Tears threatened to spill from behind the eyelids that held them back like a beaver's dam did water. But I didn't let them fall. No. I couldn't have anybody come across me and think that I was a blubbering idiot. Of course, it didn't really help that I didn't know where I was. This terrain was foreign to me and although I knew of and experience a few winters already, this cold was a startling one. Seconds turned into minutes and with each breath I exhaled a cloud of crystallized vapor hung in the air before me. It was almost as if it was asking...no, pleading to return to whence it came rather than suffer the glacial air and dissipate to the great unknown. Yes, this winter here was different than any I had experienced before and it only made me wonder what the natives were like. Were they nice? Were they mean? Were they small or were they giant? Or even were there any natives that lived here? I really had no knowledge, no idea what the inhabitants of this place were like if there were any and realizing this started to put me a little on edge.

My ears flicked to and fro trying to catch every sound that surrounded me. Paranoia began to bloom from its seed that was buried deep within my chest and with each passing second its grip grew stronger upon my mind. A sound of a twig snapping in one direction. The sound of snow crunching in another. A rustle of the bare tree branches opposite of the other two. I was surrounded by a cacophony of silence.

Then my ears suddenly slammed behind me at an incessant growing number of what I would guess to be footsteps in the snow. Is something the matter? You look upset, the voice behind me uttered in my direction and I spun as quick as I could to face its originator.

To my surprise, before me stood a stallion taller than myself and coal black in color with some white and gold thrown in. But that wasn't what caught me off guard. It was his wings. A pegasus? Illomere didn't have any of the sort, but when I was in Cimoron there was. Though I had never had the pleasure of meeting one as they were a bit of an elusive bunch.

“Who are you?!” I blurted out as I begin to worry a little. And why wouldn't I? I didn't know this stallion. I didn't know this place. And I sure as hell didn't completely know of this stallion's intentions despite his few but kind words of concern. Then the stallion began to move a closer to me and my muscles tensed and called out to him loud enough just for him to hear, “Don't come any closer!”

Fearful that this stallion just might be full of some sort of evil I looked to the line of trees that surrounded us and planned a possible escape route should anything go wrong. My orange eyes caught sight of a few pine trees while I was searching and I tried to remember what training I had had in Cimoron. Pine needles...was it help for illnesses or were they able to be used as a poison of sorts? When I couldn't recall its use I cursed under my breath and fell to the idea of just using a branch of needles as a way to fend off an attacker. Again that was if it came down to that.



It wasn't long until the stallion introduced himself. Bucephalus and he said that he was from a herd farther south. I felt like I winced slightly at his introduction as I had realized that my paranoia had run rampant. Hopefully Buce...Bucepah...Bucephel. A sigh escaped my lungs as I struggled over the pronunciation of his name within the confines of my mind. Hopefully he would understand my nervousness. Then my attention turned to the question he had unknowingly quipped to me. Did I honestly look like I was from one of the herds here? No, I think not.

Before I could answer Bucephalus -hey I finally got it right!- another being entered into the grove and this time it was a female. Shockingly this female also bore wings. Was this place inhabited by pegasi only? My ears tipped in the mare's direction as she spoke before I could even manage a reply to Bucephalus. She said hello with smile plastered upon her lips and then continued with her name and then moved on to reassuring me that there was no need to be frightened. She also happened to throw in a bit of a tour guide offer which honestly, I could use. Her words though helped a little but I was still wary of the both of them. I glanced back to the treeline and wondered for a second how well a pegasus could fly in this forest. Perhaps I would be able to outrun them?

No.

I figuratively shook the thought from my head, releasing its hold upon my nerves and looked from the Bucephalus to Rhea before speaking my own words for them to hear as I took a step back away from them both, “You'll have to excuse me,” I noticed that Rhea had extended out her muzzle to me as I stepped back and felt slightly guilty that I was being so cautious about them, but I had to be, “But where I previously lived, it was rather difficult to take one's words for truth and you always had to fear the evil minded.”

