At last, Valka’s slender figure passed through the dappled shadows of the Threshold forest. She recalled this place, but in a different time – when heat baked the earth to a sullen brick, when green leaves whispered for the merest breath of wind or drop of water. Now the air was crisp, and some of the foliage turned brittle. The change put a spring in Valka’s step; she was quite proud of herself here, really, and the intensity of her gaze as it swept the trunks bled triumph. She was, of course, getting ahead of herself, but she knew she would find a good, strong unicorn here to add to her herd. They couldn’t waste time on just anyone, but neither could they afford to let good souls into the wrong hands… Valka thought of her disastrous first day here and shook her head.
She missed the Basin already, but she persevered until the noise of voices caught her ears. Male, she thought, expression souring. They were unfamiliar, as well. With long, smooth strides Valka approached, noting the sweep of a proud horn above the largest creature’s brow – and he was large, his crown rising even higher than her own and his frame heavy with muscle. The other wore no horn; he was at least of manageable size. Battle lines already drawn in her mind, Valka nodded to herself and skirted the yammering hound that danced now around the mare at the center of it all: an obvious newcomer, and no doubt confused as Valka herself had been only a short time ago.
”I would caution against accepting shelter from anyone so thin-skinned as to call this weather cold,” announced Valka. Her eyes flicked only briefly over the equine, full of venom. She focused on the mare, though, careful to place herself away from both studs and the dog and careful to keep her tone neutral. Friendly. Friendlier than either of the arrogant, muscle-bound creatures already present. ”My name is Valka,” she added. ”Might I know yours?” Studying the mare only was fast proving difficult; every instinct screamed that she should watch the big stallion, the first potential threat Valka had met with in a long time. Was he dangerous? She couldn’t be sure, but she disliked his stance, and she smelled nothing of the Basin on him; one ear trained on the stranger and she kept him in periphery as she waited for the other mare to make a move.
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Valka
