Alysanne didn’t really believe that a change in scenery would magically make all her troublesome thoughts disappear - that it would be the band-aid to her issues. Travelling from one spot in Helovia to another would not give her the ability to riddle out her problems and find solutions to them that didn’t involve flying off the cliffs of the Edge and never returning (a joke she made once to Hemlock who did not appreciate Aly’s first and last attempt at dark humour). She knew it wasn’t likely to help, but she decided that it couldn’t hurt either. Whether she was in the Edge or flying out in the Wilds it didn’t matter, she still had the same brain.

Yes, that’s right - Alysanne was flying voluntarily and not just for practice. She had been much better about actually making the attempt lately, which she believed was solely because her secret had gotten out. When friends and members of the herd were all part of the same flying lesson as her, it became hard to hide her fumbles and general awkwardness when it came to using her wings.

Blindfold her and ask her to navigate the Edge? Sure, she could probably do that with a fair amount of grace? But fly? Nope. Even now, after seasons of practice, she felt sure she had about the same grace as a hatchling.

Hemlock didn’t disagree necessarily, but he wasn’t going to let her know that he didn’t disagree. For the first time in almost eleven years, Alysanne was enjoying flying and he wasn’t not going to be the one to make a stray comment that had it all fall apart.

Thankfully, it was a clear day and they did not encounter any snow falling from the sky until they drew closer to the Thistle Meadow. The wind started to pick up, knocking the inexperience Alysanne and the tiny Hemlock around as though they were snowflakes themselves. They had not covered this situation in her lessons. Her owl companion got swept off with a breeze, hurling him off and down and towards the ground, and Alysanne began to panic - trying to dive after him but her wing movements were clumsy and caught up with the wind.

She went the way of Hemlock except instead of lightweight and small size being her downfall, she was cast out of the sky from a combination of inexperience, clumsiness, and wind, and fell to the snow-covered ground of the Thistle Meadow - knocking into an oak tree on her way and taking a few branches with her as she landed on her side.

Alysanne’s breathing was heavy but before she moved herself she cast out with her mind, calling for Hemlock, and was relieved to hear an answer. He was safe, if a little ruffled, and currently trying to climb his way out of a snowbank. For her part, she laid where she was on her side - her wings outstretched - and just focused on catching her breath.

Down on the ground, the wind wasn’t so strong and they day was almost peaceful, as light flurries of snow started up. Oh yes, flying was great.