I smile small but graciously at Seren as she calls me strong, as she hopes to be free in spirit and in mind, and I don’t have the heart to tell her that it is only my body that is free. My mind is still trapped in the past and I don’t know how to free it. There was too much. Right now, it doesn’t feel as though I will ever shake the fear that these steps could be my last free ones. It would seem that I wasn’t alone, either. Seren’s voice is soft and careful as she gives me a brief insight into how she came to be here. Our stories are not entirely the same, but there’s enough of her words that strike a chord within me that I can empathize with her. I know what it felt like to have the weight of the knowledge that I was forever separated by my family.

There was a strong desire to reach out to Seren, offer some sort of comforting touch, but I quiet the thought as she raised her head and. ‘Here’s to second changes.’ Her words echoed in my mind and I smiled fully and warmly at her now to return the sentiment. “May we both find kinder times here in Helovia.”

I welcomed the question about the Basin, the change in topic. “Not intruding at all… I’m still new there myself, but I’ll tell you what I know.” I still don’t know where the Basin is in relation to where we are standing, but my golden eyes look for it again, still thinking that it might just suddenly appear.

“There’s mostly unicorns there, from what I’ve seen. And jobs, which is something I find interesting. There’s five different fields to choose from - warriors, scholars, thieves, healers, and crafters.” I think that was all of them, I was trying to think back to the first few moments in the Basin when I had been about to fall asleep on my hooves but had been getting as much information as they had thrown at me. “I’m a little partial to the healers myself, it’s what I used to do. I like the idea of having a job, something to keep myself busy.”

What else could I tell Seren about that herd? “Most sleep in the caves, outside of the wind, but I spent my second night out beneath the stars - beneath the aurora.” There’s a secret smile tugging at my mouth then as I thought of Calder, how immovable he had been when faced with my wrath about the cold. How warm it had been curled up next to him, sharing stories and secrets.

It aggravated me that I had trusted him then, that I did trust him now. I felt like I should be more cautious, that I shouldn’t let myself be lulled by the kind attitudes of those I had met so far. I couldn’t fully shake the idea that there was something wrong with this place - there had to be.

I shake my head to get rid of the thoughts of him and turn my golden eyes to the sky, the one that so perfectly matched the mare standing before me. “I had never seen it before I came here.”