RUSKE

        Helovia’s northern lands knew nothing of summer. I had never ventured so far into those frigid reaches, but as my hooves bit at the hard ground, curiosity awoke from dormancy. Mountains crowned with ice glittered against the sky like distant teeth, threatening, though I hardly took notice of their ominous shadows. I had seen mountains of this like before, back in Isilme – had once fled to those when I was no longer welcome in my herd land. Helovia’s peaks, at least, remained untainted by the taste of bad memories. I had no intention of scaling them, anyway.

        It was northeast I ventured, with the early morning sun bright and intrusive upon my eyes. For perhaps the first time, I appreciated the long, tangled cover of my forelock. It trapped out much of the light – enough, at least, to allow me relative comfort as I moved across the silent landscape. Nothing was quite so unwelcoming as the far north; though grasses grew up here and there in harsh stands, the land itself was quiet. Bleak. I could not imagine many fools making yearly use of the north. I had been wrong before, however, and deciding at last to break the silence of motion, I turned to blink at my traveling companion – often companion lately, brought in close proximity to myself by the circumstances of our relative use to the same herd. She did seem much more fond of plants than I, but reluctantly, I decided I should try at least to learn some of her knowledge – that I did not already have. I preferred the brilliance of viscera to the mundane task of gathering, but one cannot always be occupied by life’s extremity. And I supposed I might at least get to know the Moon Doctor, as she was my superior – and might perhaps become a friend. Phoenix knew I had few enough.

        “Resplendence,” I called first to get her attention. Though neither of us appeared well built for winter months, I hoped she, like myself, found the cool air tolerable, heated as it was to some extent by summer’s vain attempts at reaching upward. “Do others live so far north?” I gestured briefly at a set of hoof prints, old and faded, as I crossed them. They might be vagabonds, but I wondered... I had met few enough of Helovia’s other herds. Did one dwell up here, so far north? I blinked at the landscape around us as we walked, however, mindful that our task was first to gather plants for the garden and second, or maybe third, to do anything else at all. “I have heard of a moss which grows in climates like this, and can be used in lessening afflictions of the lungs.” I paused a moment, supposing it might sound selfish, as I was the only member of the Edge, to my own knowledge, which had suffered such an affliction. “I thought perhaps we might find some and dry it, in the event anyone else reaches the Edge with an ailment similar to my own. I am not familiar with many northern plants... I may need a description in finding what else we need.” I paused then, tail switching lightly through the cold air, to blink at her and await the Doctor’s own opinion. As she carried the herb basket, and had been in Helovia longer, I was content to defer to her knowledge.

NursE

world's edge