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IT was nearing sunset when Eldala was making her way back towards the Basin for the night. A wonderfully large pile of bark laid upon a branch with enough lateral shoots to prevent it from falling off. The fruit of many hours of peeling the strips from their home on various trees. She was quite pleased with herself and, secretly, she had no intentions of sharing this precious cargo. A little innocent indulgence. This bark was not of the weaving kind, however, no. It was for eating. The best way for a horse to get nutrients in the winter with no visible grass was edible bark and thus, Eldala had ventured just outside the Basin for a while to harvest it. Later in the season this would be a nice little snack. She'd need more, sure, but this was a start.
Unfortunately for her, she was not destined to keep her harvest today. Just as she'd reached the edge of her homeland the mare saw a small gathering of horses. Curiosity caught her attention and she slowed her pace, stopped, and dropped the pile just short of the gathering. There was a sweaty looking mare, a blue mare, and a stallion with antlers. /Well, thats interesting. By-product of a clandestine meeting with a stag perhaps?/ But then, a little fluffy tail swishing underneath the belly of the sweaty mare catches her gaze, and eyes go wide. /A foal!/
She'd not seen one since meeting Ivezho. Before she'd always ignored them as annoyances but, now, looking at the tinsy little tail she felt an odd pull she couldn't explain. This entire bout of observation from the dropping of her bundle to the widening eyes had taken less than a second and now she introduces herself, "Hello! I'm Eldala, Apprentice of the Weaver Johnny here. You have a truly lovely little foal there."
She pauses a moment, staring forlornly at her precious bark pile, before deciding to do the right thing. The little hazelnut picks it up again and bounces over to the mare where she drops it on the ground. "This is the tastiest edible bark one can find. I'm sure you're hungry after your ordeal so please take it." A bright, charming smile is upon her face as she speaks but inside she cries a little that she won't have her bark later. /The price one pays for friends, I suppose./
The mare knew nothing of the "ordeal" other than remembering her mother had eaten massive amounts of food following the birth of her younger siblings so, really, this offer was the only thing she had for the mare. In spite of her inexperience, she instinctively knew it was important to remain quiet and calm for the atmosphere here was thick. She didn't know the other two yet, but hoped introductions would eventually be made. But, right now, everyone's focus was on the new mother and her foal.
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[O] anything to make you smile [BIRTHING]
