The heat had made Onni give up long flying times weeks ago. Her flights were usually quick and out of necessity now, totally to only a few short moments in the unforgiving air. The pale limbs she stood on had gotten quite the work out, though, redefining the muscles that her lack of training recently had cost her. There was no need for battle within the Dragon's Throat, for aside from the constant struggle with the unforgiving sun, it was a peaceful land. She had traded in her fighting for the new art of healing - and thus far, she had had no regrets.

Her decision to travel had been out of a need to visit the cooler climate of the north. While the painted girl loved her current home in the desert, the heat streak had reached a peak in the last week, and she had needed a break. The frosty land of the Steppe was relatively unchanged, though the snow had started to melt on the outskirts of the mountain range. Even the Frozen Arch had disappeared, left with little except a cave that looked none too inviting. However, Onni's stay was over now, needing to return home lest someone require her skill.

The road home was one that Onni was not terribly familiar with from ground level. Whenever the pegasus mare had traveled in Helovia previously, it was usually by air. Her visits to the north had always been directed by the fact that she would head south once leaving until the red expanses of the Throat opened below her. Now, though, from her vantage point in the mountains similar to that of an ant in grass, she could not really tell which direction she was headed. At one point, she had tried to climb up a hill to get a better look and only found herself wandering on the edge of a mountain peak - probably not the right direction. She could see the odd staircase of an incline leading up to a break in the clouds, what she guessed was probably the fields. In this strange circle she had landed herself in, though, Onni could not tell which way she was facing.

Peaks rose up all around her, obscuring what would have been the Steppe and the Foothills, and hiding her future path from her. Today, as luck would have it, Onni's lack of direction would land her right where she unknowingly needed to be. As the painted mare climbed further along the pathway, she was bringing herself closer to a friend in need. When she had just about given up hope and turning back, nearly at the top of the peak, underneath the thick cover of clouds too strong for even the sun to banish away, she saw a pile of tan, black, and teal.

Curiously, Onni took a few steps closer, trying to decipher what the lump was, without getting too close. With further inspection, though, she noted with some care feathered wings and limbs sticking out from under the bulk of a body collapsed on the ground. Onni's heart leaped to her throat, beating heavily as her clear blue eyes scoured for familiar details. Hope had already weaseled its way through to her mind, calling to life the recognition of the figure laying beside the rock face. Moth.

Suddenly, the mare found herself planted where she stood, limbs locked stiffly. While she wanted to move toward her friend, she was afraid of what she might discover. The fresh death of Voltaic still clinging to her mind, finding him a mess of flesh and blood toppled on the ground. The iron scent of blood was not present, but she was not close enough to discern the ragged breathing from his body, nor the lift of his chest. The beating of her own shook the delicate skin of her chest, her mind racing with a thousand questions, while still thinking back to the time they had stood in the Dreamscape, beside the glittering river.

Now, here was the moment she had hoped for since arriving in Helovia. She had wanted nothing more than to greet her friend into this new world, only to fall on repeated disappointments as the days turned into weeks without his arrival. Onni had long since accepted Moth as dead, but seeing him now, lying like forgotten trash on the side of the mountain, she found herself unable to accept what would happen if he was tangibly dead in front of her. Seeing him laying on the ground, several tense moments pass, until Onni finally lets out a shaking breath and takes steps forward toward the stallion on the ground.

"Moth?" Onni calls, as if to a ghost. Moving closer, she can finally see the shaking rise of his chest, and her legs move to a clumsy canter up the rest of the distance. Her hooves clack on the rocks of the mountain until she skids to a halt, kicking small pebbles in his direction. "Sorry," she whispers out frazzled, muzzle moving toward his splayed wing, carefully pushing it from her view to see if he had any obvious injuries. His tan body was drenched in sweat, but the lack of blood gave her confidence.

