The blizzard had come on strong. Far too strong for any of them to have predicted. Aiolos was huddled as best as he could underneath a tree. It was low to the ground, the needles poking him constantly in the back. But compared to the raging wind outside, he thought this was the better of the two evils. It cut off enough of the wind that he felt he might be able to withstand the force of it until it blew itself out. At least that was his wish. With the way it was raging, he wasn't too hopeful that he wouldn't be here for too much longer. It'd already been a few hours since it had started and it was showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, he swore it was speeding up.
No sooner had the thought come to him, that the tree started to creak louder than it had been against the onslaught of nature. Becoming alarmed, the tiny Putti moved away from it, as best he could in the deep snow. He didn't get very far. A loud crack sounded in his ears and the tree, too small and brittle to have withstood the wind, came tumbling down. Flapping his head wings desperately, Aiolos tried his best to steer clear of it as it fell just inches from hitting his back end. He groaned. Now what? His cover was gone and there were no more trees in sight. That he could see, anyway, which wasn't very far. Oh, well. Best to keep moving. If he stood still, he'd surely freeze to death.
Forcing his legs to move, he picked a random direction.
He wasn't sure for how long he walked. Everything in this blizzard felt like it lasted a lifetime. He was beginning to tire out. His tiny legs were no match for all this snow that had come out of nowhere. If he'd had some time to prepare...
Aiolos sank to a knee, not wanting to give up but not seeing anything that could help him. In the distance, the storm was whistling and raging, making very animal-like sounds. Digging his hoof into the hard-packed earth under him, he pushed up, getting off his knee to stand shivering.
Suddenly, out of the fog of the storm, there came a blue shape. His first instinct was to turn and run, but he could barely move as it was in the snow. Closing his eyes, he flinched, waiting for the blow to come.
Nothing came. Instead, he felt a little peck on his shoulder. Opening the eye closest to that shoulder, Aiolos saw there was a big bird beside him, easily standing on top of the snow. It was fidgeting and flapping its wings, urging with its head back behind it. When it noticed Aiolos was aware of it, it flew up to land a few feet away, still beckoning.
Unsure of what else to do, the small stallion followed the bird, which continued to fly a bit ahead and land, making sure he was keeping up with it. When he tried to slow down, it would peck fiercely at his shoulder, urging him onward.
Where he was being lead to, Aiolos didn't know. Nor was he sure he cared at this point.
After what felt like days, the mouth of a small cave opened up before him. The snow was below his knees at this point, allowing him to run much easier. Which he did, straight into the safety and comfort of the cave. Once inside, he nearly fell down in exhaustion. He intended to sleep until the rest of the storm was over.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem he would be able to do that. Almost immediately, the sounds of hooves ringing on the stone floor reached his ears. He looked up and quickly scurried back, back to the entrance of the cave where the bitter cold nipped at his rump. For before him was the most terrifying sight. A small equine, with eyes as solid white as the snow, was coming out of the darkness, bending her head down towards him. Like some ghost coming to steal his soul.
Was this land full of nothing but terrors?
She stopped, regarding him with those sightless and pale eyes.
"You sound small. Tell me, do you come from the same lands as I do? It's been so long since I've met others like me."
Her voice was quiet. Kind of soft. She sounded almost sad. Was she not going to hurt him? She gave him the creeps, but Aiolos was sure that, no, she wouldn't. And he'd been wrong about the big bay stallion. Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions too quickly about everyone over here. Her presence gave him a sense of calm.
Then he looked closer at her. She had a fluffy tail, like a rabbit, and horns on her head, with hooves naturally split in two points. She was also small like him. Much smaller than him, in fact. He'd seen those traits before in the other Mini herds. She was from the same lands as he, a Nymph. Or if not her, at least her parents. Perhaps he even knew of them. He'd certainly never seen her before, but than he had been the leader of the Putti. He had enough on his plate with his own herd to pay attention to the others.
"Yes," he answered just as softly as her, watching a smile appear on her face. Her eyes crinkled around the edges in joy. Aiolos, feeling more and more comfortable in her presence, reflected her joy in his own heart. It was indeed wonderful to find another from your own lands. "I am a Putti." And he flapped the wings on his head to emphasis this.
The small gusts blew at the mare's mane gently and she gave a little laugh, the sound lovely to his ears. Her mane danced about her face. "How wonderful! I haven't seen another in so long. Do you know where they are? What they are doing?"
"I am afraid not. They all left as soon as we reached these lands." He remembered that well. He'd tried to get order back into his own herd, but everyone had left to go their separate ways, intent on exploring these new lands. By now most of them should have found new homes, maybe even made new herds of their own.
Funny how everything that had been so organized had fallen apart so quickly.
The mare seemed to share his feelings on the matter. Her expression changed, revealing one more of the sadness he had heard in her voice. "Yes. I remember that. I was hoping you had seen some since then."
Aiolos had started to shake his head, remembering too soon her lack of sight. "I have not seen any. Not my own. Not your own. Not even any of the others."
"Oh. How sad. This land feels too large for someone of my size." The smile returned to her face, managing to light up her eyes despite their lack of pupils or color. "I am glad to have finally met someone more my height. Come further into the cave. It's warmer away from the storm." She turned around, disappearing into the back just as quickly as she'd come. The blue bird, who had been sitting to the side watching them, followed her on foot, giving Aiolos one look before the darkness swallowed him, as well.
The apprehension came back. It wasn't that Aiolos was afraid of the dark. He didn't like the way it swallowed the other two. How he couldn't see what was at the back. But his options were low. It was either follow them or go back out into the storm. From where he was, he could feel the bitterness of the wind cutting into his fur, making him colder and colder the longer he stayed here. So he decided to get up and follow the two.
The darkness swallowed him up. He was blinded for a minute before his eyes adjusted to it. The mare wouldn't have noticed the difference, wouldn't have seen the affect her entrance and exit had. Aiolos saw her now, standing at the back wall of the cave, as far from the wind as she could get. The blue bird was perched beside her, offering his warmth to her. Aiolos moved closer, not close enough to touch, but close enough that his warmth would also help heat up the area they had chosen to wait out the storm.
He couldn't say how long they remained there. The mare now was silent, closing her eyes and listening to the storm outside. Waiting for it to let up. He offered no words, either. Just stood silently by, exchanging looks with the blue bird and watching the strange mare whose kind voice had soothed his fears. It really wasn't fair of him to keep judging others by how they looked or what they did. This land was teaching him that. Though the Angeni was causing himself pain, he was doing it for a good cause. Or so he said. He still wasn't too sure. But what he was sure of, was this mare wasn't as terrifying as she looked. She was the complete opposite of the storm that raged outside.
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