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The late morning sun shines upon the plains, the tall grass glistens gold. A large elk stands alone, its bulk towering above all else even as it's stoops its head low to chew on the golden blades. In the distance, Lyn pushes past the grass, ever so slow, ever so careful not to alert the beast to her presence. Once the distance between them is adequate, Lyn sucks in a breath as she notches her arrow. She aims at the creature and pulls back her bowstring. The wood creaks in her ears, the only sound in the absolute stillness. Breath still caught in her throat, Lyn adjusts her aim, fingers twitching on her bowstring. Satisfied, she prepares to release her arrow.
A loud whine sounds from Lyn’s side, at which she instinctively jumps. Her arrow slips from her grip, and it falls feet away from its original trajectory. Before Lyn can prepare another arrow, the elk runs away, antlers lost in the sea of gold. Lyn kneels in the grass as she scans the field for any sign of the creature that scared off her prey. Nothing makes itself known to her sights but endless grass, now swaying in the gentle breeze. Suddenly, a shadow falls over Lyn and she jumps back, looking up as her hand reaches for another arrow on instinct.
Above her, a winged white horse circles about. Releasing the last of her breath in the form of a sigh, Lyn relaxes and stands. As uncommon as they are in the plains, Lyn at least knows enough about pegai to realize they're no serious threat. She also knows, evident by the empty saddle strapped to the pegasus’ body, that this one belongs to someone. It worries her to wonder what happened to the pegasus’ owner. Are they nearby? Injured? Dead? The pegasus neighs at her and flies away, turning its head as if beckoning Lyn to follow. And follow she does.
It takes a few minutes of running (only now does Lyn realize just how fast pegai are) before Lyn spots a dark cluster on the horizon. Upon moving closer, the cluster takes shape; an old tree, with large, twisting branches sparse of foliage. And among the branches is a... person? Lyn quickens her pace. Soft whines and sobs reach Lyn's ears as she approaches. The pegasus lands at the base of the tree, and stares at Lyn before looking up at the tree. It drags one hoof through the dirt and neighs.
"Oh, H-Huey, is that you?" a girl with lavender hair whimpers from the branches. Her hands grip the sides of the bark with white-knuckled desperation. Sweat trickles down her forehead and over her tightly shut eyelids. "I'm so scared, Huey."
With the girl oblivious to her presence, Lyn feels obligated to make herself known. "Um, excuse me -"
The girl jumps with a high-pitched squeal, almost falling out of the tree in the process, but manages to regain her grip before she can plummet to the ground. She cracks her eyelids open wide and stares at Lyn with frightened green eyes.
“Are you okay?” Lyn approaches slowly, holding her arms outwards to show she means no harm to the girl.
“I-I’m fine,” the girl stammers and shakes in such a way it's obvious she's far from fine, “I just… um… fell.”
“Fell?” Lyn glances at the pegasus that brought her here. It stands at the same spot, it's gaze unmoving from the girl. “From your pegasus?”
“Yes…” a dark shade of red dusts the girl's cheeks. “There were… bees…”
If the girl wasn't so obviously terrified, Lyn might find that laughable. Instead of laughing, she walks up to the base of the tree. “I'll help you get down, okay?”
The girl manages a hesitant nod in reply.
Lyn grips the bark of the tree the best she can, though after trying and failing to find any firm footing on the trunk, she decides against climbing it. She opens her mouth to ask the girl to climb down herself, to promise that she'll catch her, but considering how tightly she's coiled around the branch, Lyn figures that's a lost cause too, and closes her mouth once more. Just how is she supposed to do this?
An answer supplements itself in the form of a snort from Lyn’s side. The pegasus is still there, still unmoving, still staring. Lyn only bothers to contemplate the risks for the briefest moment before stalking her way over to the pegasus. “Come here… Huey...?” Lyn extends an open palm to the creature.
Slowly, the pegasus approaches, sniffing Lyn's hand before nuzzling into her palm with surprising friendliness. Stroking its muzzle, Lyn takes the opportunity to grab the reins with her other hand. She gives the pegasus a scratch between the ears before walking to its side and mounting it. The whole process is a lot easier than she thought it'd be, though the saddle is uncomfortable. A sinking feeling in her gut submerges any flicker of pride as Lyn realizes that, even if she managed to get on the pegasus, she has no idea how to make it fly.
