Chapter 5: Decision

We flew for a few hours before I decided to take a rest on an island below. I noticed with mild surprise that Rainpetal did the same. Everyone else we had rescued had gone their separate ways, to their own herds.

“What Herd do you belong to?” I asked once we landed.

“Umm, I was born to Jungle Herd.”

“Don’t you want to go back home to your family?”

“Both my parents were killed by Rockwing. It was just my brother and I.” She seemed reluctant to share more, but I was curious.

“Where’s your brother?”

“I don’t know.”

Why was she being so vague? Trying again, I prompted, “We could try to find him! It’s not like we have other plans. Where and when did you last see him?”

She just shook her head and I realised there were tears running down her cheeks. Great job, River. You obviously struck a nerve. I put my wing around her.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “Sometimes I can be a little headstrong.” I peer at her carefully, watching her quietly sob. I wonder why she was with Rockwing in the first place, where she’s been. She can’t be much older than me, but she had the look of someone who had seen more than her fair share of trials. But before I could think too hard about it, she gave one final sniff and wiped her eyes with her wing tips.

“The last time I saw him was right before he disappeared. We had just spent an hour talking and grazing in a small clearing just outside the Cloud Forest beside the Vein. It was getting dark, so he decided we should turn in.

We bedded down in a makeshift nest, and said goodnight. He fell asleep quickly, but I took longer. The Ancestors were making their march and I wanted to take the time to speak with my dam and sire. Eventually though, sleep overtook me and when I awoke, he was gone.”

She inhaled deeply. I nodded and took a moment to decide the best course of action. Before I said anything though, I asked, “Is there anywhere he said that stood out to you that night. Something to suggest that he might leave to go someplace else, or needed to do?”

Rainpetal racked her brain. “No, nothing that I can think of...Though I do remember seeing Sun Herd scouts patrolling the Vein. Think maybe they took him?”

“Why would they take him and not you?”

“I don’t know?” She started to sound distressed. Not wanting to press the matter, I quickly laid out our options.

“There are 2 places we can look. We could go back to your nest in Cloud Forest, or we could venture into Sun Herd. It’s not yet Fall, and we could probably catch the herd in Dawn Meadow.”

“There isn’t an option 3?” The spotted filly asked in a small voice. I imagined she didn’t want to visit the place of her brother’s disappearance, or the Herd that had potentially been the cause. My answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“No, not where we might find your brother. Unless by some random luck we stumbled upon him. But, we can visit both places. There isn’t a lot of ground between them, so we can ask at Sun Herd, and if there isn’t anything there, we can go investigate the Cloud Forest area. How does that sound?”

Rainpetal shed a few feathers, thinking the matter over. I made up my mind that regardless of her decision, I was going to go search, with or without her help. Though what I was going to do with the young filly, I can’t say. I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. Thankfully, I didn’t have to.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

And with that, we made our journey South.