(ooc; sorry i'm a bit rusty and ignore how much time she was out cold, because even i'm not sure. but this is basically how Adele's gonna start out, and this is her story of how and why she has amnesia.)

The ice was cool.
It matched the color of her dragging hooves. Her life seemed to have no purpose now. She could feel as the edges of her hooves dug and scraped along the ice. The quiet, subtle creak of the ice could be heard as she moved amongst the icy cave. Vera said nothing the entire trip. Neither of them had spoken much, they had taken to being ghosts of Helovia for a while now. Vera, her white dragon, had almost never taken leave of her flaming mane. Vera wished now more than ever that Adele’s mane would actually give off heat, for the flames did nothing but be a cool addition to her blue, red, and icy-hoofed body. Adele could feel Vera’s white body shiver a little as her master moved deeper and deeper into the cave.

Suddenly, Vera chirped loudly, and it sounded more like a yelp. Adele immediately halted, “What?!” She exclaimed. Vera flashed all sorts of colors of red into her head, even at an adult age, she still rarely liked to mind speak unless in an intelligent conversation. Otherwise colors did the trick. Adele rolled her eyes, and snorted, sending puffs of steel-white condensation into the air. “Just because you’re cold doesn’t mean I’m going out for you.” Indignantly she stamped her foot, sending a large echoing crack throughout the cave. There was a large groan. The melancholy melody played, subtle at first. Adele stood frozen and Vera clutched painfully to her neck. Blood was even drawn from her sharp claws. It trickled gently down her neck, one small bead of it. The tension in the air was so tight, even a single breath felt like it would tear the world apart.

A large creak then suddenly resonated through the dark recesses of the cave. Adele reared; stumbling slightly backwards as chunks of ice came crashing for the ceiling. Vera screeched, her high-pitched trill being swallowed by the chaos. She flew forward bursting out a flame, trying to incinerate the ice. Only, she was not refined in the skill, and she only managed to melt a few, small fragments of ice. As soon as Adele felt it, an agonizing scream tore from her throat. A decent chunk of ice had crashed onto Vera, knocking her from flight. Her body hit the ground with a large thud. Adele could feel where the ice had struck Vera on her own body. The area right behind her poll seared with pain. Luckily though, she could feel in herself that she was still alive. Lost in all the commotion Adele dove towards her bonded. Letting out strangled cries of pain.

As she moved closer to Vera, another large chunk creaked, falling for the ceiling. Adele threw her head back, in hope of avoiding the large object. Instead, it landed squarely above her eye, cutting slightly into the area above her right eye. The pain spread quickly, engulfing her body, and the she felt herself falling. It felt so slow, so peaceful. She never thought that’d she would die such a pathetic death. I mean, seriously, who dies by ice?

Everything in her mind by this point was black. She was completely unconscious, and like her, Vera was also out cold. Several smaller chunks had pelted them as they lay on the icy floor. Everything slowly calmed, and the gentle moan of the cave resumed. Two bodies lay almost side-by-side. Vera blended in with the ice, her body hidden from the untrained eye. Adele, however, was vastly contrasting against the ice. Her blue and red body, coupled with a flaming mane, stood out against the thick, clear-blue ice.

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Whuff....... whuf… whuf….
Suddenly Adele’s near-black eyes burst open as she fell into a coughing fit. She was lying on the ground, and her nose had been firmly pressed against what was previously ice, but as Birdsong approached, turned to water. A dull pain was thudding near her right eye. “What?” She croaked. Her voice was so raw; it felt like knives were grinding up the inside of her throat as she spoke. Her eyes blinked once, twice, thrice, and she looked around. What was this? Her mind was in a whirl. She could vaguely feel that she was damp, and the cold was barely registering with her. “Where… am…. I?” She looked around again, the cave walls loomed over her, and she cringed from them. Why was she cringing, none of this did anything to her… did it? Then something else registered. “Who am I?” She blinked frantically again, as if it would magically come back to her. As if she was going insane, a high-pitched voice cut through her mind. “WHERE AM I?!” The frantic voice had almost mimicked hers, but it was much more desperate. Suddenly, the ice moved next to her. Wait… moved! How is that possible? She slowly turned her sore neck to nudge the ice… thing? She was greeted with a quick, painful bite on the muzzle that drew a few beads of blood. Adele shrieked and clamored as fast as she could clumsily manage. “GET AWAY FROM ME.” The ice screamed, or rather, dragon? “Could you please quiet down?” Adele murmured roughly. Her mind was painfully throbbing at this point. She could feel every heartbeat as it throbbed in unison with her mind. “Wait… you can hear me?” The voice was there again, but less frantic and shrilly. “Obviously, otherwise would I have told you to shut up? Maybe you should be a little more observant.” Adele shot back, grumbling as she shook, trying to get the excess water off of her body. The ice, now distinctively dragon, snaked it’s head forward in a disbelieving look. “Then we must’ve bonded… what the hell…” Her dragon instincts were still intact, but Vera couldn’t remember her name, or whom the hell she was bonded with. Adele rolled her eyes and grumbled again. They both stood in awkward silence.

