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One more go... I know I can reach it!

The young filly was preoccupied with her task at hand. Tantalizingly hanging from the branches above were clusters bright green and gold fruit she knew were sweet and tasty. Problem was, they were out of even Lachtna's reach. The two hungry foals had gotten all of the lower bunches already. Tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in contemplation, she backed up a few paces, judging the distance. With a sudden lunge Embri gallops forward, kicking off from the ground and beating her wings. Neck outstretched, she manages to catch the lowest branches with her teeth, landing in a heap but with prize in mouth. She turns at the sound of Lachtna's voice with a grin, trotting cockily towards him with the branch held high above the forest brush and tail flagged. Her ears perk up at the mention of a surprise. Well, I've got a surprise of my own! Not totally useless today. The filly was secretly rather chagrined that her bigger friend managed to do most of their foraging. I don't get it.. I eat as much as he does, but still I don't seem to be growing nearly as fast.

The little filly pranced happily in place, setting the branch down on a large rock before pulling off some of the fruit for herself. "I jumped." she said simply, eyes twinkling. "Where there's a will there's a way! Been practicing, my wings are getting stronger." In the mornings, while you sleep half the day away, lazy boy. she kept that thought to herself though, hungrily chewing the sweet round fruit.

"Exploring? I thought we'd explored the whole coast as far as half a day's walk. Did you find something interesting?" It had been one of their first activities, to make sure nothing dangerous was living nearby. The filly perked her ears curiously, chewing another fruit. "I'm game.. better finish those first though, you know what happens if they spoil." One of their first mistakes had been gorging on the fallen sweet fruit, some of which had fermented and given them both horrible headaches the next day. They wouldn't make that mistake again!

The little filly leveled her best glare at Lachtna. Of course it wasn't nearly as scary as it should have been, seeing that she had to look up to do it. "It's not my fault you inhale more than a Nrach'nor presented with an all you can eat buffet. You could at least have said thank you." Annoyed because he was mocking her small size Embri snatched up the branch and its remaining fruit and trotted off towards the sandy beach with them to eat alone.

Of all the ungrateful males I could end up with. Hrrmph. My legs are not that short, he's just older than I am. Just wait until I can fly. Then we'll see who gets left behind! She looks longingly up at the birds riding ocean thermals. The last of the fruit disappear down Embri's throat and she tosses the bare branch aside. "Fine, let's go, but this had better be good. I don't fancy spending another night sleeping on the sand, or do you not remember waking up with the tide around our hocks?" True, she hadn't seen any problem with sleeping on the warm sand either that first night, but they'd quickly abandoned it for drier pastures.

"Nrach'nor... those bristly fat herbivores that are always rooting around in the leaves looking for food. Don't know why, but they look like Nrach'nors to me."
Embri tosses her head and shies away from Lachtna's nuzzle, still irked. Without another word she sets off towards the northern rise.

Sand plumed up behind the filly's hooves as she pushed off the ground and beat her wings, bounding along like a deer. Why does he have to swing between extremes? Always either the laid back, gentle protector or the cocky, arrogant snob. Never anything in between. Maybe it's just the fact he's stuck in the middle, neither foal nor adult. With a mental sigh, she gives her head a slight shake. Hrmph. Let him run and catch up, Mr. Long Legs surely won't have any problem overtaking such a "small" filly as I.

The gently undulating seagrass rustled pleasantly, waving back and forth in the breeze. The sand was hot, and Embri was glad she spent a minimal amount of time with her hooves in contact with it. Nary a cloud marred the crystal blue sky, though that meant little here on the coast, for storms were known to sweep up with little warning. For now, at least, the weather was beautiful, a good crisp breeze and warm sunshine.

The little filly flicked her ears back at the sound of Lachtna's approach, his regular hoofbeats keeping time with her own.

Thump-thumpity clip-clopity thump-thumpity clip-clopity

Embri let her mind wander. He never mentions Aerithe ... not once, since that day... I'm not sure it was even real, myself. Maybe that's why. He's so grounded in the present, the now. No matter where I go or what I do, something, a sound, a smell, the way something feels, reminds me of the ... other place. No matter which way you look at it, we're as different as can be. Be Kirin... what is that supposed to mean, be Kirin? I don't know *how* to be Kirin.

Lachtna's surprise challenge startled Embri out of her reverie, and she blinked owlishly as the bigger colt dashed past her. As he ran past, his long creamy tail whipped past her muzzle, ticklish and fluffy. "A race, hm? Well, I can't match you in power... but I bet I can beat you in strategy!"

The sand dune they were climbing was not entirely sand. The long shoulder where it met the sand grass and forest beyond was dotted with good sized rocks, big enough for a nimble set of tiny hooves to land on. Slogging through the loose silica was hard work, and Embri had better ideas. She quickly hopped to the nearest rock, pushing off and gliding towards the next higher one. Leapfrogging along the rocks, she trailed Lachtna but managed to keep up.

"Lachtna!" Embri yelled and leaped over the last rock, watching the half grown stallion tumble over the sandy ridge and down the other side of the dune, out of sight. She waded through the sand, pawing for traction while trying to not suffer the same fate.

Stupid, hard headed male! Why does competition drive every other sane thought from their heads? Embri chided silently, hoping at the same time he had come to no serious harm. Carefully she works her way over the top of the dune, looking down to see what had become of Lachtna.

Soft feathers and a gust of sea breeze lend the filly enough lift to glide down to Lachtna, giving the carcass a wide berth. She lands almost neatly, stumbling a little in the soft footing of the sandy ground. After giving Lachtna a visual once over and shaking her head almost imperceptibly, Embri turns to look at the massive rib.

"Now that is odd... and rather ... stinky." The filly wrinkles her nose distastefully, not wanting anything to do with rotting flesh. She trots off to one side, putting herself upwind. "Whatever it was, it was ... really really big. Where is the rest of it, you suppose? It's quite strange there's only one bone, usually there's a partial carcass or a full body... " The forest and beach were not always as idealic as they looked. Hunters still had to eat, predators rarely bothered taking the lean pickings of their kill with them. They disappeared quickly enough as other creatures disposed of the remains.