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So she began to tramp through the loose, slippery sand; its warmth from the long day retained guiding the girl, should she follow, up the gently rising dune until she could move along its ridge- overlooking the lay of lush life below. As she walked, Africa slipped one long, dark ear backwards to listen as Aurelia spoke, asking simply if she faced her fears. The young grey mare's mind paused to consider the innocent question, but her legs did not, pushing onwards through the grit.
An unmitigated terror of Unicorns had been created only days after Africa had accepted Dragon's Throat as her home; two days after her arrival in the Threshold Forest. Raw and vulnerable, she had embarked on an adventure north (the first time), and in the lofty cliffs of Heavenly Fields, a horn wielding stallion had set upon her for feathers. Inexperience rendered her defenceless, and if not for the nearby meditation of Midas, she might (for all she knew) have been killed that day. The black and white warrior had swept through in a whirlwind of clinking armour and earth tremors; bringing the Gypsy-type stallion to his knees and allowing the dappled mare to flee south, to hide in the refuge of her new home. It was many months before she travelled so far into the mountains again- sealing the distrust and trepidation towards that sly, macabre northern kind.
Africa knew they were not all so terrible though, now in hindsight; some whom she had met (and been aided by) more recently, were quite honourable and grand, just as ancient lore perceived the timeless race to be. That was why she still managed to approach the horned type with dignity and respect- always offering them first the benefit of the doubt. So far that brittle trust was yet to be shattered.
In the distance, far ahead of their two moving forms, Africa could see the shimmery star spray which followed her friend always- but more obviously so, when he flew through the shroud of night-time. As the hours darkened around them, Silas was more beautiful that anything Africa had ever seen and prideful wonder glistened through her watching, entranced gaze- and she loved him so deeply that his heart began to fill with her warmth.
"I have been forced to face my fears." She said simply, half turning to address the question after much thoughtful delay. "It did me a great disservice and I would never wish such horror upon another soul. I am very sorry I brought you to the ocean just now Aurelia." A graveness that did not often anymore pinch her voice or unsettle her mind, reverberated through the softness of the mare's tone; it was as sincere as it was repentant.
Africa was drawing ever closer to the oasis by that point, and before her path slipped down through the hardy reach of the old prickled cactus clusters fenced coincidentally around its perimeter, she stopped and turned to look at Aurelia. "Boys?" She chuckled flicking her long stringy tail towards where the girl might have been pulling up alongside. Almost immediately the one-winged mare was filled with the pleasant memories of her own youth- adolescence. They were a refreshing blanket to smother the less favourable ones which had been stirred to life by the girl's most blameless query.
There were many faces that came to mind, some so far back into her past that their names were lost, but others who had been met here in Helovia; although now those feelings had been absorbed by her love, her mythical Zephyr friend. Africa had experienced the giddying sensation that perhaps Aurelia described as nervousness, roused by the presence of the opposite gender and giggled almost inappropriately then, almost certainly not like one her age might.
"Is there a particular boy who makes you feel more nervous than the rest?" She pried curiously, flopping all at once, down into the yielding mass of cosy, warm sand. Above them the first stars were beginning to flicker in the late blue sky, but Africa heeded them no attention for now. Her focus was on Aurelia.
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[O] top of the social ladder, fell hard [Open - Africa]
