A dragon, glimmering bronze in the sunlight, soared over the distant peaks, unleashing a furl of bright flame as he danced and played in the sky. His colt, landlocked and not quite so agile as his metallic friend, watched as his bonded caught pieces of sunlight in his scales, reflecting them as glittering discs of gilded ore. The penetrating dragon song was one of sunshine and green grasses and the vague heads of purple mountains, butterflies flitting through sunny prairies.

It was well past noon and the shadows clung greedily to their patrons, slanting to the west, following the gleaming sun. Squinting, grey-blue eyes studied the horizon, the light pooling within the iris in shades of silver and mulberry grey. Strange, thought the red dun boy as he stood beneath the gnarled tree, as old as he was stout, lending a much needed relief from the relentless sun. And the dragon, suddenly weary of his own tirades, glided effortlessly down towards his colt, perching regally on the broad shoulders. The dun wondered vaguely if this summer was to ever give way to cool autumn breezes and falling leaves the color of flames.

[short and sweet ^^]

The skies were far from empty this day, regardless of the temperature. A bronze dragon in flight was not strange, for many wild dragons prowled the skies at various times. But it was the easy downward glide into his territory that made the blue suspicious. Not a hunting stoop, but still a flight pattern that appeared to have a deliberate destination in mind. Swiftly he shot upward to investigate, peering after the stranger only to discover the bronze was bonded. This fact he sent to his own bonded.

Distracted by the image of the red dun and the bronze, the mare decided to go see for herself what was going on. She knew this wasn't a member of the Foothills, and she couldn't think of any of her allied groups having a member who was bonded to a bronze. At least, none that she'd seen. So that meant an outcast had stumbled upon her herdland, and should thus be met.

It took somewhat longer today than it otherwise would have in earlier seasons to reach the place where her blue was informing her the strangers were at. Her dark coat soaked up the sun a bit too well, made it wearisome to travel fast and far. So she walked, tracing the shadows and generally making an indirect route. But after a time she did find them, and approached without any apparent concern.

"I was told I'd find a pair of strangers here." She said with quiet amusement, the sudden gust of air across her haunches alerting her to the lithe blue's arrival a moment before he settled upon her back, his presence a silent explanation to her statement. The pair before her were both young, and something about them nagged at the back of her mind. "I am Smoke, and this is Zaffre. What brings the two of you here to the Foothills?"

There was a hint of color at the corner of his eyes, the humming excitement of a young dragon who had found company. Gradients of blue entered his mind, like the sea on a rainy day. As they rested beneath the tree, the little bronze sat up from his rest and chirruped with urgency. Go, thought the dun, smiling at his friend's excitement. Within a matter of milleseconds, the metallic thing was gone from his back, the only clue of his presence the shallow sores which his claws had dug.

He zipped high, a gust of glittering wind, jade eyes like precious gemstones scouring the horizon for the whisper of blue he had witnessed. Chirp. Wings fluttered briefly, keeping him aloft in this windless place. In a sea of dying green and browns, a blue dragon may be easily spotted, but no such abnormality was seen. Dei harrumphed, twitching the long, slender tail which ended in a tuft of colorful feathers and course bronze hair. To his bonded, he sent a wave of disappointment, a sea of pale brown emptiness.

But there was movement in the shade.

Keen eyes locked onto a dark form making its way through the shadows, neither winged nor horned nor the blue he had seen. Cheeping frantically, like a frightened songbird, he dove down to his bonded, landing on a dead branch which threatened to break and fall on the young colt's back. Startled by the sudden racket, the dun balked out of the trajectory of the dried stick, leaving a cloud of blinding dust swirling in the warm shade. Easily, the dragon pushed from the tree and zipped from view, leaving the wood to fall to its tomb of dirt, pieces of dry leaves and dirt tumbling in every direction. Jackal sneezed and coughed and snorted the particles from his nostrils as Dei met the grulla mare, swimming wide circles over her shadow-cloaked form.

When the colt finally looked up, he noticed the distant bronze with a stranger, a mare.

When they came close, Dei flitted from her vicinity and perched on his bonded's back, emitting friendly vibes oriented to the senior blue, now sitting on his mare. Jack flicked both ears to listen to her voice; she seemed calm and bemused and likely not to chase him out with bared teeth and her name was Smoke and she was vaguely familiar.

Smoke?

