When she was young, she'd been well taught never to cast the first stones in a conflict. She was a jetty, built to be battered so the more fragile, beautiful parts of the world would remain unscathed. She was a shield, an iron guard to protect the innocent, not made to wound. She bore the scars of her trouble, and then some. The injuries had left her blinded to potential nuances in conflict, like the way she blatantly ignored the wound on the white mare. But then, maybe she would have been more forgiving if the two hadn't turned so quickly on her friend. She endeavored to be a little more impartial next time.

She was jarred from her thoughts by the sound of Auriel's voice ringing delicate and clear. She softened at the apology, the irritation ebbing away and leaving no trace. "Don't you worry a thing about it, miss. You did what anybody would." She nodded firmly. "Sometimes adults behave like children. No fault of yours." The warning shots had been strongly worded enough. She was hoping the conflict wouldn't be coming to actual blows anytime soon. That was something she'd rather spare her young friend.

Instead, she was happy to change the subject. "Good idea! I'll dig one up." She glanced sideways one or twice to check on Auriel. "Make sure you get the roots or they won't last long." She hoped the message had gotten through, but she couldn't be sure. She was most of the way through digging around a small sprout of a thistle when Auriel was sprinting off again to offer assistance to someone else. She couldn't be the least bit mad at that, and she was quick to follow with her little plant, roots very much intact, carefully held between her lips.

She didn't even have time to introduce herself before everything devolved into chaos.

Again.

It started with an exploding tree and ended with an attempted kidnapping and all Cheska could do the entire time was stare, slack jawed, as the debris of an utterly annihilated tree hit her face and the tiny plant slipped from her mouth. Someone was yelling.

Finally, she was aware enough for her instincts to kick into gear. These were the two from the arch. Auriel's sister and father. He instantly endeared himself to her by ignoring his daughter, and then sealed the deal by grabbing the big painted tree mare in his teeth. She tried to hate them instantly, but with Auriel's words from the last encounter ringing in her ears, she couldn't. Instead, she decided to apply some much needed diplomacy to the issue. She approached the fray carefully. Great. More horns flying around. "Now hold on there! You picked the one tree that can walk herself to the damn boat." She was careful to stay out of goring range as she tried to reason with them. "How about extendin the same courtesy to those that can't?"

Good. Now where did the exploding girl go?

@[Auriel]; *Cheska shows up fifteen minutes late with Starbucks*