Huyana slid between the trees like a phantom, her darkened winter rind melding into shadow; she was a study in fluidity, silent and graceful, moving through the dappled forest like the most steadfast of rivers. Purpose led her cloven hooves onward, stepping through dapples of murk and light, occasionally halting to admire some woodland flower or another. Winter was nigh on the horizon, shadowing the last vestiges of summer's bliss like some ominous cloud. Vagabonds would need a place to roost - the young and the feeble were, as well as the able-bodied. Being alone in the winter was a terrible thing; it could suck dry all traces of happiness in your heart, leaving you a cold and weary shell until spring's thaw.

The sun hung above the forest in a cloudless sky today, filtering through the dying leaves and evergreen needles, pooling on the forest floor in bright puddles. She loved the smell of autumn, brisk and crisp, aromatic and musky.

A call echoed through the trees, causing the rainchild to halt with alarm, her ears flicking to and fro as she tried to find its source. The forest soon fell into silence after the last memories of the sound died away, but Huyana hurried forward toward the call, slender dark legs barely grazing the ground. Before long, a girl came into view, a spidery light bay with eyes like pieces of jet. Without hesitation she came closer to the child, her blue gaze tracing the curve of the stranger's horn before settling comfortably on the bay's beryl eyes. "Good morning," Huyana said, her soft voice ringing out like the quiet babbling of a brook. A warm smile played across her lips, like the promise of summer days and rain.

A momentary flicker of caution kindles behind her eyes, watching the girl turn to meet her. She is bright with youth and excitement, and Huyana cannot help but let her lips tug into a smile for the child. The bitterness of age and time washes over the roan mare; it had barely been five summers since her begetting, but she felt as if an entire lifetime had passed over. Three homes found and lost, two causes joined and failed, so many lives extinguished for the silliest of reasons, but it still rained - raindrops still came down, pitter patter, as they ever did. If the storms could prevail, so could the rainchild, and if the sea still hummed with life, so could she.

The girl offered her name, and the rainchild could not decide whether it was foolish or brave; so much harm could be done with one's name - is it worth a moment of familiarity? She tilted her head, weighing the situation carefully. "You are in Helovia," Huyana answers quietly, leonine tail twitching with contemplation. "I dwell in the Aurora Basin, a haven for those with horns." Zima averted her gaze with obvious shame, and her eyes crinkled with a gentle smile. "Do not feel abashed for your questions child," they will be answered, one way or another. Huyana watched the girl for a moment before she drew back onto her haunches, searching for a path that led north; blue eyes groped for Zima's gaze. Follow.