The art of healing was not something my little cloud had anticipated being her career. She was young still, this is true, her mind could still change, as her desires wavered, as her body grew and the yearning to be a warrior grew with it. But the final request of her father powered her on, she thought of him always - sometimes with sadness, but more often with a fond determination to please his memory, to work towards what he had wished of her. 'Heal, Cirrus. Know how to defend yourself, but do not seek war. Mend the broken, child. Let the light guide you.' His smile flickered across her mind's eye, and I saw it clearly, and felt the warmth with which the memory danced about her heart. I whined softly, as we walked across the sands, and earned myself a real smile upon her dark lips, a mischievous smirk, a slanted grin, in return. With a playful step I leapt to bump my wet tongue against the softness of her nose, before bounding forward, and initiating the everlasting game of chase we always drew across the red sands of our home.

In the not too far distance, the sound of flapping was heard. It was not an unusual occurrence, for we resided in a realm suited to Pegasus, and housed a great many number of them within our high walls. My cerulean gaze flicked upwards, and I feel my bonded's gaze doing the same, and together, we track the motion of two Pegasi flying over the wall of the Throat, dropping down from the clouds and landing. Curiosity wells within both of our hearts, and before long, we are trotting towards her, myself with a long, swift stride, my beloved with the steady rhythm being pounded into the sands below. The stars shone bright upon her pelt this evening, a glow seemed to permeate the air around her, a fine coating of moondust seems to fall from her wings as they open halfway to make the locomotion smoother. That smile is upon her lips again, as she recognises the young mare ahead as a herd mate, for we both saw her at the recent meeting. Dipping her crown to her, my bonded offers her devious little smirk, and I a wide grin with teeth shining and tongue lolling to the side, before her angelic tones break the silence and address that which is not obvious to all, but quite clear to her eye.

"Greetings, Africa, is it? I recognise you from the meeting. I am Cirrus, one of the healers of the herd, and this is Sitka. Welcome, sir." My nostrils worked the air, drinking the scent of this newcomer - a gelding, I informed my bonded with a sense of confusion. I had never smelt one before, but I was certain that he simply was not whole, there were things missing from him.. I threw a glance to my beloved, who simply smiled at me, and pressed her velveteen lips to my brow, puffing a breath of reassurance that though these things were rare, they did happen. "Is there anything I can do for either of you?" She offered, knowing many a newcomer to arrive at the Throat exhausted, injured, or otherwise out of sorts. While Ahi's affliction was not physically obvious, the hesitance with which he carried himself, the sway of his posture, seemed to suggest that there was something extra going on. My darling cloud was looking forward to fulfilling her father's promise once more, and while she would never wish misfortune upon anyone for the sake of her being able to aid them, she did look forward to practising that which she had so ardently studied for the sake of her fallen sire.

A wry smile happened upon the muzzle of my beloved, as she hears the words the grey mare speaks, grasps them with her keen ears, and nods to show that she understands. This new steed was indeed freshly travelled from the Threshold, and as the conversation then revealed, he suffered from an ailment of balance and basic co-ordination defect. The cerulean gaze that made up my bonded's eyes grew concerned, the smile softening into slightly more serious lines as she concentrated upon this Ahi, observing him closely with her naked eye, stepping closer to him (I stayed behind) to better know just what needed to be done. She spoke again, her voice smooth, gentle and welcoming, with a dash of token playfulness that demonstrated how well she had healed since the loss of her father.

"Willing soldiers are always welcome here, Ahi. I'll do my best to get you able-bodied once more." As he called her not only a healer, but the healer, she laughed a light, chime-like note. "Aye, I am a healer, but Onni is the true master of the art. Don't worry, she has taught me well." A playful wink clicked one of her eyelids shut and open again with swift co-ordination, as my delightful little cloud then began her work. "Now, Ahi, do your best to focus on my eyes, that's the way. Listen to my voice, and let it be your anchor. Together, we'll get the world to stop spinning around you." The tones had taken on a truly healing quality, melodic and soothing, as she then began humming a low, soft lullaby - anything to keep his focus upon her, whilst also settle his nerves and aid her concentration.

