Aoibheann languidly stretched her striated peahen wings, both sets, as she walked through the weakly dappled light of the trees in the forested foothills of the mountains. The silver-malachite-and-turquoise jewelry clinked quietly, and the flowers decorating her mane and tail released the final dregs of their perfume. Once the flowers bloomed again this spring, she'd have to get some more, as she rather liked having them in her hair. Bright, and lively, and beautiful.
Even though nothing grew afresh in her wake, as they might have done for her angeni forbears, and definitely did for the little pixies, Aoibh still cut a bright swathe through the glowing snow and stark, leafless trees, like a paint brush streaking her form across a nearly blank canvas. She didn't care as much for this time of year, with so little life to it, but she had to admit. Even as a drab peahen, the winter was starker and less colorful than she, making all her colors stand out.
She tossed her head and shivered, wishing she had some kind of cloth to huddle under and keep warm. The wings and the mane helped most of her body a lot, but not so much the flanks, legs, or tail. OK, maybe less than most. Especially since her jewelry seemed to soak up the temperatures too well, unless she spent time on that issue. But brighter thoughts. While they weren't over the hump in the weather, the longest night was over, and in a couple of moons, the snow would start to melt, and bring spring in its wake. Flowers and leaves and good, green earth.
One of these days, Aoibh's wandering would probably come to an end. She had once spoken to another angeni whom she rather liked, a pure one, associated with the hot deserts. She should probably go see if she could find him, one of these days. See if she liked him well enough to spend more time, even her whole life, with him. Maybe once she got tired of seeing the endless changing of seasons here. From what she'd heard, deserts didn't have seasons as they did here, where the rain and snow were plentiful enough to make the plants grow in profusion.
Aoibh came out of the trees, and paused. Below her, down the sloping hillside, flowed one of the rivers that streaked the landscape. The waters moved too fast for ice to have formed a crust on the water's surface. Spreading her wings, she kicked off and flew toward the water. As she flew, she concentrated, getting her mind into a serene place for meditation. As a cross, she wouldn't ever be able to do it properly. But, with effort, concentration, and care, she could slowly make her way across the surface of the water, with her hooves sinking maybe a few inches below the surface. No meditation and no concentration, and she'd sink, like anyone else.
As she headed toward the water, she glimpsed another figure below, by the water, a vibrant turquoise and sable, touched very lightly in places with silver.
Hoshi Lockhart
Figured I could help get the ball rolling on Ni'awtu's plot, since I have a couple unis and a kirin cross.
