[open] i was reminiscing just the other day

[Altissima]

Altissima laughs softly when Tarian asks her if she’s ready and then as he stretches his wings yet again - his nerves and worries as plain as the dark spots on her face. She reaches out to him without even consciously thinking to do so, tugging on his mane. “You were an Alliance participant and Champion of an entire kingdom, and yet it’s walking through a jungle that makes you nervous?” Teasing him is something they had done with one another long before anything softer existed between them. There aren’t the same barbs as there once were, of course, but that just makes it all the more comforting. She is eager to move on, to relax in the heat that she has grown to love and prefer. No snow will fall here this winter, unless some cruel act of fate occurs, and she wouldn’t mind leaving all thoughts of frost and chill behind. Her own wings are hidden for now, leaving her blue-tinted sides unadorned as her attention turns to Tephra. “I’ve spent a little bit of time here and the neighbouring islands.” She tells him, even though this is something she has already shared. Idle chatter won’t change the fact that they are here because the kingdom he devoted his life to had been swallowed up by the sea, but it can distract him a little bit as they take their first steps into Tephra. “They have a healing waterfall that would've taken care of that leg of yours in an instant, you know.” But then - he wouldn't have been able to be so stubborn and stoic about it bothering him. Borders have never mattered very much to Altissima, who always had a wandering heart and never any interest in causing trouble - so it never seemed to be much of a problem. She’ll be a little more conspicuous this time, though, with Tarian by her side and two nearly-grown children - though she doesn’t anticipate they’ll have any troubles being allowed to settle here.

image by yoricade