[private] open up your heart like the gates of hell

[Areane]

Claudius’ excitement isn’t missed by Areane. The dark pegasus feels it and it fuels her own, making her smile come a little easier and making her forget all her earlier reluctance. "I’d like that,” she tells the chestnut sabino earnestly, lengthening her stride to better match his as they waded from the shallows back towards the shore.

She had secret places once, but that had been in Loess. All those places now existed beneath the sea. Her favorite place to watch the sunset. A quiet place nestled among the ravines where she used to like to contemplate her future. A little spot by the shore of the Loessian coast where glowing light blue flowers bloomed and glowed beneath the moonlight.

The thought of finding new ones in Tephra, though, sounds lovely.

Her companion begins to move into a canter, and Areane pushes herself into one as well. There is the wind whipping past her, and the salt permeating all the air that surrounds her that wants to keep her at bay. But the spotted mare answers the other winged horse, "Trying to!” in a laughing reply.

He bucks, and once they come upon the beach, her own slender body twists in excitement.

Areane is still feeling light on her hooves, and therefore dances on her toes, while Claudius continues to speak. Her head tosses in reply, with an impish smile curling at the edges of her lips. "You’ve certainly been to more places than I have,” she reveals, "I’ve only recently started exploring the Common Lands, and I rarely venture further than the Forest.” This trip to the Ruins had been an outlier, and while she had harbored some initial hesitation about coming here, Areane finds herself glad that she has when she smiles up at the handsome alicorn.

"My mother spent some time in Pangea," Areane says with a teasing sideways grin. "So perhaps it can't be that bad?"

@claudius