Finally, Adele was the first to speak. “Well since you apparently can talk and are ‘bonded’ with me, then can you tell me my name?” Vera tilted her head in deep thought, desperately trying to remember. “I… no. I even don’t my name know.” This was just great. Adele huffed in frustration. “Some bonded you are. Why are you still here then? You are obviously no help to me.” Adele’s words bit into Vera, and she cringed from the mental lash. Adele, in unison whimpered with her, and she shook her head in disbelief. “What… what was that feeling?” Vera shook her head and moved towards the front of her Bonded’s face. “Because I’m your bonded. Like I said. This means you and me. Were tied together whether you like it or not.” The white grumbled. “Can we at least get out of here?” she finished. Adele nodded, “but you are still going to keep your distance from me until I know what you are and if you’re going to hurt me.” She mumbled. The pair moved towards the lighter part of the cave, until they stepped into the sunlight. Vera’s scales no longer sparkled, and Adele’s coat was trashy. The two looked like the poor lost souls trying to escape from a murderer. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they both looked out into the landscape. In unison they looked at each other.

“Where the hell are we?”

Ears tilted to catch the echoing sounds that reverberated hollowly, swiveled as inquisitive blue eyes scanned over the birdsong warmed steppe. At last both gaze and ears focused on the dark opening in the ice, unable to find anywhere else that these unknown sounds could be coming from. Curiosity carried the young mare in swift steps closer, shadowed by a flowing, liquid form that blurred in and out of the shape of a fox.

She slowed somewhat as the sounds altered, quieted, then gained a repetitive quality before slowly increasing in volume. A heartbeat later she pulled up short as a somewhat familiar pair of figures stepped into the light, equine and draconic. Head high she studied them, probing her memory for why the snow-pale dragon and colorful horse tugged at her. A two-toned tail lashed, pale against mousey haunches and blending darkly with her legs, only to slap against the watery figure that hovered near her hooves. It dissipated, only to reform upon her haunches and split into two smaller forms that slid up her back and neck. A pair of watery ferrets joined her in her study then, perched in mane and between her ears.

And then it was like a bell sounded in her head, following the utterance of five simple words from the near stranger. This was one she'd known in early foal-hood, back when home was the shelter of willow trees. Back before home had been lost to shadow phantasms. "Adele?!?" She inquired in shocked recognition, stepping closer and dipping her head slightly in a friendly gesture to the older mare. "I barely recognized you. Why are you here, in the Frozen Arch?"

The duo stood and looked at each other dumfounded. Eventually Vera’s attention was pulled towards an approaching figured, in response, Adele’s was too. They stood frozen, afraid to move, afraid to speak. It was the scariest thing of their life. I mean seriously… this young girl was coming towards them! To them, it was as if they were running through a dark house with a killer behind them, and they were the stupid girls that yell out “where are you?” 'it's you fault, if yous stupid flaming mane in not the middle of ice, no one be here! spat the dragon.

Ten steps… five… steps: suddenly she was there! Adele’s dark eyes were wide, and creepily staring at this girl. Then… oh my god… the scariest thing DID happen. Two killer ferrets made their way up the girl’s mane, and stared at them with the watery, creepy eyes. Adele tried to move backwards, and ended up awkwardly stumbling only a few steps away. “Adele!” The mystery girl suddenly cried out. Who was Adele? And why was she talking to them? And what was the Frozen Arch? ’She’s speak to you. Think you Adele.’ the mystery bondy dragon said to Adele in her creepy mind invasion. More silence past before “Adele” spoke. ”Uhm.. who are you, and who’s Adele? And what’s the Arch?” Her voice shook a little, and was still raspy from lack of use. Adele didn’t miss a beat before asking her most pressing question. ”Who are they?” She said nodding towards the watery little creatures on her head. For some reason… she felt like she used to have things sit on her head like that. Oh well, it was probably just her insanity kicking in. ”OH! And what’s this thing doing with me?” She said motioning to her dragon, Vera, who didn’t know why she was here either. The dragon chirped in response, hoping that maybe this girl could shed some light on her situation.

Bemusedly Kimber watched as Adele retreated before her friendly approach, worry and confusion evident in the colorful young mare's features. An ear twitched as she absorbed this, wrapped her mind around it and filed the fact away for later consideration. Just in time for the most confusing set of questions she'd ever expected to hear from someone she'd known all her life, if not well. "Uh.... I'm Kimber, you're Adele, and that's the Arch." She nodded toward the icy cave. "Its the Frozen Arch for obvious reasons, if you look at it. Its frozen water and the opening is an arch. Some horses have no imagination when it comes to names."