Closing her eyes, Onni thinks of the sunlight just above the clouds, calling upon the element which fed her healing power. Her muzzle begins to glow with a strange white light as she moves to touch Moth's cheek softly, his body screaming at her one demand: Water.
""

Water. A plea from the dying, Moth's body called out for an element Onni had no control over. She began to panic, standing next to her dying friend, who was suffering from the heat. Knowing that her feathered friend preferred cooler climates made this even worse, and for one gripping, terrifying moment, she thought that she would be unable to aid him in this moment. The pressure was almost enough to make her unwillingly shift into wind, like she had been prone to in the past. Steeling herself to the moment, though, the painted girl takes another shaking breath before calming her mind.

Light existed in all places, even the cold tops of the mountains that Moth preferred. Onni had only been thinking in terms of the light and fire that she had known in the Throat where she had found her magic, but now she realized she had to be crafty. The situation could not handle anything less than a cunning mind at this point. Lyhty, her little songbird, landed near her shoulder finally after searching separately for a route home, his mind showing her comfort and encouragement. It appeared her momentary panic had garnered his attention, even from far away.

The bird showed her flashes of cool, refreshing water, unable to communicate in words, but rather feelings and ideas. "You found water, Lyhty?" the mare asks, and her companion chirps in confirmation. This eases the feeling in her gut, which was threatening to rise up to her heart again. If she could just heal Moth to the point of getting him up, they could make it to water. Her attention turns back to the tan body at her feet, her muzzle still glowing with white light. She notices his feathers begin to rustle slightly, even in the absence of wind. He's moving, she thinks to herself, her blue eyes looking toward his, still held shut.

The gentle skin flickers open, revealing a duller teal than she could remember. Onni moves her face closer, trying to get it within his line of vision. Perhaps the sight of her would comfort him in some small way, she did not know. When his mouth opens, shuddering words ooze slowly out, and the mare listens carefully to his teetering voice. That he recognizes her is good, yet his perceptions are obviously wrong - he thinks they are dead. "Moth," she says quietly, gently to him. "We are still alive, but you have to hold on for me. I am going to try to cool you off. Stay with me."

Before she began to hone in on her healing, Onni focuses instead on the winds which wrap around the peaks just above. While they are still warm, moving air is better than stale air. Tugging onto the clear threads, the tobiano calls the wind down to the pair, pushing around the fluid with purpose, bringing it like a fan to Moth's body. This would feel cool on his sweaty skin, likely, until she could make a more permanent fix.

Next, her blue eyes close, lifting her pale face toward the sky above, calling on the Sun God to lend her his light. Envisioning the peaks of frosted mountains, cool springs, and snow upon the Steppes, a cold, pale blue light begins to surround her body. The chill is one that even she can appreciate, being trapped by the heat, and hopefully it will fix Moth's immediate problem. A band of light spins from her body, like yarn from a spool, and wraps itself around the fallen pegasus, lifting his body from the ground where it was cast. The thread of light bursts into cold flames, blue in color, taking away from sweat from his figure and invigorating the stallion again.

Light pools around his face last, clearing his mind which had been fuddled for hours. Temperature in his body lowers, easing his delirium and giving him temporary strength. The light recedes from his body, placing him softly on the ground in front of Onni, who still glows slightly in the aftermath of her healing. When the tobiano finally opens her eyes to view her friend, the light finally leaves to return to the sky above, leaving her back to her ordinary painted appearance. The mare smiles happily to her friend, who was in less dire need now. There are so many questions bubbling beneath the surface of her white-washed face, but they do not rise just yet.

Lyhty trills to get Onni's attention - they were not out of the woods yet. Moth still needed water to recooperate completely. He flutters behind the pegasus as if to persuade them to follow him, and Onni smiles at her finch. "We need to find water. Lyhty will show us the way." Turning to walk the way the small songbird is gravitating toward, Onni nods for Moth to follow her. She must heal him first and catch up later.
""

Signs of life, so frail in Moth's body, began to perk to the surface, slowly at first, with his teal eyes closed to the world. The face she knew was calm, composed, almost as if he accepted whatever fate lay in front of him. Delusional, unable to think clearly, the stallion would likely think the light a gateway to heaven - Onni would have, certainly. Now that she had gained the power, the mare did not fear the light that would greet her at the end of her days. While the Sun God ravaged her family and friends with his choking summer, there was a measure of relief that he blessed her the ability to give. For that, the tobiano refused to believe that the deity was in fact evil. No, no such person who allowed for healing the ill could be truly evil.

