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It was a gorgeous day in the Kawani lands...at least from a visual standpoint. A newly fallen blanket of snow lay in pristine whiteness over everything, making the world look like smooth and perfect. Yes, it was very nice...assuming you were NOT a brilliantly red mare trying to practice being stealthy.

With a slight sigh, Robelia surveyed the snowy landscape. Snow was nothing new to her; she'd grown up in the mountains, after all! But snow down here in the Kawani lands proper was something new in her experience, and it was a major wrench in her plans. Since leaving her home a few months prior, Robbie had been a mare on a mission: to find her older brother Fenghuang, learn how to fight and guard, and return home ready to show her loving-but-chauvinistic father that mares COULD be excellent guards, just as much as stallions!

Sure, there had been a few complications in the execution of this plan. For starters, she'd never met her brother Fenghuang and had no idea where to look for him, other than 'in the Lowlands.' The Lowlands were proving to be a rather massive place, especially for a mare with no wings. But Robbie had been philosophical; she would take advantage of the time it was taking her to find Feng to work on some basics herself! Things like stealth and subterfuge, and moving around without being detected. She'd even had a chance to work on her 'noble bearing' and helping the downtrodden.

But that had been before, when the world was still green (ok, and later brown). Now, there was snow everywhere and she stood out like a blazingly sore thumb. At least, she thought with one last look around at the snow, it wasn't ALL bad.

For starters, snow allowed her to take some real time to play! With a grin, she suddenly took off through the snow, flumping along through drifts that came nearly up to her stomach. Yes, there were definitely worse things than new-found snow, she thought with a merry laugh.

An important rule for guards and soldierly types was to be aware of their surroundings at all times. Perhaps for the time being it was just as well that Robbie wasn't a guard, because at the moment her surrounding were the absolute last thing on her mind! In spite of the fact her assailant was every bit as out of place in the snow as she, Robbie didn't even notice him coming, she was so wrapped up in her romping. But it was hard to ignore a snowball breaking on the back of her head, and the sudden frosty impact drew a startled yelp from the mare. "Hey!"

Having hooves herself, Robbie wasn't very familiar with the fine art of snowballing. However, she was a smart enough mare to know that something had hit her, something made entirely of snow and likely not natural. Therefore, it was logical someone had been the cause. Whirling around as rapidly as she was able in the heavy snow, she scanned the surrounding landscape. It only took her moments to see the vibrantly colored wings laying against the snow, and she let out a victorious whoop. Whoever it was, they were not going to get away with such a dastardly deed!

Making her way as (theoretically) silently as she could through the snow, Robbie got close enough to see that the colorful patch was wings. Wings exactly like those of her father, and her brother Ambroise; wings a deep, vibrant firey shade so eerily like that of her family...

For a moment, Robbie's heart seemed to stop. She'd never met Fenghuang, and didn't know what he looked like other than the fact that he, like so many in their family, was a burnished red color. Perhaps....perhaps. Catching her breath back, she stared at the red wings for a long moment, then a devilish grin crossed her features. Ducking down low to the snow, she suddenly reared up, hopefully dumping a large front legful of snow on the red-wings. "Serves you right...Fenghuang?" The last word was added half as a hope; it really couldn't be this easy...

Could it?

Bless you? Robelia didn't really know how to respond to that, but took it as a sign that he was a kindly and friendly sort of fellow who clearly had a strong connection to the spiritual world. And at that response, she couldn't help but have another leap of the heart; he didn't deny being Fenghuang, or ask who he was! Perhaps she had struck it lucky...

But no. No, no, no, this couldn't possibly be him. As the stallion shook off the snow, she found herself looking at a pair of antlers, antlers like those sported by a deer or an elk. Antenna wouldn't be shocking, but antlers? No member of the family had those, and she would have known if that was a trait he was looking for. And now that she was looking at him more closely, she saw that his mane and tail were literally MADE of feathers! Now interwoven with feathers, or accompanied by feathers like Robbie's own, but feathers-in-the-absence of hair. And those front legs of his...she'd only seen them for a moment before they sank into the snow, but she was positive they'd ended in claws! This stallion, whoever he was, was NOT her brother.

Though perhaps he was something else? At his enthusiastic greeting, she couldn't help but smile back; whoever he was, he seemed to be nice enough! And at the comment about 'your father' made a lightbulb go on. Of course, why hadn't she seen it before? He was more phoenixlike than anyone else in her family, except for maybe her father himself. Of course this phoenix-like stallion would be a relation of her father, not a hybrid like Robbie or Feng. Except...

Her father didn't talk about his family that much, because he had been cut off by them when he took Yei as his mate. The reason? They were wind supremacists who looked down on flightless Soquili like Yei, or like Robbie herself. Yet this guy was looking right at her, could see her lack of wings, and yet was still being friendly? Maybe there was hope for a reconciliation yet? Even if he wasn't Fenghuang, there might be hope of a family reunion yet!

Still, it was best to tread warily if he WAS her uncle. It wasn't her place to guide him home without asking her father, even if the stallion himself was looking to reconcile. So she gave him a smile, but was a little restrained in her reply. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, even if you clearly aren't Fenghuang. I must say, I wasn't expecting any of Daddy's relations to be anywhere remotely near here, especially not all the way down here in the Lowlands." That seemed fair enough. "You must have been traveling for ages to get to this part of the world, even with those wings YOU have," she said, wanting to see if he had any response to that.

The more her 'uncle' spoke, the more surprised Robbie became. Her parents didn't like to talk about the way things had been before they'd migrated, but she knew that 'new people' were not favorites of Grencia's family. She also had been under the distinct impression that humor was a low priority for the family; why else would they have been so distinctly unhappy with Yei, even granting that she had no wings? Yei was a delightful creature; it was impossible to know her and dislike her unless there was something seriously wrong with you! So Robbie had always coasted along, believing that her father's family was mentally deficient in addition to being dour, humorless, and judgemental.

Though if this 'uncle' was any indication, that wasn't the entire story...just like he wasn't sharing the entire story. Robbie had decided earlier that it wasn't her place to share information about Grencia that he might not want known, but she couldn't help but frown as her 'uncle' blithely told a clearly incorrect, or at least incomplete, story. She didn't know how old Grencia and Yei had been when they'd left their old herd, but he certainly hadn't just 'taken off.' And whoever their sister was, Robbie was sure she wasn't going to like HER. The nerve of her, being mad at Grencia for leaving for love when it was THEIR prejudice that drove him away!

She couldn't just let that go.

Frowning slightly, she gave her 'uncle' a fixed look. "Well, I think you're missing an obviously important element in your story, don't you? I mean, yes, Daddy left, but that's only because his family...so, you guys, I guess, wouldn't hear of his being with Mama." Now her eyes were narrowing a bit; she wasn't usually a sharp-tongued mare, but on behalf of her parents, she felt she just HAD to say something. "I mean, I think it's great if you want to bury the hatchet, but they're still together. Happily together, I might add, and Mama STILL has no wings. As you can imagine, given I have none myself," she added, wiggling her bare shoulders with a small amount of pride. "But for all that you guys cut him off, I'd say Daddy is doing very well, these days. I don't think he even misses the old place." So she hoped, anyway; she didn't like the idea of knowingly lying!