onni.</style>

Hesitation laces the steps of the fallen Illuminant, her heart split in two. Upon on end, the modesty of her soul pleaded that she remain alone, steadfast in her resolve to be outcast. The family she abandoned in the search for the long lost Resolute did not need her presence, proven unreliable and easily shaken. The other, the desire to return to the land of Sunlight, to touch her crimson sands, for the arid winds to wrap around her wings. Torn, she teeters about the boundaries of her former desert home, eyes squinting desperately to make out shapes in the distance.

The flat horizon of the Dragon's Throat stretched for miles, the glimmer of the Oasis lake a mere twinkle at her distance. Lyhty floats overhead, quietly encouraging the mare to walk forward on her bleached limbs and return home. They will welcome you, Onni, he assures her lightly, singing a soft tune upon the wind.

Logically, perhaps, the girl would figure those she loved would be pleased to see her alive. In the chaos brought on by the wraiths, many had gone missing. Surely, they would assume Onni to among their victims. However, the sun-kissed former shaman could not think logically. Her heart ravaged by loneliness, the fitful interaction with Eribor, the absence of the solid support of Kri, and the stark emptiness of her soul without the healing magic of Light wore her to little more than a thin image of her former self. The courage she had felt in defending the Dragon's Throat against the unicorns was gone, despite the ugly scar upon her cheek as a reminder. The grit of her spirit from her mother disappeared with the small bay mare. Robbed of her conviction, her heart, the Illuminant pensively stood.
Frozen.

Pale sky eyes watch the horizon, and then she sees it. In the distance, a pyre of flames mirroring the Holy flames of the Seer flare in the distance. Like a moth to light, her face turns in its direction. A bellow of a call rings out afterward, echoing across the floor of Helovia. A male voice, so blatantly different than the beckoning Onni remembered upon the sands, but a voice she recognized. "Gaucho," the mare breathes. He lives. The pulsating light in the distance continues and, mesmerized, the Illuminant walks toward the beacon.

With each step further into the land of the Sun God, the painted mare feels her body begin to warm. Despite the cold of Frostfall, the spirit of her body begins to burn with purpose. Sunfire lighting a hearth in her body, life flowing through her limbs. The golden iridescence of her form reflected once more to through her eyes. Like walking through the healing fire itself, her body changing, reforming into the Shaman of past. A smile softly upon her lips, Onni speeds her gait, cantering quietly toward the fires sailing through the air.

When the distance is closed, mere blots in the horizon forming into full figured bodies, the Illuminant slows. Her steps are airy, and she moves toward the growing cluster of pegasus with quiet confidence. Looking toward Gaucho and Sohalia, standing before the gathering. Obviously, they held the position of leaders among those gathered, though just a quick glance among the crowd drew questions she would likely never have answered.

Soft eyes turning toward Gaucho, now embraces by fires upon his wings, a sheepishly greeting slipping through her mouth. "If you will have me."