, even Aletta (that was how Nashua would come to recognize the silver wanderer when she eventually passed through Taiga again) and Valerio - they had all been faces that their mother had been keen on them knowing.

That they understood that while they might be a small band in Beqanna (or at least, they had been then), they were part of something much bigger.

It's still a little unsettling for Nash to see one of them here. Those tales that his mother had told had always seemed so surreal - whimsical in their setting - and the Hersir had always focused on his family here. He has plenty of half-siblings on both sides and Nashua has never made a secret of wishing to meet them. That had seemed like something reminiscent of Lilliana's stories - tales of a valley where the Legacies resided, where the roots of the family went even deeper.

He's glad that his traveling companion is so friendly. She has a shining personality and whatever shadows of doubt that Nash had of this meeting, they evaporate like Taigan fog when it rises to meet the sun. His grin tugs towards one side of his pale lips as she nearly bursts with laughter. The Hersir reciprocated the feeling - the Darkness had ended and the sun had returned. His mate and children were safe. And today, Yanhua would take on their mother's mantle. A bittersweet day, but one that Nash had found himself eagerly awaiting.

The Hersir starts to move, leaving enough space that the champagne mare to walk alongside him.

Nash smiles at Ori again, "I wouldn't mind meeting you twice." Nashua jokes with his cousin. His expression warms towards her when he turns to look at her from over his winged shoulder. "But I'll settle for leading the way to the Festival." The pegasus tosses his head, moving his flaxen forelock to the side of his face. Leilan had placed multiple portals around Taiga and Nerine for those journeying to the Isle; it wouldn't take them long to reach one. Noel had gone ahead - with help from Elegance and Luminesce - with the younger three and the Hersir would join them as soon as he was able.

But he doesn't mind spending a few moments with Ori and the striped pegasus purposefully takes a longer route in hopes to get to know her a little better.

"My mother spoke of you," Nashua offers as an explanation, his voice softening at the mention of the former Guardian. There was little that Lilliana missed within Taiga and Ori's arrival was anything but little. It had stirred something in his dam and while she had answered Nash's questions as best he could, Lilliana's son sensed that she was still hiding something. Could it have something to do with her death?

"So how what do you think about our corner of the world?" Nashua asks good-naturedly.

NASHUA

@Ori