mesec</style>

My eyes had burned with an intensity I had never thought possible that morning the sun finally rose. From just beyond the horizon it came, peeking over the land almost timidly, afraid to show its face to those it had abandoned so many months ago. It wasn't only the pain that its brightness brought to me that caused me to glare at that fiery ball in the sky, nor the fact that it would soon chase Mother from the sky, but the sheer fact that it had left in the first place.

Of course, I recalled with clarity my Mother's warning the night the Gods had been taken away from Helovia, but I'd yet to be given an explanation for any of it. All four deities of these lands had up and left over the course of one night, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Hototo had left the Foothills in order to tend to the earth, nourishing it to provide foliage so that we might all live to see this day come. Roskuld had been tasked with keeping the flow of time going, something I couldn't even imagine doing, and somewhere, I'd been certain that Israfel was gifting warmth with her flames to those in need.

Yet, I had done... nothing. What good was the son of the Moon in a time of darkness? I'd tried to comfort those frightened by the black of night, but that was the extent of my capabilities.

As I stood at the peak of the Heavenly Fields, I found it increasingly difficult to rid my head of these whirlwind thoughts. I was daft to be dwelling on the things of the past, but I couldn't help but be deeply bothered by my lack of ability to help my homeland during its greatest time of need. Perhaps the darkness had finally started to entangle itself within me, ever so slowly melding my soul into something I'd never wished for it to be. My foalhood had been rather miserable, and while I tried to brush every obstacle I had ever been faced with off and keep my chin held up, I always seemed to be knocked back down, harder and harder every time. I was a disgrace to my father. Mother wanted me to be like this. Anyone I had ever considered friend or family had left or disowned me; Hotaru. Roskuld. Ophelia. Aviya.

Was I doomed to despondence? Was this my destiny?

With a sharp jerk of my head and a deep, steady exhale of my breath, I resisted to think any further of it. As if to distract myself, I unfolded my wings from my sides and stretched them towards the sky, but my hooves remained on the ground. Turning my head back forward, I gazed down from the fields at my home of the Foothills. Even if I had nearly given up hope on myself, I'd not yet abandoned hope for them. Our numbers were small and left us vulnerable to attack, and I was well aware of Apollo's efforts to change that. The overo was a proud fellow, one whom I respected greatly and wished to know on a deeper level some day, but I'd not bother him now with such things. The threat of war was forever looming over our heads, and until we had secured ourselves from that, I was content to remain a lookout for my family, a Sheppard overlooking his home.

"talk talk talk"

The spotted maiden had yet to return home after her long while of solitude. She had roamed, a soul with no purpose. She kept her legs moving despite this, keeping a fluent gait as she went. She let her banner flow free, locks lashing out in the wind as she strode. Her crystalline crown was twisting as she grew, grooves etching themselves onto the spear. She wore it proudly as it hovered between her brows, perfectly placed above her emerald gems. She strode through the Fields this fine evening, the sun's rays a foreign matter against her body. Her eyes sunk into her head when the light first showed its face from behind the horizon. The roan had cringed, almost scared of the light. But now she was growing used to it, although her eyes still struggled a little to escape the rays. Her tail swung behind her, the light washing over her roan body. Her emeralds flicker, swinging over the landscape. There she sees a dark figure, but the light helps define the shape. The unique features and the silver eyes told the speckled girl that it was indeed who she thought it was. It was Mesec, the moon boy whom had left the Basin before the night took over. She smiled gently, wondering if he saw her. Deep inside, the girl was scared to approach him. He was older now, looking more mature placed atop the hill in the rays of light. Smile dims, the corners of her lips slowly dropping. The smile remains, but it is barely a smile now. Her tail has dropped, the black locks falling to the ground. She walks forward slowly but steadily, her long legs moving at an even pace. As she closed in on Mesec, she couldn't help but let her smile grow. "Mesec..." She keeps her smile as she pauses, hesitant. How shall she continue? The traditional, 'long time no see' or should she say something else? Something more... intelligible? Or something more riddle-like? She stood in silence for a few moments, her lips opened slightly as though she was mid sentence. "It's been a while." She smiled, standing awkwardly before him. She felt that her social skills had faded, that she was now a socially awkward soul wandering Helovia. She didn't know what else to say, so she relaxed slightly and smiled at Mesec, her emeralds flickering to his large wings occasionally. "Speech."

