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Chapter 31: Free Fall

Kristen stood on the cliffs, breathing in the soft spring air, her hooves standing on the grass padded ground, chewing the end of her paintbrush as she studied the scenery in front of her. It was an expanse of mountains and valleys, deep magical forests as enticing as they were dangerous, the depths calling out to her. Something burned inside of her, a desire to explore, a desire to create, a desire to document the beauty she had seen so that everybody could experience exactly what she was experiencing. Because some things in the world were too gorgeous to explain with words. Somethings were too precious to confine within the box of verbal exchange. Some things just needed to be experienced.

Her sister jumped on her shoulder, causing her to knock over her cup of paint water.

"Watch it Valah!" Kristen scrambled to save her glass cup as the water spilled into the soft dirt, the soil soaking up the paint.

Valah giggled. She was so lighthearted, a trait that ran in the family. But Kristen got serious when it came to her painting. It was something she could just pour herself in for hours, forgetting the world around her. It was like she was transported to another world, a world where the only thing that existed was her and her mind. It was therapeutic and stressful at the same time. It was confusing. But one thing she did know is she hated when people messed up her work.

Valah ignored her, instead pointing to details in her painting. "Eedie! Come here!" Her fox ears twitched slightly as she turned, the long brown hair that they got from their mother falling over her shoulders. Eedie, their best friend and travel companion, trotted over, flower crowns in her hands.

"Look at this! She's so amazing!"

Eedie smiled in awe, never tiring of all the paintings she completed. "Wow! Your color theory is getting really good."

"Awwww shut up." Kristen blushed. Kristen always took Eedie's compliments seriously, her mom was the artist that she bought all her supplies from and was the reason Kristen even got to know Eedie in the first place. Even though she wasn't a painter herself, she was more into crafts and pottery, her words still carried more weight than her sister's ever will.

"I think you should push yourself more with the shadows though." Eedie played with her pastel pink pixie cut curly hair, really analyzing the piece. "The details are amazing, but from far away the composition muddles together because there isn't enough contrast."

Valah squinted her eyes, her fox tail swinging under her skirt. "Really? You think so?"

"No." Kristen sighed, "she's right." Kristen tightened her bandana, getting ready to dive back into her work.

"Na na na." Eedie laughed, ripping her prized bandana from her head. "You've been working for three hours already. Time for a break."

Kristen put her hands on the place where her bandana used to be. "Hey! Give it back!" It was something weird that she couldn't explain, but she loved the light pressure on her head, it felt like she was secured. It must've been a family thing, her mom before her had always worn a floppy sun hat, even indoors, and her grandma before her as well. Valah didn't really have the problem, she had her father's ears on her head. But Kristen couldn't stand it if she didn't have something weighing her hair down. She wondered from time to time if her children would inherit the trait as well.

"No! I know that look!" Eedie laughed, holding the piece of fabric above Kristen's short head. "We would be staying here for another two days if you got your way!"

"Here! Have this instead!" Valah grabbed one of the flower crowns from Eedie's other hand, forcing Kristen to stop struggling for her bandana as she slipped the flowers on her head.