Silas grew restless; the awkwardness of the exchange between the Equine and his beloved drew very little enthusiasm from the sleek, black Roc, and he began to fidget with mounting disinterest upon the withers of the mare. He had beckoned her from the guard of their home with the intention to sharpen his newly conceived skills- bending time as he wished; melding day into night and so far they had spent no time doing so.

His discovering such a quality had been more or less accidental, though already it had proved to be a useful aid during one specific time Africa was in need. He could not understand the words being exchanged, nor could his mind yet distinguish snippets of the swirling thoughts from his beloved’s mind, so all in all he felt rather like the third wheel. Still young, the Roc craved the attention of his mate, and when that strayed like on this occasion, indignant possessiveness evolved.

Cunningly, his raptor-like claws sank a little deeper than was necessary, into the taut canvas across her spine.

The sensitive nerves layered like mesh beneath the stretch of skin the Roc stood upon, tingled and twinged in angry response to the unpleasant gesture- Africa was distracted enough however, to not notice immediately. When the stallion smiled responsively to her question, the spread of unmitigated relief through her uncertain mind lessened the weight of their unnervingly slow moving conversation; and easily it overwhelmed any pain too. Her face easily reflected the shift in his otherwise bland demeanour, though her long cupped ears still fluttered hesitantly above. Quietly she listened to all that his parched, deep voice offered.

As he spoke, her kindly gaze fell again to view the gems. She thought quickly of Midas and his ability to shake the earth- he had done so once on the plateau field above the Foothills, bringing down a unicorn who sought to ravage herself. Wondering whether that magic could jiggle free the stones, Africa nodded and smiled loosely. "Earth magic…" she mused aloud, maw lowering to brush the slick of dust from those shining faces closest, though the thoughtful motion was quite in vain; the powder-clay irritated her nostrils and a sharp snort recoated them. "I haven’t either," the young mare stammered before sneezing again.

With each heave of her slender body, Silas was jerked from comfort; wings forced apart to keep him from tumbling to the side. A bothered caw parted his clicking beak, and the avian began to clamber and hop along the ridge of Africa’s back until he was perched atop her withers. Wickedly, he began to part the oily strands of her long, mottled mane to pluck them individually- for increased effect.

"Ouch, Silas…" The young mare gasped, rolling her shoulders indignantly. The Zephyr pulled another, grumbling, and another. "Please! Stop that." Africa’s neck swivelled to reach backwards a swift toss of her lovely face, and the bird was dislodged from his game. Briefly he fluttered in place aside from Dragomir, and cast a bitter glare down upon him. "Forgive us," she said ruefully, quiet pale eyes softening as they moved from her companion to find the stallion’s vivid-blue eyes. "I suppose we should continue on our way." In actual fact, she was hesitant to encourage the Zephyr to practice where another was active- she did not understand the full consequence of it yet; nor could she tell if it twisted the time around others as well.

Africa