The fire was crackling loudly in the hearth; a sizzling sound and tantalizing smell were wafting from there with a wave of inviting warmth. Theadosia’s eyes blinked open blearily, taking in her surroundings. Soft white light beamed from between the heavy velvet curtains her father had bought to keep the cold out this winter. As her vision cleared, she spotted fat globes of fluffy white snow. With a gasp she rose to her feet with glee and excitement. Lucias, her father, noting her sudden interest in the frosty weather outside sighed and laughed softly. “Don’t run out without your scarf Thea. It’s been coming down like crazy for over an hour now, there should be plenty to play in. Do you remember the rules?” Theadosia trotted to the door and grabbed her red scarf off the rack and rolled her eyes as her father asked about the rules. “Yes pa, don’t go past the river and come back when you call.” She says this as she’s hurrying out the door. She hears her father call from behind her. “Be safe! Don’t be snooping in places you don’t belong!” She rolls her eyes again and flies off the porch into the blurry white. Her hooves slide as she halts her momentum in the glade in front of their cabin. She hadn’t planned on going far, her father, the worry wort, made it hard to enjoy going beyond the bounds of where she knew he was comfortable with her being. He’d always been this way, or at least since she can remember. It got really annoying after a while, but it was better than him hovering. He was a good dad, he really was, just way too overprotective. She was a yearling now, this would be her second winter, she had expected a certain amount of leniency after a while, but she was sorely mistaken, his overprotectiveness only getting worse as she aged. It was so peculiar it almost didn’t make sense. Well, it wouldn’t make sense if they hadn’t both lost her mother shortly after she was born. He wouldn’t talk about it no matter how hard she’d pushed over the years. It was only right that she got to know at least a little bit about her mother, but she could see the haunted look he got when she mentioned him, eventually she stopped asking. He wouldn’t be the same for days sometimes, a longing but heartbroken and confused husk of her father, him but not quite. More like a shadow looming over a grave. Another reason she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to be told her mother was really dead, somehow, she hoped she would be alive and that Thea would one day get to meet her and understand why. Why anything really, why did she leave, why would dad not talk about it, why give up on us? A silver tear fell from her cheek into the snow, her brows furrowed as her throat began to clench and burn. For a moment it felt as if she couldn’t breathe, her shoulders shuddered and she groaned softly, her voice cracking. Stamping her front hooves, Theadosia gives a loud snort and races into the tree line, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow, her red scarf trailing the icy wind behind her. ~ After a while of running Thea stops to catch her breath, the silent tears not but frosty trails down her muzzle now. She looked up at the forested canopy above her, the pine trees extending for what seemed like forever to her, snow just beginning to accumulate on the needles on their branches, small cones that didn’t detach in fall coated in ice made it all look so magical as the sun gave a rare peak through the dense clouds. She sucked in ragged breaths as she admired the frozen scenery around her. Birds flew by, tweeting their songs, talking back and forth amongst themselves. The squirrels chittering from the tree trunks as they foraged for any nuts they might have buried. The forest was certainly alive even though the snow blanketed everything to look so clean and sterile. She almost hated to disturb the frigid beauty of the glade around her but a pile drive into a snow mound was just too tempting to resist. With a shrill shout of delight, Theadosia leapt as high as she could over a gathering mound of snow and fall right in, the white powder exploding all around her. Her giggles and shrieks could be heard all around, as the glade sat in a bowl of mountains, the sound echoing off their magnanimous heights. ~ Lucias hummed to himself softly as Thea slid around their yard, watching her out of the corner of his eye. When she stopped suddenly, he paused in his stirring, the potatoes in the pan sizzling softly. He watched her for a moment and as if he were aware of her feelings all the way from where he stood by the window of the cabin. The sadness radiated off her like a cold shadow, her shoulders sagging and shuddering under the weight of whatever pain she was bearing. He was reaching for his own cloak just as she bolted into the woods. His heart hurt to feel the raw emotions she left behind as he took the pan off the fire and ventured into the snow after her. The trail of emotion ended near the basin by their home, he scented it, the sorrow mingling with confusion burning his eyes, making them line with silver. He cleared his throat as he treads forward. Soon he heard laughing and shrieking. As he stepped through the tree line and the sun peered through the veil of clouds, he saw his daughter blasting through snow mounds like everyone was her objective to destroy. He found himself chuckling with her. It was several moments before she noticed him but when she did, she pranced up to him, her breath clouding her face, the scent or heaviness of sorrow nowhere nearby. If he could smile, he would, instead he let out a sigh of relief. “Seems like you’re having fun out here.” He says, his tone soft yet jovial. Theadosia looks into her father's minty glowing eyes and nods happily. “Yea, the first snow of the year is always the best.” she chuckles breathily and looks down at herself, starting to shiver. Her scarf was soaked as well as the rest of her and it was downright freezing. Lucias notes her state and rushes her back to their home to get her warm before she caught sick. Once there he finished their breakfast and they ate in content silence as Thea warmed back up by the fire. Lucias watched his daughter silently and couldn’t help but remember the taste of her feelings in his mouth earlier, bitter and sad. He knew they’d need to talk about it eventually, but Lucias didn’t want to spoil the moment. So, he opened a book and began to read as the snow continued to dance across the frosty air.