Any time spent so far from the unnatural refuge which currently harboured much of the Helovian population was uplifting, invigorating and generally healing for the mind. Her spirit had decayed considerably through the months of their imprisonment (guilt and stress fermenting her very essence while little else could be done to distract); cowering en mass below the barrier of Earth’s mighty crust, where no foul monsters could penetrate. No matter how secure the cave kept them, and regardless of the lavish grazing able to thrive so deep without the nourishing stroke of sunlight, such a life was no pleasure for one stained with part-equine instinct.

Africa had definitely not spent so long in the cave beneath the Deep Forest last Frostfall, nor had she been forced into such cramped quarters then with those same fiends she had learned to fear- the Unicorns of the Basin. The Sanctuary, while very much their saving grace, was uncomfortable and queer.

While creamy eyes peered curiously towards the brown and white splashed Unicorn mare, flaccid nostrils inhaled greedily; testing all the while the whispering iced breath of air for any flavour therein. She was upwind however, and mottled strings of long mane whirled playfully around the snag of her perfectly forward ears, the long black and red tendrils to her rear licking lazily around the pinch of clenched coal hocks. The other had paused quickly when Africa’s unassuming position had been betrayed, though barely seconds after the soft mutter of her snort; the dark horned face was turned towards her.

Even from the distance dividing the two, the dappled Pegasus found effortlessly the smiling curve of the other’s expression; no hostility rippled beneath the taut sheen of her hide, and Africa’s own lips curled in response. She had not felt the blessing of simple friendliness for a long while (that was perhaps part of the reason the mellow nature of her heart had soured so), and was compelled still closer when the stranger’s lovely voice was delivered through the breeze.

Readily, white-stockinged limbs started forwards through the wet slop of snow so eager to chill the warmth of her skin. Rarely did snow fall in her home; the desert, where her herd had bedded and thrived for as long as she could remember, and she found the sensation of its bitter bite most unpleasant. Perhaps that caused the unusually high nature of her stride; each hoof thrust as far from the stew as could be managed. Regardless however, the once Oracle’s attention focused forward curiously. She halted at a thoughtful proximity, one which would allow either being time to flee should some drastic event fall upon their aloneness (Africa knew by experience now that strange things could happen- at any point, and did). Certainly the grey portrayed little reason for the other to react fearfully as she stretched forward her velvet nose warmly.

"Hello...." After a modest offer to exchange breath in typical equine fashion, the one-winged creature withdrew and offered a humble smile. "…I’m Africa; few wander the woods these days, are you looking for company?" Her face tilted quietly, musingly, and her gaze fixed upon the marvellous emerald green of the other. Without the need to return to The Sanctuary by foot, Silas did not overwhelm her thoughts so gravely (when other’s had been met here in recent times, the young Zephyr had feared terribly for the wellbeing of his beloved, and the safety of her primitive travelling), and Africa was left to converse in relative peace.

The young avian had by then swept onto the low bough of a rogue oak tree nestled between those frayed arms of the old Redwoods, and he watched tentatively, preening those feathers which had been displaced mid-journey.

Africa