♪ "Let me sail, let me sail,
Let the Orinoco Flow,
Let me reach, let me beach
On the shores of Tripoli …" ♪

Musical tones flowed through the trees, dancing on the mists and the wind, twirling and swirling. It was soft, a hint of a melody at first, a playful tune full of faraway places and tumbling waves of tones and notes.

♪ "Sail away, sail away, sail away…" ♪

As it faded in and out of existence, one might hear echoes, or something akin to music accompanying the song - but how could this be?

♪ "From the North to the South, Ebudæ into Khartoum,
From the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen.
We can sail, we can sail with the Orinoco Flow,
We can sail, we can sail.
(Sail away, sail away, sail away)" ♪

And then as the mists swirled and revealed the form of the dragonmare and her three-white and two-blue glowing spirit companions, one might have a better idea of the source of the song that drifted through the trees of the Edge this evening.

The dragonmare wandered through her home, her heart unable to keep the song within, her magic compelling her to summon the ethereal spirits who contributed their own haunting melodies to the lullaby. It was an old song, one the DragonHeart had sung to her daughters on nights such as this, one that Amaris could not help but repeat as the words continued to spill from her lips.

♪ "Sail away, sail away, sail away…" ♪

It was the most content she had been, though several questions arose within her breast since the herd meeting had taken place. Amaris was happy in herself, though she would always desire to do more for her herd. Right now, being a Philosopher, she didn't really know what she was supposed to do - create thought yes, but then do what with it? Speak it to her Seer and fellows? Hear their thoughts and deliver them to the leads of the herd to decide whether action would occur on such thoughts, which could be equated to mere whims of a bunch of gossiping mares if looked at from the wrong perspective?

So the dragonmare filled her time in with songs, unaware of the statuesque figure of her Seer she was passing as she wandered along the edge of her misty home - it was only when Dramyrth, having been flying high, not contributing to the music directly but enjoying it from afar, sent her a note of alertness to the fact that Hubris and Babel were nearby (he greeted them with his usual indifferent caution, guarding himself lest Babel, continually growing, decided to behave similarly to Vadir). And where the pair of royal dragons wandered, their bonded was usually nearby.

The Mountain that Knows, Amaris thought idly, with fondness softening her expression a moment. Alarm however overtook that as she realised just how close she had come to her own Seer, who was the stone figure that stood right there. The dragonmare paused her step, and while her dragon spirits continued on carrying the tune, humming away their various musical contributions, Amaris ceased her own singing, suddenly feeling exposed, caught out in an act she thought she was undertaking privately (though she knew full well that she was singing in an inhabited herdland).

"My apologies for disturbing your slumber, Mountain that Knows," the dragonmare offered, sorry to draw even more attention to herself, sorry to pull the mountainous mare's thoughts away from whatever they had been on to focus upon her, yet feeling inextricably now like she must wait to be dismissed or forgiven before continuing on. White and blue spirits circled them, still singing their melodies, though Amaris did try to hush them, to no avail.

---

Ooc: @Isopia
Amaris is singing Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) by Enya with her dragon spirits contributing their dragonsong to imitate the instrumental music accompaniment.

Amaris

The Seer of her land, her 'mentor' of sorts, seemed to come alive from the stone that encased her, and Amaris' mind was awhirl with questions and curiosities - how was this possible? When she became stone, did it hurt? Did it hurt to shake it off, to return to 'normal'? Was it some kind of hibernation, was she still conscious when the stone crept up and over her?

Was it just stone that did this to the daughter of the Earth, or all things?

The daughter of the Earth God, Amaris had reminded herself, and suddenly the bizarreness of her Seer seemingly becoming reanimated from the stony cliff's edge of their herdland seemed less so, if anything, now it seemed expected.

The dragonmare was well practiced at guarding her features from the torrent of thoughts that ran through her mind, and so she schooled herself to remain apologetic in posture only, hearing the Mountain's words, I wasn't sleeping. Amaris could only make to apologise again then, for disturbing the great mare's silent ruminations, but held her tongue, not sensing any grumpiness or sharpness in her tones and so hoping, guessing, praying that this was how Earth-child went about forgiving others.

