Welcome to Gaia! ::

The foal was running, and it did feel good. When you were sprinting like this all you had to think about was your target. That rock loomed in their vision, yellow with dust but worn down by age. They'd surely make it, wouldn't they?

They didn't notice the backwind, at first, though when they first passed the doe's large, still body they could see the pale blue glow of magic. Then - wind pushing their hair back, soaring - they had to take notice. Was this what it meant to be gifted? They inhaled, and for the first time since they'd made their way out here the air felt fresh and invigorating rather than hot and stuffy.

They stopped just before the rock and turned back to face the doe with an open mouth. "Was that - was that Vykeli's love?"

That was always the way nannies had spoken about the way the Homewood had been founded. Magic and gifts...they'd seen other nouls working with them, but they had never imagined how any gift other than the green one could purport to be healing before.

The doe was looking up at the sky, so the foal did, too. It was very blue...and it made sense, the foal thought, that the gift had come from there, rather than from the dry, dead planet beneath their feet.

"Call me Sky!" the foal said, exulting in the memory of that wind.