mesec</style>

From behind, I could hear the grasses parting and heralding the approach of somebody else. Where I once would have turned on my heels and greeted whoever it was with a bright smile on my face, I now kept where I was, merely tipping an ear back and bending my neck just enough to catch a glimpse of the other. It was obvious that they meant no harm, for their pace was much too slow to mark them as a threat - not that I would be too frightened anyway, considering I could just zap myself back to the Foothills in a matter of seconds - but when my eyes took in the form of this once thought stranger, a look of surprise and confusion creased my brows.

"... Frost Fyre?"

Sure enough, it was the spotted filly I had seen many times in the past, back before I had left the tundra realm of the Basin. Our times together had never been long, but often, and the hint of a smile curled at the side of my lips as I recalled the time she'd stuck up in my defense against Mauja's daughter. It was a bittersweet memory, one that I was quick to push out of my mind in order to focus on the here and now. It had been nearly a year since then, right? Our bodies had both grown, my own holding a few proud scars from this difficult year, and while I couldn't see any visible differences in the appaloosa other than her increased height and stature, I was sure I'd missed much since my departure.

Finally turning myself around and facing the other yearling, I was quick to close the distance between us, my expression visibly lightening, as if mirroring the recent rise of the sun against the eternal black of night. Even as I carried myself ever closer to her, I couldn't place the exact reason as to why I felt such happiness at the reappearance of Frost Fyre. We barely knew one another. Maybe it was the simple fact that she was the only one to have ever shown me kindness in the Basin. She was fascinated with me, and I was fascinated with her, but for different reasons.

Drawing to a halt before her, I extended my muzzle out in greeting to the speckled filly, intending to press it gently into her topline if she allowed me before I took a step back to look into those timid green eyes. "Yes," I said at last in agreement, a low chuckle forming in my throat, "Much too long. I..." It was then that I trailed off, as if suddenly struck with stupidity. What could we even talk about? The terms of my leave from the Basin weren't anything I wished to speak of if I could help it, so I settled for now on something simple.

"What have you been up to?"

"talk talk talk"