“Then let us mock with ancient mirth this comic, cosmic plan;
The stars are laughing at the earth; God's greatest joke is man.
For laughter is a buckler bright, and scorn a shining spear;
So let us laugh with all our might at folly, fraud and fear.
Yet on our sorry selves be spent our most sardonic glee.
Oh don't pay life a compliment to take is seriously.
For he who can himself despise, be surgeon to the bone,
May win to worth in others' eyes, to wisdom in his own.”
-“Laughter” (excerpt) by Robert Service

Megaera was never a restful creature. So young she was, and so wondrous of spirit, that adventure called her ever onward. She wanted to see much and do more and be better; better than others, better than her own self. She shuffled her feet when she stood to long and ruffled her wings when she longed to fly. Even in her deepest sleeps, dreams of adventure and the challenges ahead kept her twitching in anticipation. Stillness was as unnatural to Meg as the desert would be to a fish. Yet as she lay upon the cracked earth with the night pressed close around her, stillness was her saving grace. She kept her breath short and shallow and they began to calm, and each movement was like a fresh burn so she focused on keeping her whole body collected and calm.

Her stoic companion stayed where he was, and Meg watched him carefully as he answered. She wouldn’t guess that he would change his mind and attack again, but she couldn’t be sure of that. He seemed scarcely less tired as she, though, and she hoped that their standoff had truly come to an end. His voice was a strange mix, the deep tones night have been relaxing, hypnotizing even, but there was a bitterness in his voice as he answered her. “Well met, Mauja.” the humor was there in her tired voice, the irony. Well met was very much the opposite if their interactions so far but as quick as Megaera was to jump into a fight, she was just as quick to laugh. A softer expression crossed her face, and her humorous heart shone through her exhaustion. She might not be able to trust him but she was to tired to have much of a choice, and gentle words had worked so far. “At ease, soldier. No blood has been spilled between us by hoof or by horn, so we will be friends and say no more about it. That is my promise, if you can do the same.”

The chill in the Autumn air was a double-edged sword. Though it soothed her burned extremities, she was better suited for the warmer climates. “North..” she started, in response to his question, but stopped herself with a tired laugh again, “No, south of here, with the herd at Dragon’s Throat. It’s a recent development, you see. I only came to Helovia in Tallsun, and before that I came from the frozen plains far east of here. Strange, to have a home again…” This last thought was more to herself, and strange it was to the young mare to remember that she did have a home to return to, a place to seek safety and heal. Tomorrow, she thought, she would make her way back to the Throat, though she’d have to work to keep sand out of her raw skin, the cool waters at the oasis would be as good as any healing magic. “And you, Mauja? You don’t seem a desert native.”

-lainespeak-
Yay! I feel so special<3 congrats on that milestone, You deserve a decorative golden keyboard!