But then the next flurry of questions sidetracked her from the tangent she'd gone off on. "These are my water pets, the Earth God gave them to me, and showed me how to control them. They're not like having a real companion, because I can't really talk to them. Not entirely sure if they're really intelligent either..." A cautious expression crossed her features then. "She's with you because she's yours and you're hers. 'Bonded in heart and mind and soul.'" This last was a recital of how the bond had been described to her in turn by her mother. "That's what happens when you get a dragon's egg and build a bond with the hatchling. I don't know why you're asking me that, when you've had Vera forever, far as I can remember."

Her gaze sharpened, inquisitive as she stepped closer. "What's happened to you? You two look a mess, and nobody's seen you in AGES."

Kimber. So that’s who that was. Still, nothing rang a bell, yet this mare was acting like Adele should remember who she was, she’d never seen her in all her life. And Apparently, I’m Adele.

”Adele?”

Her name ran off her tongue smooth, but it still was foreign to her. It was as if she had tasted it before. It’s kind of like when someone has tomato soup a long time ago, and then tries a tomato. It tastes similar, but you can’t pinpoint where it came from.

Adele then turned her attention towards the Frozen Arch, such a strange place it was. Ice, even in what seemed to be the middle of a warmer season. She gently pawed the ground, scraping up some of the ice and snow below her feet. Kimber’s voice then dragged her attention to the creatures above her head; she said a God had given them to her. This girl must be really special, every word from then on hung onto Adele, and she committed them to memory.

Then, the next few lines shocked both Adele… and Vera. So that’s what a bonded was? So Adele had hatched Vera? That didn’t seem quite possible. But this girl was a friend of a God…. And she’d had Vera… since she was young? ”That’s not possible… I just met her a few moments ago! The mare stepped forward, then asked her a question… which she herself was scared by.

”What do you mean? Nothing’s happened to me! And this Vera you speak of has just met me too!” Vera chirped in agreement. ”And horses are missing me? That’s not possible either! I’ve never even been here before!” at the last part of her frantic response her voice cracked up a pitch and she huffed nervously. What was happening?

The event that were transpiring was leaving Kimber nearly as confused as Adele. Slowly she nodded in encouragement and agreement as the older mare repeated her name questioningly. Why couldn't she remember all this on her own?

"Bonds don't happen between full grown dragons and equines, and Vera's all grown up." Patiently Kimber explained this, deciding it was better to approach this a step at a time. "So even if you can't remember, you've been together for a long time."

Her ears twitched with anxiety when the older mare started asking questions again, voice rising with what sounded like fear. "Something must have, if you couldn't even remember your name, or Vera's, or that you've been bonded for years. Mother says that the bond is the most important thing in a horse's life, held dearer even more so than children, because the bond is an extension of yourself, and the severing of which breaks even the strongest." Even the Unbroken.

With firm steps Kimber approached her foal-hood friend, muzzle extending to brush against the mare's ragged coat. "You have friends and family here. And they would be just as concerned as I am that you're filthy with dirt," and blood, Kimber realized as she looked up into Adele's eyes, "and don't remember anything. Ought to get you somewhere warmer, safer, before some racist unicorn finds you."

Bonds, the things that were supposed to keep them together. And this Vera? She was an extension of herself? Her mind was whirling, and she felt like she was going crazy with all the thoughts that were running through Vera's mind simultaneously with her own. Before she knew it, a gentle muzzle brushed against her coat, and she sighed, taking a deep breath calming herself as much as she could manage.

The young mare then spoke again, about how she had family, and how people were missing her once more and how they were worried about her. It was a funny thing, you'd never think that someone could miss you if you think you never existed. But alas, she finally admitted to herself that there was something wrong, and oh how she wished she could remember something. Adele nodded slowly. "I guess then. Can you take me there?" She inquired nervously. And these racist unicorns? What were unicorns? Forget it, she'd figure it out herself.

[ooc; do you just want to start a new thread in the foothills for Adele, Kimber and Jackal?]

At last things seemed to calm, at least somewhat. In a gesture of friendly comraderie Kimber sidled up against Adele, offering her presence as support in whatever format the other would chose to take it in.

"Of course. We'll go to the Foothills, and find my nephew. He's leader there." And at some point she'd have to send word to Aaron and Solstice that she'd found Adele... But that was something to do later, once they figured out what was wrong and how to try to fix it. Encouragingly she offered a smile in response to the nerves in Adele's voice, before beginning to guide her long-lost friend south, and home.

((Of course!))