Looking very much like a hoarder, and not very much like a queen, the Sunshower wandered the Edge with her eclectic collection. On her head rode a mechanical scorpion, nestled contentedly into her forelock. With each step it clicked and whirred, keeping its balance and watching the world with lifeless eyes. It did little but move and click, as far as Kahlua could tell, but she loved it all the same and carried it with her for friendship and companionship here in the lonely wood. With so many gone to the island in the sky, the draconian forest was eerily quiet.

In her mouth, she carried her glass basket. Though it typically swayed to and fro with the bounciness of her jubilant trot, today it rested quietly as she walked along. Inside of it were several objects of interest. Lining the bottom were a variety of purple and yellow feathers, gifted to her by a hulking bear-sized owl that had, surprisingly, flown off after their interaction. How he had managed to lift himself into the air was beyond the queen, but he had flown with surprising grace off towards the horizon.

On top of the feathers there were two objects. One was made of metal, a small box with a button on top which, when pressed played a sweet little tune that filled the air and competed with the birds themselves for most lovely song. It was a gift from the crafter Ulrik, as the scorpion had been. As the music played, Kahlua hummed along with it, pondering words to put to the song she knew it almost by heart now, could hum it to herself when the music box stopped, she had played it so many times, but she had no words for the melody that seemed to speak to her heart.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly of her collection, settling cozily in the basket, was an iridescent egg, also gifted to her by the mysterious owl. But for all of the love she had for the inanimate objects, she could find only apprehension about what was in the egg. And though she would not throw it to the cold or let it lay uncared for somewhere else, she was (as of yet) only carrying it out of a sense of duty. She had always dreamed of having a companion, but now, with the prospect looming so closely, she was not so certain she knew what she had been asking for.

The mists, for all their swirling and ebbing and flowing did little to ease her mind. There were no answers in the mists that she could glean. If they were there, only Nasreen would be able to reveal what they knew and the new Seer was nowhere to be seen, dancing on the island in the sky, perhaps. But so was the rest of her herd there, and she was certain they would know what to do. She headed south, closer to the wall that was slowly coming down. Dragomir had started work upon the thing finally, crafting it into pieces that could be used for the greenhouse that Resplendence had so desired. She would have so much more peace when the thing was finally destroyed, laid waste to, razed to the ground and never to be seen again. She was sorry she had crafted it at all.

But once again, her return to the island was to be delayed. She sighed, heading towards the voice that had called her as the last of the music box's song tinkled away into eternity. She would have to press the button again to make the song play another round, but she supposed there were more important things to do now than stop to press the button. Except, that the song didn't matter anymore once she saw who it was that had called her from her peace. “MAU'A!” But the screaming through the basket of her handle made it difficult to know if her tone was angry or excited.

Putting her basket on the ground gently enough, the egg rolling gently from side to side, she looked up at him and it quickly became clear what emotion she was feeling. “I looked everywhere for you! Where were you!?” Her pursed lips and stamping hoof only served to make her anger look childish instead of menacing, though. If she were truly an angry being she might have ranted on at him, yelling about how Aurelia had caused chaos and there was another trial to hold and how much she actually didn't like being queen that much and how he was making her job harder and how he had just abandoned her while she was trying to make everything better!

Except it wasn't in her heart to stay angry for long, so she bounded forward around the basket and threw her nose over his much taller shoulder, if he would have her. And then she stepped back, furrowing her brow in an attempt to look menacing, but she only ended up bursting into hysteric laughter, her head lifted high in the air and the scorpion clicking and whirring angrily as it retreated down to the safety of her withers. “I missed you,” she cooed then, blue eyes turning soft as she looked at his second owl and how much it had grown. If Mauja had enough love for two companions, could she find enough love for one?