Alysanne

The decision to leave had been a hasty one, barely enough time to let anyone know what she intended before she had left. Her restless feelings had been relentless, plaguing her. She could not shake the idea that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to sleep again if she were to go back and spend time with her family. See Iona and talk to her about what she had learned with Miykael in those caves… confront the demons that haunted her now. She wouldn’t have been much use as a Moon Doctor in the state she had been in. If she couldn’t calm her mind and heal her own wounds how could she muster the energy to do it for others?

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Alysanne would give her last breath to heal her friends and anyone else, for that matter.

All the same, it seemed right to leave.

That didn’t mean that there wasn’t guilt in her heart when she returned. She bore gifts, some to be laid aside for later when she visited the altars and others destined for the herb garden. There were a few worries bouncing around her mind. Here she was, a council member in this beloved herd of hers and she was constantly disappearing now and then to spend her time in a completely other land. A decision was on the horizon, one that doubtlessly should have been made a while ago, but for now she was back - ready to make amends and work for this herd. Perhaps she wasn’t meant to be a Moon Doctor, perhaps she had proved herself unreliable. She would have to talk to Kahlua and Kaj and Resplendence about that soon. All she could hope was that, if not in that position, they would still have room for her in this herd.

It really was home after all. Even with her son living somewhere else – growing rapidly! – this was what she considered home. These rocky hills and cliffs and tall trees with their shiny, dark needles. The curious animals that lived here and the amazing equids that did the same. Yes, this was home.

Hemlock, no longer a little puff of down but instead a little puff of sleek tan feathers, did his best to hoot encouragingly at her as they re-entered their home as it was dressed in autumn’s colours. The hoot was muffled as he carried a bright yellow flower in his mouth alongside a white, star-shaped one There were several of these two flowers nestled in crook where her wings folded against her back – the little owl in charge of watching over them during their journey – and he had picked out the most beautiful ones for future plans. The others that they had gathered, plump with seeds, would hopefully be able to get planted in the herb garden before the frost settled in so they could lie dormant safely and wait for Birdsong to bring them back to life.

There was a small hesitation by the winged mare as she reached the ruins of the glass wall – wondering briefly if she should wait to be greeted – before moving on. She had not been gone that long – a couple seasons – though it was certainly longer than she intended.

All she could really do was hope no one would be too cross with her, at least not to the point where they would not allow her to make amends. Her heart felt considerably lighter now that she was back and (hopefully!) would see some friendly and/or familiar faces in just a few moments.

“Aly!” came the bright cry from the painted queen’s mouth. What had been a walk erupted into a vivacious canter as the queen caught sight of the woman in the distance. How long had it been since she had seen her friend? Too long… Ever since that fateful day when Aurelia had challenged her, broken the queen’s heart and soul, left little Shilva lying in the grass without another breath to take. The thought of that day caused the queen to wince slightly and shut her eyes against the horrors she had shut into the deepest, darkest corner of her soul. Not today, she told herself as she bounded forward. She would not let that inky blackness paint itself over what was surely to be a joyous reunion.

Not so elegantly sliding to a stop and nearly crashing into her friend, Kahlua instinctively threw her neck around the Moon Doctor’s own. “I’ve missed you so much,” she cooed, her bright soprano catching Khan’s attention, who had been off hunting for something to fill his belly with. The little blue dropped his half-finished lunch and took to flight, heading towards his bonded. The sight of the small fluff of a companion on Aly’s back, hopefully not too upset by the sudden appearance of Kahlua, stirred a wave of playfulness in the blue dragon. Well, that is to say Kahlua too it is playfulness. The little blue actually thought he looked rather like dessert.

Luckily, as she was pulling her head back, Kahlua suddenly had the good sense to realize what sort of mischief the dragon was up to and turned to him and hissed a decided “No!” in his direction. Pulling up from the ascent he had begun, the blue sulkily descended to the ground instead and chirped and gurgled from the ground, eyeing what was sure to be a tasty morsel if he could ever get to it when Kahlua was not paying attention.

With that nonsense over, Kahlua stepped back from her friend to give her space and briefly noticed the flowers in her wing. However, the queen was no doctor and never would be, so the idea that the flowers had come from some foreign land was not something that ever crossed her mind. Instead, she focused on what was important to you. “Where have you been- I hope you were alright!” And then, because the idea came to her suddenly and it seemed to be a very real possibility, she said, “I hope it wasn’t something I said after… after…” Well, she almost said it, anyways. Saying Aurelia’s name was still hard for her and though she had mostly gotten over the hurt of what had happened, speaking about it always brought the terror back to the forefront, so she tried her best not to.

