Look down, the ground below is crumbling
Look up, the stars are all exploding
The grove in which the mare and her Zephyr friend stood beside the company of the young, eager colt, offered mild relief from the amplified chill of the world outside- the feral combination of Frostfall and sunless days strung along together. Occasionally the rasping croak of a frog broke through the thin, quiet air suspended around them, perhaps the only place left where such cold-blooded creatures were braving the brutality of the coldest season. Clean white snowflakes were carried upon playfully whispering wind gusts, whirling down through almost entirely naked canopies of tightly clustered trees; falling to settle in a flimsy, powdery film across the moist bare loam. The snow thawed as it settled across Africa’s back, soaking quickly into her too-thin coat so that she shivered wildly.

"Nevermind about me, m'lady. I'd like to know who you are. Do you have a name?" A swift, glance was shot towards him and her eyes were narrowed, hidden slits of pale gold beneath long, thick lashes. They concealed her aversion to his probing, though the uncomfortable shift of her weight betrayed her feelings instead. "I am no one. She replied at once with a terse tone, unable to align her blasphemous name with the family who had trusted her. Guilt fingered about the cracked recesses of her mind, scratching away her confidence and self-worth. And before the fresh swell of burning tears could seep from her eyes, Africa lifted her face to gaze mindlessly at the starless sky; her world, her stolen birthright.

Silas cawed quietly where he sat, her pain pressing into the pulse of his small heart.

The colt had reached forward with his nose, a humble gesture that was perhaps as curious as it was caring. Never had her personality been so prickly though, so cold and abrasive as it was now. She ignored his motion, her face remaining high and far from the reach of his soft muzzle. It was not that she was upset by him, not frightened or aggravated; Africa was simply lost in a void of darkness- far blacker even than the perpetual night around them. Self loathing and denial chewed tirelessly at her body, mind and spirit, and right now she was a ghost of her former glory. It was difficult for her to view the world around her with clarity and principle because she had been betrayed and beaten, both in the cruellest of ways.

Nym stepped closer and the bird’s neck stretched to grant his eyes rite of passage around the mare’s throat; he was her guardian, her grace and the very lifeblood.

"Why are you sad? Be enlightened. If you have hit rock bottom, then you may only climb higher. Look at the darker side of life and you will only be sad, m'lady." She laughed silently, but not scornfully. The colt was so innocent and sweet. In some ways she resented his purity and wished herself, that that late Orangemoon night had never robbed her of the youthful liberty. A sob caught in her throat and she gulped to prevent the spew of unstable emotion. "You are young...” She breathed into the cold night air, not altogether dismissing his wish to help. "It would be selfish of me to laden you with the acrimony of my blackened heart.”
Africa felt so foolish. She felt despair.