Hibernation for whatever reason comes so easily and quietly for these two. So comforting to keep to one’s self, collecting samples and experimenting however she wishes. This is not how you live in a Kingdom, though, and she knows this. She has not seen or spoken to anyone since Tallsun and rumors of a Quest are starting to really make her think. She can feel the rising itch to leave her cave and not turn for the trails to the fertile Meadow or the shadowy Forest; maybe she go inward today.

She emerges from the cold mouth of her cave, the curtain of broken pieces, feathers, mosses, flowers and glistening sea-glass falling over her smooth painted hips. Orangemoon in in the Basin is wet, chilly but not cold and surprisingly still colorful. Blankets of fog are not uncommon and this morning it is particularly abundant and thick across the jade mosses and tundra vegetation. She looks down from the flattened surface of stone and earth at the opening of her small cave and Phrixus is preening on the gnarled old apple tree that guards her ‘doorstep’ and gifts her delicious fruit this time of year. She plucks a deep red one from within the skeletal branches with its sparse greenery and bright apples, a mysterious little tree indeed. A favorite perch of the raven’s and a certain favorite of the unicorn’s.

“Let’s find something to do, shall we?” Chewing the last of the apple’s lush sweetness she reaches out to tenderly kiss her pink lips to the raven’s pearly white feathers. He returns the nuzzle with a purr and rubs his beak lovingly against the silky softness of her muzzle. A few flaps and stretches later the massive bird takes wing from the mountainside and Tangere picks her way patiently down the slope into the valley below.

It doesn’t take them long to find something interesting happening. She followed Phrixus into where th pines crowd together just a bit tighter the everywhere else, allowing a small forest to stand up against the brutal gales of winter. Some of the trees are ancient and huge, pines and hardwoods alike. It is quiet and serene, also hiding a few yummy treasures. Her companion lands somewhere ahead, shaking the wet branches of a hemlock and disturbing the silence with the patter of temporary rain. “Oh!” the gray stallion is almost directly under where the raven has landed, he may have even gotten a little wet (Phrixus is preening, ignoring them all). When she walks closer, smiling kindly already as if she actually knows the man, she then sees a much more familiar face. “Tiamat…” Her doughy, honey voice comes through a cordial grin and bright hazelnut eyes. “What’s up?” She sort of laughs as she asks, unaware of what has been said or what’s even happening at all. Her eyes find the stallion beside her, “I’m Tangere.” She nods and turns curiously back to the Lady.