It had been a while since I last saw it fitting to leave the sandy shore of the Throat. With the passing of our Khal, it was hard to imagine being anywhere but surrounded by my extensive family, but being the oldest offspring of the Wildfire there was a certain...air of strength that I felt I had to put off around the family. Mourning hadn't been something that was able to be done properly in the way that I had so desired. Ink tipped ears flicked back into thick, wavy tresses of ebony and ivory while blue eyes that shone with electricity scanned the earth below me. It didn't seem as if anything had changed in the weeks I spent locked away in the hot sands of the Throat.

I watched as the terrain turned from sand, to the salty brine of the ocean, to the sand once again and finally to the rocky ground I found myself free falling too. Okay, maybe free falling wasn't the best way to explain it. I was in complete control of my path, simply enjoying the wind as my large wings tucked in close to my slender frame that was angled down towards the world below me. It wasn't till the earth and my body were seconds away from colliding that the feathered appendages snapped outwards again, catching my weight and straightening me out so I could land gracefully carefully on my ink stained limbs.

A snort slipped through inky nostrils as I danced towards the caverns that were calling me like a long lost lover. Underground was never my first,  or even my second, choice of locations, the idea of being trapped in a grave voluntarily just made my skin crawl. But for some odd reason, there was no fighting the pull that was dragging me further and further into the caverns. Hooves slipped and slid down the slope that led into the underground, wings pulled in as close to my body as they possibly could to prevent any kind of injuries that could possibly happen. My breath caught in my throat as the world below came into view, the whole room glowed a soft orange-red hue from the very moving flow of lava that seemed to come from nowhere, my own pale ghostly pelt turned into one that would make any chestnut proud as I stood there in awe.

But, even that amazement would remain short lived as that insistent tug came back. Apparently whatever had brought me here wasn't quite done with leading me through these rabbit tunnels just yet. Long dark lashes hit against my cheekbones as I broke the spell of the waterfall of lava, and my sturdy limbs turned me in the direction of the caverns that were lit by glorious crystals that shone in many different colors. I followed the tug, in awe of the world that was unfolding before me, why had I not explored these tunnels before?

It wasn't long, or was it, until I stumbled into a room where the ground changed from a solid rock into a mossy carpet. The walls were lit with lines of glowing blue mushrooms and trees that were much smaller than I was used to glowed softly in the room, eliminating it nearly of all shadows. Smiling I stepped under the boughs of a tree, allowing the luminescent leaves to brush against my back and the top of my wings, listening to the hum of whatever energy it was that was calling me here. This room was where it seemed to have led me for whatever reason. Pale lids pulled away from my eyes that nearly matched the blue of the strange fungus, they swept across the room only to land on a egg of pure white nestled on the bank of a small creek that followed along one of the walls. Dark ears flicked forwards, I knew what these strange eggs held, I had seen plenty of them hatch for others and I wondered if this is what drew me here?

Did everyone feel this insistent pull to their companion's egg when they stumbled across them? Or had I just been imagining it all this time? Whatever the case, before I could think twice my ink dipped legs were moving once again, dancing me closer to the smooth white egg. Midnight lips pressed against the smooth, warm surface only to feel it shake not once, but twice. My eyes widened with surprise as I took a small step away from the infants casing only to see a crack spread up the side of it and moments later a small, white pup spilled forth. A wide smile spread across my features, a strange feeling after weeks of sadness, as my mind went fuzzy for a second with the infants mind binding to mine. Whines came from the whelp as her eyes opened slowly, but faster than those of a normal pup, vivid red-pink eyes opened to the world around her. "Athvadar, welcome little ghost." I spoke, to myself, to the pup, to whoever might have been creeping through the tunnels as my soulmate was born into this world.

In the midst of all the bad, the gods had finally decided to give me a little bit of light to cling too.

"Talk?"

zenobia

the lion still has claws
they are as long and sharp as yours