Winter afternoons are most often spent near the hot springs, where the radiant heat of the earth and the water provide a relief from the winds that sweep down from the Hyaline mountains. Today, the wind is not all that comes from the north, and I raise a curious head to better locate the scent on the wind. I do not need to, it seems, as a summoning call reaches my navy ears a moment later.
It takes a moment to untangle my legs and heave myself to my feet. Soon the relief of lying down will be overshadowed by the difficulty of getting up again; my growing belly has already begun to make movement more difficult. Still, the gentle I place against my perlino side is affectionate and gentle, and the responding kick I feel brings a bright smile to my face. I've named him already, though I've not told a soul. Briar.
I do not linger overlong though, knowing that the caller is waiting. I pull my left wing tightly to my side, though the right drags through the shallow snow as I move. It had healed crookedly, and hangs awkwardly despite my best efforts to keep it close. At least my winter coat has grown out to hide the scars, I think as I make my way steadily north. My long blue and yellow hair covers the worst of them - teeth and hoof marks across my neck, withers, and sides, remnants of my time in Sylva.
Moving through a copse of trees, I spot movement ahead, though the pale mare blends well with the snowy hills. "Hello!" I call out, pitching my voice to carry across the rolling hills between us with a familiarity born of experience. This land tends to swallow sound, and so I wait to speak more until I am nearer.
"Welcome to Loess," I tell the fellow pegasus, a warm smile on my face. "I'm Lepis, the Cleric. How can I help you?"
It takes a moment to untangle my legs and heave myself to my feet. Soon the relief of lying down will be overshadowed by the difficulty of getting up again; my growing belly has already begun to make movement more difficult. Still, the gentle I place against my perlino side is affectionate and gentle, and the responding kick I feel brings a bright smile to my face. I've named him already, though I've not told a soul. Briar.
I do not linger overlong though, knowing that the caller is waiting. I pull my left wing tightly to my side, though the right drags through the shallow snow as I move. It had healed crookedly, and hangs awkwardly despite my best efforts to keep it close. At least my winter coat has grown out to hide the scars, I think as I make my way steadily north. My long blue and yellow hair covers the worst of them - teeth and hoof marks across my neck, withers, and sides, remnants of my time in Sylva.
Moving through a copse of trees, I spot movement ahead, though the pale mare blends well with the snowy hills. "Hello!" I call out, pitching my voice to carry across the rolling hills between us with a familiarity born of experience. This land tends to swallow sound, and so I wait to speak more until I am nearer.
"Welcome to Loess," I tell the fellow pegasus, a warm smile on my face. "I'm Lepis, the Cleric. How can I help you?"