He was just hurting, and Onni was not entirely sure from what.

Her thoughts drift in and out as her healing comes to a close, leaving Moth standing quite sturdily upon the earth at their feet. Her own body ceases the pale glow, but not before a word slipped out of Moth's mouth, her eyes opening in surprise as he pulled the title from her, even as his mind was just clearing. Those teal eyes are open now, and not so dull and lifeless as before. She had the sense that he saw her before him, was clearly perceiving her as real instead of some mirage that haunted the nearly dead.

The face was still confused, she could tell. The expression was one that a dumbfounded foal would wear, and yet, paired with a small laugh, Onni knew that Moth, while he did not understand how or why, was well aware she was here before him - recognized her. With that, the tobiano's heart sailed, lifting from her chest and toward her mouth, beating with feverish glee. To be recognized, when he had just been standing on the brink of death, was enough to make her complete. Onni knew that her joy could not be finalized until his own health was ensured. While her fix was miraculous, his body was running on the mystical power of light - a temporary fix at best.

Before he gained his wits, before Onni could assail him with questions that bubbled to her present mind, she had to heal her patient, her friend. Lyhty, chirping happily with the mood of his bonded, flew ahead, a blur of red, white and black feathers. Onni kept a slower pace, to allow for Moth to easily follow in his shaky state of health. When he fell in beside her, the tobiano began to speak again.

"You remember Anumati, the healer of the Islands?" she asks, her eyes sneaking glances at his face from the corner of her lids. "Upon entering a territory here, I received similar abilities to heal - a shaman, like you said," she smiles, her eyes sliding forward to watch for Lyhty, sailing easily above them. "Unfortunately for you, my power comes from fire and light, not water, but a good old fashioned spring should be just what you need." Hooves clack on the ground below, the tobiano navigating the easiest path for the stallion to walk, taking rougher patches of the trail for herself.

Around corners, twisting down the mountain peak, the trio made slow progress, but Onni was not alarmed. If Lyhty's images were true, there should be a run-off just at the base of the path, not far from where she had begun to climb up. "I am glad that I found you, Moth," the painted mare says, a glance falling toward his own teal eyes, a tender expression worn for them. "I assumed you had not escaped the shadows after winter left with no sign of you." Gentle voice, soft like a breeze, hardly audible over the sound of their steps. To find him alive, after all this time believing the stallion to be dead. It was a miracle in itself.

Then, suddenly, a small spring unfolds itself before the trio. The sweet song of a finch as he lands on his bonded's shoulder, and Onni's pale-face gives way to a smile of true excitement, even as she bounces forward at a trot to get a much needed sip of her own. The heat was held in by the cloud cover, acting like a blanket for insulation. The frigid water from the melting snow of the Steppe, however, was sweet sliding down the throat of the tired mare. Healing was no easy process, for the patient nor the doctor.
""

The voice which spoke to her was raspy, yet familiar. Though she knew it would likely not do him well to continue to speak, without the much needed water in his system, the mare could not help but provoke his words. The sound of his voice comforted the mare in a way she had not known for a while. Upon the death of Voltaic, the electric stallion that had become more of a father to the tobiano than her own had ever been, there was an odd change in the mare she could not quite describe. Her sorrow over his death was locked away, unlike the pain he had felt for Bandit. There was guilt on her conscience, as she was unable to save him in his time of need, but she had not dwelt upon it as one would expect.

None of this really bothered her. It was as if his death had ushered in a new, thicker coat of resilience toward loss. The short mourning period had ended with the sobering meeting between she and Voltaic's true daughter, Tares. Instead of painting her delicate face with tears, she coated on a hard smile, and went about her life. The heart breaks with each loss, but Onni had forgotten how to feel numb in the wake of such a vast void. Voltaic was the last memory of her old home in the Islands, the last beacon for her saddened thoughts of missing friends and faces. With his exit, she thought no more about Isilme, about Virva or Moth, about any of the others lost.

