It was hot. It was bright. Springtime must be almost over if the air was capable of assuming these kind of temperatures. Mind you, it didn't exactly help to have a body that made every degree seem twice as hot. She was made for snowy expanses, the tall mountain tops and the cold, vast emptiness of the sky - not this salty oven of a flooded desert.

Whatever playful mood or curiosity that had driven her out there to begin with was gone along with the fear of another battle. Her initial thought had been to keep exploring, but as the day grew hotter the child began to long for shade, water and a pile of snow some three meters deep to bury herself in. To make matters worse the tar kept clogging up her throat and a couple of ribs had begun to feel quite sore from all the coughing. Mother was nowhere to be found, she couldn't find any landmark that meant anything, and wherever she looked the colors of everything had deepened, darkened, become glowing and radiant and definitely unusual.

There were still plenty of people drifting about the place. Like her they had probably left when it became clear that there wouldn't be another battle. Whether they were relieved too or disappointed she neither knew nor cared about, like the butterflies Erthë wished them far away to trudge along somewhere else - she had a nasty, blistering headache and was only able to glare at two mares as she slowly walked past them. It was only when she'd turned her back on them that the filly realized that she knew at least one; the big, spotted hybrid that had fought for the Bear God for what felt like years ago.

"Why did you say it was wrong?" she asked, and turned around to squint curiously at the older girl, half blinded by the glaring sunlight. "In the red forest, you shouted and poured water on the Bear... Why?"

She had been curious about it all this time. There were obviously things going on here that the child didn't know anything about. The moral aspects of these battles was something she only just had begun to see, and understanding any of it was really much beyond her. It had been coincidence that placed her at the wrong places all the time, and when a god then called her name what choice did a filly have but to obey?

And yet, the feeling of being pushed and shoved around and making choices without knowing what was right or wrong annoyed her to no end. There were too many options to choose from, to many half-spoken promises and hidden consequences that she didn't know the extent of... How could she even be expected to do the right thing without any information at all? The Wolf God's tooth rested black and heavy against her chest, it's murky glow seeming to consume the clear sunlight. An ominous token, or perhaps a proof of debt - to be cashed in later, at who knew what prize?

Maybe she, this heavy-set and vaguely impressive girl, had answers? At the very least she seemed to be one with plenty of opinions, and for now it might be good enough.

The gray stranger was spared only a fleeting, nervous glance. Wasn't she one of those who had come through the Sun Lord's portal? Aside from the small wings behind the ears that leaked feathers and cried birds there was nothing remarkable about her it seemed. She wasn't nearly as striking in appearance or character as Maren and seemed much less assertive. Was this person a fake, or was she related to the tiger-striped Diviner?

So many questions, all craving answer.