Dutifully, the bronze sent him an image of their very similar friend, his aunt (which was strange, because they were close in age). Kimber and Aerwen shared the same father, Gunslinger, he knew, because she told him that day at the beach which sent sadness quivering down his spine. Her mother was a mare named Smoke, who had a blue named Zaffre, if he remembered correctly and ignoring the heaviness in his throat and the stinging of his eyes, the appaloosa offered a small smile. "I'm Jackal, and this is Dei." Shuffling awkwardly, he wondered if this Smoke was in fact, his great-aunt and not some other Smoke who looked an awful lot like Kimber. He consulted his dragon, who in turn, bit him on the withers for his insolence.

"I know Kimber", the colt added, resisting the yelp of pain which was so close on his tongue. "She's my aunt. And you must be her mom." With that conclusion, he let out a quiet sigh, wondering if this mare would take him for an idiot.

The very youth of the bronze was evident in the way he hovered about her in an investigory manner, circling above her with evident interest until she'd gotten within eyeshot of his bonded. Only then had he fluttered off to rejoin the young dun. It brought a small smile to the grulla's features, as she recalled when her own dragon had been so curious and innocent. Now Zaffre was nearly at full size, and would eventually be utterly dwarfed by this young bronze, much as he was by Akaith.

When the colt introduced himself as Jackal and his dragon as Dei, Smoke paused with them memory of her daughter's story of coming across the son of Aerwen. His mention of Kimber's name cinched it for her, and her demeanor softened noticeably. "Yes, Kimber is my youngest. She told me about you, and Paladin's daughters." Dark head lowered slightly as she stepped closer, halving the distance between them before halting. "Your mother was like a daughter to me, her mother my friend. Your father was a friend of mine as well. I am dearly sorry for their loss, but am glad that you are doing well." Her voice was low and gentle as she spoke.

"What brings you to the Foothills, young Jackal?" With careful tact she changed the subject, offering the colt an escape route if he wished to dodge the things that certainly pained him the most. A trilling sing-song rose from the dual-hued throat of the blue upon her haunches, a sound that somehow whispered of sympathy while at the same time giving voice to a joy for life.

A nicker rumbled through his thick neck as the grulla affirmed his notions of their relations. She was a gentle mare, he could see, the softness in her eyes touched some part of him - what, he could not dare say, but his heart ached terribly nevertheless.

Smoke went on to speak about his family - Aerwen, his mother; Aysun, her mother. Silverline...his father. A tender, fuzz-encrusted nostril quivered and a dark-tipped ear twitched. His family. Where were they now? Aysun was long dead, he knew, and so was Gunslinger. Silverline, the silver father, healer, soldier, was gone as well, and Aerwen, his gunmetal warrior mother with her Rosso, missing, likely slain.

Run.

Both ears tilted back in the dark confusion of the memory, the acrid scent of blood fresh in his nose. He ran as fast as his ungainly newborn legs could carry him through the Gateway and beyond, frightened beyond fear, shadows chasing him, running through foreign lands and to lonely bronze dragon eggs laying unattended in the sun. He did what they told them to do, for he was a good child, a quiet child, an obedient child.

Sadness sat at his breast like an unwelcome friend, threatening to choke him and maim his poor heart beyond repair. Jackal bit them back unsuccessfully, the wave of memories - hazy sunny days on his beach-home, beneath the canopy of mother's protective belly; traipsing through the soft warm sands with his dam's red and playing in the waves as brilliantly blue as lapis lazuli. Palm trees shading him from the noon sun as he slept, the vigilant guard of his parents as he dreamed of sunny days and starry nights.

Dei nudged him gently with a clawed paw and the appaloosa's downcast eyes turned to focus on Smoke, the mother of his aunt, one of his own. He could feel the wetness on his eyes, the fist in his throat. She asked him what brought him here. The dun huffed, wondering as well, feeling as though he was ripped in two. The young bronze, heavy with sadness as well, clambered onto the bonded's thick crest, burying his slender face in the thick, upright mane.

Home? offered the colt to his friend, turning back, blue-grey and jade meeting, agreeing. A minute smile graced his otherwise melancholy face and he swung his head towards Smoke. "A home. And family." Or whatever I have left.

And as Zaffre sang, another voice joined in quiet harmony.

[sorry these are so...long :<]

Her words saddened him, and she yearned to step close and gather him close as she would have her own foals. To offer him the support he deserved. Indeed, her muzzle angled out toward him, yet she didn't close the distance. Something held her back, some burgeoning caution for a young colt's pride.

Instead she waited to learn what he wished here. Something passed between colt and dragon then, the pair pausing to look at one another. Then the dun colt looked up to her, and when he asked for a home, for family, it wrenched at her heart. Only then did she step forward, dipping her muzzle to touch his. "You will always find both here."