Steely eyes watered as she dragged herself across the frosted landscape. Her tail hung lame behind her, the lily white tassel dragging and filthy from her exhausting trip back from the Endless Blue. Halfway up her lionine appendage, an obvious break disrupted its smooth curve. Dirt and sand was ground into the deep lacerations, the injury rimmed with red and infection. Across her hip, an angry burn had singed the fur, the skin beneath the black swollen and vivid pink. The corporal had met with one of her soldiers for a friendly spar, and she left with mementos that slowed her pace and hurt worse with every step.

She passed under the Sentinals as she entered the valley, not paying any attention to their looming yet crumbling forms. She cut through the accumulating snow, the coolness therapeutic against her injuries, but not nearly soothing enough to stop her path northwards. The star girl had one goal in mind, and her destination was nestled in the northernmost corner of the Basin's landscape. It seemed to take ages before she finally entered the cavern that held the natural commodity, and when she finally entered shelter from the frigid temperature, it was clear her journey had been worth it.

Hooves clattered as she circled the pool, steam rising off of the surface as the heat met the chilled northern air. She had been meaning to come to this place for ages now, but had vowed to travel to the place with a dear friend. She and Enna for a short time seemed to be tethered at the hip. The healer was nearly polar opposite to the corporal. But despite their differences, Ki'irha felt at peace when her friend was around. Ki'irha blamed herself for their recent distance. Seasons ago, the star girl had slipped from Helovia, retreating into the world she came from in search for her brothers. The loneliness that consumed her pulled her away from her home, sent her seeking what was familiar. Her search was fruitless, and when she returned, she found herself lonelier than before she had left. She had seen Enna briefly several times, but the occasions were too intermittent to satisfy her need for closeness to another soul.

She winced as she waded into the pool, hoping to calm the aching and clean the injury. She couldn't bear to look at it and see the infection that was beginning to take hold. She didn't want to bother the healers with such an insignificant injury, at least what she believed to be so. But the warrior was stubborn, and ignored the true seriousness of the broken bone and torn meat. The blue sighed, sinking into the spring, legs folding neatly beneath her. The warmth seeped into her muscles, and she watched as some of the sand and muck drifted from her tail.

Eyes flickered shut, and her ears twisted back as she relaxed, allowing the springs to provide their natural remedy. Still, she couldn't help but feel as though her journey here was missing an important piece, and hoped, perhaps, the stars would align and she would no longer walk her path alone.

Talk
OOC:: @Enna
Look! A hot springs thread!

I sang a lullaby by the waterside and knew,
If you were here, I'd sing to you.