“Huey…” Lyn hesitantly pats the pegasus' side. “I need you to fly up to your owner so I can get her down, can you do that?” The pegasus rocks its head up and down, and Lyn can't help but crack a smile at the humanity of the gesture.
The pegasus flicks its wings once before it begins trotting. It goes around the tree once, twice, three times before it rises off the ground. To Lyn's amazement, the pegasus barely flaps its wings. It's almost as if the pegasus kicks around the air below it to achieve flight. Lyn makes a mental note to ask the girl about that later.
It takes little, if any, navigation on Lyn's part for the pegasus to circle around and suspend its flight next to the branch the girl still clings to with all of her strength. From her mount, Lyn extends her arms outwards. “Here, climb into my arms.”
The girl slowly raises her head. From here, Lyn sees her puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks clearly. Sweat and tears plaster strands of her hair to her forehead and cheeks. With a shaky breath, the girl throws herself into Lyn's arms with remarkable haste (a little too much haste, in fact; the force nearly knocks them both off the pegasus). Lyn secures the girl in a tight one-armed grip as her other hand tightens around the reins. The pegasus begins its vertical descent, landing with a soft thud.
Once on the ground, the girl melts from Lyn's embrace into a tired, boneless heap. Lyn dismounts after her and squats beside her. “Are you okay?” Lyn reaches out to pat her back, but decides against it, and retracts her hand.
The girl doesn't reply right away, opting to use her mouth to take in deep breaths instead of forming words. “Yes…” She pushes herself up with a grunt of effort and sits on her calves. “Thank you,” the girl runs a hand through her hair and averts her gaze, “you… saved me.”
“I wouldn't say…” Lyn shakes her head. “I'm just glad you're all right… um…”
“Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't…” a blush spreads across the girl’s face as she meets Lyn's eyes. “My name is Florina. I'm a pegasus knight-in-training from Ilia.” Florina extends her hand, hesitating halfway through before opening her palm wide. “It's nice to meet you.”
Lyn takes Florina's hand and gives it a firm shake. Florina's palm is soft, but Lyn can feel the precursor of callouses along her skin, evidence of training with weaponry (and gripping on trees for dear life). “It's nice to meet you. I'm Lyn, and I live on these plains.”
“You're a nomad?” Florina parts from the handshake, but her gaze stays fixed on Lyn, much more relaxed than it once was. “Is your tribe nearby?”
“No, they…” this time Lyn breaks her gaze from Florina's, turning it to her hands as her fingers dig into her kneecaps. “My tribe was killed… Bandits. I'm the only one left.”
“Oh… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked…” Florina's voice is little more than a shamed whisper.
“It's fine.”
Silence pervades the plains for a long moment. No wind shuffles the grass, no bird or bug lets out a single chirp. It's like a vacuum, devoid of all but the brooding emotions crushing Lyn’s ribcage, suffocating her like a snake.
Suddenly, something hard pushes between Lyn's shoulder blades. Knocked onto her hands and knees, Lyn whips her head around and sees the pegasus standing behind her, something akin to laughter shining in its eyes.
“Huey really seems to like you,” Florina laughs, “he's really a sweet boy.”
Lyn nods. “He's beautiful.” She turns around and sits facing Huey. She extends a hand outwards, which Huey eagerly nuzzles into.
“Thank you, I spend a lot of time grooming him.” Florina gives Huey’s neck a gentle pat. “It's all part of bonding with him… It's… Important for a pegasus knight to have a strong bond with their pegasus.”
“I can tell you two have a very strong bond,” Lyn smiles, “after all, he guided me here just to help you.”
“Really? You think so? All the other trainees say I have a long way to go…”
“I do. I think you'll be a great pegasus knight, Florina.”
“T-thank you, Lyn.” Florina can't help but blush at the praise. “Ah, speaking of which, I should go. I wasn't supposed to be out this long.”
“I understand.” Lyn stands up. She gives her hand to Florina, which she gratefully accepts, and pulls her up. “It was nice meeting you.”
“It was nice meeting you too.” Florina mounts her pegasus with considerable ease for someone her size. “Thank you again, for everything, Lyn.”
“You're welcome. Don't run into any more bees on your way home.”
Any hope of Florina's blush dying down burns up along with her seating cheeks. It's all she can do to mutter weak, embarrassed protests before flicking her reins and taking flight.
As Lyn watches Florina turn into a speck against the sky, she can't help but sense a renewed air of loneliness settle on the plains.