All was quiet, peaceful. The wind blew in a soft caress through crinkled autumn grasses, the afternoon sun burning away the cloud cover of the mountainous peak. Everything was still, birds chirping in the underbrush in melodic communication, life brimming on the hillside. And then, suddenly, a loud harmonic whoop that trailed over the fall colored earth in a shriek of glee. From above a rose maiden plummeted, lavender eyes wide and brimming with excitement, with the thrill of life and flight. Golden ribbon-laced legs spread, perching for the connection to the earth that sent birds and bunnies scattering across the plains as she crash landed and went sprinting over the crackling grass, bugling and laughing her joy. Long, lean legs eat up the ground as she chases the scattered animals, delighting in the fact that she could never catch them with how quickly the bunnies could maneuver. It didn't matter to her, what held real meaning was the fact that she was out in the fresh air, exercising and letting her worries fade away for the first time since Leliel had disappeared.

As the meadow ended, a sheer drop approaching on the far end of the hillside, Muriel laughed and threw her lithe form into the vacancy of the sky. Doubled wings snapped open, catching the cool autumn breeze and spiraling her up and into the embrace of the atmosphere. There were some serious advantages to having double the amount of wings of any creature in Helovia, though in Janet it had been the norm. The lass twisted, airborne, spiraling and looping through playful air currents as she sang to her heart's content, believing herself to be entirely alone at the top of the world where only the Gods could judge her. The words were ancient, a language she couldn't recall ever having learned, and yet it was a lullaby she knew from her adventures long ago before she found Helovia. It didn't matter what it meant to her, because Muriel was enjoying the melody, the way it coiled around her in belated chase as she circled the hillside.

Wings folded, soft tendrils caressing her belly and flanks as her athletic form dove down, down, down. Landed with a bounce and a kick of her heels, bucking and delighting in the simplistic pleasure of life. And when the air was driven from her lungs and she was panting, smiling brighter than the sun, she fell. Crumpled to the earth and rolled, legs kicking and snorting in delight as her pinkened frame rubbed against the grass and soil, staining the delicate arch of her spine with the browns and rusts of the earth. Her wings unraveled as she stared up at the sky, spreading out and flaring in all their large, exotic beauty, golden tips reaching for the horizon as her song drifted off to a harmonious hum. A fallen angel, wings askew, prone and trusting upon the earth.

It was a beautiful day.

@[Argen]