Almost a season had passed already, since Africa had traded her beloved, long term desert home for the lonely depths of the Deep Forest – a haven of old – a place that was yet to be tarnished with tortured memories and pain. It was beneath the gnarled limbs of ancient timber that she had hidden away from the winter; from emotions and life itself. She had withered in its twisted shadow, abandoned direction and lost all hope, but from the midst of depression had come an unexpected angel of salvation.

It was he who filled the Starry-Eyed’s mind as she sauntered into the south; into whispering southerly wind as quiet as the dreaming trees it caressed. The Sun was sinking towards the horizon in the west, and rich, red afternoon light heralded the arrival of the burning pegasus mare. She hummed a fond tune as she went; frivolous again, blithe, stumbling hither and thither as though drunk – and in a sense she was...

They were searching for the velvet-fur roots of arboreal ferns – a tasty token of her affection, and she was reluctant to turn home empty handed.

"If you see any tell me!" Sparkling tone rang out like clarion bells through the calm of the forest, but Africa barely seemed to notice. Her ashen face danced merrily between the tree’s lowest limbs and tallest saplings beneath, quite oblivious to the racket of her passing. It had been many years since she had felt so free of weight, and like those times long ago, the dappled mare fell beneath a dense cloud of naivety.

Even a scent that should have stirred fear through her heart, seemed to evade her awareness.

It was Silas who noticed him nestled in the murk. The shrewd avian remembered well the rabid hunger which had resonated through every twitch of his ugly, roan body, and a warning rumbled through his chest; suspicious, angry. Silent, star-speckled wings dipped instantly, and as he swooped nearer to his beloved (though ahead) in defence, the marvellous array of ornate feathers upon him flared boldly.

Africa’s stupor dissolved instantly, and long sooty ears swivelled anxiously as her pale eyes strained to find the source of her bonded’s disquiet. "No..." she gulped disbelievingly as pale, yellow eyes discovered the stallion through the trees in front, and already her lean, stockinged forelegs were stumbling clumsily in reverse. Did he see us? She wasn’t sure, and fearfully gaping nostrils drew a timid breath to hold.

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Attack:0/3 Intro
@[Reynier]

Africa