Until Moth fell back to the earth like a heaven sent gift from her past. Of all of the Islanders, the companionship of Moth was most sorely missed. While he had certainly caused trouble, the stallion had always been close by and easy to talk to - at least for her. Without asking, Onni somehow knew that he would not be off after he was healed. The mare had a feeling he would stay, and that was comforting, comforting as the sound of his raspy voice.

"The Vale?" she asks, breaking out of her reverie at the sound of an unfamiliar name. He mentioned shamans, but had fallen silent. Onni's eyes kept leaning back in his direction questioningly, but she did not ask much else. She was not entirely sure what he meant by physically heal. Did they heal the soul instead? That would be an even more wonderous skill. When the tan stallion stumbled, Onni looked back with surprised concern, only to see a shy grin on his face, one she gladly returned.

Just before the spring, the stallion's voice quit, air brushing over rough stone. Onni gives an apologetic smile, mostly with her eyes, and remains silent until the sound of gurgling water permeates the air. While the mare had broken into a fast paced trot, Moth zoomed past her, none too gracefully, and splashed his face down into the cool waters with a rabid thirst. Onni's own sipping was gentle and calm, though she couldn't help but watch the stallion slurp clumsily with laughter in her eyes. Not being nearly as dehydrated as her friend, the mare finished quickly, moving from the stream to watch Moth's recovery carefully. Lyhty, intrigued with the connection with the stallion he had never seen, chirps on her shoulder as if to ask her.

It was a shame they could not communicate so easily.

However, Onni hums along with his little trill to soothe the bird, who leaps into the air to float before her, hovering in front of her face occasionally. Until, of course, teal eyes fell upon the pair - or more specifically, Onni - once again. The mare silences at the sound of her name, which sounded like Moth was saying more to himself than to call her attention, and Lyhty lands upon her wing, eyes watching the stallion intently. Her own face doesn't fall to his hooves, but tracks his eyes, an ear flicking backward at his sentence. A smirk on her lips, thinking back to the debacle in the Dreamscape, the flight from the shade, how he had never let go of those flowers painted in delicate shades of pink and red.

"I would be surprised if you had," she says, giggling slightly at the end of her statement. "All of the flowers of the Field died early in the season." The anger of the Sun God burned the beautiful field, leaving it practically lifeless. A shame, really, as it had been beautiful in the spring.
""

With childlike eyes of teal looking at her from a thick covering of black forelock, the question is posed. The painted girl takes a deep sigh as she think upon the deity causing this mess, but who had also aided her in healing the stallion watching her now. If Moth had been here to see the start of the season, he would likely understand her mixed feelings. As it is now, though, the tobiano is mostly grateful that her feathered friend is standing in a spring and not dead on the side of the mountain face behind them.

"My mother's invasion of the Dragon's Throat ended with overthrowing the Order of the Sun," the mare starts, her voice sounding tired. "The Order was a band of followers of the Sun God, who is a sensitive stallion and one fit to rage. The heat which torments Helovia is of his making, you see." She takes a pause, looking at her friend with an unreadable expression. "While I do not approve of his punishment, I do owe the God a lot, so I am not certain whether he is a friend or foe." When traveling to the Veins with Mauja and the others, the two Gods had assured the group they were doing all they could to aid the mortals of Helovia, but their powers were weakened in the summer season.

It was a pity the summer seemed to be passing much more slowly than the other seasons.

The sound of sloshing water makes Onni turn her head in surprise. Moth's own eyes locked on the face of a rock behind her. Turning so that she can better see, the tan stallion flicks his head as if to summon her to follow. Lyhty and Onni exchange a questioning glance with each other, their expressions similar despite the wildly different faces that wore them. In the dark eyes of her finch, Onni can see that he is quite doubtful of this Moth character, and his sudden interest in caves. A tinkling laugh sounds from behind the teal accented stallion, and she winks at her bird.

"Stay and keep guard, then," the mare says as she takes steps toward the other pegasus. Lyhty sounds out a trill of acceptance, not wanting to go into the dark, mysterious cave.

