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"Miserable, wretched, smothering, insufferable, damnable COLD!"

Fuego was not happy. Ever since his first unfortunate winter in the Kawani lands more than a year ago, the Kirin stallion had had a loathe-hate relationship with snow, ice, sleet, frost, and pretty much everything to do with winter. Granted, his unfortunate winter had largely been due to poor timing and a lack of preparedness on his part, but why blame himself when it was much easier to blame the elements? No one had warned him the Kawani lands had a winter; none of the Soquili who had told him of the potential there had warned him that potential had a dark side. He had been only too keen to listen, ready to turn his back on his oppressive desert homeland. The Kawani lands had sounded like a dream; temperate climate, food and water in abundance, an environment that wasn't hell-bent on killing him...

Except really, it was. By the time he'd made the long, arduous trek from the desert, winter, in all its frigid misery, had arrived. Fuego had bee unprepared for the reality of winter; he was adapted to deal with heat, not cold. If it hadn't been for the timely intervention of a firey local and an introduction to the local hot springs, he would have been a red icicle.

But then, just as abruptly as it began, the winter...ended. The snow melted, the waters thawed; grass and flowers grew in abundance and the promised land he'd imagined had emerged, seemingly overnight. Fuego had been surprised, then relieved; after a terrible start, the Kawani lands were finally starting to deliver.

There was just one minor problem. Apparently, winter was a cyclical thing, and it was due for a comeback. Already the days were cooling and the flowers were dying; it was only matter of time before the snow and ice were back.

And Fuego, like the proverbial grasshopper, had done nothing to prepare. You'd think after a winter like the last one, he'd have found a cave, joined a herd, stocked up on supplies, done something to settle in for the winter....but no. A transient his entire life, Fuego was used to drifting along and just making the best of things as they came to him.

Or not.

"Winter. Really, why did the Spirits think winter was a good idea? All it does it make everything cold and kill things! No benefit, none!"

"You know, for a Kirin, you ssssssssseem very tempesssssssstuousssss today, Fuego." The comment, delivered in a dry, point-of-fact tone, brought the stomping Soquili up short and caused him to glare at the speaker....or at least try to. It was hard to glare at something draped over one's own neck!

Santos, Fuego's serpent familiar, was used to irrationality. Kirins were known for their calm and peaceful demeanor, but somehow, Fuego had missed that memo and was as fiery inside as he was outside. Santos enjoyed pointing out the contradiction between Fuego's breed and his behavior; sometimes it served to settle the stallion down! And sometimes, it just made him crabby.

"Yes, I get it. I'm upset. Clearly for no reason. Because why should I be upset, when it's about to turn into a frigid ice storm at any minute that will incapacitate the both of us and bury any food at the same time?! If we don't freeze, we'll simply starve to death, and that's almost worse!"

At that, Santos very pointedly looked around the two of them, at the blue sky, the autumn leaves, and the still-mostly green grass. "I think we have ssssssslightly more time to prepare. Sssssstill....have you thought any more about sssssssseeking out sssssome other Ssssssoquili to winter with? Or at leasssssssst to get sssssome adviccccccce about doing it?"

For his own part, Santos did NOT plan to die this winter. If all he had to do to prevent it was keep Fuego off his soapbox, then he would do it!

((Can non-staff join in too? I wasn't super sure on that front.))

The problem with being overly caught up in the moment, Fuego would later reflect, is that it could result in missing everything happening NEAR the moment. A cold breeze had started his angsting, and he'd gotten so caught up in his thoughts (ok, thoughts and words both) that he hadn't noticed his journey had taken him right smack into occupied space. One moment, it was just the two of them, the next minute he was surounded by Soquili! Surprising, but considering the current situation, not unwelcome.

For the moment, the prescence of the other stallion escaped his notice; both the distance between Fuego and Turag and the other stallion's comparative silence helped him fly under Fuego's radar, for the time being. The initial call from a mare caught his attention, but he couldn't help but frown at the 'fear' comment. Did she think he sounded like the type of Soquili to be afraid? That better be aimed at Santos, because Fuego himself was not about to be afraid of a mare! "No one here is afraid, thank you, but I am-whoa!"

Fuego had meant to assure the mare that he was there, he and Santos both; given the tone of her question, he'd thought she was maybe in need of assistance, or else maybe she'd overheard his 'concerns' and wanted to offer some sort of advice. Hopefully the latter, because he was REALLY unprepared for the onset of winter! But any thought of continuing that conversation was knocked away by the sudden, seemingly miraculous appearance of the green mare out of thin air.

Amazingly, Fuego had never before encountered a flutter; he'd never even heard of the breed, so their size-changing abilities were completely beyond him. as far as he was concerned, the bubbly mare had appeared out of thin air, with her comments about frozen flowers and suggestions of warm huddling. At least she was on the right track with her thoughts, but seriously, where had she come from? "Damn, where'd you come from," he asked the green mare, more startled than upset at this point. After all, first things first!

"Is this a winter thing? Does this happen this time of year?" It had already been winter when he'd arrived in Kawani before; maybe the winter spirits brought Soquili as well as snow, to herald the season...or whatever.

He could tell the season was changing. The colder winds nipped at his nose. Veslorurn always regretted winter in that there was no fresh flowers to place on the graves. Each winter he tried to do something different for the souls that tormented him. It only seemed right. Spring and summer always brought flowers; fall was fruits and nuts. Winter however posed a problem. Everything went into dormancy or died, and was buried under snow.

