[private] thats all i know so far

[Areane]

Areane was still young, and therefore, prone to strong ideas. Perhaps that would be something she carried with her all her life. Her upbringing hadn’t been that much different from Link’s. From her mother, the young pegasus had learned a love of the wind and the freedom that came from soaring with it. She reveled in places undiscovered, and there was a certain thrill from learning something new. From her father, who most of the time was stoic and unmoving, Areane learned the stories of ancestors who did their part to make the world they left behind a better one.

And perhaps there was a touch of Tarian’s pride in her, because when she gazed at the sky at night, she dreamed of having a place of her own amongst the stars. It was where the truly brilliant souls went to rest, he had told her. It was the place where those who had sacrificed and struggled and endured truly got to shine.

Someday, she tells herself. Someday, she will earn her place there.

It’s what drives her so far to find the remaining the Loessians. It’s what keeps her going, long after her wings are tired and her muscles are sore. The promise that she might be able to actually help someone keeps her moving.

For a minute, it feels like she has done that. Link’s smile broadens and her own grows in confidence. She has vowed to find them, and while he is only one, he is a start. The first in a series of dead-ends that she has encountered time and time again. But the moment - like happiness itself - is a fleeting one and Areane goes chasing it, stubbornly refusing to allow either of them to sink into sorrow.

"My parents are in Tepra,” she tells him gently, hoping that he might understand her meaning. It is where they live; Areane considers herself a resident of the wider world. "And I’ve flown over the outer islands, several times. I haven’t had any luck at finding any Loessians there, nor the Common Lands.”

Her dark wings tighten around her lean sides, reflecting their blue sheen in the sunlight. Her mind races, trying to formulate a plan. She glances quickly back to the young shifter. "Have you tried any of the kingdoms?” It's only after that he tugs another leaf from them that she remembers her manners, and tries to shake out the remaining ones by fluttering them. "I'm never going to get them all out," she laments softly to her companion with a far more girlish expression than the sharp look that Areane had just given him a moment ago (making her look so like her Champion sire, a former Commander and once-heir to a proud kingdom), "but thank you for trying."

@Link