Gemfrost-

"Well, Jaggedwing and Briarcloud seem to think that it might be a good idea to send a few more steeds with you as a safety procession." said Gemfrost

Forestbeam:

She nodded, smiling at Gemfrost. "Thank you, so much," she said, grinning all over.

Emberblaze:

"My Uncle Darkstone could go. He was basically raised in Night herd, and he might be able to help." Emberblaze spoke up.

Stormglade:

He flinched only slightly, but relaxed as she smiled at him. "Being over excited is better than feeling nothing at all." He said partly joking, partly being serious.

Silverflame-

"I'll ask my mother if she has any steeds that are free to go." said Silverflame.

Meanwhile...

Mistcloud-

Mistcloud paced back and forth, waiting for all the council members to be present, or at least the ones who were supposed to be there. Moonwing was there, and so were Starsummer, Hollywing, Robincloud, Crystalcoud, and Skywing, but the others were still yet to arrive.

Starsummer:

She had been standing in a patch of sun to try and stay warm through the harsh winds. The rest of the members were standing slightly huddled together to warm each other.

Starsummer moaned quietly in exasperation.

Though she knew they were necessary, she was becoming tired of all the Council meetings Mistcloud had frequently been calling. In boredom, she sniffed the air for predators, or anything, but when she didn't smell anything exciting, she started to preen her feathers.

Canyongold-

She nodded. Then she sniffed the grass and grinned at the dead of it, but it smelled more like what some landwalkers called, "hay." She munched on it, swallowed, and found she quite enjoyed these grasses than the other's in the main meadow. "NOW, I see why you like to graze here.." she said between munches and swallows of the grass.

Stormglade:

He nodded once and cocked his hind hoof. "That's not the only reason." He thought, yearning to tell her but he knew he couldn't. "Y-yeah. The grass is good." He glanced down at her and exhaled, his breath coming out in a puff of steam that ruffled Canyongold's forelock. "Why do you want to stay here? It's depressing, it's cold, it's lonely. You have lots of other friends to hang out with and keep you warm, but you chose to hang out with the most depressing, coldest colt in the herd. Why?" He asked, knowing she might ask him the same question.

Mistcloud-

The gray mare sensed the other council members restlessness, "If they don't show up soon, we will need to go ahead and announce the migration." she said reluctantly, much rather preferring to have all the council members present for this.

Canyongold-

She frowned. "You don't get it, do you?" She sighed, feeling reluctant at telling him her reasons, but she did so anyways. "You realize you aren't the only lonely pegasus in this herd, right? I came here because, one, I'm pretty lonely myself, and two, you seem like a nice pegasus once you see reason and become a little nicer," she said. "There are other reasons, too, but these are the main ones, Stormglade," she said softly.

Stormglade:

He listened, his ears pricked. "Huh...If my Father ever heard me being described as nice...whew." He shuddered at the thought.

He smiled gently, however, relieved that he wasn't totally alone. "Well then, we can be lonely together." He said, his nostrils twitching as he smelled the air. "You seem so carefree and happy; I had no idea." He added, relaxing his wings and lowering his head.

He glanced up at the sky. The sun was on its way down toward the opposite end of the horizon. Late afternoon. "In a few hours, I have to go meet my Father at the lake. He calls it optional- a Father and son bonding time. I call it mandatory- two stallions just staring into the lake's water for who knows how long." He grumbled.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat and he awkwardly rolled his shoulders, realizing he just gave away a secret that he swore to his father to never share. Stormglade growled in the back of his throat and stood up straighter, angry at himself and everything else.

Canyongold-

She cocked her head at his sudden anger and uncomfortableness. She smiled gently. “I won’t tell anyone, Stormglade. As I just said, I have no one to tell. I guess I could say something similar about my mother, but she has been sick most of the times we’d tried to meet, back in another time,” she said, gazing off at the last part, trying to contemplate an image of her and her mother bonding beside a lake, and failing. “Sounds fun to bond with your father,” she said, trying to lighten the mood, a smile playing on the edges of her lips.

Stormglade:

"Thanks. My dad would kill me if he found out I told anyone." He said, relaxing again. "And, it's not bonding. Like I said, he makes me do it and he never says anything to me. He just...stares at the water and makes me do it, too. I don't know why."

Mistcloud-

After a few more moments of waiting, Jaggedwing, Briarcloud, and Breezecloud arrived from the direction of the medicine mare den. Satisfied that this was probably going to be all the council members that would be there, Mistcloud headed off to the place where they cloud make the anouncment, but before she could go far, Briarcloud caught up to her.