@[Alysanne]

Kahlua

Alysanne

The delightful call of her name invoked an immediate response from Alysanne and Hemlock. The mare broke into a huge smile, stepping forward to greet Kahlua and laughing with unrestrained delight as they hugged each other in greeting. Hemlock, guarding the flowers as he was, took some exception to this sudden jostling about and managed a disgruntled hoot towards Kahlua. He was actually rather fond of the queen, as fond as he could be of his bonded’s friends, but she was disrupting the job he had been given and he wasn’t one to take such disruptions very lightly.

And then, of course, he spotted the dragon.

Dark eyes narrowed into slits as he clung all the tighter to the feathers keeping him rooted, restraining himself from charging head on to this creature and teaching him a lesson or two. Oh those teeth didn’t scare him. Hemlock might be only slightly larger than an adult hamster but he was a Great Horned Owl in his mind and had no intentions of being a snack today or any other day. A low, threatening hoot escaped him as the dragon settled down to the ground after a word from Kahlua – eyes remaining narrowed and not breaking from the pale form.

Alysanne, mentally chiding Hemlock for being so unfriendly, greeted the presence of the dragon much more favorably. “A dragon! Kahlua he’s beautiful. What’s his name?”

Attention distracted by the movement of her friend as Kahlua stood back, breaking apart the embrace. “Oh!” A fresh wave of guilt hit her as she realized how her absence could have been attributed. “Oh my sweet Kahlua of course not! I am so sorry if I led you to think that. You cannot chase me away that easily.” A smile there, appearing easy and quick despite the guilt. After all, at their last meeting she had been significantly more concerned with the painted queen’s wellbeing and state of mind than her own. “How are you, by the way?” The enthusiastic greeting at least meant there was some progress – she wasn’t being told to keep her distance. She doubted that Kahlua had overcome all of the guilt over the little companion’s death, her heart was far too sweet for that, but there was hope that she was at least beginning to view it as an accident – not some sort of intentional malicious attack.

Once that question was answered, she explained herself. Her smile fading as she returned to her own guilty conscience. No, she had not handled things very well lately at all. “It was… a couple days after that, I went to find Mikey – Miykael, remember him? – and found him in the caves. He told me… he had taken some memories from me and he told me what they were. I got them back… I am so sorry about my absence but I had to go home. I needed to see my sister.” A dark look clouded over her green eyes but she refused to slip back into that world.

You belong to me that thing, that demon, had whispered to her as he broke her sister’s wings and feasted on their flesh. Forever.

Only if she let herself dwell, only if she gave in.

“I didn’t want to go but…” Alysanne shook her head, not sure if she could find the right words to explain why she needed to go. It was more than the need to see her son again, like her last visit to that delightful little family. The pain of the demon attack was something she shared with Iona alone.

Green eyes, soft in their sadness, watched her beloved friend carefully. Reproach was not something she would expect from Kahlua but still – this was more than a friend whisked away for a vacation. Alysanne was one of the Edge’s Moon Doctors and she had abandoned her post. “Will you forgive me for leaving, dear friend?” And it was then that she remembered the flowers she had brought back. “I uh, brought some herbs for the garden.” She mentioned lamely, as though that might make up for how terrible of a herd member – and friend – she had been lately.

To feel the warmth of the Moon Doctor’s neck around her own once more was delightful and a feeling Kahlua hadn’t really noticed she’d missed until she was presented with it once again. Even Resplendence had been suspiciously absent since the day of Aurelia’s challenge. The Sunshower hadn’t thought much of it before, suspecting that she had just been missing Resplendence as the two traveled between island and Edge, and now that the queen was standing here and actually using her brain, it seemed odd. Certainly she should have seen her at some point. A frown might have come to her face, but she was so happy with Aly around that she just couldn’t manage it. Still… she would have to query Alysanne about it. Maybe the pegasus would know.

“This is Khan!” she said, casting a fond gaze to the ground, where the dragon was still spouting chirps of protest and keeping a watchful eye on Hemlock, in case an opportunity might present itself. At least, it seemed, that Kahlua had not been the cause of this disappearance. Hopefully Resplendence’s was not of that cause either. “No, no, don’t be sorry,” she insisted in reply. “I just… I just had to make sure.” It was not fair of her to let Aly think that she was upset, for there was no anger within her. Only love and joy permeated her soul. “I was able to speak with the Lady Moon,” she added. “She’s very wise- she gave me plenty to think about.”

