There was no particular destination in mind for the black and silver pair as they took flight and left the Throat, he still felt wary about spending time with the herd while he was still unsure about the unfortunate magic that had taken over in the Labyrinth a few seasons ago. Since it had not yet returned, perhaps it was not a magic within him at all? Perhaps, and this was what he desperately hoped, it had been a one-time trick. Something his mother needed him to do so he could finish off the smaller, fouler shadow-wolves that were attacking the Helovians. It was certainly plausible and he clung to that hope with all the strength that he could.

No matter how much time passed, though, Mesec still waited for it to happen again - waited with the knowledge that he had promised he would not return to the Throat and endanger the herd if it did.

But his mind was not on such dark things today, not completely anyway. Lucius was looking forward to hunting something other than the Tallsun-starved mice and hares that populated the Throat. Orangemoon had brought some relief but the critters had not grown fat and lazy enough to be easily plucked.

They had been intending to skirt around the Heart, finding no real reason to linger near the warmth, and head north to find some forests when movement below, a white figure, caught his eye. They were still close enough to the ground for Mesec to have a pretty good idea who it was - not recalling knowing any other white and spotted unicorns - and before he knew it he was angling his wings and descending through the smoke of the Heart to try and find Mauja.

It wasn’t, as anyone might expect, particularly hard to spot him - standing near the large grey rock. Lucius, curious but still hungry, began to scout the surrounding area for some tasty treats as Mesec landed. As he approached, he realized that Mauja wasn’t alone and only then did he think about how instant the motions had been to land. It was as though he had been acting on instinct upon sighting the older stallion - not even thinking twice about the intention to go over. He hesitated now, though, wondering if he was interrupting anything.

But then, he could always be told to go away if he was.

“Hello Mauja.” Despite the twister of memories that the sight of the older stallion brought up, it was easy to find a smile for him as Mesec trotted toward the snow-coloured duo. Once he was close he danced to a stop so that he formed a triangle with the two. Only then did his smile flicker and his expression darken with concern - sensing a faint chill in the air around them. Mesec didn’t pride himself in being able to read situations with any amount of accuracy and he wasn’t sure just what he had inserted himself into now, if anything. That concerned look lingered on the spotted unicorn before shifting to the filly. She seemed familiar now but he could not figure out why and there was no name that came to his mind. With all that had happened in Helovia recently, it seemed likely they might have crossed paths at one point or another. With more caution now than what he had used on his approach, suddenly uncertain if his presence would be welcomed, he found another soft smile for her. “I’m Mesec, what’s your name?” Silver eyes then flickered to the nearby stone, illuminated by the sun and casting rainbows about in plenty. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

we'll go over the mountains and under the stars