Moth's head inside the rock face's crack, Onni walks up behind him, staying a few paces from him. Blue eyes watch with growing concern and he proceeds to walk into the cavern. "Moth?" she calls after him, as his tail feathers disappear into the black cloak of the rocks. One thing that had changed since they had last met was Onni's fear of the dark. Before, she had never thought twice about the night being scary. Since the onslaught of the shadows that chased her from her home in Isilme, however, there has been an underlying terror associated with dark places - this cavern included. As the stallion slips into its grip, Onni's heart begins to pound in her chest, like it had upon seeing him laying on the ground.

Pale eyes saw little in the dark, and if Moth could not see anything, as he reported back to her, she certainly would be unable to. Her breathing begins to get shallow, and her legs fidget as she stands next to the crack in the mountain. As Onni listens to the sound of her own heart, beating like a drum in her ears, the soft echo of Moth's voice calls out an explanation. Shaking her head, the tobiano takes a reluctant step into the cave. "Are you sure it's safe?" her voice calls out, throat feeling suddenly dry. One more step, then two... Suddenly, a splash of water, condensed on the ceiling of the cave, splashes on her back and spooks the already fearful mare.

Lunging forward, Onni quickly makes the rest of her retreat into the cave at a jerky trot, stopping only when her chest makes a clumsy bump with the backside of Moth's body. A rush of air is expelled from her lungs, and suddenly, her eyes jerk open wide in the dark as the blood crowds her face in embarassment. "Sorry," she says meekly, manuvering around in the darkness to stand next to Moth, close enough still that her barrel and wing touches his own, afraid to stray from his side in the cave that is pitch black.

Some warrior I turned out to be, she thinks to herself, even as her breath is ragged as it escapes her chest into the cool air.
""

The water clings to her lungs as she breathes in heavily, nostrils flared in the darkness, breaths comingly sharply, roughly. White ears in attention, twitching upon her poll as Onni listens to the faint sound of water dripping in the cave. Heart beats in her ears, mixing with the sound of Moth's as it pounds against his own chest - she doesn't notice his worry. Despite his assurance as they walked into the cave, Onni can't help but feel that this cave had been a very bad idea.

The damp chill of the air, which probably should have been welcomed by the mare, was instead mirroring the crawling feeling of a cool breath creeping up her spine, freezing her posture as she leans in on Moth's side. The darkness, it was crippling to her, but why?

Onni thought perhaps the shades of Isilme had frightened her, left some impressionable difference in her opinion of dark. Yet, the night that had brought the shades with it never seemed to frighten her. The cramped, dark places, much like the forest where she had unwittingly attacked Tares, had the unnerving effect. Perhaps it was the encasing feeling, and not the darkness; she was losing her grip no matter which.

Then, his voice hit her like a bullet, causing her to snap her head around, fumbling in the dark and hitting his feathered mane, causing her to utter something like a broken laugh. The sound itself was self-deprecating, laughing at her clumsy actions, but it was laced in a fear that made it crack uneasily. The painted girl had said sorry enough for being clumsy, so she kept her mouth shut against his skin. Rather than move her head away from Moth and his many feathers, she just stood, breathing in steadily with her blue eyes clamped shut. She might as well not have them in this light anyway, blinder than a bat. Slowly her heart's beat evened out, breathing slowing.

When her heart began to quiet, no longer pounding in her chest, she could still hear the thump, a beating drum in the dark. Listening now, not to the sound of her own breath or the creeping of water in the corners, but to the worry of Moth. Worried, very worried about her, she figured by his question that she was just beginning to remember. Pulling her face free of his tan coat, Onni straightens out, summoning her voice, which came out in a hushed whisper. In their close proximity, though, she doubted he would have trouble hearing it.

"I don't like the dark," a feeble attempt to explain her childish actions. "So much can lurk in the shadows." She tries for a meek smile, before she realizes he likely can't see it in the dark anyway. "Forgive me."
""

Rigidity greeted her in Moth. Onni was not particularly surprised. Normally she was not so frightened. Even on that day, being chased by the shadow creature from the Dreamscape, she had no acted so paralyzed with fear. It was curious to think about, really. Collected when faced with a real monster, but nothing but a quivering pile of shambles when left in a dark cave. No wonder Moth stood stupified as she practically whimpered like some frightened child in a harmless cave.

