so i listen to the    wind for an answer

What would she think, if she knew what Erthe’s purpose was today? That all this was, in fact, purposeful? Would she care? Perhaps, though perhaps not. She would be more sad, probably, to find that Erthe didn’t trust her enough to simply help, even if that did mean getting lost. But her friend needed her, and so she would go willingly. Which perhaps is naïve in a different sort of way, the constant need to help. Had she been like that in Morham? No, she hadn’t been. But she’d never really had to seek the approval of anyone in the way she does here.

In Morham, everyone sought her approval. In Morham, she had no real friends but more acquaintances than she could ever count. In Helovia, no one sought her approval. In Helovia, she had horses that actually cared for her. She had shoulders to cry on, should she need it. She had listening, understanding ears. She had horses she could roam the Deep Forest with with more joy in her heart than she had felt in a long time. In Morham, she’d wandered the forest alone. On occasion, with her brother. But her brother was gone.

Lyanna knows exactly where they are now. The pool is all too familiar to her, and her heart skips a beat briefly, as if he might be here. Not her brother, of course, but Apollo, with Zola lounging on his back. The ruby he’d given her from this very pool still hangs around her neck. Not that she really expects him to be here, but oh, how she wishes anyway. Instead of searching the dark landscape for that familiar blue horn, she focuses on the tree and Erthe’s words. “That’s a good question. I honestly don’t know, though I’ll try to remember to ask Alysanne next time I see her, or the other Moon Doctors. Perhaps they know.”

The pool is frozen now though – there’s no diving for rubies or drinking. Lyanna laughs lightly as Erthe discovers the frozen pool the hard way, though luckily, her tongue doesn’t stick to the ice. Lyanna was too preoccupied with thoughts of Apollo she’d never even thought about the pool being frozen. “It is rather pretty though, even frozen.” Which it is, but perhaps more so to her.

Erthe dares her to go farther, and Lyanna follows the flick of that tail without a second thought. The darkness envelops Erthe’s white form quickly though, and Lyanna slips into the trees behind her, relying more on sound than sight at this point. She forgets just how dark this forest becomes in here, though she’s too amused by this game of hide-and-seek to think much of it.

Instead, she slips around some trees to cut Erthe off. Well, to cut off the direction she thinks Erthe is headed, though she could be entirely wrong. A few flashes of white here and there (more like a flicker of light in the gloom than actual white though) make her think she’s probably on the right track. Hoping that her mostly black coat would hide her well enough (and that the teal and white wouldn’t just give her away), she springs from behind a tree, yelling ”Gotcha,” with a giggle, even though Erthe may not be there. But hopefully she’s got it right. Otherwise, she just yelled at a tree with lightly colored bark or a horse she didn’t mean to startle.

But it’s too much to fun to resist. Even if she did just end up yelling at a tree.

lyanna