Fire dancer tries not to flicker and fidget, but the second seem like hours as she waits for the stranger to weigh in on her plan. Ears sit alert, black eyes expectant; she cannot help the smile which creeps across her lips at the smaller mare's enthusiasm. She thinks she has never met anyone so happy, and though the blind vibrancy of Kahlua sets an uneasiness in the girls' toes, it is also infectious, enjoyable, something entirely different from the shroud of anxiety she has cloaked herself within of late.

She nods, her brow furrowed in mild bemusement- of course the girl will be true to her word. Why would she offer, if she had no intention of follow through? Her excitement, while perhaps pale besides Kahlua's glow, is still beacon, an ember in the dusk- she is thrilled to have found a solution, an answer to a question she stumbled upon in the dark. It sets in her a pride of sorts, a realization she may be good at something she never thought to have talent in. And the older mare's approval, her pleasure at the girl's skill... the girl fidgets, almost uncomfortable with her delight in the praise. How long has it been since someone older, wiser- since nearly anyone had called her actions perfect? And though this mare was different than anyone she had met before, freer, perhaps, with her joy and her praise, well... Tandavi lets her guard drop for an instant. Lets herself feel pleased with the things she has done, rather than distraught by the ways she has failed.

She is saved from her confusing thoughts by her brother's return, and the distraction of the scuffle between dragon and fox. It takes all of Natraj's concentration not to bark out in shock and lose his prize to Kahn's toothy grip. The dragon descends like lightning from the sky, a bolt of blue and suddenly the onyx fox finds himself fighting to keep possession of his prize. Short limbs scramble to find purchase on the rocky ground; his hind sweeps up and his forequarters dip low, a faint growl building at the bottom of his chest, mischief positively glowing in the wide golden gaze. He will certainly not let this- this kit claim his prey!

The girl wants to laugh, or roll her eyes, or both, but the mare's voice cut back into her mind, drawing her gaze away from the pair. Black eyes widen in surprise and awe as a stone at the mare's hooves sprung to life, light pouring out of it, into the chill air- "It's beautiful!" she exclaims, just as her brother arrives in a sprawl at her hooves. The force of the boys snapped the snake, and as the kitsune attempts to regain his dignity he clings tightly to the piece still clamped within his jaw. Three tails shake off the dust from his tumble; casually he moves to examine the rock, as though that was his intent the entire time.

Put in your hair, he suggests to the girl, ignoring the wry gaze she's fixed on his form. He tries to take it from the mare, valiantly struggling against its weight despite the fact that it's a quarter of his size. Fire dancer suppresses the urge to laugh. "Thank you," she smiles, dark voice warm with a sincere joy.

If only the moment could have held, the joyous perfection extended through time. The girl is ready to claim a new friend, before that friend gained a title, a name, and everything changed just a step to the left. Fire child's eyes fade, grow wide with a much less joyous surprise- Queen of the Edge leaves her suddenly cold, lonely and nostalgic in a deep, painful way. So this is the woman who has claimed her aunt's place, stands in her steps and wears her heavy crown. She had always known, of course, that the Edge would have a new queen. But somehow just hearing it made it too... real.

"Oh," comes an answer from the depths of her shock. "Oh."

She isn't quite sure what to feel.

Tandavi