The gold mares once padded frame had slowly dripped away to leave her unhealthily thin, once lustrous gold hide had slowly turned matte and dry. She flicked her tail at the painted yearling butting her head against her mother’s shoulder. Panthere had grown like a weed in the darkness and solitude, or maybe like a mushroom? The paints constant chattering was more than enough interaction for the pale alpha. Winter hooked her head over the roans withers with a heavy sigh. “I feel like I have turned into an old woman since you were born.” She lipped at the strawberry locks dangling close to her nose, gently teasing her daughter. She let her blue eyes close off from the bright glint of moon on the snow and snuggled closer.

Panthere could feel her mothers even breathing against her shoulder and shifted under the heavy weight of her head slightly. The pair had been sticking close the sea away from the common grounds of the herd. Winter had explained her reasoning to her immature ears over and over but she still didn’t understand why they couldn’t go mingle. As the seasons changed and her soft baby fur had shed out the painted roan had stopped asking. “You are just showing your wisdom mother, the more grey you are the wiser.” She chuckled softly before looking around them with lowered ears. To a passerby at first glance they would not be noticeable, they faded into the background with their colors blanketed by the snow covering their pelts. One strawberry ear flicked back at the distant call of one of the horses dwelling in the ice. They were too far away to make out who was summoning them but she had an idea of who. Her eyebrows knit together as she glanced back at her shoulder to look at the peaceful face of a slumbering Winter, drool had begun to drip off her pink lower lip. Ears pinned against her crown at the thought of waking her up, especially to go see Solgar and any other who happened to already be there. She opened her mouth to speak.

“I heard him darling.” She smacked her pink lips and rubbed her nose against the roan to wipe the saliva off. “I suppose we ought to go, so they know we are still alive.” Her jaws snapped shut around a yawn and she pulled her thin frame forward towards the origin of the stallions call.

Two sets of glacial blue eyes peered out of bone faces around the branches concealing them. “I don’t know anyone but Yoren and Solgar mother?”

the softness of her daughters voice barely reached her ears as her glare landed on the backs of Liat, Briar, Yoren and the roans. Although she had never formally met the pale stallion she had known who he was. “There is no need to know their names my baby, we wont stay for long.” The mare sucked air in to make her chest rumble in a growl of annoyance. The shaggy gold mare made a beeline for Briar hoping the popping noise her now permanently tilted hip made would be enough of an alert that she was coming up not to startle the mare. Winter touched her nose delicately to the other mares shoulder keeping her gaze averted. The thin, brittle haired mare preferred not to make eye contact with any of the surrounding equines.

Panthere wanted to follow her mothers lead, she really truly did but so many new faces she couldn’t resist perking up strawberry ears and looking around the group with wide eyes and a lopsided grin.



"Speech looks like this."