The chill of Frostfall attempted to enter the very bones of the smallish raven mare that wandered towards the Threshold. She was lucky, for the magic that darkened her soul enabled her to create flames from within a powerful draconic fire-belly. Even now, in her equine bodice, she found warmth with relative ease, what with the magical, soul-binding bond she held with the majestic golden queen, Akaith. The World's Edge was relatively north in the world of Helovia, and though it held thousands of trees, they stood tall and strong - but naked of their leaves, and there was great patches where the lands still healed from the tantrums of the Sun God. The Sun God, who was apparently absent now, in the depths of winter.

As harsh and drought-ridden as TallSun was, it seems FrostFall will be as deep, and dark. The thoughts were shared in that magical bond that combined the souls of the equine and dragon, and the mare knew she was lucky to be able to find warmth in her land, that really should be feeling the same freezing conditions as the rest of the world. But a dragon's flame, when directed with care, could melt away the snows, provide fresh water, and find what was left of the autumn growth of grasses. The mare was not in the same condition she would be in the midst of Spring, but she was fairing better than she would have been had the walk of an Outcast still be calling her. Having a permanent land to all her own was something she had missed without even realising it, the World's Edge was the Goddess of the Moon's patron land, a land as close to her birthland as she had ever found.

And she had the Qian to keep her company, to help her build the land into a stronghold of peace and equality. A soft snort erupted through her nostrils, as snow swirled around her form. The pale, powdery substance stirred up as she walked. No cloak of shimmering, illusionary magic slung around her shoulders, today she walked, slowly healing, mending from the battle she herself had waged. Scars of deep lacerations were scabbing up along her hide, but she was otherwise clean, the bruises upon her ribs were nothing more than aches if she stood still for too long. Of course, the emotional wear and tear upon her soul had barely begun to heal.. The guilt she carried troubled her still, but she was always good at ignoring such things as emotions. She walked the Threshold now, with purpose, determination - but showing nothing more than passive indifference.

Mirage was never one to judge a book by its cover, nor was she one to pass judgement without first learning as much as she could about a situation. Ears pressed forward as a scent tingled her nostrils, curious. Akaith glided to her back, clinging to strands of charcoal hued mane with her strong claws. The mare pressed onwards, even sending out a whisp of melody to announce her arrival; it was not her usual habit, those who knew her would know, but the mare was in a less devious mood herself, and was perhaps, more hospitable than normal. Rounding the bend she became aware of the pegasus femme that stood before her, and nodded her tiara a smudge in acknowledgement, before allowing her tones to break through the velvet lips that curved in a shadowy smile.

"Greetings mare; welcome to Helovia. I am Mirage."

Carefully the mare observed this femme, watching, waiting for a reaction to be given. She had to wonder at the expertise in which this Selene offered nothing more than polite returns to her words. But the hesitation, the seconds it took for her to respond spoke of something more. On the outside, it appeared as nothing more than thoughtfulness, that the mare was simply considering her words before speaking. Mirage could respect this; but then Mirage also knew a great deal about acting. The smile upon her lips, small and subtle that it was, disappeared as a vacant, indifferent expression glazed over her features, stony and unmoving as she drank in what this painted belle had to offer her. The words she spoke were innocent enough, and so Mirage responded to them approrpiately, nodding her tiara once and motioning to the golden queen that sat atop her withers.

"Her name is Akaith, we share a bond." The dragon moved to hold onto Mirage's mane higher up her nape, leaning over the shadowy mare's withers to better view the pegasus mare before them. Akaith enjoyed the attention given to her, unable to detect the subtle nuances of a liar. "What do you seek here?" The mare asked plainly, still wondering at the display of anger the mare had shown before, the swift bowing of her ears and the defensive manner in which she whirled around to face Mirage. Perhaps she had merely been taken by surprise? Perhaps she did not wish to be disturbed? Though her words suggested otherwise, they spoke of pleasure at making her acquaintance, which further led the little charcoal mare into wodner at what this new belle was made of. Treading with care, the mare dared to spend more time with this mare, perhaps she would unravel the truth before the conversation is done.

A brow raised at the mare, the only indication upon her otherwise vacant expression that a hint of curiosity existed within her. She complimented the bond that Mirage and Akaith shared, and it was a sentiment Mirage agreed with - she knew she was fortunate to be bonded with the majestic queen, the only bonded queen dragon within Helovia as far as she knew. There were of course wild queens - but that was unrelated to the situation at hand.

The painted mare spoke of being along, of longing for something, anything. It was a tale that sounded similar to exactly how Mirage had felt over a year ago, when she first arrived in these lands. She had been unwittingly searching for companions, for someone, or some one's, to share in her this adventure that was her life. She had succeeded in finding them, and had secured their loyalty in exchange for her own. They had then proceeded to prove their worth, to secure a land to call their own, their home.

"If you would care to tell me about yourself, perhaps I can help enlighten you to your own purpose here." The mare spoke carefully, her tones were quite dry compared to her earlier greeting. Times were too risky to invite any old creature to her home - she had to continue to protect the kin whom she called her own, and while she was willing to extend her trust to those worthy, she still held those who had already gained her trust in higher esteem, and with a sense of protective over them also in there. She asked this query of the painted maiden before her to see if she might inspire a similar reaction to that she had glimpsed before, a removal of the mask; perhaps then, Mirage would even remove her own mask.

[ooc : I am so sorry about the wait. Been crazy busy these last 3 weeks. Replies will be regular now :-) ]