i am a leaf on the wind

Erthe’s greeting is heartening. Warm, honest delight fills the girls voice and for a moment, Lyanna almost completely forgets that in some ways, she is still a stranger to this place. Though that changes every day, a fluid fact that becomes farther from the truth as time marches on. Still, she’s only been here little more than year. There are so many families here, so many friendships, so many established horses that she almost always feel a bit like a fish out of water. She finds it strange when Erthe, who’s lived her whole life here (short, though still longer than Lyanna’s time here) defers to her.

Erthe, to her credit, doesn’t seem to see it this way. Or if she does, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she makes Lyanna feel like she simply belongs, that she is not just an outsider but a part of the Edge and this world they live in. Like she might actually, truly, get a second chance a normal life. Well, as normal as Helovia ever could be.

The topic of herbs comes up, and Lyanna smiles. She doesn’t know them all, certainly, but she’s familiar with the Deep Forest and can lead them on a hunt for enough. “Wish I brought a few jars. I could have put you to work,” she says with a playful gleam in her teal eyes. Though really, she does wish she had some jars. Ah well. She’d have to work on hooking one to a necklace somehow so she had a spare for emergencies.

“I bet you remember more than you think. So if I’m repeating things you know, tell me, and we’ll try something else. The easiest is pine though. Needles and bark, though you can soak them in water and drink, rather than trying to eat pine needles and bark if you want. But pine is a good preventative herb. It helps keep us from getting sick, improves vision and skin.” She pauses, feeling like she’s rattling on and on. Ha. This must have been how her tutors felt.

Erthe is diving deeper into the forest, but Lyanna follows easily, having spent so much of her life in a forest. Little does she know that her friend loves the sky and the woods just as much as she does. There’s nothing like flying, but a deep, dark wood is a beautiful place as well. Between her love of the forest and her now herb-filled brain, she doesn’t notice where Erthe leads. She simply follows, eyes looking about for anything not buried by the snow. “Wild olive, if we can find any not killed by the snow, has similar properties but is much easier to eat. The leaves are thin, waxy little green things that clump together. Though I’d be surprised if any was still around right now.”

watch how i soar.

lyanna