xp_logs | Paige, meet Asgard. Asgard, Paige.

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Paige ~~shamelessly steals Moonstar's plot device~~ finds herself dumped in the middle of nowhere, curiously near a winged horse which she then rescues. Said horse, identified as Brightwing, claims her as his rider and some very tall lady takes Paige home.

It was warm where she stood, fingers hooked in the dugout gate and staring out at the players. Paige hadn’t been getting chilly on the bench, but it was difficult to curb her enthusiasm for the game and a little sun on the face never hurt. Besides, she’d opted for a t-shirt and a pair of running pants that she’d cut off a couple of inches bellow her knee, and it wouldn’t do to have her muscles tense up on her. She stared out at the field, smiling to herself just because she certainly wasn’t unhappy, and – wait a second; did the first baseman just disappear? No, that wasn’t possible, and she squinted hard at…

A whole lot of trees, and then some grass, as she went tumbling to the ground. Ow. She had just been leaning on cold, hard metal, where did the thin air and a whole lot of trees come from? Not to mention that but this feeling as though someone had just cracked open her skull and was digging around for something important. Getting to her hands and knees, Paige half expected to be face-to-face with a lavender rabbit of some kind, or at least, hoped to hear some maniacal laughter in the background. Even regular laughter would do. But, no, she could see nothing but more trees and hear nothing but a little wind and the sound of distant whinnying. Well, that made her blink. It was Paige after all.

Setting off in the general direction of the sound with caution – horses were good things, but even she knew that sometimes people who owned horses were not – Paige inspected her surroundings with an analytical eye. If she didn’t know better, she could have just thought she’d strayed from the path on one of her morning runs. Luckily, she did; she didn’t recognise that breed of plant, nor that bird and even the leaves on the trees seemed to have a different, glowing hue to them. Paige didn’t believe in fairy tales, and still had trouble believing in pure magic, but for this place there was really no other way to describe it.

The trees cleared somewhat but in their place came a dampness under her trainers and long, fernlike plants that did not appear to be all that friendly. There was a sight; unfriendly ferns, Paige thought wryly to herself, steering clear. The obviously horse noises were getting louder, in fact, they seemed to be coming from just over there. Paige pulled back a tree branch and paused for a moment in awe. She seemed to have come across not only a new breed of fern but also a random bog in the middle of the forest. Oh, and a winged horse who was trapped in the bog in the middle of the forest.

Please feel free to double take.

“Wow,” Paige finally managed, doing nothing but staring. “Oh, wow.”

When she had finally regained herself, Paige crept forward, her trainers making a deep squelching noise as she approached with caution. Having never really met a flying horse before she had no idea how he would take to her. Then again, she was going to be the one taking off those ropes, so perhaps he would forgive her for being around. As she neared him, offering her palm up to him for her scent, he grew restless, throwing his head into the air.

“Hey, I’m a friend here,” Paige said in a soothing tone, even though he’d just barely missed sending her toppling into the now waist deep water. “Stay still.”

Just like that, as if, and she had a feeling she would be using this word a lot, by magic, he stilled, watching her with wise eyes. She could only smile at that, pulling away the ropes that bound him one by one until finally his wings were free. He opened them to their full span and pumped hard, causing Paige to duck and run for cover on the dry shore. With several snaps of broken rope, the creature had freed himself totally and was in the sky, making furious circles. Paige watched him from the ground, hand shielding her eyes, and found herself gasping when he came into land right before her. His nose butted up against her shoulder, whickering softly and after her shocked silence she laughed, stroking his mane.

“Well hello there. You are most welcome,” she said to him, pleased by his reaction. “You are quite lovely by the way, I hadn’t had a chance to mention it.”

“Don’t worry. He already knows.”

Paige whirled around to find herself before a rather tall woman; blonde haired and blue eyed much like herself. Not only that, but she was atop a winged horse very similar to the one that was nuzzling Paige. She wore something that Paige had only seen before on old episodes of Xena while flipping the channels and looked more like underwear than something one would go out in public in. Her headgear was especially worth comment, with what seemed to be wings above her eyes, of pure white.

“I am Sigrdrifa,” she continued during Paige’s goldfish impression. “And you are not from around here.”

Paige regained herself enough to nod fervently. “I’m Paige, and well. Where I come from, flying horses aren’t all that common, so probably not.”

“Ah. Midgard I’d guess from your dress.” Sigrdrifa paused to inspect Paige’s damp clothing and circled her steed around. “Well. Get on Brightwing there and let’s get back to camp to get you some dry clothes.”

“Who’s Brightwing?” Paige asked, confused, earning herself a nudge from the horse behind her.

“Why, he’s Brightwing of course,” Sigrdrifa answered, pointing at the white creature that Paige had rescued. “I would think you would know that since he chose you as his rider.”

It was Paige’s turn to go from confused to flabberghasted, still searching behind her for someone named Brightwing. “Rider? How would he choose me as his rider? And who’s Brightwing?”

Sigrdrifa sighed, trying not to sound impatient. “Get on the horse. We’ll get you some dry clothes and a warm meal and I’ll tell you all about it.”