As others began to arrive, Vinati watched in silence, her blue eyes solemn.  Oddly, she wasn't nearly as distraught as many of the others.  Of course, she had a certain gift - the ability to see and interact with ghosts - that meant that Gaucho could never truly be gone from her.  Perhaps it would ease some of the hurting hearts surrounding her if they knew that the WildFire was still with them in a way, would continue to watch over them from the plains above their world, the very spirit land that her father had so recently explained to her.

Sohalia had stiffened, her tears quieting when she realized that her youngest daughter had followed her to see her father's corpse.  As she had realized that others approached, the Transcended had risen, stepping back as though in a trance.  To Vinati, it seemed that she had done so against her will.  The ivory dove wore a stony expression, her eyes filled to the brim with pain and regret.  The girl didn't - couldn't - fathom the reasoning behind the mare's distaste.  She didn't understand that her mother wanted time alone to grieve, time to come to terms with Gaucho's death.  She couldn't understand the burden that Sohalia had taken upon herself, as though somehow this was her fault.  As if maybe, if she hadn't been unfaithful, if she hadn't left in the first place, she might have prevented this.

In any case, the Transcended stood back, and Vinati moved with her, though her mother barely seemed to notice.  Looking around, the girl noticed that Verro lingered still.  Verro was her friend (and, as she would learn one day, her half-sister) and Vinati hated to see her so sad.  She had just moved to join her sibling when suddenly a great being who could only be the fabled God of the Sun appeared, proclaiming their loss and selecting Sikeax as the new Sultana.  It all meant little and less to the months-old filly, though she watched the flaming god with a worshipful gaze.  He had blessed her father, who had then passed on his love of the Sun to her.

Verro's movement captured her attention after a moment, and she realized that the girl had gently taken one of their father's feathers as a memento.  (That actually wasn't a bad idea, even though Vinati knew that her father wasn't gone forever.  She would miss him terribly until she saw him again.)  When she had again stepped back, Vinati approached to try and nudge Verro's shoulder gently.  "He'll always be watching over us," she whispered to the other filly in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

Moments passed, the flurry of activity around them reaching uncomfortable levels for the little sand princess, who had always preferred relative solitude over this.  When a pretty, light-colored hybrid with dark points spoke up, Vinati's attention shifted only because her mother's did.  Sohalia's head snapped to the side, her mouth pressing into a thin line.  She didn't seem pleased that the stranger wanted to burn Gaucho's body.  Vinati didn't understand.  It didn't matter.  Ave was gone, watching over them from above.  He didn't need his body anymore.

When Tae bounded forward to gather some of Gaucho's belongings, Vinati noticed that he still had the crystalline rose that she had made for him tucked behind his ear.  As her half-sister removed the stallion's magical antlers, Vinati watched her creation fall to the sand.  A lump grew in her throat - didn't Tae know how special the rose was?! - and her lips trembled slightly.  Suddenly she realized how long it would be until she would really see her father again, and it seemed like far too long a time.  She leapt forward too, gathering the rose and her own feather in silence before returning to a place between her mother and Verro.  A quiet exchange with Sohalia left the flame-colored comb situated behind Vinati's ear, though she would have to be careful with it until she was older and had more mane in which to place it.

It was all she had left of Gaucho.

Later, she would wrap her prized feather in crystal, complete with a hole towards the end so that she could string it onto a necklace one day.  She had taken one of the smaller feathers, thinking it more practical than one of Gaucho's massive primaries.  Sohalia, too, stepped forward to gently pull a feather from the stallion's wing, pausing to stare at him sadly.  She seemed like she might speak for a moment, but then just shook her head and stepped away, tears swimming in her bicolored eyes.  Vinati leaned against her side, offering her quiet support.  It was easier for her, since she had seen Gaucho's spirit, knew that his ghost would come to visit.  But she still couldn't help the sadness that she felt as she watched her father's body go up in flames.

Talk.