There had been nothing to do but follow Lena to the land she called home. Ashamin had watched the world around them change as they left the forest of the threshold and ventured into colder, more familiar climes. Despite the shivers he'd felt in the threshold, he found himself perfectly at ease as he crossed the land-bridge into the North. Something about the chill brought energy to his bones; he lifted his tail gaily, letting it sway behind him as he glided alongside the mare and her companion, occasionally flicking it towards the Kitsune playfully, wondering if the small creature would take the bait. As far as Ashamin knew, Imogen was completely harmless. Lena had told him magic was everywhere, but it hadn't occurred to look as close as by his hooves to find it.

As the journey went on, so did the night. The sun had set completely now, leaving him walking in shadow, learning the landscape as it was cast only in dark. With each step Ashamin took he wondered about the earth at his feet: what secrets would this land reveal when morning came? At times he slowed his pace and looked out at the horizon, as if waiting for the sun to appear, but each time he was let down and quickened his step again.

The moon was Ashamin's only guidance. He knew nothing of gods and nothing of prayer, but he knew he was thankful for heavenly bodies that night. The further North he walked, the colder and darker it seemed to appear, until at last he came over a hill and saw the bright, painted wonder of the sky.

Ashamin started to run forward, closer to that daring aurora, part of his heart reaching for the sky. He whirled around, his white tail dancing, his black eyes reflecting the stars and, for a moment, conveying his true excitement.

"Your sky!" he said to the mare at his back with unbridled joy, "your sky is made of magic!" Childlike wonder filled Ashamin. His lips turned up and his nostrils flared as he let out a series of whinnies and whoop-like neighs. Everything faded in the face of magic--every fear, every apprehension, melted beneath that pink and green river above.

Everything fell under the jurisdiction of color. Ashamin urged Lena on, anxious to see the land that lay beneath such beauty. When he passed under snowfall he picked up his pace once again, closing his eyes as the flakes fell across his pelt and settled in the crevasses of his horn. He must have looked silly, dusted in the white like that, but the joy on his face outshone everything else. He was happy, for the first time in so long; happy with the place where he was, happy with the company he kept, and happy in something at last outside of loneliness. How he wished then, in that moment of inhabiting glee, to show his father the same sky he saw now.

Even had it not been for Lena's guidance, Ashamin would have known the entrance of the Aurora Basin. Two magnificent creations, giant horses of metal, guarded the land. Their bodies reflected the sky above them, and from their eyes glowed a dangerous red. Here, before them, Ashamin's strength wavered. He struggled where he stood, standing between and before the machines. Like the sky, they were another thing he had never before seen, another instance of magic. But this time, the display returned him to fear. They were magnificent, they were powerful, and he sensed that were they to uproot themselves, they could tear him apart. What was this place then, he wondered, and what was its magic? Beauty or power?

Ashamin's tail dropped, making a long mark in the snow, and his heart sank with it. Here he could go no further without assurance. He turned to the mare, waiting again for the gentle, dulcet tones of her voice to guide him.

[[OOC: Lena brought Ashamin to the Basin to see the place and maybe join the ranks! Everyone is welcome. Thanks to Whit and her lovely design of a table for me, I'm able to try out writing poems to accompany Ashamin's posts. They're spur of the moment/unedited/a new way to incorporate poetry into RPing for me as an experiment but hopefully it works out!]]

Ashamin