But with her story over, it was time for Aly to speak, and Kahlua hung eagerly upon the words that followed, the smile fading from her face as the story went on. Miykael, who had seemed so nice, had… stolen Aly’s memories? “Oh Aly,” she cooed softly, but her voice was not loud enough to interrupt the story. It was only a harmony to the sadness that the painted woman exuded. And then a moment later, when the Moon Doctor had said she hadn’t wanted to leave, the queen added, “No, you had to go, we don’t blame you.” She knew Kaj would understand just as well. “There’s nothing at all to forgive. Welcome home. Did you want to talk about what he told you?”

And the queen believed every word she spoke, as it wasn’t in her to lie; with the question, however, she hoped to make it clear that she only wanted Aly to talk about it if she felt comfortable. But then there were those herbs to attend to… “I haven’t seen Resplendence,” she said with a frown, but began to walk in the direction of the garden anyways, nosing at Khan as she went to send him back to roost in the trees or continue his hunt. She wouldn’t have him harassing Aly’s owlet the entire time they were together. Finally, because her mind was always on the thought in some ways, she burst out the blue with her own worries and troubles. “Have you ever been in love?” Her blue eyes turned to find her friend’s. It felt so natural to be back in her presence. She had missed this so much.

@[Alysanne]

Kahlua

Alysanne

The dragon is introduce and Alysanne can't help but continue to admire him. Not out of jealousy, of course, but he was quite the magnificent creature. “Pleasure to meet you, Khan!” Her gaze followed Kahlua’s to the dragon on the ground though he seemed a lot more preoccupied with Hemlock than with introductions. She was glad to hear that Kahlua wasn’t holding it all over her (a fair bit of relief came just from that!) and that she had gotten help from the Lady of the Moon. Truly, the Goddess must be wonderful to provide such help!

Her friend showed concern that touched Alysanne enough to evoke a small smile out of the painful thoughts. As did the question of whether she wanted to talk about it. There was a pause as she considered the idea. But in a whisper she offered her answer. “Not now.” She shook her head to ward off the thoughts – going to see Iona had helped but there was no burying those images again - before her eyes locked with Kahlua's to plead with her to understand this refusal. Those thoughts stayed at the surface now and she was still learning how to deal with them. Talking to Kahlua would help, wouldn't it? It was one of the things she loved about the sweet mare – Alysanne felt as though she could talk to her about anything. So this sweet friend of hers definitely needed more of an explanation. “I’m afraid I’ll turn into a blubbering mess if I try to remember it again. He…” Deep breath. “He took it away to protect me from what happened.” Not that the protection ended up lasting very long once she had found out about it. He had good intentions; he just went around it the wrong way.

The conversation was changed easily enough, which she greatly appreciated. “No?” Well that was concerning. Surely the other Moon Doctor would not have wandered too far. Or had the Edge been without both of them for a while?

But before she could inquire into that further, a question came out of the middle of nowhere as the pair began to move off towards the herb garden. Been in love? “Yes.” Her smile was bright – as it generally was whenever she thought of the subject. “Once, though I doubt it’ll ever completely go away. Aleksandr. He was the father of my son, you know. But… well, he’s even worse at staying in one location than I am.” That wonderfully nomadic pair of brothers who could show up out of the blue and, one of them at least, would always have the same effect on her. She managed to snap out of the thoughts in time to wonder just what brought on such a question. Looking at her friend now more carefully, that bright smile stayed put. “Have you?”

They were soon joined by a colt with beautiful, molting golden wings. It only took her a moment to place him – she had seen him before, after all. Hemlock hooted a greeting but remained where he was, warily eyeing that dragon. “Hello there!” Precious little thing. The soft spot that Alysanne had for foals was about the size of Helovia. “You’re one of Brisa’s boys, aren’t you? You’re getting awfully big – I see your flight feathers are coming in! Won’t be long now before you can use them. You probably don’t remember me but I was there when you were born. I’m Aly and this is Hemlock,” she motioned to the little owl and then to the other pair. “Kahlua, and Khan.”