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.

mesec</style>

From behind, I could hear the grasses parting and heralding the approach of somebody else. Where I once would have turned on my heels and greeted whoever it was with a bright smile on my face, I now kept where I was, merely tipping an ear back and bending my neck just enough to catch a glimpse of the other. It was obvious that they meant no harm, for their pace was much too slow to mark them as a threat - not that I would be too frightened anyway, considering I could just zap myself back to the Foothills in a matter of seconds - but when my eyes took in the form of this once thought stranger, a look of surprise and confusion creased my brows.

"... Frost Fyre?"

Sure enough, it was the spotted filly I had seen many times in the past, back before I had left the tundra realm of the Basin. Our times together had never been long, but often, and the hint of a smile curled at the side of my lips as I recalled the time she'd stuck up in my defense against Mauja's daughter. It was a bittersweet memory, one that I was quick to push out of my mind in order to focus on the here and now. It had been nearly a year since then, right? Our bodies had both grown, my own holding a few proud scars from this difficult year, and while I couldn't see any visible differences in the appaloosa other than her increased height and stature, I was sure I'd missed much since my departure.

Finally turning myself around and facing the other yearling, I was quick to close the distance between us, my expression visibly lightening, as if mirroring the recent rise of the sun against the eternal black of night. Even as I carried myself ever closer to her, I couldn't place the exact reason as to why I felt such happiness at the reappearance of Frost Fyre. We barely knew one another. Maybe it was the simple fact that she was the only one to have ever shown me kindness in the Basin. She was fascinated with me, and I was fascinated with her, but for different reasons.

Drawing to a halt before her, I extended my muzzle out in greeting to the speckled filly, intending to press it gently into her topline if she allowed me before I took a step back to look into those timid green eyes. "Yes," I said at last in agreement, a low chuckle forming in my throat, "Much too long. I..." It was then that I trailed off, as if suddenly struck with stupidity. What could we even talk about? The terms of my leave from the Basin weren't anything I wished to speak of if I could help it, so I settled for now on something simple.

"What have you been up to?"

"talk talk talk"

He spoke her name, his voice like a sweet dew falling in the morning, the maiden's ears flickering at his voice. Her name sounded beautiful upon his lips, even if it came out with a question mark at the end. She smiled upon the closing of his lips, a smile warmer then the sun that shone down on their backs. She let her green eyes free, wandering over his body. There were few scars, but that was all. She herself had no scars upon her body, no trophies of battle. Her coat was pristine, nothing to damage her precious frame. She watched closely as her thoughts were interrupted by movement. He had begun moving closer, filling the air between them. When his warm breath was felt upon her back, her skin beneath quivered. Warm breath was never felt upon her body, it was foreign to her. Having someone this close was a strange thing. She felt her stomach ( or was it her heart?) fluttering inside, and she smiled at the feeling. He said it had been too long, and she agreed, feeling his warm body move farther from hers. She heard him cut himself off from saying something, and she simply threw her head to the side in confusion. But she pushed it away as he gazed at her, the girls smile brightening ever so slightly. His lips moved again, his voice breaking through the veil of silence. He asked her what mischievous business she had been up to, and she dropped her smile for a moment, thinking back to all she had done. She had been scared by murderous villains, she had spoken to her father, and had seen the sun die only to rise again. "I've been up to a few things lately... it'd be a waste of time to tell you all the things I've done... unless you want me to go into detail..." She lightly giggles, her laugh a soft wind, her throat slathered with honey and she presses a smile to her dark lips. Her eyes gently fall over Mesec's carved features, reaching his pearl white eyes. They looked like full moons, placed on mountains of shadows which were faintly lit by the scattered stars. "Speech."

