paint my spirit gold

It had been so long since the gilded mare and her daughter had been alone together. In fact, Rexanna couldn’t even remember a time when they had done so; but the child was now a woman, and Rexanna was certain that she would have to make sure she didn’t miss out on more of her children’s lives than she already had. Her heart yearned for Rein, so long since she had seen the golden boy’s face, that she did her best to try and understand Kiada in an attempt to make sure that she had some idea what her girl was getting into.

And so they wandered, talked of their lives and of Kiada’s interest in Kaos. And while Rexanna wasn’t fond of the idea, the child carried a necklace gifted to her by the creature, assuring her mother that things would be fine, and that she had inherited the good wits and fiery magic of her heritage. And yet, worry still sat within Rexanna’s stomach as they traveled to the Threshold, however in an attempt to keep whatever closeness to her own flesh and blood, she swallowed her questions and worry, offering a masked smile for her daughter’s thoughts.

It wasn’t so terrible, in all reality. While Rexanna hadn’t been there to teach the girl many useful tricks and actions, Thranduil had been there, teaching them useful things they needed to know. Just as he was when she was a new face among the Basin pillars. And she thanked him immensely in her mind for such actions, though whether she saw the man again was another story.

But as fate would have it, voices came, buzzed and morphed through the trees from distance, immediately capturing the duo’s attention. Marembo was nestled in closely to Rexanna’s mane, exhausted from the many familiar paths he had traveled when they were on their way here. The poor polecat had worn himself out already, and they hadn’t even reached their destination! Regardless, his little bronze speckled head popped up, little hands gripping his bonded’s golden chains as Rexanna and Kiada headed in the direction of the sound.

As they broke through the tree line, immediately Rexanna’s sapphire gaze landed on the gathering. Rikyn was there, with a small child she didn’t recognize, and as her eyes reached Thranduil, a smile began to twitch at the corners of her lips. Yet, her gaze didn’t stop there. No. It went straight to Hotaru, her best friend, belly swollen and looking absolutely radiant. Some sort of squeak escaped her maw as she made her way to the gathering, momentarily forgetting about her daughter as she moved over toward Hotaru, conveniently forgetting about their past interaction. “Hotaru! Oh my gods, how I’ve missed you.” Her voice cracked slightly as she looked to the pink mare with happiness gleaming brilliantly in the sapphire pools of her eyes.

"Talk."

rexanna