The mare probably ought to have been more concerned about her unfamiliar surroundings and the question of how she had come to be there in the first place, but she was oddly calm, pulling blades of emerald grass from the ground and tasting their juice on her tongue, feeling the sun's warmth on her back and the caress of a gentle breeze on her face.  She didn't know that in other parts of Helovia, the winter snows had set in; here, in the tropical oasis that had so entranced her, it was always summer.

There was no rush to get home; after all, she had been training (or, rather, trying to) and she was reasonably certain that she could take care of herself.  With Astraeus by her side, she felt no fear.  Besides, she was certain that Gaucho would be as intrigued by this new land as she was; he would be so proud that the jalan atthirari anni had gone on patrol and returned unharmed.  She was certain of it.

She could feel her strength beginning to return.  The mare could not have been away from food and water for a remarkably long time if she was recovering so quickly now, and this soothed any lingering doubts.  She would merely finish her snack, take another quick drink, and then she would be on her way --

"Mai."

Astraeus took flight, crowing his own greeting as he circled the young stallion gracefully, happy sparks flickering toward the boy's hide.  The mare's head raised, too quickly, and turned to face the form of her son - although he hardly looked like the spindly-legged colt that she had last seen.  The zephyr returned to his bonded's withers, where he perched and continued to preen.

Waves of guilt and anguish threatened to crush her soul, a soul that was buoyed only by the strength of the love and joy that flooded her heart at the sight of Ivezho.  "Ma shekhikhi," she whispered fondly, smiling, but he wasn't her 'little light' anymore, was he?  The thought filled her with sadness and longing for the days she had missed.

But when had he grown so?  He dwarfed her, towering over her in a way that was reminiscent to his sire's frame.  But Ivezho held only a fraction of his father's fire - no, that wasn't right.  He might not had been as flamboyant as Gaucho, but he had his own flames.  What day was it?  How much time had passed?  A niggling doubt tickled at the back of her mind, the beginning of a growing panic - but it did not take her just yet, not when her mothering instincts shoved her own hurt aside in favor of his.  "Yer hajolot, Ivezho."  And I wasn't here.

"Talk talk talk."
Astraeus.

Translations ::
jalan atthirari anni | moon of his life
ma shekhikhi | my little light
yer hajolot | you have grown strong

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