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It was late afternoon when Espen decided to leave his home and head out for the day. Usually when he did leave the mountains to fly over other areas near him, he preferred to do it in the morning when it was cooler. The summer so far had been hot and with the amount of feathers and armour he had on him, well the afternoon sun was too much for him. The late afternoon's sun was fine though, as he flew over some trees.

He reached the end of the forest and turned towards the east, his strong wings propelled him forward as he looked around with his dark eyes. He was unsure what to do for this evening, possibly he could lay down in a meadow and see if there were any small animals around that he could converse with? Or, he could take a drink and possibly a swim in that nearby river? But taking all of his armour off might take too long, afterall it was quite late already. The meadow would be best then. Espen began to head in that direction.

Aurora let out a loud yawn. She had slept most of the day away in the shade of a tree, in hopes of escaping the heat that seemed to take the energy out of everything she tried to do. She, being of dark black fur and long hair, suffered from the sun whenever she stepped in it. So on days like this, where it seemed too abundantly hot for anything, she would head to the meadow and find a small creek to wade in. And why not? Everyone else was surely seeking shelter in the cool forests.

With a smile, she set off toward her desired location.
However, it didn't take long before she spotted a rather strange sight. It was white, with shining armor... She had heard tales of knights who wore shining armor and rode white horses... Of course this couldn't be something like that, could it?

Curious, she made her way through the long grass toward the creature. As the mare got closer, she already could see how large he was compared to her, as most were. He had to be some knightly creature!

After landing in the meadow, Espen looked down at the tall grass, his eyes searching for any small animals. He knew he was larger than most and he did not want to accidentally step on anyone. He moved his head slowly, purple eyes still looking. When a couple minutes passed, Espen nodded once.

He could hear no scurrying through the grass nearby, there were only birds chirping in the distance. He raised his white feathered head and inclined it to the left. He frowned. His eyesight must be going on him because how else did he miss her? Unless she just came now because Espen was sure he did not see anyone else when he landed.

She stood out so well against the grass with her vibrant colours and dark coat that he hoped she had not been standing there the whole time. It would be embarrassing, with his training and the fact that he was considered to be very observant. He watched her carefully as she crept closer to him. She was a wind of some sort but Espen had never seen someone with a horn before.

Aurora knew when she had been spotted, for his head turned toward her, and the most luminous purple eyes set their sights upon her. They caused her to pause for amoment before she continued to tread through the grass toward him. Now she was able to see just how peculiar and lovely the creature was. A beak peeked out from beneath a helm of metal along with the lovely eyes. And his whole upper body was covered in downy feathers. She stilled her thoughts of nuzzling them to see if they were truly as soft as they looked.

She smiled softly as she came to stand within a few yards of the stunning creature, bowing her head in greeting with a flutter of her rainbow-hued wings. "Good afternoon, sire." She murmured, her movements demure and lacking any sort of threat to them.

He nodded his head in response to the head bow that she gave. She appeared very nice, her words were pleasant. "A good afternoon to you as well. It's another fine summer day." He stated before continuing with, "Have you been here the entire time?" He questioned.

Espen should have introduced himself first before starting to ask the mare questions but he supposed one small question couldn't hurt. It was still rude of him but he hoped the mare would not mind. He wondered if she came here often.

Espen didn't, though the flowers were beautiful and there were many places in the meadow that he could rest on. Admittedly, he didn't go to many new places, since he arrived in these lands he had been sticking to the places closest to him.

Aurora smiled and shook her head, "Not long. I'm just wandering around in hopes of cooling my poor hooves." She said with a gentle laugh. "You must be blistering under this blazing sun as well. Especially with that armor on." It must be true, for the armor looked heavy and bulky, and she knew that armor heated up.

With a toss of her head, she looked off toward where the small stream was in which she had been heading towards. "If you'd like, I can show you an excellent place to cool off." She danced a few steps, hopping from hoof to hoof before she smiled once more, "Oh! My name is Aurora, by the way." It was an afterthought, but still necessary.

Ah. So she hadn't been here long, that was good to know. Although, did she frequent this area often or was this place still fairly new to her as it was to him? True, he had visited a few of the surrounding areas a few times already but Espen still considered himself new because he hadn't been in these lands for very long yet. So, it would be beneficial for him if he encountered someone who knew the lands better then he did, especially since he didn't know what was considered dangerous that he should avoid.

"Yes, the armour does get warm but staying out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day helps enormously. In the mornings and the evenings, my armour does not get as warm and it is fine for me to wear it." Espen admitted. The heavy armour kept up his strength too, which he appreciated, and it reminded him of his past life which some days he missed.

"Oh?" He wondered curiously about this place of hers. It appeared at least that she was more familiar with this place then he was, after all he didn't know of any place nearby to cool off in. Only the river and that was a bit away still. "I would enjoy seeing this place to cool off in." Espen did not know if he'd go for a swim but a drink would be nice. "And I am Espen." He nodded his head when she introduced herself, giving her a small smile. He hadn't met too many horses in these lands yet and so it was a pleasure to meet them.

She smiled at his reply, and trotted through the long grass, her tail waving like a banner in the breeze. She peeked back over her shoulder in a rather demure way, her glowing eyes flashing playfully. "This way, sire." She said. Though she had heard his name, she quite enjoyed calling him sire. He looked like one, and she was adamant to keep calling him as such.

As she approached the water's edge, the gurgling of the water caused her to sigh. The air around it was cooler, a breeze playing across it's surface that stirred her long hair. "This is the spot~" She spoke, with a small giggle on her lips. Trout sprang away from her as she splashed like a silly foal at the water.