Sometimes he found dried flowers and used those until the snows destroyed the delicate petals. This year he was thinking about using evergreen boughs. With luck he'd find some with pine cones still attached. Veslorurn left the comforting presence of his graveyard home and traveled in search of suitable offerings. The dark blood red stallion moved quietly through the trees. He couldn't carry back a whole tree, so he was looking for nice looking branches within easy reach.

When he heard the voices drifting through the trees, he pulled up short. He'd been warned by the ghosts. A careless traveler attacked on a deserted road (or path) by a monster. Veslorurn listened for several long moments before he cautiously moved forward. Anyone wanting to ambush someone wouldn't be talking as loud as these. Or at least he hoped so. The stallion drifted forward until he could see the odd group.

Yup, this mare was officially...something, Fuego decided with a puzzled look at Absinthe. Growing up, he'd never been exposed to the word 'dam' in a motherly context, so the mare's cheerful assertion that she was an expletive only made him feel even more out of his element. Clearly she'd misunderstood his question; how could she have come from 'over there' when she'd appeared right so close out of thin air? Something odd was going on with her, and it was starting to make Fuego wary. Yes, winter was the major threat right now, but that didn't mean there couldn't be smaller threats, right?

Eyeing Absinthe warily, he edged slightly away from the greenish mare. "Yes, I've heard it gets cold here annually...so when it gets cold, does that make you come out? Are you some sort of weird winter spirit Soquili?" The one thing that was keeping him from bolting at this point was the fact the first voice, the other female voice, hadn't sounded panicked, and he hadn't heard any sounds of retreat from any direction. Maybe this was perfectly normal, just not to him.

Though just because he didn't hear a retreat didn't mean there wasn't activity going on. It was the stallion he noticed first, the boldness of Vesolorum's coat standing out in stark brightness against the dull landscape. The other stallion was keeping his distance for now, it seemed, but there was no doubting he was moving their way. Cautiously, Fuego took another step backwards, looking around to make sure that he had an escape route, if he needed one.

"You are proving quite popular," Santos' lilting voice suddenly broke softly in on Fuego's agitated thoughts. "Have you ssssssseen the new one yet? Sssssshe sssssseemsssss to be following ussssss." From he vantage point buried in Fuego's mane, Santos was free to scope out not just their immediate surroundings, but to look behind, forward, upward, and downward as well. When Fuego had met up with the other Soquili, Santos had started to look around to see just how many were out there. He still didn't know for sure, but there was at least one more than Fuego had seen! The dark mare hadn't said anything, but that didn't mean she planned to stay quiet long!

Hopefully Fuego would get some of the answers they needed on how to stay alive...asssuming none of these Soquili were hostile!

Glancing from the unknown red stallion to the strange green mare and back in the direction Santos had indicated, Fuego was starting to realize that maybe he needed a bit more method in his madness, or rather, in his anger. after all, he hadn't noticed ANY of these Soquili on his own, and he still didn't quite know where the green mare had even come from. Short-sightedness (of the metaphorical kind) had always been his problem; too caught up in the problems or joys of the moment to be properly aware of the big picture. Assuming these Soquili were friendly, this could be just what he needed. Assuming they weren't friendly...well, he'd have to figure that one out.

"Ahem." Clearing his throat, Fuego looked from the unknown stallion to the unknown...mare? Santos thought so, but he could be wrong. "Hey, are you guys trying to figure out cold stuff, too?" Might as well cut right to the chase!

He gave a practiced tilt of his head to part the long bangs in front of his yellow eyes. None of the soq he saw standing around looked familiar to him. Not locals from around here then. Again who'd, besides himself, would want to live near the graveyard? With the others grouped so close together, Veslorurn wondered if they already knew each other. He didn't want to intrude on their party. Should he go up and say hello or wait for some indication that he could approach. With the large group between them, he hadn't seen another mare approaching. Veslorurn decided to come a bit closer. If they didn't want him around they could always tell him to bugger off.

Ah, winter! That wonderful time of the year where glistening snow blanketed the ground beneath it. Although it covered the beautiful sights of many of the flowers, the snow itself held a beauty of its own. Gypsy Song closed his eyes and smiled at the thoughts. When the sun would shine, the snow would appear to have at least a hundred diamonds covering it. How could he forget about the cold, refreshing air?! It was only during the winter season that the large stallion felt brave enough to spend days, even weeks, down in the kawanii lands.

Usually, Gypsy was found hiding at the top of the mountains where it was cold and icy all year long. Sadly, there weren't very many visitors and it grew lonely. Sure, the stallion had his familiar friend most of the time, but he needed more interaction than with one creature. This was the reason winter was the stallion's most cherished time of the year. Unlike many of the soquili that traversed the Kawanii lands, Gypsy had hairy fetlocks, large wings to cover himself, and accumulated fat a little easier than others. These added up to make one very warm soquili, which was why he avoided the Kawanii lands in the summer and spring.

Just in the distance, Gypy's familiar was leading the way as Gypsy followed like a lost puppy. Melody would leave their cave in the mountainside and hunt here in the kawanii lands for days at a time. This meant that the little owl was more familiar with the area than Gypsy could ever dream of being. Therefore she was his guide for the next few months.

When the owl heard voices, she sped up to greet them. Gypsy took noticed and called out for the owl, "Melody, why are you in such a rush? Slow down!" He sped up slightly, almost tripping on his big hooves along the way. Heavy hooves slammed against the ground hard as he continued to rush after her. "You always said you wanted to meet others. Here's your chance!"

As they approached the group of soquili, Gypsy slowed and eventually froze in place. He was always tentative and a little awkward at first. After warming up to others, they would quickly learn that he was just a clumsy goofball.