It was still dark, but at least it wasn't so damned cold anymore. As minute as that might seem to anyone else, it meant the world to Alleo. He detested the winter, loathed the snow, and abhorred the icicles that would form on his whiskers and dangle there, taunting him. While he couldn't wait for the sun to finally rise, he had a hard time completely hating the darkness like so many of his herdmates seemed to. He liked looking up at the moon and the stars and trying to count the millions of them that sparkled ever so gently in the sky.

His hooves scraped across the ground as he walked, eventually leaving the grass behind as he sunk into the sand. The beach. His ears tilted forward and he paused as he listened to the crashing ocean waves. His tail twitched and the corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown. Alleo didn't particularly care for the ocean, but what would be the harm in standing on the beach and listening? His weight shifted as he contemplated turning around and going elsewhere, but a sudden surge of stubbornness drove him forward. He had wanted a break from the Foothills and he'd be damned if a little bit of water drove him back home.

The pale stallion snorted and trotted forward, tail flicking back and forth, his mismatched eyes wide as he tried to see more thoroughly through the darkness. The sand began to harden and, still, he trotted forward. Waves crashed forward, washing over his legs and he froze mid-step. The water was a lot closer than he had anticipated. Another wave soaked him to his knees and he snorted again then turned on his heels and cantered up the beach to where the sand was soft and supple and had not been touched by the ocean water.

Once he felt comfortable he stopped and slowly turned back to the ocean berating himself mentally because he had run from the ocean. What was he, a foal? He sighed and looked up at the sky and all the millions of stars that twinkled down at him. Often he wondered how many souls were up there among the stars that had been guided by the gentle gods of his homeland. There was one thing he knew for sure; and that was that neither of his dreadful parents were up there. He wouldn't see them until he went to Helovia's Heart because he was sure they were down there burning in the hell that they wanted to create.