we heal with love,

Armed with the wonderful new bag that Raeden had gifted her, Alysanne and Hemlock had set out from the Edge to gather herbs that they could bring back to replenish the garden. It was strange, having such an easy means to carry things around - Hemlock easily dropping their discoveries into the small bag or rooting through what was in there to figure out what they had already gathered.

Their meanderings, peaceful in the calm of Birdsong, brought them further east than they had been in a while. It was therapeutic, returning to this simple task of a healer, and until she discovered where she had walked there had been no glimmer of that destructive anger or bitterness. But when she recognized the blood-coloured forest, the darkness here that she had hesitated before once, it rushed back as she recalled meeting Kaj here - their quick, angry exchange of words before they parted.

Though she did not fear the shadows today they overtook her mind where she hesitated once more on the border of that forest, and was lost in them until Hemlock’s deep voice cut in.

Aly! Weird hairy snake look angry! Hemlock alerted her through their bond and she quickly glanced around, worried that she had accidentally stumbled into a nest or disturbed one of the creatures that lived in this strange land. Soon she spotted the animal in question, though it didn’t appear to be so much angry as agitated… and was it motioning to her to follow?

There wasn’t even a question of whether she would follow or not - there was no hesitation as she moved to follow the small ferret-like creature. Surely, she thought, it must be a companion? If someone was injured, or needed help, she wasn’t going to waste time debating whether it was a companion or not.

She followed him on foot, ignoring and pushing past the brambles and thorns that caught in her downy white wings. They did not have far to travel before they came across the hidden family in a world washed with red.

“Rexanna!!”

The name of the golden mare, who she had shared laughter and stories with in the Rotunda not so long ago, ripped from her in a rush of surprise and terror. But in another breath she realized that it was the light filtering through the strange scenes that added to the gory scene. As she entered the hideaway spot she could see that there was no pools of blood, and while she was still alarmed she felt relieved as well - believing her magic alone would be enough to help here. The foals were standing on their own and looked healthy, if in need of a good cleaning, so she focused her attention on the prone mare. Closer now, she could see that there were still injuries as though Rexanna had been beaten and her heart ached at the sight.

Moving gingerly but quickly, Alysanne approached and lowered her head to nudge her friend’s neck softly. “My dear, everything’s going to be okay. You have two beautiful foals that need you and then you can sleep.” As she spoke, she called on the dark healing wind of her station as it flowed from her to caress the white and gold mare, tracing the bruises and cuts and hopefully reviving some energy to an exhausted new mother and repair some of the damage that had been caused. She only prayed that the same one who had caused these deep bruises wasn’t the same someone who the two young foals bore a resemblance to.  

alysanne