There are only a few more nights left like this one. Areane can feel it. She doesn’t know how or why; the cool winds of autumn haven’t blown this far west yet. Tephra’s sweltering heat guards them from it for now, and tonight is warm and blanketed in a velvet-dark sky full of stars. The moon is gone, leaving the smaller celestials to guard the night. It nearly conceals the young pegasus mare, her onyx coat and the long shadows from the jungle melding together so that even the faintest of Areane’s glow would have remained hidden.
The only one who might know to find her here is her brother, Starros, because this place isn’t far from where their parents usually rest.
Tarian had only two things that he asked of his children: to be cautious in the presence of strangers and to fly only in daylight.
Areane did understand, and for nearly two years, she has obeyed her father’s requests. The first had been easy to do after Loess had sunk. She had taken her first trip out into the world, ready to explore the Common Lands; but she hadn’t been prepared to leave behind her family. To never see them again would have shattered her. She had been fortunate where many had not. Starros had found her frantically wandering the Forest and the two of them had huddled together underneath Winter’s watchful gaze until their parents came to claim them.
Since then, she hasn’t gone far.
Until tonight.
Tonight she wanders out from the umbra, and ventures towards where she has often spotted her twin. Her glittering wings began to spread out, appreciating the way that the trees had grown more sparse here. "Starros?” she calls out in a hushed tone, loud enough for him to hear her and yet quiet enough to not disturb anyone that may be slumbering nearby. If her voice doesn’t reach him, she reverts back to a foalhood tactic at getting Starros' attention. A creation made of dried leaves and broken twigs twine together in the shape of an opossum - an animal they had spied countless times in Loess - that begins to skulk the shadows in search of her brother.
The only one who might know to find her here is her brother, Starros, because this place isn’t far from where their parents usually rest.
Tarian had only two things that he asked of his children: to be cautious in the presence of strangers and to fly only in daylight.
Areane did understand, and for nearly two years, she has obeyed her father’s requests. The first had been easy to do after Loess had sunk. She had taken her first trip out into the world, ready to explore the Common Lands; but she hadn’t been prepared to leave behind her family. To never see them again would have shattered her. She had been fortunate where many had not. Starros had found her frantically wandering the Forest and the two of them had huddled together underneath Winter’s watchful gaze until their parents came to claim them.
Since then, she hasn’t gone far.
Until tonight.
Tonight she wanders out from the umbra, and ventures towards where she has often spotted her twin. Her glittering wings began to spread out, appreciating the way that the trees had grown more sparse here. "Starros?” she calls out in a hushed tone, loud enough for him to hear her and yet quiet enough to not disturb anyone that may be slumbering nearby. If her voice doesn’t reach him, she reverts back to a foalhood tactic at getting Starros' attention. A creation made of dried leaves and broken twigs twine together in the shape of an opossum - an animal they had spied countless times in Loess - that begins to skulk the shadows in search of her brother.