Nightfall came early that night, as the whistling wind finally abated. The falling snow seemed almost loud in the eerie stillness that followed, and Erthë realized that she kept holding her breath as she slowly walked through the white-dusted forest. Not a sound could be heard save for her own breath and the soft creak as her cloves packed the snow under each step, the cold blood that rushed through her veins and the gentle beat of her own heart. No birds called in the gathering dark. The few that had remained for the winter had hidden away from the storm, one of many that had ravaged the coast these past few days. All animals were gone too; only when the sun finally peaked through the clouds again or hunger drove them out of their dens and hiding places would the forest at the edge of the world come alive again.

For now, she seemed to be the only one there. It was a peculiar feeling, eerie and wonderful and bittersweet all at the same time. She was used to being on her own, accustomed to the great stillness of the earth and the deafening silences created when no voices called out to fill it. But this lull was not one she usually expected to find in this particular forest. Her home was one of life and action, a thriving community of individuals where someone always moved about and someone always was within hailing distance. Now... it felt deserted. Abandoned, as if all the horses had gone south with the migrating birds, blown away by the raging winter winds.

As she roved the darkening woodlands Erthë tried to imagine what it would be like, living in the Edge all by herself. No kings or queens to rely on and go to for answers, no warriors to protect the border or healers to patch you up if you scrubbed a knee or got a runny nose... There would be no foals running about on spindly legs, all laughter and sunshine even in the midst of pouring rain, no gatherings of mares on the cliff-side meadow to spread the latest gossip and call cheery greetings as she passed, all while keeping a watchful eye on the romping youngsters, always too close to the edge for comfort. It was a lonely vision, but somehow the girl imagined that even if no one else remained, the moon would still shine brightly upon the forest, as it always did when she thought of it.

Wading through a snowdrift, she noticed that several trees had fallen. Victims of the icy onslaught, their evergreen branches lay scattered across the ground with roots sprawling high in the air, already cloaked in white. She tried to be careful as she picked her way across the debris, but despite her efforts she still sucked in breath with a startled yelp as the ground gave way before her feet, bringing her front crashing down into the icy waters of a creek, still running deep and swift beneath the snow. The jolt as her forelegs smacked into the rocky riverbed made her wince; biting back the pain the pale girl looked up and breathed in deeply, wishing the pain would just... wash away with the water.

But why should it. She had not done anything to earn such blessings, and miracles were never free.

She breathed out, a long, slow sigh that did nothing to cloud the cold air. It was no matter. The world was cold and beautiful again; why ever should she ask for more?

ERTHË

I think of love but let it pass
It       feels       like         fire    
but it won't last

Quick paws pattered across the snow. Erthë looked down just in time to see the supple outline of a fox come skipping towards her. She watched with some surprise as it stopped in front of her rather than continue, as she'd assumed it had been startled out of its den by the noise she made. The curious behavior suddenly made far more sense when a voice called out to her nearby; turning her pale eyes away from the animal to peer into the murky gloom of the forest, it took her some time to spot the young stallion that worked his way towards her. He looked oddly familiar, but Erthë couldn't place where she might have seen him before. At a meeting perhaps? Not likely, as she had been absent from the past two summons... at least he seemed at home in the forest, as hard to spot against the backdrop of shadows as she probably was in the midst of all the snow.

She regarded him curiously as he approached. The closer he got and the more she was able to make out of his features, the more certain she became that she hadn't really met him before. Erthë was sure she would have remembered it if they talked; it seemed unlikely that she would forget a face as handsome as his, with the startling red markings upon the perfectly black skin. And those eyes! Had she ever seen something so blue before?  

Ultimately, though he almost ended up in the water himself, the man was more successful in staying securely on his feet than she - if just barely.

"Hi, yourself. I'm alright. Just startled me a bit when the ground caved in" she replied once he reached her, her smile somewhat amused as she gazed up at him. "It's fine though, it's not cold at all to me..."  

Proving the point she splashed around a bit in the stream, but had to stop when a sharp stab of pain shot through the right cannon bone again. The poorly mended bone was always sensitive, and the sudden impact seemed to have aggravated something; Erthë gingerly shifted her weight onto it, and winced visibly when once more the leg protested.

"It... seems like I actually might need some help getting out of here" she said, trying her best to keep up the smile despite the pain. "I think I twisted something..."

While holding the leg up off the ground, the girl shuffled awkwardly towards the dark-haired unicorn, pale wings flaring to aid her balance as she started up the bank. It wasn't steep, but without all her legs it was precarious; in her eagerness to try herself Erthë slipped, nearly toppling over as she skidded back down into the cold, dark water of the creek.

ERTHË

I think of love but let it pass
It       feels       like         fire    
but it won't last

"I don't know" she said with a shrug, smiling. "It's just the way that I am, I was always like this..."

Sometimes it was a blessing, other times closer to a curse. It was the same with her temperament; stubbornness could be good, independence something to pride herself in - until it went too far, until the high held neck grew too stiff and she no longer could remember how to accept - or ask for - help without feeling lessened by it. Less strong, less able, less... free. As though by admitting weakness she was clipping her own wings, condemning herself to remain in that water-logged ditch to drown in her own inabilities. Chained down, crippled, useless.

Erthë grimaced as she skidded back down the brink in a cascade of snow, mud and splashing water, more from annoyance over the failure than the sharp twinge in her leg. She was used to abusing that, so accustomed to gritting her teeth and sucking it up that it had become second nature. It was so much harder to accept Sacre's gentle concern, his eagerness to come to her aid. Though she was grateful it also rankled her that she should need it at all, that she couldn't just shrug and smile and tell him she would handle it herself. The pounding throb in the shattered cannon told her in no uncertain terms that being stubborn now could cost her more than wounded pride, that more failures like this one might damage her even more permanently than before.

At least, she comforted herself, she wasn't quite as clumsy as the kind idiot who set out to save her, only to fall on his own ass. She bit her lip so that the laughter wouldn't escape, willing away the amusement she felt at the sight of his sheepish expression. It was almost cute - not something she had expected from this tall-dark-and-handsome prime sample of a stud.

Appearances really were deceiving sometimes, weren't they.  

"Alright" she said instead, pressing the words past unwilling lips as the fox-boy took place behind her, ready to save the day, night and girl in one fell swoop. "Go!"

It was a good thing she needed to focus on the task at hand. Struggling up the slope on three legs with a guy shoving at her ass was neither easy nor elegant, no matter how she looked at it. 'Follow the fox' he'd said, and Erthë really tried her best to do that; in a bustling mess of slipping cloves and flapping wings she heaved herself up, nearly slipped back again but - thanks to the support from behind, gods damn him - she was finally able to get herself over the edge and up on solid ground.

Staggering forward a few paces to leave room for Sacre to get up as well, Erthë stopped and stood there for a while, legs trembling and with her chest heaving from the effort. Looking down over herself after a long, quiet minute she realized what a state she was in; splattered with mud and water, ice already freezing in her tail and the curly feathering around her hooves, the hair even more disheveled and weighed down by snow than usual. Embarrassed, she felt heat rise up to her face and glanced sneakily back over her shoulder, hoping in vain that the guy wouldn't notice, wondering why she suddenly concerned herself with appearances - she never did usually - and desperately hoping that he would turn out to be busy, in a hurry to disappear somewhere.

Or perhaps the Earth God would have mercy on her for once, and let the ground open up to swallow her? Then again, maybe that was hoping a bit much... miracles had never favored her before so why start now.

ERTHË

I think of love but let it pass
It       feels       like         fire    
but it won't last