Kye's hunter call sounds out and pierces the night air as the pair make a sturdy landing and prepare themselves for the excitement of the night. Cool airs afforded by shadow and the mercy of the Goddess of the Moon streak through their feathers and brush Xira's coat against its own grain, making brighter her verdant shade. The two search the clearing with piercing gazes, seeking either solitude or someone of, shall it be phrased, a unique persuasion. Xira walks with a discontented Kye perched upon her neck, her thick tail swishing and stirring up small breezes of its own. Leaves that lie dead and dried upon the earth's surface as a mark of the eternal Tallsun dance in the solid mare's wake, creating a light crackling sound and a curious sight.

One such sight lines the horizon in a ghostly silhouette, capturing the pair's attention instantly. From their place in the valley at the edge of the copse, she sees the stallion as nothing more than an obstacle; another body standing in her way. And yet, with each step forward and each twist of the trick moonlight, Xira finds herself more captivated by the stranger. His voice, sounding hesitant, perhaps even afraid, captures her senses, and her sharp ears swivel as soon as nature's contented silence is interrupted.

"Yes," comes her premature call. Even as she trots up the hill towards the stallion, she knows what she has told him is a lie. After all, is it not easier to know a lie than to assume a truth?

He is rather official, and she finds herself irked by it. While she is not close enough to see his features clearly, or his deformed wing, he looks at her with a close eye, and she has the uncomfortable sensation of being examined. Upon her neck, gripping a mass of thick hair and digging into flesh with her talons, Kye lets out a low hiss, one she's picked up through imitation of her prey. It is Xira who seems kind now as she shakes her head and whistles to her companion. As much as she values Kye's opinion, the last she needs is just another grumpy voice advising her.

Because this herdland that Andash, as he calls himself, is so eager to join, is nothing but a stifling prison to Xira. She longs for the open air and no ties to "home"- no place to even call that. The world is her home, why be more specific? Her position within this herd afforded her few luxuries, and the style of a cooperative herd life such as the Throat's did nothing to suit her. No, it was the interference, the thought of those around her as mere playthings, that kept her within the herd.

She stretches lime wings briefly and then folds them gently at her side to reveal the chestnut color that lines the top of them. "Xira," she says cooly, ignoring the talons threatening to break skin. "...and Kye. What a pleasure it is to meet you, Andash." she speaks plainly and say no more than is required to carry on the conversation and make it worth her while. Informant is as Informant does.

She met his tranquil sapphire gaze with a burning emerald one of her own, and greeted his curious expression with her usual sly and smug grin. It seemed he hadn't caught the faint hint of sarcasm in her tone- perhaps it was better that way. Let him believe her little white lies, it would only benefit her later. Having more friends than desired was something that had often plagued Xira in social situations, but it came in handy later if they ever owed her favors. And the way Xira worked... well, they almost always owed her favors.

She continued to act polite as the stallion strutted before her, but while he raised one splendorous wing to the sky and dipped it in moonlight, she was made aware of his other. A strong pity rose within her, but not the sort that would bring out any sort of nice side. She bit her tongue, knowing that pointing out what was clearly obvious to Andash would do no good, and feeling as though she could filter herself at least this once. After all, the poor fellow was a cripple, and even she, with her smart mouth and barbed tongue, had some decency.

Even his voice found her fighting for consciousness. The monotones of the stallion were simply another buzz of nature to her. No, it was Kye that gathered her focus once more with a shrill and chiding whistle. Apparently the falcon knew more of Xira's thoughts than she had realized.

Having caught the end of his brief ramble, she felt slightly unprepared to answer the question. Then again, she wasn't really one to care if her answer made sense or not. She wasn't sure what he'd said before, but the words how long had slipped into her mind, and with great feigned alacrity, that most would recognize as thick sarcasm, she let out a laugh-like whinny. "... Oh no, we're new," she rushed in correction, making it quite clear that herd life was not her preference simply in her tone. She was born and raised to roam; it was simply easier to interfere while living within the system. "What about you, handsome- what have you been up to in this herd?" She said with a veiled, mocking tone. It was cruel, yes, but she had never been good at keeping her true intention in.

