She has not been back since the Earth God disbanded her home. For a while, she simply lingered in the Endless Blue, spending her time at the edge of the sea as she has always preferred to do. Eventually, time had made her restless, and she’d set about wandering Helovia, ending up with Thea as her prize. Thea, the only good thing that’s happened to her in Helovia, and hopefully, the one thing that would not be taken away. Thea had dragged her to the Throat, had forced Syrena to start actually living again rather than just wandering Helovia absently. Which she would have done until death finally claimed her, if left to her own devices.

It was easier not to come back here, but for some reason she finds herself wanting to return today. She leaves the Throat early, having grown mildly used to the fire wings that took her from her island home. There were worse places to live for a mare that loved the sea, but she struggled with her feet leaving the ground. It would never be a comfortable thing for her. Thea sits on her back as a little poison dart frog, the form and colors familiar to Syrena now. Thea slowly seemed to be settling into a particular set of forms, picking ones outside those forms only rarely now.

Together, the pair makes their way to the Falls. It’s not a short walk, and she’s glad she left early, the day not yet hot and miserable. Though as she travels North, the temperature becomes more bearable, almost cool after the heat of the Throat. Perhaps she is getting used to the heat. Eventually, the landscape becomes familiar, the paths tricky for those that don’t know their way around. She makes her way toward her old pool as the Falls’ Storyteller, but she doesn’t get there.

Instead, a small golden mare catches Syrena’s attention. The mare turns to look at the stranger, wondering what brings her to this place. It doesn’t really cross her mind that others simply come here now, that it’s not a protected herd land anymore. It feels sacred to her, like others shouldn’t be allowed here. But of course, they are allowed.

“Hello,” she says, making her way over to the Pegasus. Why? She’s not sure. She could have kept walking, could have just gone to her pool and spent the day there like she’d plan. But excitement and joy radiate from Thea, and Syrena knows if she hadn’t just gone over, Thea would have done it for her. “Syrena,” she offers, trying to remember her manners. She’s not exactly the most friendly stranger Yael could find, but she tried.