[private] i've never fallen from quite this high; aten

[Pteron]

finger trips across my cheek----------------
----------------kiss me until i can't speak

Winter’s grip on Taiga has begun to fade. Pteron still shivers most mornings when he wakes, but the deep snows are melting (not that many of them piled up beneath the protected canopy of the redwoods). With the slow stirring of the seasons comes the rousing of life, both that of the territory as well as the flora and fauna within it.

This is the morning that Pteron will meet with Aten, and the tobiano stallion doesn’t delay in his journey to their meeting place. The early sun already shines brightly on clear meadow, and the thin blanket of snow that had fallen a few nights ago is now mostly dampness in the soil. The pegasus holds his pale wings tightly against himself for warmth, and when he finds Aten already waiting for him at the heart of the meadow allows them to fall away in favor of slightly faster movement. He greets the older stallion with a nod of his head. Pteron lacks his mother’s ever-present smile; he is not as given to thoughtless diplomatic niceties as his dam. Pteron smiles when he means it, and he’s not sure if he’ll mean it during this conversation.

Time will tell though.

“I never planned on staying in Taiga forever,” he begins without ado. “You are not the only one whose wishes were ignored when my mother named me as her successor.” Pteron has been trapped here by his position, and then by the impending birth of his daughter with Reia. Now though, Adarra is a yearling, old enough to make her own choices, and most importantly: old enough to be away from her mother. The dun stallion has been waiting, biding his time, and now it is his time to act – assuming that Aten does not object.

“I want you to challenge me for leadership of Taiga.” The stallion says, and his olive eyes search Aten’s face for a response. There is more he wants to say, but it all depends on how the older stallion responds to this admission – this offer.

-- pteron --

@[Aten]