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