[private] you can't hold back time

[Nashua]

His mind was a storm of troubling thoughts.

The recent visit to Hyaline had revealed to Nashua just how deep Gale and Mazikeen had sunk their proverbial claws into his youngest son, a Northern Prince. It also revealed to Nashua how every horse around him - his mate Noel included - had their own thoughts regarding the Eastern Kingdom and how to deal with them. The Northern Thane - Ciri - was out for blood where it regarded his former half-brother. Wishbone - the Queen of Tephra - had a daughter almost stolen by the Cursed creature and had been attempting to notify all the kingdoms?

As Cheri calls Nash back from his reverie, he wonders if she made it to Loess?

Nash rumbles a low whicker that smokes from his pale nostrils and his distracted expression clears for a moment, as the Freyr catches a glimpse of the filly that she had once been. He blinked and the lean, long-legged girl was once again a mare grown, those hazy days in Taiga long gone. "Cheri," he says, returning the greeting to his niece. A note of affection lingers in his baritone voice, a rare warmth found in a place as cold as the Isle. The young Loessian (Nash can smell the steam of the hot springs and the clarity of the summer on her dark skin) sounds remorseful but the older stallion shakes his blazed head, making it apparent that his niece has nothing to apologize for.

Not with him.

It's only the mention of ill tiding that dims the little joy on his face, and Nash assumes she means the absence of her father. It's rankled him that he can't do more - the striped stallion has searched the entirety of the North and then some. He's spent far too much time away from the Isle as it is, but when he can, Nash searches for his horned twin, refusing that his brother would just simply... vanish. There was more to that story and Nashua didn't care how long it would take. He would discover the truth of what had happened to Yanhua.

For now, though, there is his daughter. Cheri speaks of not coming sooner, but the winged horse gives his head another small shake. "Your Da was very proud of you," he tells Yan's daughter. "First to be accepted to train under Queen Oceane, and then rising through the Loessian ranks." Nashua says, certain that Cheri knew this. Having most of his time taken up by the North and its affairs, he understands why his niece had been away so long. "No apologies. Just tell me how you've been, lass."

@Cheri