.Terran.
The journey had been wonderful. Every lazy flap of my wings had felt as if I was shedding a weight I didn’t even know I was carrying. Taiga, for all of its beauty and tranquil peace, had not been a place of deep intrigue and longing for me. The restriction of the canopy overhead had felt like a green cage, while Heda’s offer to entertain Loess as a home kingdom seemed like the key to momentary freedom. It felt natural to be airborne again; I enjoyed the rolling tempo of a canter where only clouds served as a roadway and the fingers of an early spring zephyr plaited my mane and tail.
My only regret, as I banked westward and circled tightly above the sloping hills, was that the journey hadn’t been longer. It felt too soon when my gilded hooves cut smooth crescents into the fertile soil for a landing.
I’d stopped on the crown of a rather prominent knoll, somewhere just inside the borders but not too far ingressed that I would seem eager. From my perch it was easy to see the appeal. Vegetation was neither sparse nor limited in variety here, the outcroppings of jagged, rusty sediment thrust into the sky like red teeth gave it character, and the wind screamed through the tunnels of shallow valleys and grassy embankments. It was as if the sea had been frozen and turned to earth.
I liked it.
With my ivory lips twisted into the semblance of a smile I called for her, Heda. I wouldn’t be disappointed to find another answering in her place (a queen is never bored) but there is the passing hope inside of me that she’ll be here. Something about the navy-and-gold mare had stuck with me since her visit on Ander’s birthday, something that I couldn’t exactly place a finger on, and it seemed to transform into excitement as I waited patiently for a reply.
I want to live, I want to give, I'm a miner for a heart of gold