01-13-2019, 08:28 AM
Bleary olive eyes blink open slowly; Pteron is still half in his dream world as he begins to rise to his feet. Overlong legs and clumsy movements are evidence of his youth, and as the pale yearling finally stands and clutches his feathered wings to his sides there is an eager smile on his face that is only possessed by the very young (and perhaps the very foolish).
His dream had been a dream, but it had also been real. Pteron is absolutely sure of this.
He is as sure that the Ice Queen needs him as he is that it is just past dawn.
The sun hovers over the hills to the west and Mother has already left him. Her patrols start early in the morning and they haven't slowed with her pregnancy. Pteron is excited about the idea of a younger sibling, but doesn't yet understand how much his younger sister's arrival will change life has he knows it.
With Mother and Father both elsewhere, Pteron makes the decision, feeling rather adult as he does.
He will go help the Ice Queen. She needs him, and this is his chance to show his parents how responsible he is, how ready for a sibling. Rolling his thin shoulders, and putting on a scowl that he is very sure looks determined and brave, Pteron sets off.
His wings, though growing stronger every day, are still not ready to bear his weight on a journey of any significant length. Soon, his parents promise him, soon.
Soon feels like forever away.
The dun colt travels by foot along beaches he has never seen, beside lands he has never visited. Relying only on the memory of his dream, he travels by keeping the ocean ever to his right. When he reaches the river he follows that instead - water always on the right. There were few places to get lost in the Brilliant Pampas, but the young colt recalls his father's lessons. This will make getting home easier too, he reminds himself.
And won't they be so excited when he does, the hero of a Quest!
About a third of the way up the river, Pteron disappears.
There is a disembodied sigh in the place where he had been, and a puff of cloudy air to accompany it. With a soft huff he continues forward, trying his best to become visible as he does. He flickers back for a moment right at the edge of a broad field, but it is a fleeting victory. The yearling continues across the snowy field, so focused is he on this task that he doesn't notice that there is someone - or rather, some<i>thing</i> - else already there.
He settles to wait, nothing but an imprint in the shallow snow. Leaning against the conveniently placed rock, Pteron shelters from the wind as best he can, his excited grin growing wider.
His dream had been a dream, but it had also been real. Pteron is absolutely sure of this.
He is as sure that the Ice Queen needs him as he is that it is just past dawn.
The sun hovers over the hills to the west and Mother has already left him. Her patrols start early in the morning and they haven't slowed with her pregnancy. Pteron is excited about the idea of a younger sibling, but doesn't yet understand how much his younger sister's arrival will change life has he knows it.
With Mother and Father both elsewhere, Pteron makes the decision, feeling rather adult as he does.
He will go help the Ice Queen. She needs him, and this is his chance to show his parents how responsible he is, how ready for a sibling. Rolling his thin shoulders, and putting on a scowl that he is very sure looks determined and brave, Pteron sets off.
His wings, though growing stronger every day, are still not ready to bear his weight on a journey of any significant length. Soon, his parents promise him, soon.
Soon feels like forever away.
The dun colt travels by foot along beaches he has never seen, beside lands he has never visited. Relying only on the memory of his dream, he travels by keeping the ocean ever to his right. When he reaches the river he follows that instead - water always on the right. There were few places to get lost in the Brilliant Pampas, but the young colt recalls his father's lessons. This will make getting home easier too, he reminds himself.
And won't they be so excited when he does, the hero of a Quest!
About a third of the way up the river, Pteron disappears.
There is a disembodied sigh in the place where he had been, and a puff of cloudy air to accompany it. With a soft huff he continues forward, trying his best to become visible as he does. He flickers back for a moment right at the edge of a broad field, but it is a fleeting victory. The yearling continues across the snowy field, so focused is he on this task that he doesn't notice that there is someone - or rather, some<i>thing</i> - else already there.
He settles to wait, nothing but an imprint in the shallow snow. Leaning against the conveniently placed rock, Pteron shelters from the wind as best he can, his excited grin growing wider.