"I had a feeling that you would like to know," started the elderly council mare, as the council members continued walking, "That we may have a new problem with the loner steeds that have been classified as being part of Night Herd." Briarcloud then proceeded to repeat what she had heard from Goldenstream, and finished by saying, "I believe that this is a decision that should be made by Forestbeam, and if she choses to go, that we should send a few steeds with her and her daughters."

"This is very interesting." replied Mistcloud, "But I agree, it is something for Forestbeam to decide." And with that, the council arrived at the spot where they were going to make their announcement.

Canyongold-

She nodded. “Some pegasi are so desperate for affection and to feel things, that they do some pretty weird stuff,” she snorted. When he gave her a weird look, she rolled her eyes, smiling. “Trust me, I know,” She nickered.

Forestbeam:

She nuzzled her filly, Breezebell, and took off after the council members who were all walking towards an open area in the center of the herd. “An announcement. . . . . I wonder what about ?” She thought as she landed behind them while they were walking and came up to Mistcloud. “Mistcloud, I have chosen to go with the Night Herd steeds,“ she whispered as they came closer to the outcropping. She would duck away quickly when they arrived, for there was no place for her in an announcement involving all the council members, or almost all of them.

Shadowfire had gone with his mate to Snow Herd's territory but had stayed after her, finalizing a few things with Tundrafire. The two of them were now flying over the northern fjord recounting their past military experiences and training, each marveling at both the scenery and the intricacies of each other's lives. Their friendship, although respectful and relatively formal due to the fact that they were diplomatic allies and not herdmates, was strengthening.

"I was starving," Tundrafire said with a regretful chuckle as he told of his captain training, more specifically, the year of seclusion in order to become a captain. "I remember it so clearly. I was traveling the Vein between Sun Herd and Jungle Herd on hoof – I had flown hard the previous day and was resting my wings. I needed sustenance and found a type of beach grass. In my euphoria at finding food after almost a moon without a real meal, I gorged myself." The gray-maned cream captain stopped midair, hovering as a new vista came into sight. He smiled fondly at the sight, although the facial gesture was mixed with the amusement of the memory. "Our medicine mare warned me before I left not to trust beach grasses, as there are only two edible types, both of which are nearly indistinguishable from the bad kinds. In my haste, I ignored her advice – and paid the price. I nearly died Tundrapine that day, never achieving the title of -fire. Thankfully, my fever broke enough for me to swim, and that swim may have saved my life." He shot a sideways smile at Shadowfire.

"Moral of the story? Listen to medicine mares. And always go for a swim when you get the chance." With that, Tundrafire banked into a dive and alighted on the surface of the river that had created the fjord.

Shadowfire, caught by surprise, followed suit shortly after.

Stormglade:

He glanced at her, wondering what she meant, but before he could say anything more, something in the main meadow brought his attention. He stepped out of the shadows of the little cut off and glanced at Canyongold, "Look like the Council members are about to make an announcement. We'd better be there to hear what they have to say." He said, trotting around the length of the meadow to avoid all the other yearlings who were gathering in the middle. He didn't want to talk to them or even have to share eye contact with them.

He stayed on the outskirts of the yearling horde, but still close enough to hear.

Starsummer:

She stood 2 pegs over from Mistcloud and she raised her head up higher. Being apart of the Council was a huge honor and she'd never really thought about what a privilege being in the Council made for her. She stole a glance from her triplets and pride swelled her heart. She winked at them subtly before turning her attention back to the front while they waited for the rest of the herd to gather.

Shadowfire shook his head, remembering. "My apologies, Tundrafire," he said, pulling out of the dive just before he hit the water, letting his hooves ripple in its current. "I've got to get back to Glacier Herd. There's a Council announcement I can't miss." He turned and, without another word, propelled his muscular yellow wings in smooth, large flaps, as fast as he could southward.

Canyongold-

She trailed behind, flimsy and innocent, as she sidled up next to him, sighing. She rattled her feathers, chills sliding down her back, hoping the announcment would be about moving farther south, where it was warmer. She glanced at him, hoping he wouldn't mind if she stayed next to him. His thoughts of being alone were completely suicidal, considering no pegasus survives long without a herd to protect them, so she almost acted like his herd. There for the very first time beside him, to protect, and to be there for him. She rolled her eyes at this childish, immature thought, but it still comforted her the same.