I did not feel the cold.

There was something within me that seemed to keep me warm. Father said he had a fire within his belly that was given to him by the Sun God. I did not have the ability to breathe fire or heat, but I was the granddaughter of a dragon. My hide was thick, and my scales were not only an impenetrable shield against sharp edges, they also resisted change in the environmental temperature.

On our journey back to our mother, I did notice that my sister flagged behind, that her attention had been pulled elsewhere. I stopped my pace, coming to a smooth halt, peering quietly about, with wings half-cast, elongated tail swishing like a slow pendulum merely a few inches above the loam below. I breathed in the mists that surrounded me, taking a moment to calculate my next action.

The next thing of occur resolved my dilemma. A rustle of leaves above, a glint of gold, and a colourful, warbling trill announced the arrival of my mother's beloved bondmate, Akaith. I smile to her, eyes glimmering with unrestrained happiness. My own voice quietly hums a tune, somewhere in between an equine whicker and a draconic song, welcoming her presence as it glides down to settle upon the small of my back.

"We are exploring today, Akaith." I say quietly to her, tilting my tiara to view her reaction, wondering if perhaps I should have asked her instead of told her. She tilted her little crown at me in response, like a confused puppy investigating a strange sound, before bumping her nose against my own and taking to the air in the direction of the border.

With a half smile curving my lips, I followed in her shadow, moving myself into a speedier step, moving with some acceleration until the ground beneath my hooves changed. With surprise I noted that the mists no longer lingered about my fetlocks, and trees did not bunch nearly so close together. Akaith, above me, seemed to laugh at my sudden hesitation, my surprise.

I continue to follow her, as she seems to know which direction to take to reunite me with my twin. Ahead, I spy the familiar glint of silver, standing alongside a stallion stained a similar hue to the healer Torasin, only he held no white patches amidst his golden sheen. I stopped once again, several lengths away from where my sister stood by him, treating him like one she already knew. Akaith seemed unconcerned by his presence, as she chortled a friendly greeting to Semira, she curved a great arc in the area above us and eventually settled onto a branch that was slowly but surely losing its leaves.

"Hello." I say softly, my façade guarded, my expression clear as I peered at him with vertically slitted eyes, swaying my scythed tail slowly behind me, akin to a cat summing up the size of its prey before deciding whether or not to pursue it.

Akaith warbled from her tree, and it sounded like a scolding, the sounds cascading into shriller tones, and I knew, without even glancing at her, that she was scolding me. I could not help the indifference I displayed for the situation at hand - was it caution that stilled my tongue and paused my steps? Or was it a yearning to be like our mother, to wait, and analyse a situation before becoming involved? I liked to think it was the latter, instead of a shyness that my sister clearly did not possess. It was overwhelming, this need of mine to analyse - perhaps as time went on, I would be able to complete my analysis of a situation as swiftly as mother did now.

The golden dragon's noises levelled down to quiet chortles, and I could hear the distinct warble of amusement coming from her maw now, even as my sister insisted this kindly fellow was indeed, a kindly fellow. He asked after my name, and upon giving me his own, I employed my sensitive nostrils to confirm that yes, he was from the Edge. How could I have been sure beforehand? He might have masked his foreign scent with our own to throw us off guard - but Akaith and Semira both have accepted his presence, and so I feel myself slowly, if begrudgingly, accept it too. I nod my tiara to him, acknowledging his words, summoning my own voice to reply to him.

"Amaris." I say simply, the word strung out by my melodic voice seemingly at random, as my sharp gaze flicks from the stallion before me to the filly beside me. "Why are you beyond the borders?" I turn my attention back to him, uninterested in divulging my reasons for coming here - sister has revealed them all anyway - and wanting to simply know more about him. He was not a cousin to me, but he was a herdmate, and perhaps, in time, he could become a friend.