Nightfall had lately become the bane of Alysanne’s existence. No longer did she drift toward her nest when the stars glittered above and the moon was high in the sky, letting the cool ocean breeze lull her to sleep. No longer did she rest comfortably, nestled among dried grasses and flowers and (if she was lucky) the warm body of a friend next to her. She had always slept more soundly among others, finding company - even platonic company - vastly preferable to sleeping alone.

But ever since the herd meeting, she had only brief moments of sleep snatched here and there. It continued to evade her as her mind raged with more thoughts and emotions than she could count. Nothing seemed to settle her. The herb garden had been immaculately picked clean of all troublesome weeds and Hemlock had even helped her prune back some of the plants so that they could return in the spring with vigorous life. She was slowly running out of things that she could do in the dark but still her mind kept her awake.

As you could imagine, when she heard the call of a neigh echo through the quiet night forest - the pegasus was thrilled at the shot to have something to do. Not even the fact that Tembovu, the ever-present and ever-aggravating King, would likely show up as well could keep her from seeing who was calling at such a dark hour.

Of course, that hardly stopped her from being a little bit relieved to see that he had not (yet) arrived when she spied a figure standing near the entrance of the Edge. It seemed pretty likely that this had been the caller, and her suspicions were confirmed when another form approached the stranger as well. The bright white figure of Erthë stood out among the shadows - and as Alysanne moved forward as well she couldn’t help but again noticing the limp that the girl moved with. A little frown creased her mouth, her healer’s mind wondering if there was anything she could do to help it.

Perhaps not right this second, though. For now, Alysanne trotted over to stand beside the pale girl, her eyes and expression bright with warmth as she banished her exhaustion and troublesome thoughts. If her mind wouldn’t let her sleep, she had no time to hear her body’s complaints that sleep was needed.

Hemlock, her small owl companion, satisfied from his completed hunt came swooping down to land in his customary spot between Alysanne’s ears just as she came to a stop. His dark eyes watched the stranger carefully, despite the delight in seeing another bird companion.

“You’re too quick for the rest of us to keep up, young Erthë.” She teased the younger mare with a smile, hoping it would be taken well. She was only just getting to know the girl, after all, but her instinct around anyone younger (or older) was to tease them the way a mother would. It was good to see herd members greeting strangers on the border - and wonderful to see the younger members getting involved where they could. “I’m Alysanne. We’d be happy to assist you in anyway we can.” She offered to the bay stranger - luckily catching Erthë’s welcome and question so she did not repeat them, instead she waited with a warm smile to see what the answer was.

If you could only understand—through my heart and through my veins