Each step shot sharp waves of electricity up her legs, each breath dragging in shallow icy winds that swirled around her lungs for but fractions of seconds before being shoved back out in exchange for newer, cleaner, colder oxygen. Well, perhaps the air wasn't icy, more like lightly chilled. Compared to the heated air of the cave she still nestled herself into with her parents and brother each night, though, everything that Lady Winter could touch out here was frosty to her senses.
The pounding heartbeat helped to warm her up though, the rising sun to her far right bringing promises of further heat as the day drew on. It was then her mind clicked and she realized her direction. For what must be the last thirty or so minutes she'd been racing due north, though she hadn't quite realized her selected path was actually the one she preferred to avoid. After all, north was so... common and expected. But the night prior had been cloudy, and only recently had the sky begun to clear with the sun, so of course she hadn't been able to see the stars to realize her folly. Then there was her manner of choosing her path, a rather simple, slightly idiotic way, really - she'd simply spin around in a circle three times, then just randomly stop and bolt.
After she got over the induced dizzy spell, that is.
Light green eyes switched from the glowing horizon and returned to the straight-away she was supposed to be focusing on. Just in time, really, cursing as much as her limited breath would allow as she lifted her hooves high to clamber over the set of boulders settled into the snow kissed forest. The sound of the solid hair composing her feet meeting the equally solid minerals making up the rock's structure was loud and obscene, making her wince not only from the harsh sound itself, but in how it cut through the otherwise quiet morning around her. She'd been so good about staying relatively quiet this time, too...
Grudgingly Amaris began to slow once she leapt to the ground again, ears perked and alert as she listened for a possible threat - be it physical or verbal, she'd rather not have a nasty run-in if she could avoid one. Last thing she needed was some grumpy old coot growling to her father about her waking up the forest... or worse yet, some grumpy old meat eating coot with a growling stomach getting snappy at her for waking it up.
But beyond the birds and other small, harmless animals, nothing seemed to stir around her beyond what of the world was already prone to waking up at first light. Again to her right, the trees thinned, and for a moment, the ever running mare stopped, gaze locked and steady on the horizon yet again. The golden rays were just barely seen, sliding across the expanse of the world while the clouds above it took on various, rather wondrous hues and tints. From heated gold to mirror the sun, to frozen black-purple, the curves and dips of the clouds morphed the scene into something surreal and soothing. Her pulse and breathing eased back into casual paces without her notice, more interested in what new color she would see or how it would spread itself across the canvas of the sky.
This was why she loved running at sunrise and sunset - could she help it that she was a romantic who loved the pretty colors?