Once more I looked to the two of them and sighed once more. Why did trust have to be so hard to give and get on Cimoron? It was almost like I was now conditioned to be a nervous Nelly and I didn't particularly like that part of me. “So we can be on a name to name basis, my name is Ayleid,” I began a little more calmly, “Now, where exactly am I? I don't recognize any of this terrain.” I might as well start off this way. One question at a time. To start off, where was this place. Then, why do I look different. And finally did either of them know where my homeland, Illomere, was. After all, it was my end goal, but first I needed to look like myself again and for some reason I felt like that bit was going to take some unwanted time.

"Ayleid's speech"|"Ayleid's thoughts"

WORD COUNT;; 1089
TAGGED;; @[Bucephalus] , @[Rhea]
OOC;; holy moley. this turned out sooo long.

AYLEID'S REF;; Click!
AYLEID'S VOICE;; Miranda Otto

Orange eyes watched the two pegasi as looks of confusion seemed to roll over their faces like fog rolled over a bay. A pang of guilt echoed from deep within me. I didn't mean to confuse them. I didn't want to come off as this...skittish being. But it appeared as so that I did and who would blame me? After all that I had been through it would surprise even I if one was calm and collected. Still, that didn't completely condone the type of behavior I expressed towards them.

My attention fell to Bucephalus as he spoke and answered my singular question. Helovia? Threshold? Neither of those names sparked any memories within my brain nor did they place themselves upon a mental map. The only two places I had been my entire life were Illomere and Cimoron. Why would I know of anywhere else? But Bucephalus did give me a clue: it is where newcomers enter to join a herd or roam alone. Although, whether he was talking about this Helovia or this Threshold I had no clue. I didn't have to wonder for long as to which he had referred to though. Bucephalus continued to speak first about how my fear was a healthy one and how no place was free of deceit and how this Helovia place was decent. Then he went on about how he was here to recruit members to this Dragon's Throat. Now I hadn't a clue as to how this stallion who stood before me thought or what he had seen, but I certainly did not want to go near any throat of any dragon. I was hoping he was either kidding or that perhaps this Dragon's Throat was just some name given to a peculiar land formation.

But I didn't have to go with him. He made that entirely clear. I could go with either him or Rhea or travel the lands on my own to see all the herds at my own pace. “Or find a way to get back to normal and get home.” I thought to myself quickly and tucked it away within my mind before watching Bucephalus fall silent but still seem puzzled. A soft sigh escaped my lips as the pang of guilt grew bigger still. Why did it have to start this way?

Before I could say anything to Bucephalus, the mare named Rhea broke in with her own words. She stated that she was from someplace called Aurora Basin and that it was to the north. There are many of our kind... My thoughts flashed back to those words that she said. Did she mean many pegasi? Both Bucephalus and her had wings, but Rhea also bore a horn where as Bucephalus did not. Where there more than just pegasi in this land of Helovia or was it just pegasi?

I felt my muscles relax as I grew to to believe and trust that neither Rhea or Bucephalus meant me any harm. Surely I wasn't in any danger from these two.

“I'm sorry if I confused you both,” I began my voice soft, “You see I'm trying to find my homeland, Illomere. My parents sent me away for my own safety long ago and I'm trying to find my way back.”

I paused as I remembered my past. Back then I didn't know much of anything as to why they sent me away. But as time went by and I grew older, I pieced it together. My parents had to have been some sort of high rank within our society and something bad must have been happening. So they sent me away to keep me safe from the bad things. My eyes drifted back to the two that stood before me, “But I'm going to take a wild guess that neither of you have heard of Illomere before just as I had not heard of Helovia before now,” I swallowed as I remembered how much different I looked. “It probably happened when I crossed the border.” I thought to myself before speaking to them again, “But it matters not for the time being. Nobody I once knew would probably recognize me now. For some unknown reason I look much different than I used to.”

Thoughts then turned to each land that they had both mentioned. Aurora Basin was to the north and Rhea had mentioned sand for Dragon's Throat so it was probably either a beach or a desert. A faint smile began to grow upon my lips as I thought about having a place to call home, if even temporarily. Besides, taking solace in a herd and learning what I could about this place seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe there was a way to get me looking like I did before? Maybe there was someone here in Helovia that knew where Illomere was and how to get there? I would only benefit from staying here for a while.

