Leeka

Somehow, she had a habit of hearing Kahlua on her walks. Like a song the painted queens voice drifted through the pines, its source remaining indistinct but its message clear enough. Quick as it came though the voice drifted away, lost in the snowy shadows of the woods. Campfires? At the thought of warmth Leeka's body gave a shiver, reminding her of the cold that lingered all around, freezing whatever it could. Icicles hung like tranlusent fangs from the branches and snow soaked in the cool redinece of the moon.Without a doubt it was well and truly winter, or Frostfall, as they called it here. A better name, she thought idly to herself.

Funny how it had already been a year since she had found her home in the Worlds Edge, found by Kahlua in the Threshold nearly overwhelmed by the very weather that covered the land now. The memory brought a smile to the mare's face, as most memories are want to do. However, a shiver crossing her spine reminded the appaloosa of Kahlua's invitation to the campfire and promptly began moving to the aforementioned spot for the event, eager to feel its pleasant embrace and aid in whatever way she could.

A sudden shift in the wind almost immediately lashes through the trees from behind as the appaloosa picked her way through the snow, biting into her flesh with bitter cold. Branches whipped in the open air under its fury, dislodging icicles from all heights and swallowing the mare in a flurry of snow kicked up from the now howling wind. Throughly bewildered, it was all the mare could do to stop and bare the brunt of the onslaught, unable to see properly as her field of sight was reduced to only a few feet, hindered also by the lashing of her own mane against her face. It was in those few moments, however, that another sense overcame Leeka. In an instant her heartbeat quickened and her nares flared, suddenly alight with a profound fear. It was irrational and she knew it, but at the same time it wasn't. Something was wrong. That was all her instincts screamed. Her skin crawled under the weight of a thousand invisible eyes and there was nothing more that she wanted to do but run. But where? She couldn't see!

A pain suddenly shoots up from one of her hind legs as an icicle comes crashing down beside her, splintering into a galore of translucent shards, some of them slicing her skin. The wounds themselves were superficial, but it was enough to jar the mare into a full gallop through the shadowy woods, spurred on by her overwhelming sense of danger. It didn't matter were she went, she just had to get away from whatever was here. Leeka ran until the winds died down, which was a rather brief affair, and slowly stopped along the edge of a clearing to catch her breath.

Just what was that? How weird...

Still slightly revved from her adrenaline rush it took Leeka a few moments to realized that she wasn't alone. Ahead of her were two of her fellow herdmates, though she had no idea who they were. Shaking herself to forget , Leeka trotted lightly to join up with them, skirting the edge of a massive branch that had apparently fallen in the freak gale just moments before, blissfully unaware of the carnage that laid beneath it.

"Is this where the campfires are? I heard Kahlua summoning the herd..." Her voice chimes lightly into the air, " I'm willing to help, if there's anything left to be done."


" Talking"
Tthinking

Little steps, all for you