The tension eased slightly as the mare pulled away, and for that she was glad. Knowing that his body was still stressed, Onni had the feeling that her abnormal actions would probably only make it worse. Her choked words sounded stupid, and bitterly she snorted at the end of her apology at her own foolishness. Even though Moth calmed at her words, she did not entirely. The weakness of her knees subsided, her breath still holding steady as she brought the moist air in and out through her lungs. Her flaws painted on the backs of her eyelids as she closed them in shame. Her pale irises were not seeing anything in this light, anyway. At least this false night would seem to be of her own doing.

Rather than the chiding words she would have received from her mother, or the mocking tone someone else likely would have used, Moth's voice was gentle, like the light touch of a breeze. Onni opens her eyes, finding that small droplets of tears had formed there, her former anxiety stressing her body. Afraid of the dark, afraid of being inadequate, afraid he would laugh... all things that were terribly blown out of proportion to an outside observer, but still enough to shake the heart of the young mare.

Softer than his voice, the cool brush of feathers against her back. Turning her head, Onni hopelessly strains to see the limb stretched over her own wings, unsure of whether she is to believe her senses. After all, Moth had never really attempted to console her before, had never even really touched her so purposefully. While her fear dwindled, something else began to make her heart race, but she was quite certain it had to do with guilt. Moth, who was ill, should not be comforting her, who is in perfect health. Onni turns her neck back forward, after the failed attempt at seeing in the dark.

A shy laugh perks out of her mouth at his joke, her ears tugging forward and staying put this time. Her giggle bounces off the walls of the cave, amidst the sound of falling water. He was right, though. Onni had not noticed any unusually scent in the cave - it was just her fear getting the better of her yet again. The relief did not last long, though, as Moth's suggestion to leave comes forth. Immediately, Onni turns her head to look blindly at Moth in the darkness, or what she thought would be his face, her voice zooming out before he even finishes his sentence.

"Oh, no," she says, a new form of anxiety forming. "I can't ask you to leave here just because I was being silly." The barrage of words rains out quickly, in a panicked manner. "You should be in a cooler environment and get some rest, really. Don't let me trouble you!" She takes a breath, letting it whistle out slightly as she settles down. "It's fine."

[ Onni: /flails at moth. ]
""

She was acting similar to a spoiled child, Onni thought, causing such problems for a stallion just recovering from extreme dehydration. It was silly, being frightened of the darkness. It was silly to cause him so much worry. However, there was some twisted pleasure that she received from his contsant attentiveness, until her mind had caught up with her and she began to think more easily about the situation.

What am I doing? she thinks to herself, taking solid breaths of air for the first time since entering this cave.

Her eyes scour the darkness for any hint of him aside from his warmth and scent in the dank air of the cave. The light from the opening glints on the silver beads in his mane, outlining very loosely where his neck sat in the dark expanse of the cave. Now that she focuses, her blue eyes can faintly see the light break upon his mane, his tail, his ears. Her eyes must finally be adjusting slightly to the horrible lighting. The curve of his neck leading to his mouth, even as he spoke low, serious voice that shook her heart slightly in its intent. Though she could not truly see him, could not see the expression in his face, Onni imagined that the look in his teal eyes was gentle and patient. The darkness afforded at least this part of her imagination to run rampant as well.

The words had stunned her to silence, causing her breathing to even out more in the dark cave. Her heart still raced, but that was alright. While it made her feel slightly dizzy, it was not as unpleasant as the feeling of hyperventilation threatening to make her pass out where she stood. In her excited state, she had not paid heed to the toll healing had taken on her as well, but now that she began to calm, standing in the shelter of Moth's wing, it was catching up as her own magic faded from Moth's body.

The touch to her muzzle was soft and sudden, but was gone almost instantly as Moth's head dropped in defeat of his own exhaustion. "You should sleep," she says quietly, a faint whisper in the dark that she hoped would soothe his own worries about her. "I will be okay." Whatever the case, even if she was frightened, there was little chance of her leaving his side now.
""

[ WELL, we can just go to the throat. xP ]