[[Screw it, switches back to past tense. Dx]]

She let her lips curl at the stallion's sad sort of reply. She would have much preferred it delivered as a retort, but this would have to do. Still he defied her foolish question, and she could appreciate that, even if he did it rather like a cowering pup. Her eyes rolled back to Kye, who fluttered her wings and chittered in mild agreement. he spoke of having done nothing, of never being capable of it. What rubbish- as much as she pitied the deformed creature before her, it gave him no license to prey on that emotion. He could have had a piece of grass for a wing for all she cared, it still wouldn't excuse his behavior.

With a snort and a stomp of her foorehoof, she advanced towards the stallion. "There's plenty one like you could do- you need not be confined by your weaknesses," she said in a sudden and strange burst of optimism. Something about the way her opinion was voiced, however, made it seem more pushy. She sounded strong and confident, whereas he stood foolish and weak. To her, it wasn't that she was encouraging him to do more with his life so much as she was criticizing him for having done so little. She didn't care that he only had one working wing or that he was new- she'd done plenty in her time here, and she didn't even like being in a herd.

No, this was entirely something he brought upon himself. It made her sick.

"Medics are always needed in the herd, from what I can gather, and anyone can travel on foot to be an informant or apprentice. Whatever hangup you have that makes you think you can't do anything because of that," Xira spat with a quick jerk of her head towards the stallion's wing, "is not worth keeping around. If you expect to do anything with your life, I suggest you drop that attitude immediately."

At last she had sparked some form of emotion within him that wasn't entirely pathetic. He spit back at her with a ferocity that existed deep within everyone, but she was beginning to lose hope he could ever access. He seemed almost enraged by her gall, at last insulted by her comments, and finally not wanting her pity. Not wanting anyone's pity, for that matter- suddenly it seemed rather important to the pale stallion that he be a figure so strong that no one could ever doubt him.

He said she wanted to be a soldier, and there was a slight hint of surprise that flashed across the chestnut's features. Kye cawed out in a cruel manner, making a sound close to a laugh, but Xira hushed her with a forward bend of her wing towards the falcon. No, this was not a time to mock, this was a time to watch with interest. She wasn't one to shoot down hopes and dreams, especially not if they were to defy rules or expectations.

When he turned from her she let her ears snap back in a mixture of shock and annoyance. She was the rude one- what right did he have to leave so suddenly, to declare himself strong as if she'd done nothing to help, and push her away? She wasn't entirely complaining, she hated friends, but... well, now that she'd seen his darker side, he was at last a bit more intriguing. She didn't completely want Andash to leave, after seeing that he was more than pathetic.

He turned back and she took advantage of it, casting him a glance less fiery than before, more fueled by a bit of the wistfulness she felt towards his leaving. "Can these things not wait?" She asked firmly, her tone rising at the question's finale. "Surely you've a little more of the night to spend with us," she asked, feeling stupid for wanting the stallion to stay, finding herself surprised by the exception in behavior. Still, perhaps through all of her bitterness hung a little loneliness- the life of her band had not been one lived without company.

She hated the feeling that he was perhaps understanding her. She was not meant to be understood, perhaps with the exception of Kye. The little falcon knew too much of her thoughts lately, and with each day as their bond strengthened she felt a change within herself. It was odd how Kye's attitude seemed to strengthen her own and vice-versa; she was just glad the bird couldn't speak, that would make a real mess of things.

Dummy! rang a voice, sharp and crystalline in her head. It took Xira no time to recognize it, despite having never heard it before. She turned to cast a glare back at the little bird upon her perch, and saw only a set of black eyes and a clacking beak. The mouth remained still, but the words still came. Not like! Not like! Andummy! the bird communicated, her wings ruffling and her head rising high as she voiced her opinions. Xira snorted at the pestering creature, annoyed once more by her petulance, but now forced to listen to it as well as see it.