Though night was upon them, I felt the magic of the light seem to be drawn up from the sands beneath us, the same earthy substance that retains the heat of the previous day seemed to glow beneath our feet as its latent light was summoned. I watch as it embraces my beloved, whose starry hide seems to glow somewhat brighter, warmer, reminiscent of the dawn that was only a handful of hours away. I feel it whirl about within her, I watch as it brings her happiness, a sense of fulfilment, a purpose. I admire as she expertly reaches her dark muzzle out to the steed, to make contact with his own, and directs the healing light through his body. His affliction was within his cranium, she knew, and so that was where she concentrated the brilliant light, illuminating all that was wrong and correcting it.

And still, she sung a low song, meditating, chanting quietly, ensuring that her work was done just as the song came to a conclusion. A few seconds of silence passed, before she retracted her muzzle, dimmed the light that danced about them, and allowed that characteristic smirk to return to her lips. "Feeling any better, Ahi?" She asked gently, only now noticing that her wings had inadvertently opened, and spread to almost their full width during the process. They too, glowed with stars; my little cloud was no cloud at all on this clear night, she was a serenade to the midnight banquet laid out above us. I step forward now, leaning my maned shoulder against her foreleg gently once more, reconfirming the bond that existed between us was still there, and would always be there.

I was hardly a 'pet' to my beloved. I was devoted to her, loyal to her, like a simple pet might be, but I was so much more than that. The bond that bound us was made of the stuff that souls were built from, wondrous and mystical and nigh impossible to break. It was my belief that only death could part us, but I did not dwell often on death - it was more beneficial to focus upon the present, on what life had in store for us, instead of the unknown entity that was death. My little cloud focussed upon death more than I, which was understandable, considering her profession, and her recent brush with death's cruel, cold wing. The lesson she had been forced to learn all too early was that death happened, and would happen to all of us eventually. Her duty as a healer, she now realised, was to prolong its absence, to extend the beautiful life that existed in mostly everyone she has met.

She would not let death take another of her friends or loved ones prematurely, like it had her father.

I frowned slightly as the thought tumbled through her mind, pressing concern against her own, worried that she was taking on too much responsibility, stacking the weight of the world upon her sturdy shoulders without even realising it. My darling cloud was standing before her herdmates with a small smile upon her lips, her pelt reflecting the starshine with a soft, ethereal glow, waiting for the reaction of the gelding before her. While she was not as skilled as Onni, she was skilled enough, it would seem, to restore the balance and equilibrium within him. As happiness leaked onto Ahi's façade, she could not help but grin a little bit wider, pleased to know her efforts had been successful, glad to see him test his body out and have it pass the test. A soft laughter sprung from her throat at his exclamations, and she resettled her own wings back against her hide, shaking her neck so that her mane flipped sides.

"You are quite welcome, Ahi. I am glad to help." She reassured him with her soft tones, the climax of her magic finally wearing off her, leaving her feeling strangely open, and empty. I resolved this swiftly however, tugging upon our bond with a playful, affectionate mood, grumbling my affections vocally in a light growl. It worked, soon enough so that the smile did not have time to fade from my beloved's lips as she settled back into her body, without the magic of the Throat filling the void within her. The gelding asked another question, and a thoughtful expression stole the light glee that was originally upon the lips of my little cloud. How did she do it? How could she answer such a question without telling everything that led to her getting here now?

"My father was a warrior, and he did not want me to fight, but rather, to heal. He asked Onni to be my mentor, and so I studied under her. The magic to heal is lent to me by the very sands we stand upon, blessed by the Sun God to heal those who reside here. I've not learned all there is to know, but Onni is a good, wise teacher, forever persistent in giving me my lessons." She didn't know how else to explain, how else to show that she still felt like she was not meant to be a healer, but a warrior. I felt the tension, the nerves tighten within her as she mentioned her father, albeit subtly, but she worked through it and ended her speech with another flick of her eyelid, a playful wink.

"Do take care still, Ahi. Though I am fairly certain the magic illuminated all there was for me to see, I may still have missed something small. Make sure you rest for a few days at least, before trying anything adventurous." She added, in a sudden moment of lost confidence in her own ability. It was never a guarantee that the magic would work, or if it did work, it often healed only up to a certain point. Ahi's ailment had been a mere matter of restoring the equilibrium of his inner ear, of ensuring no bruising had caused his brain to swell beyond repair - it was simple enough to fix, if one knew how. Cirrus knew the theory, and the practise, but she was still but a young girl. I whined softly to her, thumping my tail into the sand, trying to dispel the nerves that had stolen my confident, playful little cloud and replaced her with this shy, unsure little girl.

She would come back to me. She always did.