Summer in the Inlet was sweet as nectar, but it was short. The little warmth and greenery in the icy Tinuvel terrain could be found few and far between, but Briar knew where to find it, and in the heat of the arctic sun she had spent her time amongst the flowers. There were very few actual blooms, and their petals were small, but she loved them all the same. They were hers and that was all that really mattered.
With the onset of autumn, however, snow had already begun to fall, and the flowers were disappearing. Briar found herself lost within the confines of her mind again, drifting back into subconsciousness and a world ruled by dreams and fading memories. She still wandered the Inlet, but for shorter times, sleeping away the extra hours. It was sheer luck that she heard the stallion's voice: she was about as likely to sleep through it as she was to be conscious for it, but the mare had been relatively nearby. She stopped, her ears sliding forward, and stared off in the direction of the call. The roan probably knew nothing of her, probably assumed she was dead... and yet, impulsively, she decided to answer it, walking slowly towards the source like a moth towards the bright, cold light of the moon.
It wasn't long before she reached the group, but Briar sensed she was already late. Besides the old blue roan, there were three others: a filly, young and striped and full of promise, and two other males. None of the them were familiar to her, but they all seemed to look a bit similar in build, and they all seemed comfortable enough with each other to hint at family ties. Seeing the group made Briar remember her own family, grouped together like that, possibly on the same spot. It made her heart thump hard in her chest, and brought a stinging sensation behind her eyes.
She looked away, unable to watch and think and reminisce any more, but as she did she noticed the lack of the whitesplashed mare's presence, the one she'd found in that den with her filly so long ago. Surely the mare would have appeared by now. She seemed healthy enough, and should have been one of the first to arrive, but she wasn't there. Briar glanced around, worry stirring in her belly, but eventually returned her bright blue gaze to the small group at hand. The mare knew none of them, and she was sure they knew next to nothing about her, so she kept quiet. Simply being here was an accomplishment for her.