Well, Kye had certainly made it clear how she felt about 'Andummy'. Still, Xira was in the mood to ignore her charge. And she couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted him to stay. Still, she saw the pity in the stallion's eyes as she spoke, and her temper flared. She let her fore hooves strike the earth with annoyance as the stallion left his next move up to her. As much as she enjoyed the power, she would refuse to make it clear that she truly wanted him to stay; that she would be lonely if he didn't.

"I merely thought you'd find your evening more enjoyable with some company, but if you must leave, then by all means..." Xira responded with a prideful tilt of her head and a light sneer. The falcon perched on her withers pecked restlessly at her mane, sending her images of their old life as outcasts- alone, but somehow always surrounded by others. Roughly Xira shook out her mane, jostling kye, who screeched with annoyance as she regained her balance. Denial, the falcon hissed into her thoughts. She promptly ignored the voice and let her green gaze focus on Andash, who stood only feet away, poised to leave.

Xira watched the stallion with a calculating gaze, trying desperately to figure out his motivation. Did he even have any? She felt like he was tricking her- surely he must have spoken each word with deep thought, made each movement with confidence. She wasn't being paranoid, he was simply being strategic, and she didn't like it. She snorted as she watched him shift his gaze to match hers- she shuddered at the cold trapped in his blue eyes, at the emotion that fueled them, and found herself turning away. Between her wings, Kye pecked and fussed, calling her a coward repeatedly in her mind.

Xira pushed the bird away now by lifting her wings high and trapping Kye between her cascade of green and brown feathers. The irate squawks were muffled, the temper eventually subdued, but Xira kept her wings up and displayed proudly the bright green feathers underneath. She stood proud before the stallion, showing off her figure before him; letting the moonlight catch each curl of her coat and wind around every bright feather. The Falcon murmured in her mind, showoff, but she pushed the thought away. "How can you know if company is good if you don't bother to spend the time with them?" She spoke, her voice rising with the question, her eyes sparkling as she presented him with a flaw in his system that he could not avoid. "First impressions are always wrong," The chestnut added, her lips curling into a mischievous smile.

The satisfaction of winning pleased the chestnut highly, but it was followed by the sudden realization that what she'd won was the company of a charmingly witty stallion for the rest of the evening, and, well, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She liked him well enough- she liked his quick tongue and balance nature, but she didn't know much about him. Well, then, she supposed this was the time to learn.

She couldn't help but notice his stare; she'd been looked at before, after all, a green roan was no common sight, but rarely had she been looked at in the same manner that he was looking at her. She was a sour dame, it was infrequently that people looked at her like they actually liked her. Perhaps this stallion was simply too nice for his own good; she dismissed the possibility that he liked her for more than her looks. It was rare to occur, why should it now? He was simply too nice, that was all. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling left by his look. It was more than just intrigue that rested in his expression, and she sought to find out what else swirled in his ice-like pools of blue.

Kye outstretched her wings and let her tips press against the mare's own scapulars. Blushing, the falcon teased with a petty tone, unsure if what she felt was jealousy, annoyance, or both. Xira jokingly sent the falcon back an image of am avian carcass, and Kye was quiet for the first time the entire night.

Go hunt, she instructed her companion silently, lowering her wings so that Kye might take off more easily. "So, Andash," She began smoothly, her dark, blue green eyes piercing as they looked towards the stallion, "why do you wish to be a soldier?" The question came as a way of making light conversation, but she realized that there was nothing about the pair that was very 'light'. Their rapport had been quickly established as an easy and simply back and forth. Xira shook her wings and folded them before taking a few easy and simple steps towards the stallion, pleased to feel Kye's talons unlatching from her flesh as she took the night air up under her wings and headed towards the oasis.

