I had yet to travel this far away from the safety of the outcast herd of unicorns. I had learned to appreciate their warmth, many of them willing to give it to me when I stood shivering. Mother Kou and Daddy d'Art were often busy with other unicorns, talking to them or teaching them something. Aviya had not seen the great white one, Mauja, in some days and his son, Tamlin, also seemed to be scarce. With growing curiosity I slipped past the security of my parents and the unicorns they were talking with.

I trotted towards the waterline. My body was adjusting well to the cold, and I could take longer times away from a constant source of another's body heat each day. My cough, however, was still persistent. Daddy d'Art had given me some things to ease the pain it caused in my chest, but it seemed that even with his knowledge he could not stop the cough itself. I was born with it; it was a part of me. I wished, everyday, that I would grow out of it--I needed to be strong like Mother and Daddy. I just needed to. So now, on this day in which the weather was in my favor, I dedicated myself to learning.

I spent hours walking around the cold beach, watching the water and the sky and the other wildlife. Every now and then I could turn around to face the direction I had traveled from to see unicorns that were a part of our group. The security I felt when I was standing warm in the middle of all of them did not falter now as I watched them move in the distance. I knew that if I needed them all I need do was cry out and they would come racing for me. I had not figured out whether it was because I was a filly in their outcast herd, or if it was because I was the filly of their doctor which they all respected and feared. Either way, I was satisfied.

As the day shifted from a clear, brisk morning to a dimmer afternoon with fat flakes of snow falling from the sky I still stayed on the beach. My blue eyes and fresh brain could not take in everything that my heart desired. I watched as eagles swooped from the sky above me towards the water, talons extended to reach down and snatch a fish. I watched as caribou moved along the beach, the stags leading their cows back to the safety of the forests.

"Speak"