Herd life.

It had been so long since she had belonged anywhere. The feeling was foreign, abstract - and wholeheartedly welcome.

Though it took some getting used to, her recent brush the Earth God had changed her - magically, physically, mentally. She was healthier now - her thoughts descended into darkness less and less, her body became a beacon of health as the Falls' hidden valleys and nooks sheltered precious grass and food from snows, her magic became more and more vibrant.The weather that followed her around seemed to just be peaceful, pleasant - a cool spring afternoon, none too hot nor cold. Her coat reflected lazy clouds that drifted across the sky above - it did snow when the true-weather willed it, and Cirrus let it, though she shivered in her thin, desert skin and pelt, unused to the brutal cold (and she didn't quite believe anyone when they said this was a mild Frostfall).

It was time for her to socialise, to accept her surroundings and the souls who came with them - a herd was nothing, pointless, if one was still a stranger amongst the ranks. So Cirrus, filled with a sense of purpose that had been lacking for too long, went about searching for these herd mates, this family as Kaj would call it, with hopes and aims to eventually love them all, and be able to call them family and mean it.

The sound of the earth moving was enough to catch her attention, as she roamed her beautiful new home and rounded a bend in the woods, she came upon a scene she simply wasn't expecting. The mare, dappled as the clouds in the sky above, seemed to be summoning the plants of spring into this frozen tundra and weaving them into - what? A structure, a monument? Cirrus stood in silence for a moment, her reverie quiet as she let the seconds drip by like the thoughts in her head.

Brisa! she remembered suddenly, recalling the mare with twins by her side, all those years ago. A friendly note exited her throat as she stepped forward then, a smile upon her maw as she hoped the mare would recognise her. "Hey there!" she called as she approached, hoping her interruption wouldn't cause too much of a disruption.

Her gaze caught on the snow-covered kitsune then, and she paused for a heartbeat before continuing - companions were something Cirrus never knew how to take, not since losing her own, her soul, her Sitka.. But she was improved in the management of her grief now, less broken and more simply Cirrus, rather than a jealous, pained soul seeking to destroy any happiness left in the world. No, Cirrus was glad to see a bond in others now - for she knew just how precious, how wondrous, they were, and she was no longer selfish or foolish enough to think that just because she had lost hers, so too should everyone else lose theirs.

"Brisa, how are you? And who's your new friend?" she asked kindly, bowing her tiara, wondering in silent amusement if the mare would recognise her. A breeze, forever chilly as it came off the snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains, stirred the strands of her mane and tail, and the feathers that resided within them, as she awaited a response.

Cirrus the WindDancer

Cirrus remembered the colts well, their life, their vitality. She remembered being the one to give them their first instructions on how to gain strength for flight - the images within her mind's eye triggered a nostalgic smile upon her lips. She wondered where the boys were -had they grown great and strong? Had they become competent fliers and travellers of the sky?

It was a moment, a flicker of emotion, that crossed the pale mare's façade. Barely discernible, hardly noticeable, it still gave Cirrus' thoughts on enquiring further about the boys pause - perhaps it was best left unsaid, unasked, so that the hurt their memories brought would remain just that single moment of uncertainty.

Cirrus knew what it was to lose someone near and dear, she knew even what it was to have one's own soul torn apart. When the cloudmare had first met Brisa, she had been that broken, crumbled being, barely capable of living; Brisa's boys had given her something to do, someone to instruct, a purpose however small and fleeting it had been. Cirrus' memories of Brisa and her boys was a happy one, and so she would not tarnish that by asking overly emotional questions - at least, not right now, not right away. Maybe, if they became better friends, confidants? They were herdmates already after all, bound to spend more time in each other's company more.

The idea of it all warmed what was left of the cloudmare's heart.

The cloudmare nodded at the other's assessment of the time passed - indeed, much time had lapsed between their initial meeting and today, and clearly much had conspired within both mares' hearts as well. Cirrus had found what she hoped was a purpose, an anchor, a reason to love and live again, and Brisa, much the same, only in the form of a young companion. A low, friendly murmur wuffled from her throat as she lowered her tiara to better view the young kitsune, to whisper her name playfully in greeting and laugh merrily at the young pup's antics.

"Glad to hear you're doing well," the girl says as her tiara rises to eye level once more, sincerity in her gaze and tones. Finally, she realised just what Brisa was doing, and looked in wonderment. It had always amazed her at just what the crafters of herds could create - Cirrus didn't have a creative bone in her body, aside from her own pelt being a canvas for the sky above, she knew nothing of art or construction.

"What are you building?" she asked, allowing the wonder to leak into her voice. "Can I help?" she seemed to add as an afterthought, an almost youthful, naïve enthusiasm entering her tones as she allowed some excitement to fill her - it was the idea of having a purpose again, something to do, some way to use her body for the betterment of the herd, her family, her people.

Cirrus the WindDancer