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.

mesec</style>

When I stepped back and saw the spotted girl's smile brighten, my own seemed to mimic it, spreading just a little bit wider than it had been before. I was proud of myself for being able enough to cheer her up a little, as she had seemed somewhat uncomfortable just a few moments ago when she first approached me. My pride could only last so long though, as always, when I saw her smile fall at the question I had asked. Again, my own smile slipped in a never-ending cycle.

Her soft laughter was a relief to hear, but I wouldn't let her get away with such a minute explanation so easily. After all, it had been nearly a year since we had last seen each other, right? Even if we weren't the best of friends, I wanted to know just what she had done in that time, and I would try my damnest to bring that smile back to her face. "Nonsense," I spoke up with a soft shake of my head, flashing a gentle smile back to her, "I want to hear everything, Frost. I don't care if I'm made to stand here until tomorro-" ... I was cut off.

Oh, no.

Jerking my head up straight and turning it to the side, my moonlit eyes landed on the figure of a once all too familiar filly. It was impossible to mistake the approaching figure as anyone but Roskuld, for only she was capable of such a wide range of expressions made all at once. Though my heart leapt with utter joy at seeing her alive and well, I couldn't bring myself to go running and pull her into a tight(surely unwanted) embrace, let alone even move a single hoof from the ground when her words kept coming. And kept coming. And kept coming.

If I was capable of blushing, I would certainly be doing it right at this very moment. Her words were all too sarcastic and sing-songy for me to conjure up any sort of response, even as her eyes turned worried and I knew that I was about to die some horrible death of embarrassment. For that was just the way Roskuld was.

As expected, my eyes widened and my mouth fell open a couple inches as she accused me of wetting the bushes as a youngster. As far as I could remember, I had never had such a problem, but would Frost Fyre believe it? With a quick glance to the appaloosa and then back to Roskuld, then to Frost Fyre and back again, I was flabbergasted. The worst part of it all was the fact that Roskuld's face never lost its sincere worry that I knew wasn't really there at all; damn her.

"R-Ros!" I finally stammered when my complete loss of words began to recover, "What do you... I don't know what you're talking about. You must have hit your head again." A rough exhale was given then, followed by a sharp inhale as I did my best to keep myself together. I had never been so embarrassed in all my poor life, and knowing that Roskuld would only make it worse if I continued to try and fight her, I decided to try and change the subject to something else entirely.

"Erm... Roskuld, this is Frost Fyre, my friend. And Frost Fyre, this is Roskuld, my sister."

"talk talk talk"

They play a game of tag with their smiles, passing the smile to one another, in the end, she was the sore loser. She let her smile fade when she mentioned her past, looking at Mesec and giggling guiltily. 'Nonsense', he told her, told her that he would stand until tomorrow.. or, that is what he was to say, but their delicate, fragile moment was shattered by an all too happy girl. Flicking her ears back, she turns her head to the girl only a few months younger than her. She is angered inside, hurt. Her sacred moment had been crushed by the black and white girl, her appearance odd. She is short yet stocky, a little plump girl with some muscle on the side. The maiden looks her over, raising a brow to the little thing. She looks at Mesec, her words too cheerful to believe. But her voice lowers, and she speaks about Mesec and his 'wetting of the bushes'. The maiden cannot help but giggle at the little ones foolish words, a little smile on her lips. She looks at Mesec, giggling again as he stumbles over his words, obviously embarrassed. She looked at Mesec and then at the filly, Roskuld, he had called her. "Well it's nice to meet you, Roskuld." She looks at Mesec, sending him a look that told a tale, a look that told him the words his sister spoke did not influence her thoughts, just a fake tale woven for the enjoyment of his sister. But, they could not be direct siblings now could they? Their appearances were nothing alike, and Ros had a stockier, shorter stature than Mesec's muscular, tall and carved frame. And Mesec had wings, she did not, at least, not physical ones sprouting from her shoulders. Maybe she had them hidden beneath a cloak of magic? Or maybe she held no wings whatsoever? Whatever the case, the maiden did not care all that much. She took more notes, on the filly's shortened tail and of her long bangs. The younger girl was so different from Mesec, yet they set of the same magical aurora, one she had only felt when close to Mesec. "Speech."

Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change.