Meadow

It had been storming all day, the rain coming in sheets that swept through the meadow with the veraciousness often found in the sudden storms summer so often ushered across the land. Her slender figure had emerged from the tumultuous ocean in the middle of the squall and all she could do was make her way to the nearest shelter she could find. Day had eventually faded into night as she stood alone, protected enough by a few trees and simply waited. She was patient, and as the sun faded she could feel the veiled presence of the stars hidden behind the thick clouds. Eventually the wind swept them away and the blanketed woman visibly relaxed. Bathed in starlight she strode out gracefully into the heart of the meadow where no tree or mountain obscured her view of the vastness that stretched over her delicate head. Eyes closed her head rose and tilted towards their welcome embrace, her two-toned mane billowing out behind her.

Eventually a sigh left her, her dished head nodding introspectively as she settled back on her slender hocks though her sapphire eyes never lost their connection with the blanket of stars above. She had lost track of how long she had followed their path, though she never once doubted where they led her. Though she missed the warmth of her home, the familiarity of those shifting sands beneath her dark hooves, the understanding of family surrounding her she knew that this journey was not only necessary but fated. Something awaited her here, beyond the green grass and rolling hills that were so foreign. There was so much to learn and so much to share. The quiet woman had learned much in her brief time, soaking in knowledge like a sponge but she was not so overconfident to believe that there was not more to learn.

And oh, how she yearned for it! As her gaze traced the familiar lines of the stars above her heart hammered within her slender chest from excitement. To settle herself she began the recitation of the constellations above which she had learned in her infancy when her predilection for understanding those celestial voices had first become known. It had singled her out among her siblings and friends, led her into a structured and controlled life. Perhaps that is what led her to this journey, a right of passage to acknowledge her own freedom which until now she had not realized she so desperately needed. “Acamar, the Rivers End. Acrab, the Scorpion. Adhara, the Nymph. Adib, the Wolf. Aldebaran, the follower...” Her voice trailed softly into the still and quiet night that surrounded her like a familiar blanket as she continued down the line of stars notable enough to have been ingrained into her being. She had only ever spoken with a handful of them, but knowing who and what they were was more important than communicating with them. To know that they foretold, what significance lay in their placement amongst the heavenly body above was the reason for all her training. Seers were fewer than they ever had been before and her people would not be glad for her departure, but for once the white-flecked mare felt she had the right to be just a touch selfish.