Take notice of what light does...to everything.

[lilliana]

She wants to be anywhere other than Taiga.

The light in the northern forest feels like it is growing dimmer by the day, the shadows casting longer despite the fact that spring brings warmth and life and renewal to their wood. Lilliana wants to be away from the tension that broods in there. She wants to be away and so she goes, following a quiet brook that bubbles its satisfaction with springtime next to her. The further she goes away from Taiga, the more that scents and sights and smells of other places come back to her, the brighter the sun gets. It feels warm on her copper hide and it is a startling revelation to Lilliana that this is first time she has felt it in months.

Had the previous winter truly been that cold and desolate?

At some point, the redwoods become less and less dense. Eventually, they disappear altogether and give way to the other important landmarks of Beqanna: the rolling hills of Loess and the mighty mountains of Hyaline on either side of her. But even those aren't enough to taunt her away from her thoughts - that even though she leaves the shadows of Taiga behind her, they linger long after in her mind.

She doesn't mean to go to the Field. She doesn't mean too but the Forest is a place she avoids entirely and there is no allure in the Meadow for her this spring day. No matter how sweetly it might beckon, Lilliana can't bring herself to go where the height of the season is at its peak. So she keeps going with no destination in mind, just intent on walking. There is only the desire to keep herself moving.

It's a name that catches her memory, which causes a daintily-tipped ear to flick in its direction. This is the Field - there are many voices on any given day. This voice, however, is bright and full of the promise that the day has yet to bring - this voice is familiar and yet somehow different since the last time she has heard it. Lilliana stops and hears it again, that singsong voice brimming with enthusiasm and vitality and when the Taigan mare takes a few steps off her trail - she realizes she has been here before. 

Lilliana continues through the concealment of the branches and brambles that keep her away from Ruth and before she can greet the filly, she hears the deep baritones of Aten greeting the winged-child and.. Brine. Lilli remembers the roan mare from their last meeting and her vivacious daughter. The copper mare comes through the treeline, calling gently to golden Aten and his son - a boy who she thinks represents the best of both his parents. There is an appreciation behind her blue eyes as she takes him in, thinking that the colt is a representation of the future that she and the Champion are working towards. "Aten," she greets kindly before turning her attention the golden filly, "Have you learned to fly yet, Ruth?"

There is another mare that approaches, a lovely girl who smells of wild cliffs and seaspray. Nerine. Lilliana nods a greeting to Eurwen before feeling her concerned expression come to rest on Brine as she speaks, feeling her heart weigh down with each word that she says. Lilli doesn't frown but she feels herself wishing that she know Brine better - well-enough to offer a mother comfort who is seeking to provide a better life for her child.

The ultimate sacrifice of a parent.

Lilliana is quiet, contemplative as she thinks. She tries to find a compromise, a way to ease all those jagged edges of Brine's pain that shows on her dark face. Sometimes, there isn't one to be found. But sometimes, she thinks as she glances next to the golden Champion that she come stand beside, there might be one. 

A deep breath as the chestnut mare gathers those thoughts, formulates them into an idea. For a moment, Lilli wishes they would go anywhere other Taiga. "Perhaps, Aten," she says slowly, "You might take Ruthless to Taiga to meet your other children? And show her the forest?" It's a bold thing she is asking and there is an apology behind those blue eyes, flickering past for saying these words before she has asked permission.

She glances to rose-spotted Eurwen and lets the other half of her idea fall into place. "I'm actually overdue for a visit to a friend in Nerine." And finally, Lilliana turns her attention to the roan mare. "Perhaps Eurwen and I could accompany you there? Taiga and Nerine border each other," she offers. An explanation for the mother. "Trips between the two lands wouldn't be difficult." For how much longer that remains, she doesn't know. The only other place she could recommend would be Ischia with it's heavenly beaches and lovely nereids - with kind Aquaria and Eva who had wanted to make their tropical paradise a haven.

The Diplomat feels the tug of a small smile as she tries to encourage Ruth's mother. "And if isn't what you are seeking, then we can help you find wherever home might be."

@[Aten] @[Brine] @[Eurwen]