There is a place deep within the ancient forest that is said to be magical and holy. It is a sacred land, kept pure from invaders by a large river that cuts through the world as a barrier from one side of the world to the next. Beyond that sits a jutting display of earthen teeth; mountains sprawling for miles upon miles. It is the end of the road for many who traverse these deep, dark, haunting lands; too afraid to continue to the base of the teeth. For some, the sounds of rushing water from a large river scare them in to turning back. It is here, nestled deep within the forest and cradled by rushing rivers and the beyond that a place of magic and wonder awaits all that enter.

It is a place, of course, that is easily found if one knows where to look for it. No matter where one is or from, they need simply to follow the trickle of streams and creeks from the south and make their way north. These tiny water ways gradually grow larger, splitting off as if they were their own branches on a tree in to the main river- a behemoth of constantly rushing water that if followed, would take this wandering traveler around Gemini and out to sea. Powered by a large waterfall that drains from the beyond, it is one of many sights to behold. But this is not the land of magic; this is merely the catalyst that scares off wandering travelers who are too overwhelmed to look beyond their nose.

To the east of the dense forest and rushing water is a small clearing on either side. It is, of course, man made- trees simply reduced to stumps and small craters in the ground from where stumps once used to sit. It is a quiet place, far from the loud churning of a waterfall; even the river seems to quiet here in this place as its flow becomes steadily more lazy and relaxed before picking up further downstream. Perhaps it was because of several man made structures that now sit quietly and moss covered that made the river quiet down, or perhaps it was something other worldly. Directly in the center of this clearing sits a bridge- a stone structure that was made with the love, care, and architectural genius of a pack of men who would have at one point created a tiny metropolis. It is safe to imagine that this dense forest once held little to no trees and a bustling economy- but those times had long since passed and the world grew over what man had wrought. Moss hung low over the bridge, deep and thick along its stone facade, though the walkway itself remained clean and intact. It was as if perhaps people still lived there, but rather than keep up appearances, they simply settled for mother nature to take over its aesthetic appearances.

Here sat the entrance to a land of magic. Beyond the single stone structure that allowed for passage was a world of agriculturalists and deep spiritual groundings. Large, ancient trees grew from within old stone homes that once belonged to men, and moss and ferns grew from within the metropolis that had once possibly meant so much for so many. It was, in every sense, a place of wonderment; it was a truth that even when man came in and destroyed a place of beauty, the world would simply wait and grow back thicker and stronger.  If one were to look to their right, they would see the clearing begin to diminish back in to thick forest, but if one looked to the left, the clearing would expanse further outward in to a more open clearing where hundreds of tiny saplings sat ready to grow.

Through the thick trees to the south strode the soon to be Queen with a sapling in her maw and a foreigner at her rear. She had been gone for too long, it seemed, and as she stepped through the dense forest and in to the trickling light of the opening she paused and smiled. Valen gingerly set her sapling down and turned to face the lady behind her. Her smile only widened as she looked from Lucretia back out to the silent clearing where nothing but a bridge sat, waiting for them to cross it.

"This," she began with a feeling of pride and happiness, "this is Hiraeth. This is our home."  

Each friend represents a world in us. A world possibly not born until they've arrived, galloping into your life like a horse with no reins. And it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

Lucretia held high expectations in her mind, of Valen, of Hiraeth, of her new status as they gradually made their way home. She wanted nothing more to appear excited, grateful, enthusiastic. But this kind, beautiful stranger had no idea what she was really expecting, what she wanted out of this experience. Who knows if the red wolf even chose to stay after seeing it. Nothing was ever good enough. But if what she says is true, and this was a land of Gods, then surely she was meant to be here. She carried herself boldly with her nose high in the air, barely even seeing where she was placing her paws. She didn't need to with Valen as her escort. Already she was imagining meeting the people of these lands, basking in the majesty of her true becoming. How wrong was it for a woman to expect them to build the world she wants, rather than create it herself?

She was an excitable person who only understood life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings held more power than reason. She was so thirsty for the magnificent that only the magnificent held power over her. Anything she couldn't transform into something magnificent, she let go. She had let go of many things in her life, maybe so much that she was left empty and unsatisfied throughout all of her adulthood. But Lucretia didn't feel this way as she walked with Valen. No, she felt full. She felt light. She felt magnificent.

The haughty woman barely noticed when they came upon a stone bridge adorned with moss, and she almost bumped into her fellow traveller when she finally realized they had reached their destination. She shook her head, blinking a hundred times and gazing up and around her. This... was it? Her ears stood straight up, flicking every now and then. Then she looked at Valen in wonder, her toes clenching and unclenching the earth beneath her. Well, what were they waiting for?

She padded past Valen, right to the very edge of where the stone bridge began, and her nose raised to the sky again, her eyes closing gently. "Throw your dreams up to the heavens like a bird, and you do not know what it will bring back. A new life. A new friend," she glanced back at her, a toothy grin widening her lips, "A new love. A new country." She didn't want to wait for her to take the first step. She really didn't. But she looked back at her again expectantly, and offered her paw out, inviting her to join her in her first step.

And the moment came when the risk to remain sheltered, held tight in a bud was more agonizing than the risk it took to blossom. And blossoming for herself, for Valen, was just what she wanted.