You're so cold but you feel alive

If Rikyn found her sudden sweet words to be unsettling, it was perhaps a good thing he had no knowledge of the calculating mind that hid behind the facade. Oh, Erthë was honest in her curiosity, genuine in every display of emotion from the childish pirouettes to the teasing taunts... but it was only skin deep, this soulfulness. Under every vibrant, blinding display of personality rested a shadow, ready to spring forth at a moments notice. Angry, bitter, sarcastic and cynical, a counterpart as ancient as her smile was young - and it never rested, always leered around for a chance to strike. She was the silver lining and the cloud, a bright light dancing in darkness - an angel stepping over corpses on her road to heaven.

She grinned as he muttered, a rosy smile full of barbs that suggested she comprehended his jab.

"Oh, don't worry, I think I will survive" she said sweetly. A sequence of rapid wing beats saw her speed on ahead, taking the lead as they left the beach behind and made for the forested area where the ancient structure was located. Flat, sandy dunes turned into rolling hills the further inland they went, ridges and valleys covered in brown, dry grasses and interspersed with copses, groves and patches of sparse woodland. Reaching from the western sea to the southern borders of the Deep Forest, these vast grasslands were an extension of the Thistle Meadow that covered nearly the entire mainland of Helovia, differing from those rich pastures only by name and location. The belt of forest that stretched down from the Edge and the Hidden Grove towards the Deadlands thinned out to form this meadow sprawling with life, rich and prosperous - if wild and feral by nature - even at this time of year.

Patches of sunlight glossed over their backs as they traveled in relative silence, Erthë finding it best to keep herself quiet for a while rather than cause another explosion (though it was tempting, she had a feeling Rikyn had a lot of buttons waiting to be pushed). Though the ocean faded into a thin line of shimmering blue behind them, the wind was steadily picking up again, clouds flying like tattered rags across the firmament. What little warmth the late winter sun provided was stolen away by the bitter cold that the gusts brought; Erthë caught herself shivering as the icy fingers searched their way in beneath patchy, half-shed coat and fine, insulating down. Normally she loved the cold, being a creature of winter and bitter temperatures - but there was something ominous about the rate with which the wind picked up in speed.

Feeling relief as they neared the Rotunda, the filly ceased her struggle against the fickle weather and landed, tucking the wings firmly against the sides as she hurried in among the trees. Though barren still and giving little shelter to speak of, it was still better than to brave the force of the gathering storm in the open. Looking about, she absorbed the scenery around her in a single, sweeping glance; the thorny rose vines that whipped and snapped in the wind, the swaying treetops that cast strange shadows over the roof of the single building that centered the copse. For once, there was little about the structure that impressed her. No sunlight shone through dirty glass panes to cast colorful lights across the floor and the columns looked old and worn in the overcast light. Shadows were lengthening as the day wore on and the waters in the nearby pond remained frozen, the surface milky and scarred and littered with debris from the surrounding vegetation.

Yet, for all its shabby gloom she still relished the sight of the place. Hurrying as much as she could on gimpy legs, Erthë made her way up the faded marble steps and in beneath the roof, just in time to feel the icy kiss of rain  - or was it snow? - upon her skin.

"It's really picking up" she noted to Rikyn as she made room for him. "Looks like snow... spring is late this year."

Not that she really minded... it was just all she could think to say. It suddenly struck her how awkward it would be if they ended up trapped in there. Two persons who didn't particularly like one another, forced to accommodate the other for Gods know how long.

A shudder made her wrap the tail tighter around a leg, brought on by more than just the bad weather.