I had been gone for a while. Still in Helovia, but – not – all the same. I figured my disappearance had gone unnoticed and it was more than fine with me. I hadn’t stayed very long to make much of an impact. I spoke to few and became a bit of a shadow on the back wall, watching and observing, before taking off in a bit of a curious notion to explore. My bones were growing older and they ached, but I rested as needed, ate as needed. Frostfall had given me quite the punishment. It was then, when I withstood winter on the heels of my battered body, that I realized I needed to be home.

However, I hadn’t been here for much at all. Would they still accept me as one of them? I identified as such, so there was always that little beacon of hope off in the distance that would guide my heart in the right direction and hopefully guide theirs as well. And as I approached, entering the Edge as I had remembered from my acceptance when I met the spotted stag – Mauja was his name I think – And the graciously kind mare Ophelia. That was a name I never forgot. I couldn’t considering she reminded me too much of my sister after being so far from home. Then, meeting Torleik. The tension filled the air in that meeting between the three of them and I was still unsure when the unjust sat.

Then, a voice. A gentle calling. A meeting of sorts, it seemed to hold. Perhaps this would be the best way to ask for insight. I was a part of this herd after all, perhaps now I could find my purpose. I didn’t know what it was that I could be good at anymore. I was more of a diplomat back home than anything else. Though, who would want a diplomat with a face like this? I sighed to myself, trudging on as bones creaked. Glassy eyes dancing around the environment as I followed the voice.

‘Socket?’ My mind raced, hazy eyesight off in the distance at a white mare. My heart, too, began to race. I picked up my pace, approaching the creature with a ferocity I hadn’t had in a very long time. However, as I grew closer to the mare, I realized deep in the pit of my stomach that it was exactly the thing I knew was going to happen. Socket wasn’t around anymore. Socket wasn’t even alive anymore. It was that passionate mare that had stuck by my side and trudged with my older bones without regret.

Even my heart was saddened by the mistake, but I tried my best not to let it affect me. Though it was hard to tell with a face like mine. I lowered my head to her, offering a bow of hello, and slowing my pace; Nickering gently with a soft “Hello, Ophelia.” And as I glanced around, I realized I had been the first to appear at this ‘meeting’. This would be interesting. Perhaps I could speak to her before anyone else arrived and save myself from some embarrassments. “I apologize for my long absence, if anyone noticed.” My words growing quiet toward the end. Glassy eyes watching the pale yet scarlet mare with a small bit of curiosity at the scaled creature asleep on her back.


'We've lost it all, I'm just a silhouette.
I'm a lifeless face you'll soon forget.'