Though the valley between the mountains was easily as lovely as Ashamin had firstly described when he’d visited their nest in the depths of the forest, the winged (though flightless) filly was yet to find real comfort in the relentless cold of the north; the drifts of saturating snow that seemed to renew, every single night. Often, as she lay together with Hanna and Ilham below the glaring face of the bright yellow moon, she thought of their musty sanctuary beneath vast evergreen canopies, and how well protected from the weather they always had been; how she’d never considered the alternative, and just how wonderfully comfortable they all had been. Neither too had she ever appreciated the luxury of her freedom - her capacity to move about as she liked, without the weight of opinion or judgement pressed upon her. The life she’d so willingly accepted was as stunningly different to that of a leaf, that she felt both terrified and trapped. 

So, with Ilham snug and secure, cocooned in web behind a turning right ear (the spider had not yet the confidence to string together a more fixed abode beyond), and Hanna pressed close against the filly’s swinging left fore, Zahra slipped by the strange horse-like fixture at the entrance whose presence was easily creepier than it was a reassurance. It was the first time they had been rid of the mountain walls, the very obvious prevalence of horned beings therein, and the eyes that (she felt) were unready to accept her position among very much set society. It might very well have been paranoia too - inherited social aptitude had never been actually developed. 

She’d felt most content moving before the dawn; when even the Basin’s unique bird population were yet to stir and greet first light. Beneath a cosy cloak of darkness, the sisters found themselves trekking through more snow. A gust harried from even further north, and it was yet colder than the sunless world around them; bitterly so, and the yearling with a coat fit only for life beneath thick canopy shivered horribly in response. “Brrrrrr…” she hummed through tight teeth, glancing momentarily towards the swift kitsune who was wrapped considerably well in fur. The pallid creature seemed to glow in the eerie Orangemoon light as it reflected off the freshly fallen powder - she looked ethereal, and moved in perfect silence. Zahra’s hooves sliced through the terrain with obvious imprecision, and the sound of her travel rose easily above the whistle of the wind. 

There wasn’t any particular destination driving their journey, and thought of breaking any rules worked as lead through her core. The began to slow, and at last the horizon far away to the east was brightening. As the golden-bellied girl turned to view the distance they’d come, she saw a vast and towering mountain range; it was just as intimidating from afar as she felt it to be right up close, bathed altogether in its overbearing shadow. Quiet eyes traced the line of the dawn skyline south, and a fond, reminiscent smile lessened the gravity of an otherwise unsettled expression. Perhaps in the near future they would find confidence (and approval to venture that way again). Still drifting, following the same line of direction, Zahra’s gaze happened upon something unexpected - a dim blur in the near-clear sky - a massive bird perhaps, or something more sinister. 

Quickly she summoned her younger sister (the canine had both by then pursued and caught for herself a fat tundra rat), offering the struggling rodent in her crimson-tinged jaws a very fleeting and unimpressed glance; hunting, which both siblings seemed so intent on, was not a habit the pegasus warmed to overly. Valuable seconds passed, and she looked again hurriedly to the movement in the distance. It was nearer, and now unmistakably larger than any kind of avian she had before come across. Hiding places were few and far between in this vastly barren, frigid wilderness (something she was also unaccustomed to), but there were great rocks tumbled together occasionally and it was to the shelter of one such group in particular that Zahra fled to.

A stallion descended soon after, landing with combined precision and elegance, and the watching girl regarded the flutter of his beautiful white wings wishfully; she had never been taught to fly, and barely even remembered those feathered appendages now wasted, set tight against each flank. The stranger began almost at once to dig beneath the carpet of snow, and Zahra could not help but wonder just what exactly he was searching for. Curiously, she moved from the cover of the boulders and into the breaking daylight - Hanna lingered in place, engrossed in the meal she had scarcely begun. “Hi,” the yearling called softly, only half inclined to interrupt his toil and unsure whether she and her sisters should turn around instead, and make haste towards the basin. 

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Tag: @Miykael
Note: Liquid time for the win - I may edit this very slightly, but it won’t affect anything further in the thread :)