06-24-2017, 02:46 PM
tangerine
face to the sun
Amet had changed. They had traveled through the night in near silence, very unlike the playfulness they had indulged in all summer. Tang had not pushed him, and sometimes she too was lost in her own thoughts about that night. On the journey home, she decided she would make more of an effort to broach the topic, and hopefully begin the internal healing process. As she looked at him with concern tightening her features, she worried he would put too much blame on himself for that night.
Tang’s burn, on the other hand, was healing well. She took care to keep it free of dirt and her tail was continuously flicking away any bugs which tried to land there. She bathed in the lake nearly every day and the clean waters were doing her good. The blisters had faded and an itchy scab was all that was left, which was very manageable after the first night of continuous burning sensations.
But the attack and rendered some changes in Tang, she had been spending less time in the mountains summits, and more time with others close by. She slept more in the day than the night and did not enjoy her moments of solitude the way she had before. The dragon king had suggested the journey and she had jumped at the opportunity. It would be good for them both.
As the pair travels south at a leisurely pace the landscape grows different yet familiar. Tang realizes she had been to this part of the world before. Briefly she had visited for the Hills Games last winter and the memory puts a smile on her face.
The sun is rising over the hills in front of them, and Tang decides to break the invisible barrier that had formed between them. She comes to stand beside him and rest a golden shoulder along the scales of his own. “It’s lovely here.” He says softly and she agrees.
But before she can say anymore, the sounds and scent of an approving horse diverts them. Tang puts a little space between herself and Amet before the other horse comes into view- she didn’t want to do anything to make Amet appear less than the king and diplomat that he was. Tang is half expecting to see the little spotted mare who had opened the week of games last winter, but she is not overly surprised when another appears, amusing she is just another resident. But before Tang can slip in her own pleasantries (and tell Amet that the queen is Crota) the wind around them is changing and a second resident of Loess lands in front of them.
But this is not only a resident, but a Queen it is soon made clear. And the winged mare looks very familiar too. The realization dawns on Tang and she smiles warmly at Heda, whom she had seen during the week of games collecting pebbles alongside herself and Aurora. But now is not the time to discuss such things and she keeps the realization to herself. Maybe if they end up staying for the day she will find a time to mention it, but now Amet had more important things to discuss with his neighbor queen.