Forestbeam:

She thought for a second. "I could've sworn he went into the woods because Redmoon had gone to a creek to get a drink, and got attacked by wolves..... At least, that's why she had an injured leg, I think...." she said. She shook her head and squinted her eyes. "Horizongold...... My mate....... ," she swallowed, and then said, "He's.... He could be alive, Horizongold. That's why I came to ask you about him," she finished.

(Side note: Did the font change for everyone, or only me? This is the font I'm seeing.)

(Secondly, sure. It's the day after the war with Flame Herd. Most of the herd is rising late, so it's very early afternoon now. Redmoon&Emberblaze are goofing around with pine branches, and they along with Magicpetal and Goldenstream are behind some bushes to play a spying game on Darkstone and Whiteshadow. Horizongold just found out that his mother is pregnant, and his mind is occupied by thoughts of being an older brother for a while.

Forestbeam and her daughters are baffled to see that Crimsonstorm is gone from his grave. The wolves didn't mess up the grave, because there would be tracks of their paws. The explanation they can think of is that Crimsonstorm isn't dead. So Forestbeam goes to question Cloudroot about it, since Cloudroot helped bury him. Forestbeam is now talking with Horizongold about it, on Cloudroot's suggestion.)

(Umm... so first off, can someone give me a recap? Second, I'm going to make part 32 real quick)

Horizongold thought for a few moments. "It was last autumn, I believe," he started. "Just over a year ago. There had been reports of wolves in the area, and Crimsonstorm had decided to do something about them. He flew rapidly to their last known location without waiting for anyone else. He doled out quite a bit of punishment, killing at least three of the eleven or twelve wolves in the pack and injuring four or five more.

"But they gave their own punishment in return. He suffered several bites to the head and upper neck, as well as several enormous scratches down one wing. He went into shock from the head wound and died before we could get him to Cloudroot.

"I didn't see this, I should add," Horizongold finished. "Emberblaze was the first to follow Crimsonstorm and reported it to me. Personally, I had tracked the wolves and finished them off, then saw a few of your mate's feathers in some blood. I followed the blood trail to Crimsonstorm's body and a crestfallen Emberblaze."

Horizongold thought for a few moments. "It was last autumn, I believe," he started. "Just over a year ago. There had been reports of wolves in the area, and Crimsonstorm had decided to do something about them. He flew rapidly to their last known location without waiting for anyone else. He doled out quite a bit of punishment, killing at least three of the eleven or twelve wolves in the pack and injuring four or five more.

"But they gave their own punishment in return. He suffered several bites to the head and upper neck, as well as several enormous scratches down one wing. He went into shock from the head wound and died before we could get him to Cloudroot.

"I didn't see this, I should add," Horizongold finished. "Emberblaze was the first to follow Crimsonstorm and reported it to me. Personally, I had tracked the wolves and finished them off, then saw a few of your mate's feathers in some blood. I followed the blood trail to Crimsonstorm's body and a crestfallen Emberblaze."

Forestbeam:

"I wanted to ask you about the day my mate died," she said as if it was nothing too serious to talk about, trying to mask the pain she felt. "I'll tell you why in a minute, but can you tell me how he exactly died," she asked.

Horizongold's head snapped up as he heard a voice. He recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place the speaker until he saw them and had been looking for a few seconds. "Hi, Forestbeam," the young stallion said to the mare. "Yes, I do, since I'm not really doing anything. What do you need me to do?"

Forestbeam:

She hesitated for a moment and glanced at the paste, but the took it willingly, because she trusted Cloudroot. Immediately she did get a small wave a nausea and a tired feeling, but then she ruffled out her feathers and shook out her coat, and it faded. She nodded thanks to Cloudroot and went looking first for Horizongold. She jumped into the air and caught an air current. She flew well above the ground and gilded on the air current, not wanting to waste the little energy she had from the exhausting week. She flew over the apple orchard and spied Horizongold down below munching on an apple. She tipped her nose down and slowly fell out of the air current and dived down slower than others, and landed lightly on her feet. She folded her wing and trotted towards to Horizongold. "Horizongold!" She called, "Do you have a minute?" she asked.

"Come with me for a second," Cloudroot said, beckoning with a wing. She led the way into the cave and scooped up a small amount of a grayish paste that had been kept in a small stone basin. "This will help with the shock," she said. "It might make you tired for a bit, but please take it. Now, find me Horizongold and Emberblaze. They were with your mate when he died – well, apparently he didn't."

Horizongold had left the spying trainees behind the bushes and flown to the apple orchard, where he was munching on one of the last several late-ripening apples. His mind was still whirling with the prospect of being an older brother, yet it had moved onto the responsibilities that he thought would come with it. Won't I be relied on to protect them? What happens if I mess it up? What if I seem to bossy and they hate me? But then, what happens if I'm too lenient and they get lost? There was no end to his confusion.

Forestbeam:

She thought for a moment before answering. "Perhaps he's lost his memory?" she suggested. At the moment, she was feeling intense nausea. Her mate shouldn't be alive. But then she told herself, there are black foals that heal and destroy with starfire, so who am I kidding if he's alive or not?