Xira's eyes glittered with a desire to know more that she could not contain, and she flicked her frosted tail against her knees with slight impatience. She took another step closer, and the gap between them began to close rapidly. "Honestly, why are you still here?" came the question- quick, honest, and intelligent, accompanied by a sigh and a clear and straightforward look in her eyes. No tricks this time, just pure curiosity.

He wanted to? No, that was far too strange of a concept for Xira to grasp. She had ignored the answer he'd given to her first question because it hadn't really mattered. Though at the mention of a mate she'd raised a brow and given him a slight look of disdain. What the hell had he meant by that? He wasn't trying to be coy, was he? If he was, well, she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it. As much as she wanted to simply hate the suggestion, she found herself not really minding it at all. This, however, this odd response that he wished to stay at her side, to spend what could be a lovely moonlit night with a lover or even a friend, with her... well, she didn't know what to think of it. She was thankful that Kye was gone, the falcon would have done nothing but insult her now. She would consider any hesitation a weakness, something to exploit.

Then again, wasn't that exactly what it was?

The chestnut mare shook her head and narrowed her peacock eyes with an upwards tilt of her form. Her fore hooves lifted off of the ground and her wings extended and flapped quickly downwards. She longed to fly; she realized with disgust that she longed to fly with him. She was lonely, she missed her nomadic life and the constant feeling of being in good company. Even if she was alone she had nature beside her then- here, it seemed that she was always in solitude. Suddenly her lips parted and from them burst forth a simple, foolish phrase.

"I want to fly with you," she said, realizing that it was impossible for the stallion but saying it nonetheless. She really did want to fly with him; to rush through this night air with another pegasus by her side; with a kind voice overruling the harsh one that was Kye's. She didn't want to be alone.

Xira wasn't entirely sure what he meant. The first part of the reply she understood easily and quickly, but it was that last phrase that put her on edge. To fly with her? She had simply wanted company, would she really have cared who it was? No, she told herself. It didn't matter who she was beside, it was simply the desire to rest with a warm body and know that she was not alone.

As good of a liar as Xira was, she'd always been bad at fooling herself. The thought that it was not just anyone that she longed to be beside, but Andash, crept over her like a storm. It kept her grounded but brought with it the comfort of the cold. And, after all, was it so terrible to be grounded? If the earth was where Andash must rest, then she would gladly stay there with him. And yet she felt dissatisfied with the idea; not because she longed to fly more than she longed to be with him, which was in and of itself still hard for her to admit, but because there was no reason why the stallion shouldn't have been able to fly. It was simply unfair that he had been born with such a curse as to see those around him experience a freedom that he never could.

And that was when she decided she would make her first trip to the gods. Because any who had been born without the wind beneath them was surely godless; surely unloved by some divine power. She wasn't sure what she could change or if she could change much, but she was determined to change that. Kye's reason flew far above them, and without it Xira was left stranded in a sea of her emotions. The night was still young, perhaps she could journey to the veins before the sun's rising. And yet, while she longed to stay at Andash's side, what would she say to the stallion now?

What could she say, when she couldn't even realize how she felt? No, she let her peacock eyes settle into solemnity and her wings spread out to prepare herself for a journey. "Perhaps," she began with a slight, longing look towards the moon, "...perhaps it is time that we say goodnight." Her words had a hint of finality, yet quivered with an overflow of feeling that she could not understand. She turned her gaze from the bright moon and let it rest on Andash's broken wing for a moment before forcing herself to turn away. How had this happened? What had transformed her so, from a petty mare charged with insults and sarcasm to this undefined creature of the night? "I wish to see you again," Xira said in a manner that was unmistakably bashful, and shocked even herself. "Perhaps we can meet at Dragon's Blood?" she inquired, her tone rising in pitch as the question formed and the hope flew with it. What would the stallion say?