Feeding my flame

Aithniel had to see if she could do this on her own in case they did actually kick her out of the Aurora Basin. So, she snuck away under the blanket of night, holding her breath as she passed by the metal sentinels. Those two behemoths Rikyn's dad had made were scary, even when they weren't moving. The temperature dropped as she left the warm confines of the valley, sliding down the pathway to the open, snowy expanse below. She kept her wings tight to her body, hoping to keep warm as her breath turned to white clouds.

She couldn't help the fact that she was lonely. Being here without Rikyn or Erebos was regrettably humbling. No longer did she have two, muscular, handsome boys backing her every quip and snap. But, she had to figure out someway to deal with her feelings on her own, and she had to prove to Zikar that she could control herself, even if the other winged ones could not. Aithniel would not let her emotions take control of her, so she schooled her features and walked in a very lady-like manner in no particular direction.

Why did that feel so off to pretend to be lady-like? She was no princess. She would never be a queen. So why even bother with it? The filly groaned, wondering if she would ever fit in. Part of her asked herself why she wanted to fit in at all, but the answer was painfully obvious: she had nowhere else and no one else but Rikyn and Illynx. They were who she knew and the Basin was what she knew. Certainly there was nothing wrong with wanting to fit in with her fucked up, surrogate family?

The filly kicked snow with a flinty hoof before talking steps forward. Not paying attention to where her hooves were going, she stepped hard with a back foot into a deep spot, and she snorted as she lost her balance. One of her front hooves knocked into the other front hoof, and that was the moment when she discovered her power. By accident. Tripping. Over her own hooves.

As soon as the two hooves struck together, a powerful flame started between them, and it would have continued burning if it had anything to which to set fire. Aithniel looked down at her own feet in amazement, breath lost in her lungs somewhere. Maybe this would be how she stayed? If she could start fires? She grinned and tried it again, striking her hooves and hearing the rushing sound of the flame rise and then burn out.