Ears pricked forward as Rhea went on recommending that I avoid going off by myself because something was off lately. The smile that was barely there disappeared and my facial features became more austere, “Why? What has happened?” I questioned. Though her statement concerned me I still remained somewhat calm. Was there some sort of war going on? Was some sort of sickness spreading across the land? I had no idea but maybe there was something I could do, “Perhaps I could be of some assistance? Where I lived last I learned a little bit about plants and their uses for healing,” I paused and looked towards the pine trees. I wished that I could recall the use for their needles but sadly I couldn't, “Though I'll have to admit, there weren't that many lessons so I didn't learn all that much.”

The concerned look remained upon my face as I looked to both Rhea and Bucephalus, hoping that one of them would be willing to share news of whatever was going on and hoping that I could be of some assistance to help alleviate the situation.

"Ayleid's speech"|"Ayleid's thoughts"

WORD COUNT;; 1015
TAGGED;; @[Bucephalus] , @[Rhea]
OOC;; mkay I don't know exactly what's going on here, but apparently I have some serious Ayleid muse. lol. Sorry if it rambles.

AYLEID'S REF;; Click!
AYLEID'S VOICE;; Miranda Otto

Murders?! A bit of panic fluttered within my chest for a while. With my lithe frame and distaste for physical violence, I wasn't much of a fighter by any means. That being said, if I were to be ambushed and attacked by a murderous being...I wouldn't stand a chance. Shudders coursed up and down my spine as I thought about the very outcome that would likely happen if I would have to fight for my life, but I shook my thoughts and the shudders away as I focused once more on Rhea and Bucephalus.

Good advice. Rhea's words caused my head to snap in her direction. She was commenting on Bucephalus' notations about not going off alone, though hadn't she already said that? But instead of bringing up the obvious, I just kept my thoughts to myself. No need to be putting bitter thoughts about me in someone else's mind.

I bit my lip as both Rhea and Bucephalus spoke about their herds. Dragon's Throat and Aurora Basin...though they called them simply as Throat and Basin. Perhaps I should start calling them by their shorthand as well?

“So both Throat and Basin have these healer positions?” I asked with a mixed look of contemplation and interest on my face. If this was true, then I could go either way – so long as I was accepted into a healer position. At least I think that was where I would fit in best position wise.

Silently, what little hope I had shattered within me after Rhea brought up her response regarding Illomere. It really didn't come as a surprise that she didn't know about my homeland, but it still hurt all the same when I heard her physically say my suspicions. By Bucephalus' lack of acknowledging the issue, I took it that he also didn't know of Illomere.

“I feared that that might be your answer,” I resigned with a disheartened sigh before trying to look on towards the brighter side of things. Rhea had offered to discover Helovia together since she was rather new. She honestly reminded me of my friend Jolie from Cimoron. Jolie was the first person I came across there and offered to show me around everywhere. Last time I was given the choice of exploring with someone else, they had become one of my closest friends. Perhaps this was a sign that I was supposed to go with Rhea?

With my eyes looking at the ground, I considered my options. I could go with Rhea to this Basin herd. Or I could go with Bucephalus to this Dragon's Throat. Then I had an epiphany from watching the snow shift beneath me. I could start out in one herd and if I grew to dislike it, I could simply switch to a different herd. Who knows, maybe I would know more about this place and be able to make a better decision based upon what I learn?

I raised my gaze to the two that were standing before me. First I looked over to Bucephalus, he seemed nice enough but I think I was going to try for the same outcome as the past, “Perhaps we can keep in touch and grow to be friends?” I said to him, hoping that he wouldn't take offense for me probably wasting his time. Then I looked to Rhea, “The offer to explore together has worked out well for me in the past, perhaps it will again? I'd love to take you up on that offer.”

A new light lit within me. I may look different. I may be in a new land and not know anything about it. I may not be any more closer to my homeland than I was before. But I would surely not be short of friends. Not in Cimoron, not in Illomere, and certainly not here in Helovia.

"Ayleid's speech"|"Ayleid's thoughts"

WORD COUNT;; 646
TAGGED;; @[Bucephalus] , @[Rhea]
OOC;; oddly enough Ayleid has chosen the Basin I guess. Sorry Tribs, I know I said she'd probably go either throat or falls, but Nickel somehow stumbled upon a similar offering that has worked well for Ayleid in the past. So she's gonna take a chance on something she's already experienced. lol

AYLEID'S REF;; Click!
AYLEID'S VOICE;; Miranda Otto