The art of healing was not something my little cloud had anticipated being her career. She was young still, this is true, her mind could still change, as her desires wavered, as her body grew and the yearning to be a warrior grew with it. But the final request of her father powered her on, she thought of him always - sometimes with sadness, but more often with a fond determination to please his memory, to work towards what he had wished of her. 'Heal, Cirrus. Know how to defend yourself, but do not seek war. Mend the broken, child. Let the light guide you.' His smile flickered across her mind's eye, and I saw it clearly, and felt the warmth with which the memory danced about her heart. I whined softly, as we walked across the sands, and earned myself a real smile upon her dark lips, a mischievous smirk, a slanted grin, in return. With a playful step I leapt to bump my wet tongue against the softness of her nose, before bounding forward, and initiating the everlasting game of chase we always drew across the red sands of our home.

In the not too far distance, the sound of flapping was heard. It was not an unusual occurrence, for we resided in a realm suited to Pegasus, and housed a great many number of them within our high walls. My cerulean gaze flicked upwards, and I feel my bonded's gaze doing the same, and together, we track the motion of two Pegasi flying over the wall of the Throat, dropping down from the clouds and landing. Curiosity wells within both of our hearts, and before long, we are trotting towards her, myself with a long, swift stride, my beloved with the steady rhythm being pounded into the sands below. The stars shone bright upon her pelt this evening, a glow seemed to permeate the air around her, a fine coating of moondust seems to fall from her wings as they open halfway to make the locomotion smoother. That smile is upon her lips again, as she recognises the young mare ahead as a herd mate, for we both saw her at the recent meeting. Dipping her crown to her, my bonded offers her devious little smirk, and I a wide grin with teeth shining and tongue lolling to the side, before her angelic tones break the silence and address that which is not obvious to all, but quite clear to her eye.

"Greetings, Africa, is it? I recognise you from the meeting. I am Cirrus, one of the healers of the herd, and this is Sitka. Welcome, sir." My nostrils worked the air, drinking the scent of this newcomer - a gelding, I informed my bonded with a sense of confusion. I had never smelt one before, but I was certain that he simply was not whole, there were things missing from him.. I threw a glance to my beloved, who simply smiled at me, and pressed her velveteen lips to my brow, puffing a breath of reassurance that though these things were rare, they did happen. "Is there anything I can do for either of you?" She offered, knowing many a newcomer to arrive at the Throat exhausted, injured, or otherwise out of sorts. While Ahi's affliction was not physically obvious, the hesitance with which he carried himself, the sway of his posture, seemed to suggest that there was something extra going on. My darling cloud was looking forward to fulfilling her father's promise once more, and while she would never wish misfortune upon anyone for the sake of her being able to aid them, she did look forward to practising that which she had so ardently studied for the sake of her fallen sire.