The voice of the horse that answered her half-hearted invitation was deep and smooth and startlingly masculine. It caused the shadow of a mare to blink and actually pull out of her reveries to look up - and up - the vibrant amethysts making a quick sweeping appraisal that was if possibly even more judgmental than his had been. Oh, it was a stallion alright, and a big one at that. He towered over her with several hands to spare, the coat almost as dark as hers. But that was where their similarities ended. He was as neat and well-groomed as she was shabby, as muscular and well fed as she was starved. Gold adorned him in marking and artificial decoration, gold glinted beneath thick lashes and made her look if possibly even more ragged in comparison. Rather than feeling jealous of the splendor however, she had to suppress a desire to roll her eyes and groan. Great, she'd gotten and landed herself with a dandy, of all things! Unicorn too, to boot, which wasn't going to make it easier for her. There were certain... memories, shall we say, connected to the presence of horns and lion tails that made Shadow nervous, a dual sensation of intense fascination and loathing that set her teeth on edge. Dry, slightly cracked hooves sidestepped to increase whatever distance there was between the two, a brow rising in monumental lack of interest as he shot her a dazzling - surely, in his mind it had to be - smile, and returned her attention to the God.

It was impressive work, for sure. The closer Shadow looked the more her interest stirred, curiosity growing as to how the thing looked from the inside. Towering high as a wooden mountain there had to be room for half, if not all of Helovia's horses at least; though, glancing around the crowd she could see that while plenty the numbers still mounted to little more than a handful of the lands population.

Father Earth's instructions made perfect sense to her therefore, a slight, intrigued smile spreading across her lips as she nodded - more to herself than because she believed the deity to pay her any particular attention. Spreading the word, it was an easy enough task. Quick too, although... testing her strength the mare backed off until she had plenty of space and stretched out her wings, the only part of her that still looked decent. Inky black feathers shimmered in crystalline hues of blue and violet as she tried a couple of beats, sending harsh gusts of dusty air ever which way. Oh yes, this would work. She was regaining her strengths, while sore the muscles weren't nearly as painful as they had been a few days ago. Turning on the spot she threw a somewhat haughty glance at her makeshift partner, sighing at his glaring lack of wings.

"Try to keep up, will ya?" she said, thrust herself forth in a sharp sprint and took to the sky, feeling immense relief as the nameless, as of yet, stallion shrunk into an ant beneath her.

----------

As they had been ordered into teams however, Shadow didn't fly too high as she set the course south, feeling quite eager at the prospect of seeing her old home again. Keeping within shouting distance from the other, lavender eyes focused on the horizon to catch any glimpse of movement. Should she find something, a tilt of raven wings easily brought her closer to inspect. Most of the time it was merely wild animals roving the landscape beneath the sweltering sun, though a few times she was in luck and were able to convey the message of the God to outcasts going this way and that; pair up and head to Thistle Meadow, for the Father of Earth and Water summon all to his side.

It didn't take long before her wings began to ache. Crossing an ocean had a way of draining you of stamina as well as strength, and where Shadow once would have been able to fly halfway across the continent in just over a day, she found herself lightheaded and out of breath after only a few hours. Reluctantly she circled down towards her partner and landed before it became worse, loath to imagine what he might think of her lathery neck and sweat-damp coat.

"Four winds carry me, I think I've grown soft" she muttered under breath, eyes pointedly avoiding the stallion to scrape across the horizon. Smoke rose in a steady black plume from the Heart somewhere up ahead, and far off in the distance the landscape flattened out into sandy dunes, where the very air trembled from the intense heat.

"How... How far ought we travel?"

Swallowing surreptitiously Shadow stole a sideways glance at the dandy, hoping against hope that he would show some sign of being tired too. He'd certainly looked strong back on the Meadow, but... But who was she kidding, really? Of course he wouldn't be, it was she that was hopelessly weakened and foolish enough to think she would mend after only a few meals and a good nights sleep.


Shadow and @[Bolverik]!
( omg so sorry for the wordpoop, you really don't have to match me. x_X )

He was too polite. For some reason Shadow couldn't quite articulate even to herself, the way the unicorns smile never slipped made her nervous, his gentlemanly courtesies completely wasted on her suspicious mind. The way he kept grinning at her made her suspect that he either was trying very hard not to openly make fun of her, or possibly because he wanted something from her. Whatever that might be she didn't know, but the result was that whenever that charming grin was fired off in her direction she ended up narrowing her eyes warily, taking a few precocious steps out of reach.

Yet she couldn't help but be grateful for his tact when it kept him from shoving her own misplaced confidence down her throat. She needed the chance to breathe, regain a slightly more dignified posture and take stock of the immediate terrain, and by the time he had answered her half-hearted question the worst of the dizziness had faded. The mare still felt light-headed as she nodded however, so when others emerged from what appeared to be a hole in the ground she kept quiet, letting them and her partner do the talking.

Gemstone eyes slipped from unicorn to equine (ominous looking one, with that unsettling facial mark, though she sounded pleasant enough) to pegasi and back, glittering and harsh with attentiveness as they - until they fell upon the bold child, so eloquent despite his youth. A smile softened her dusky features, old pain ghosting past as she was reminded of another foal, another colt... "Thank you for letting us know, you have done really well" she said, the coarse voice unusually mild as she addressed the foal. She would have loved to linger and talk further, desperately needed to ask whether they knew her foal, her beautiful boy...

But her partner was already moving away at the news that there was nothing left for them to do there, and Shadow was faced with a choice to either follow or be let behind, just like she had done before. Sparing another wistful smile at the child and a passing glance and nod to the older stallion - the father, perhaps? - she slipped into a trot until she caught up with the tall unicorn, her short legs working like drum-sticks to keep up with his longer stride.

Snorting slightly Shadow rolled her eyes at his jab, quite against her will feeling a wry smirk tug at the lips. So even preening peacocks could have humor, eh? She supposed that earned him a plus in her book - though a small one. No need to exaggerate. "Do I have a choice? I'm not exactly in a condition to outrun anyone right now" she said dryly. "But please... I think we both know that I'm no lady. My name is Shadow, I'd prefer if you used it."


@[Bucephalus], @[Hertz], @[Nymeria] @[Bolverik]