Cirrus the WindDancer

Clouds rolled across the sky like lazy puffs of cotton floating on the breeze, they were fat and light, white and soft looking. They did not threaten to shed their tears upon the earth, but rather, they just intercepted the Sun's rays, casting large, cooling shadows upon the ground. As the little mare watched the great shadows traverse the hills, she was reminded of the fiery depths of the Heart Caves, with their lava filled guts glowing from the otherwise shadowy lands surrounding. As she glanced to the sky to behold the great deity on his fiery perch, she was presented with a blurry vision of golden and blue, and she blinked it away before it flooded her senses once more. It did no good for her to ponder too hard on the vision those Caves had presented, and the words the God had murmured to her upon seeing them himself.

Change isn't always bad, she reminded herself, following the thoughts speedily with you deserve to be happy - but the second thought was almost given with spite, spat out through clenched teeth and a frowning brow. Somehow, in a matter of minutes, the little mare had worked herself into a little temper, and it all came from thinking too long. When she realised this, she took a deep breath in, drinking the fresh, crisp mountain deeply, holding it in her lungs a moments before letting it go - and letting her tension go with it. Eyes flickered open again, and her ears tilted to the sound of wingbeats, her posture stiffening, though not for the reason it had tensed before. This was purely physical reaction, preparation for motion to survive - she had survived this long living this way, after all.

As her tiara turned, so too did her mane as the breeze clawed its windy fingers through it, ruffling the parcel within her dreadlocked tresses. Amongst the caramel pinion, there also lay a dark black-and-white prime feather of her father's, a larger version of the two smaller ones that were tied to her spear. Cirrus had carried her father's feathers since his death; was it not strange then, that she carried a perfect stranger's feather since her first meeting of him?

Perhaps not, for death was a new beginning in and of itself, and perhaps, so too had been their meeting.

It was his eyes she identified before anything else. Their beryl depths captivated her from afar, and as his nicker rolled from his gullet she felt her ears stand with enthusiastic joy. Her own voice tumbled forth before she could even stop it, her bodice took a half-step towards him before her mind caught up and halted the motions - she was, after all, technically trespassing, and he was (as far as she knew), the leader of the herd. No matter their acquaintance, she felt like she had to be guarded about her motions, at least here, where any of his herd could see.. Though what exactly she was afraid of them seeing, she wasn't sure. The last time she was around Kaj she had revealed herself more deeply than she had ever done before, even to herself - perhaps she was afraid that she would be compelled to do the same again, now (though how that was even possible, she wasn't sure) - and she couldn't risk just anyone learning that much about her.

Yet he did not hesitate, he did not even think of his herd first, no, he thought of her first, he approached her and asked after her, he joked and japed and played, he wore her feather in his mane and he reached out to touch her trembling maw with his strong, masculine muzzle. Cirrus drank it all in, the sight of him, looking at him as if seeing him for the first time all over again; he was tall (was he always that tall?), he was muscled and fit, he had wings that spoke of battles and storms, and eyes that held her own without hesitation or doubt. He wore her feather, and that was what brought the first true smile to her lips, as she watched its strange iridescence shift and change - the magic of her coat still lingered upon it, a token of the sky woven directly into his mane.

As he leaned close, she felt the Sun's warmth open the patchy clouds above them - it was her doing, albeit subconscious, she was the one who orchestrated their greeting this day, in a ray of sunshine. It blossomed over her hide as well, so that she almost appeared the same buttermilk colour that he was. Radiant and glowing, she leaned close to him, twitching her maw as their whiskers teased each other, torturingly feather-light touches mingling with their breath as a gentle laugh pushed itself through her lips, the embarrassment of the reminder of her initial greeting of him making her flap her lips at him playfully, as if to bite at his nostrils, but not actually connecting.

"You too," her voice was low and sultry as she returned the comment on his wellbeing - she was relieved to see him unscathed (though she would be the first to admit that she digged scars on boys). He seemed less troubled than when she saw him before, like he was carrying less on his capable shoulders - or perhaps he had simply found himself a more comfortable method of transporting his load.

Then he asked another question, and though she knew he meant it in kindness, she could not help but feel trapped by it. Why was she here again? Thoughts came rushing through her mind, like cascades over the edge of a cliff, she wasn't here on herd business, but rather, purely her own business, but how could she explain that without looking a complete fool? The expression on her face flickered from sultry princess to slightly stunned as the realisation hit that she might just have to admit she was looking for him - but Cirrus was a stubborn mare, and she hadn't lived this long without learning some creative ways to cover her ass.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged, recovering her expression to force something she hoped resembled indifference upon her visage. Stepping forward, she trailed her whiskers lightly along his frame, tracing the ample curvature of his cresty nape, tickling at the joint of his wing, before shrugging and peeling herself away from him. "Thought I would test out the Falls' new defences." With a wink thrown over her shoulder the girl then sat down upon her haunches and sprang into a speedy canter, before opening her wings and leaping to the skies - she figured she would travel the way he had appeared from, but truly, it wasn't the Falls she wanted. What she wanted, she wasn't ready to admit just yet.