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With one more furtive glance backwards Newadi'Woyi darted out of the tree cover and into the open meadow. She was quite a bit further from the family willow than her parents would have wanted her to roam, since she was a new-born foal and everything, but she had been itching to get out from under her mother and father's watchful eyes for days now. She couldn't run anywhere without her parents turning the slightest bit of their gazes in her direction, making sure that she didn't get herself into too much trouble. As a foal it was expected that she was supposed to poke her nose into things, but her parents wanted to watch the types of things that said little muzzle made its way into. They had a hard time of it, with three new babies and everything, but Tawali knew a wild filly's tricks, since her father was quite the wandering type, and there was 'Suli to watch over them too. Newadi'Woyi loved her older sister--'Suli told the best stories--but still. She couldn't be watched all the time. There were places to explore, things to do, butterflies to chase, and her parents wanted her to stay in the very middle of the herd lands, right near the family willow (where she would eventually get to add her feathers, as would Tsis'Newadi, a thought which made her want to dance with joy). And she had heard Tawali and Ever whispering when they thought she was asleep about how small she and her sisters were, which was probably why they wanted to keep the three of them so close to home. But it was annoying. And the forest wasn't dangerous; Tawali made sure of that. He was their herd's Protector, so of course everything would be fine. Woyi knew she was still safely within herd lands, so there was really nothing for her parents to worry about. She was free to explore without being chased about by Tsis'Dihi and Tsis'Newadi, a circumstance about which she was quite pleased.

Suddenly, almost as if the thought of chasing had summoned it, an electric blue butterfly floated across her field of vision, twitching its wings in what could only be thought of as a taunting challenge. "I'll take that challenge," Woyi muttered to herself with a smile, springing after the bright butterfly as it zigged and zagged its way across the meadow. She was totally absorbed in its flight, twirling about on her hind legs as it floated out of reach and springing after it with little giggles of joy and the boundless energy that all foals seem to possess. Her wings weren't really strong enough to support her weight in the air yet, but she opened them anyway and flapped them as she jumped, sure that they would bring her just enough more height so she could catch that butterfly. Woyi was totally lost in the world of the butterfly's challenge, happily springing about it in the meadow without a worry. Sure, she could chase butterflies at home, but they weren't like this one. She'd never seen one that shade of blue, or one that liked to remain just barely out of reach like that one. It was definitely taunting her.

Woyi probably wouldn't have noticed a herd of Soquili if they were running through the meadow, as intent as she was on her butterfly. It just kept flying a little higher, just kept dancing right out of her reach. It was just made her wish she had wings as big and as strong as Doda's that she could use to follow the butterfly wherever it went. But her father had been a wanderer all of his life and so his wings were covered in muscles to take him wherever. She would just have to wait a bit, it seemed, and go on adventures like he had.

But though the butterfly so far had not caused Woyi to run into anything--the meadow was a bit too flat for that, and the butterfly didn't particularly care about the trees--finally it sent her in the direction of something of which she was blissfully unaware: the blue colt who was single-mindedly following a beetle. Woyi noticed the colt just before she crashed into him, but it was too late for both of them. Before she could stop her forward momentum carried her nearly head on into the colt, the filly landing in a tangle of legs and wings on the soft grass as the butterfly flitted off on its own business, apparently unconcerned with the chaos it had caused.

'Woyi turned her head to look at the colt on the ground next to her, ducking her head slightly in embarrassment. "I'm okay," she said, craning her head around to look at her wings, which were a little ruffled but none the worse for wear. "Just a little shook up. What 'bout you? It looked like you had quite a fall there."

The filly rolled onto her knees and shook herself hard once all over, trying to right her wings, and then pushed herself off the ground and firmly onto all fours once more. "Ah'm awful sorry 'bout that," she said, feeling rather silly. "Mah Doda would kill me if 'e knew Ah wasn't payin' attention when Ah was by myself. That's something 'e always talks about as being impor'nt. But 'e's our herd Protector, so Ah guess 'e has to pay lotsa attention. And 'e's traveled lotsa places." 'Woyi paused for a moment, realizing that she was rambling, and then turned her worried gaze upon the colt again. "Sorry, Ah was ramblin'. That's somethin' my Etsi normally gets me about. Do you need any help gettin' up?" She was feeling rather silly at this point, and just hoped that the blue colt was all right.

'Woyi watched, fascinated, for several long moments as the feathers on the blue colt's head continued waving back and forth even after he had stopped shaking his head. They were beautiful, white with icy blue tips, and she was intrigued by their placement when he did not have wings of his own.

But then she was shaken out of her fascination for the feathers on the colt's head by his mention of the bug. "I was following a bug too!" she exclaimed, dancing a little, excited that she had found someone else who was as interested in the strange little creatures as she was. Maybe she and this blue colt could find some more bugs while she continued her little jaunt away from the herd. "It was a blue butterfly, and I swear it just kept taunting me by flying just above my reach, since I can't fly like my Doda just yet."

The mention of flying reminded 'Woyi of the feathers on the colt's head, but she decided to say something slightly safer first. "My name's Newadi'Woyi, but everyone just calls me 'Woyi. And...I don't mean t' be askin' a strange question, but how'd you get feathers on your head?"

{{Sorry for the delay...I was at camp and I thought I'd have internet, but the hotel internet kept spazzing out on me.}}