Her dragons danced and swirled around them still, their song rowing quieter as the melody within Amaris' heart and mind quietened - they could not come up with the song themselves, and so relied upon their summoner to construct it for them. They were, essentially, instruments that Amaris played all at once to construct the song, and with her mind distracted and her heart nervously beating within her chest, they faltered and grew more silent, instead beginning to divert on their path and float and drift around much like the spiritual beings they were.

The Mountain enquired about them, as many often did, and Amaris clung to opportunity to move on from her blunder, her embarrassment, more than delighted to placate her Seer's abject curiosity.

"Biologically? No," Amaris answered, adopting a tone and manner similar to the academic, professorial tone Isopia had when they had met by chance at the Endless Blue that fine summer's day. "They are spirits, souls of dragons passed on from this plane. My magic summons them back to this plane for a time." She didn’t know how much details the Mountain expected, but wagered a guess that being the academic creature she certainly was, the Seer would listen to all Amaris had to say.

"I feel them within me much like Dramyrth - before I bonded to him, I held on to them almost constantly. They were my friends, they taught me much, guided me through many periods of my life." At this, one white light drifted nearer to her, and she allowed a smile to curve her lips as its soft light illuminated the space between dragonmare and mountainmare. "They can also breath quite real dragonfire whenever they feel so inclined," she added, not sure what else to say about them, not sure whether her explanation was sufficient - she awaited further prompting from her Seer, perhaps a comment or a judgement, her eyes peering up into the taller mare's, quietly expectant, yet simultaneously nervous that she had overstepped some invisible boundary.

---

Ooc: @Isopia

Amaris

Fascinating, the Mountain said, and Amaris is relieved that she has not bored the scholarly mind of her Seer, that she was seen as something other than boring, or an embarrassment. The dragonmare hadn't realised before just how much stock she put into the Mountain's opinions, particularly of her, and it surprised her to come to this realisation - how well did she know the Mountain? Not even well enough to know if 'The Mountain that Knows' was her only name, for it sounded like the moniker normally bestowed upon those of high rank or recognition, those who had earned enormous amounts of respect and awe - and perhaps that was it, perhaps that was why Amaris naturally felt inclined to treasure the words, the opinions or criticisms she offered.

"They are unique," the dragonmare concurred softly, simply, eluding to the fact that she had never come across another who held similar magic. That, and each soul she summoned was unique, though if she concentrated enough she could call the same soul to her multiple times - it was something she did more as a child, before Dramyrth, when she craved familiarity, love, friendship. Now, it seemed, those needs were being met, and the summoning of souls was more of a random affair, a lucky dip, a lottery.

Silence settles then, it lingers and expands, though Amaris feels some small semblance of awkwardness over it, she simply accepts the company of her Seer for a quiet moment, shifting her weight so that she looks out over the edge more, watching the drifting dance of the spirits and dragons before them. It is peaceful, blissfully so, as she takes in everything - and then everything comes back to her, her worries, her concerns, her fears. She wanted to follow the Goddess' guidance, she wanted to be rid of these emotions, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the recent changes in the herd put them into a sort of imbalance, a tilt where ranks they surely needed more than others were left vacant, empty, lacking.

"I do wish I held magic that could be of more use to the herd," she commented idly, not meaning to be ungrateful for the magical gifts she already held but simply to express that she wished that she either knew how to use them in a more constructive way, or that the magic itself was better able to aid the herd. "With so many thinkers in our ranks, I feel the recent shift in ranks has left vacancies were no vacancies should ever exist - though perhaps I am simply too paranoid about wars and uprisings." It was highly possible that she was simply paranoid, it was a result of her upbringing, of her lineage, to fear the constant chaos that was war and battle and death and destruction.

"Are you concerned that our healing ranks are too thin with two of their ranks having moved on?" She wasn't suggesting that the promotions were ill-deserved, merely observing that their existence opened a gaping hole she was worried an enemy might seek to exploit.

She hoped she was just being paranoid.

---

Ooc: @Isopia

Amaris