Horizon Ridge Blue is the warmest color

She's looking for @Akhlut but others are more than welcome to come hang out with Pied. :)

Atka came to her in her dreams, taking the form of the simorgh again. "Is she with you?" Pied asked, then quickly added, "I'm sorry, that was rude. Hello, goddess." She shrank down, fearing rebuke, and shyly peeked up through her eyelashes. Some part of her questioned this entire scenario—did she even believe in any of this anymore?—but mostly she played along. "I was just hoping to see her..."

"She's safe," Atka said with only the slightest note of reproof. "I came here to tell you something important. Are you listening, Pied?" The lovely, mythical creature waited until the she-wolf nodded silently. "It is my will that you bring forth this babe, my incarnation. You won't remember this meeting on the surface... but deep down, in the very fiber of your being, you will realize the importance of motherhood. You've already begun to sense it. The instinct will flower and grow. It won't be just a mere personal dream any longer but a divine destiny you need to fulfill..."

In a flash, she metamorphosed, shedding her magnificent, shimmering wings and taking the shape of a great white bear. Pied flattened to the ground as light suddenly poured forth from Atka, filling Pied's eyes, ears and nose. She could feel its warmth surrounding her, then felt it seeping into her body—namely, into her belly. With it came a deep understanding and she looked up with a gasp, only for the light to flash—

—she stirred, her eyes fluttering open in the dark. Her nose touched Kisu's warm, soft fur and Pied lay there, gathering her bearings. Already, the dream faded into the back of her mind. She snorted quietly and hoisted herself onto her feet, stepping over her mate to squeeze through the lair's exit. She emerged into a world lit only dimly by the newborn sun peeking over the eastern horizon beyond the ridge's opposite face. Its light did not yet touch Pied yet; she stood in the blue shadows still.

Striding forward, she achieved the head of the towpath and began to descend, eventually reaching the beach. Pied loped onto the cold strand, racing toward the edge of the ridge's shadow. When she burst into the light, she felt its rays on her mottled backside. She dug her heels into the sand, then whirled around to look backward at her home. The sunrise made her think of Akhlut and she wondered whether the prince of light was out and about at this, his favorite time of day.