Not now. The whisper seemed pained, even to Kahlua, and the concern showed on the queen’s face. Her friend’s welfare was of the utmost importance to her and she couldn’t even imagine the sort of struggle that Alysanne was going through. For a moment, Kahlua drifted back to her own history. There were no sons to speak of, though their might have been. What had she been thinking? That day she went to Nachtfang’s door, head held high on arched neck, tail flagged, smelling of a woman and speaking of favors in return for favors… What had her life back then taught her, except that power was important and that she should take it any way she could? How much had she changed since the fire, since that long trip alone across Loorien, since her time here in Helovia? Yes, Kahlua understand just perfectly why Aly did not want to speak of her own trials and tribulations. If Kahlua could never speak of her own sordid past, it would not be too soon. “Only when you’re ready,” she insisted as Aly tried to explain- there was no need.

And as much as Aly loved Kahlua for change the conversation, Kahlua loved her just as much for accepting her addled way of jumping from topic to topic. From Res to love, the moon doctor hung with her and indulged her every whim. “I don’t know,” was her response, smiled turned to a frown for a moment. She had been so sure when she had proclaimed her love to Kaj, so steadfast and resolute, but now she didn’t know. She had asked so many what love was to them, and none of the definitions seemed to fit what she felt for the golden king, and she was so afraid to let herself go so fully to another… that was a part of her past that would not fully leave her. The idea that love only brought pain and stole freedom had been ingrained in her at so young an age it was hard to let it dissipate, even as others only spoke of love as something that gave wings.

At least the arrival of Brisa’s child was a welcome distraction that let a gentle smile return to the mare’s face. And surely it was Brisa’s child, for who else could it be with a body of slate and wings of rose and gold? A moment later, her thought was confirmed by Aly’s welcome to the child. “Hello,” she cooed in response to him, trying not to let thoughts of chains and prisons weigh her down. These feelings, she thought, were something that Aly would not quite understand. Even now, it was evident that Aly was chained to her son, returning to see him when she could. Kahlua had enough anchors holding her steady; why did she need one more? But while Kahlua was struggling with an inner monologue on the complexities of children, Khan flew back to the mares for a moment as if demonstrating the ability to flight (and perhaps also keeping an eye on the small owlet that he would really like to devour) before disappearing once more to flap about in the trees. “Where are your brother and mother off to today?” she asked then of the child as she walked around a tree in her path.

With the garden just off in the distance, perhaps Aly would be able to teach both of them something of gardening.

@[Alysanne] @[Aeolus]

Kahlua

Alysanne

Alysanne felt incredibly curious about who Kahlua had on her mind. Was it the golden Kaj? Her partner in crime, leading this herd together. It certainly would be wonderfully poetic, their king and queen together. Or perhaps there was someone else. She tried to think of who before she realized that Helovia was filled with horses she had not met so there really was no point in speculating. But, their conversation on the subject would have to wait (or rather, her questions on the subject) until another time.

Being confused about love was not a pleasant experience, she imagined. It could be a rocky enough emotion when everything was going smoothly! Things with Sasha had felt so sure to her, right from the beginning, even though he had his own wars to deal with – even though he had been not-so-sure right from the beginning. And when they stopped being so sure they just… stopped altogether.

Confusion over wings and feathers and flying, however, was a much easier problem to solve. Alysanne might not be the best at flying herself – she could even use a refresher – but she at least knew the basics.

To answer Aeolus’ question, she stretched out a wing to the side, dislodging Hemlock from his perch so that the little owl very ungracefully tumbled about a foot before spreading his wings to catch himself. Circling back upward, he landed promptly on her head where things were certain to be much safer. “These long ones at the end,” She used her head to gesture to them as best as she could. “They’re flight feathers. They help us get up and stay up.” Well, there was probably more to it than that but Alysanne must admit that she didn’t know a whole lot about the science and logistics behind it. Still, this bright-eyed colt was part of her family and she’d be happy to share what knowledge she did have if he was interested.

As usual, the painted pegasus found it difficult to imagine denying anything to a foal. “If you want, I can teach you a bit about flying later.”

Aeolus’s descriptions of his mother and brother were causes for concern, however. He seemed a little concerned about Brisa, and if she hadn’t left the Edge in a while it was no wonder. A look was cast at Kahlua – perhaps they should go find their dear friend and see if she was alright. The explanation about Levex’s disappearance was certainly enough to cause panic in Alysanne. He hadn’t been home in weeks! “Oh Aeolus I’m so sorry. I’ll keep an eye out for him, maybe we should spread the word too…” She knew very well how easy it was to wander off and not think anything of it but this was a young colt! Surely they needed to put together a search party to look through Helovia and find him, bring him home to his mother and family.