You show the lights that stop me;;

Winter had finally robbed the Emerald Forest of every last splash of color, wrenching the last of the golden leaves from their tenuous perches and blanketing the emerald carpet with an endless abundance of snow that had fallen seemingly overnight. The frequent rain storms turned to nearly constant white outs that built up rather rapidly against the low rolling hills and numerous tree trunks. Constant creaking and cracking sounds could be heard as the tree limbs moaned and groaned out their complaints over the burden they were being forced to bear. The soft thumping sound of a snow shoe rabbit could be heard as it skittered across the powdery surface, all of which Sinner listened to intently, recognize what was benign and what was not. He had grown more than familiar with his forest home over the last few years and he loved it. He had never been all that interested in the politics of the kingdoms and here he was free to do as he wished.

Wandering around the borders of his home Sinner stopped periodically, marking his borders so that anyone within scenting distance would know that these lands still belong to him and that he was by no means one of those few attentive stallions that typically lead the lesser herds around here. Turning toward his knoll Sinner makes quick work of the distance by picking up a flowing extended trot, his raven mask held high as he moved effortlessly up the sharp incline, slowing only when the cave came into view. There was no one there at the moment and only a charred circle of soot lay at the entrance where his fire had burned out some time ago. He was not sure what would be happening over the next few days but he would leave the fire burning in case Ankh returned seeking the cave. She was the only one who knows that it was there since he had never shown any of the others. Collecting up a half dozen decent sized limbs by pushing them along the ground with his nose Sinner rekindles the fire before the cave. Drying the dampened logs from the inside out with a warm fire to dry them out before allowing them to ignite fully so that they would burn longer and hotter.

Satisfied with his fire Sinner moved on up the path that circled around the front of the knoll and glancing out over the meadow below at the same time that a brisk wind whips scents into his flared paper thins. Dark pools flicker back and forth over the meadow below as he seeks out the palomino form of Haruhi, knowing that she would stand out against the pale backdrop far better than his sweet Ankh. His heart fluttering as he finds Ankh’s creamy hide standing parallel to Haruhi’s gold kissed frame, the pair together again. He could only imagine their joy at being reunited and while he hated to interfere he did need to announce that he knew they were there.

To say that he was surprised to see Haruhi back would be a truth in itself. When last they had met he had told her that she would be free to stay or go as she chose; it had been similar to the offer he had given Ankh if not exactly and he was pleased to know that she had been comfortable enough her to think to return after having wandered for some time now. Fire light dances in his eyes as he focuses on the ground a handful of feet from the duo, willing a fire to melt off the snow and flare up to warm them. As he watches Paduan’s fire do his bidding and a softly roaring fire springs to life near them. Satisfied with it Sinner slowly begins to move down the knoll and into the valley, his hardened hooves slipping and sliding in the slicking ground as his weight bore down on each in turn.

In his hast to greet his fae Sinner had forgotten about the hole at the foot of the knoll near where he had chose to descend; a tree had fallen during one of the more forceful fall storms and was now hidden beneath an even layer of snowfall. In the blink of an eyes the roan beast goes down, his right front hoof having caught the churned soil and sunk’ font limbs flailing Sinner slams hard into the ground, his neck colliding with the edge of the dig out even as his hindquarters follow suit, his hip crashing into a cluster of upturned roots. Twisting and churning Sinner struggles to right himself, his activity shifting the snows and exposing a tangled mess of roots and the muddy mess of a hole from which he now struggled to free himself from. Managing to get his front legs beneath him, at awkward angles Sinner pauses to take a breath and collect his thoughts, his initial fear and shock dissipating and sense returning to his head. Rolling his haunches to the left he brings his rear legs up beneath him and heaves with all his might, his muddy cobalt roan form slowly rising from the entangling mess. Taking a few shake steps forward and away from the hole Sinner drops his head and stands shaking, his breaths coming hard and fast as the fear slowly began to wear off. He had to calm down, he was getting to old not to be paying attention to where it was he was going and he had gotten off lucky this time and he did not want to be so shaken when he met with Ankh, and welcome Haruhi home without the quaking fear he was sure could be heard in his voice if he were to speak. If they had seen him go down he could only hope that they had not reacted right away and were still far enough across the meadow that he could gather himself before they arrived.