She had leaped from Mauja's shoulder, not yet fledged wings snapping wide as she glided down. The movement ruffled her soft white down, and unfazed she passed the bulk of the large, black mare. Why would owls care about horses? Her bonded might be one, but that linking of souls did not extend to other fourfooted creatures. In silence, the young predator flared her wings and landed with a click on the icy floor, one set of talons digging into it for stability, the other upon the soft, still-warm flesh of the dead mouse. For a moment her blue eyes stared at the mare as if daring her to challenge her claim, but then she ignored the bulky horse and began to tear into her meal.

Slightly behind Rook stood Mauja himself, taller but narrower than the mare. His white reflection was distorted in the layers of ice upon the walls, the spots of black looking more like grime from the cave walls than actual pieces of himself. Grimacing at the stallion in the ice, he turned his attention to the mare and the owl again. As this was the Wilds he had no claim over the lands, but frequently patrolled through the snowy vastness. Sometimes it brought interesting encounters around, but first and foremost it helped him keep tabs on his scattered herd. "Morning," he said, voice light. He often walked through the nights to keep the heat in his blood up, since the hairless patch on his hindquarters was excellent at leaking it out. Short, white stubble covered it, not yet enough to keep him warm throughout the long Frostfall. It was only slightly odd to find someone else awake at this early hour, but then again, what in the world wasn't slightly odd?

He had no real desire to brush past her in these cramped quarters, so he remained where he was behind her. She had lived a life of either violence or abuse, since her skin was littered with scars, but that was no strange sight in Helovia. War drove many from their homes, or sad tales of abuse. He had a hard time seeing her head properly from here, and if she had a horn, it wasn't a long one. Still, it didn't matter right now whether she was unicorn or not. He liked to keep tabs on everyone who passed through the northlands. With curiosity in his blue eyes he tilted his head, thick white forelock sliding off his forehead. "Are you new to Helovia?"

Because, yes, it was perfectly normal to have friendly conversations with strangers in ice tunnels.