Redmoon:

She couldn't smell at the moment, so she leaned forward and took in a silent breath. He did smell good. Then she blushed when she realized there muzzles were almost touching. She pulled her head back a bit and nodded. "Of course you smell good. You're wearing pine branches," she whispered with a grin.

Cloudroot's eyes widened in shock. "I had no idea he was not there," she said quietly. "It could have been wolves, but then you would have seen tracks. The best explanation I can think of is he was alive and dug himself out, but put the dirt back so as to make it seem like he was still there. The question now becomes: where is he? And why didn't he come to you immediately?"

Emberblaze nickered and flaunted the extra branch. He cocked an ear towards Redmoon and smirked. "I bet I smell good, too." he said, the smell of pine needles filling his nose.

Redmoon:

She laughed and blushed slightly, and took the pine branch off of her head, and placed it upon Emberblaze's head and grinned. "Now you look even better," she whispered, a broad grin on her face.

Emberblaze chuckled and thought. "You look good in anything." But, aloud he said. "Naahhh. It just looks good on me." he joked, tossing his mane to the other side of his neck and flashing a handsome smile.

Forestbeam:

She nodded to Cloudroot and asked the question, "You helped bury Crimsonstorm, yes?" When Cloudroot answered that she had some part in it, Forestbeam explained what she had seen and found two nights before. She had been paying her respects to her mate, when her daughter placed her hoof on the dirt mound, and it all crumpled, hollow. "Do you have any idea where he could be? If he was buried somewhere else?" she asked.

Redmoon:

She let out a very soft laugh. "I do. It's not every day you see a pine branch on your head as a fashion choice<" she giggled. Then she reached up with her right wing, picked off a pine branch, and gently laid the branch on her head between her ears, and grinned. "Does it look good on me, or just you?" she asked followed by a soft laugh.

Junipersky emerged from the trees south of the valley in Glacier Herd's territory with her wings covered in dirt, mud, and full of roots. Her aunt had enlisted her aid in collecting herbs and roots for her patients, well aware that the medicine mares would be running through their supplies quickly after the war. She ducked behind the yellowed strands of the weeping willow and deposited her prize in a large pile on the ground. She took to the skies and dove into the orchard pond to clean off her wings, then returned to the cheerful canopy to sort them. She nodded, satisfied with the amount she had collected. She was tempted to rest for the afternoon, but knew that there was little point in doing so since the stores were not replenished enough to last. She scooped up a few sprigs of the wood sorrel for nutrients, plus a small chunk of a root that was used for extra energy, and set out once more, ignoring the fact that some of the sliver-shaped leaves fell off the branches into her mane.

She emerged from the tree line once more, about an hour later, troubled. She had been looking for more of the sleeping root, knowing it would be quite in demand over the next moon. Unfortunately, it was rare in this part of the continent, but she had found a good-sized bush with the roots she was after. That bush was next to where Crimsonstorm had been buried, so she had decided to pay her respects to the fallen stallion. She approached the grave, only to find that the short rock tower had been toppled and the cavity in the dirt was empty. Where was Crimsonstorm?

Mintcreek frowned when Coalblaze was given another dose of the sleep root, so she had nothing better to do than step outside. She passed Darkstone and Whiteshadow and passed the spy bush without knowing the yearlings were there. She stood next to the cave, not knowing what to do. "I'm bored...." she thought, frowning. Not knowing what else to do, she cocked a hoof and dozed.

~

Emberblaze grinned at Redmoon and nodded. As soon as he checked that no one was in ear-shot he whispered to her, "Yep! I wanted to try something new. You like?" he asked, tossing the forelock out of his eyes and waving the branch over her head.

Horizongold crouched behind the bush as well, but his mind was elsewhere, thinking about his unborn sibling. What would he or she be like? Would it be fun, being an older sibling? Or challenging and exasperating? He had seen evidence of both apparent in Emberblaze, so he supposed he would never get a straight answer. What would they look like, with a chestnut pinto and a dapple gray as parents? He supposed that might not have too much of an effect, if he were any comparison. His mind was too occupied to focus on spying, and he was thankful that this wasn't a serious mission in doing so by any means.

Cloudroot stopped by Coalblaze and gave him another few mouthfuls of the root, after which he quickly lost consciousness once more. She did the same with Twigstrike, then emerged from the ivy curtain to find, to her initial surprise, Darkstone. The handsome stallion was chatting with Witeshadow. She grinned quietly to herself but decided not to play the role of matchmaker, and instead stepped out into the sunshine. Forestbeam was waiting patiently by the willow tree, and the widow's face lit up as she saw Cloudroot.

"Did you want to see me?" Cloudroot asked, although it was clear the answer was yes.

Breezebell:

She saluted to Magicpetal's command playfully, and laid down with her head still in the bush, so Darkstone and Whiteshadow wouldn't be able to see her body. Her sister Redmoon crouched beside her, but her muzzle barely peeked through the leaves. Breezebel nearly screamed with excitement when she heard Darkstone asking Whiteshadow if she'd like to go to the beach with him. She shut her muzzle tight and giggled very quietly.

Redmoon:

She grinned in return to Emberblaze and flicked he rears towards the branch on his head. "New style?" she asked playfully, a broad grin on her face.

( Holy rap I forgot that you were here XD. Sorry for the wait. Reading... )