Ascending to the Stars as one | The Great Accord

[Nashua]

He hasn't been here since the day that Celina (and others) had burned along with Loess.

It's been years since the fire had razed this place, and as Nashua arcs towards the Southern kingdom, he finds little trace that it ever happened. New growth has emerged, and the places that his memory had filled with smoke were suddenly clear. From where Nashua flies above, the canyons and steppes of the South sprawled out below him. The old desire for adventure flares in his wandering blood, and his green eyes take in views that they hadn't been able to last time.

When he does land, he is greeted by a gray stallion draped with a pair of silver wings and several scars. "I've come for the coronation of Queen Cheri," says one pegasus to the other, and Tarian regards the striped one with familiar blue eyes. "I know," says the Loessian, as he peers at the striped stallion with a searching gaze. What he is looking for makes Nash feel uneasy as he glances back to the other - who introduces himself as Tarian - as he steps aside to allow him into Loess. The short trek that ensues reveals many things: this is a cousin, he learns. Born from the same land that his mother had fled.

Like Nashua, he is a grandson of Valerio and Aletta.

"We will talk after," the stoic horse tells him, and Nashua curious to know more, agrees.

Their is a small group gathered to witness the ascension of his niece to the throne of Loess. Some of the faces Nashua recognizes, despite the length of time since he has last seen them. Lady Oceane, he remembers from the Forest, when he had still been a colt. It had been the first time that he had encountered his mentor, Leilan, as well. Reave - his youngest brother - is among the crowd and the glittering onyx horse is a face that Nashua recalls from the Isle. Obscene, the leader of the Pampas (and too close to his conniving sister for him to truly get comfortable), the one who had healed his Thane. The silver warrior who had greeted him stands nearby.

They all seem to have questions for his niece, but Nashua, has none.

Nash settles himself among the crowd of horses, and then looks for Cheri. She - the girl born in a great wood - has always been destined for greater things. Nashua smiles softly, feeling a surge of pride for the daughter of his brother, and waits quietly, ready to bear witness to them.

NASHUA