The kid showed every sign of wanting to continue the talk. The first clue was the fact that she dutifully answered Erthë's question - not so much the one about the face, but about living and the parents part. Huh. So Nyx had brought back a kid? Another one. They had never had a one on one talk but at first sight the general didn't look like the motherly kind. But now she had not only a pair of twins of her own, she took in strays too. A kind gesture, a very warm and generous thing to do indeed! Something within the young hybrid warmed at the thought, a decision forming to stop and actually talk to the steel-coated mare the next time she had a chance.

But this conversation... With a long, wistful glance towards the clearing, so near and yet so far, Erthë let out a quiet sigh. If Nyx could be lovable enough to a kid, then so could she, couldn't she? Determined to not be worse than the seasoned warrior she turned her back on the calling peace and quiet and turned her full attention to the child, face kind - though perhaps a little stern - as she pressed the matter of the parents.

"No no, I'm not old enough to have kids yet! I live here too, I just got back from a long trip to explore. My father is Vadim, he lives here as well, and my mother is... was Shadow. She is dead, like - like yours."

She tried her best not to let the depth of her sorrow show through, but there was no stopping the hitch in her voice or the stutter as she corrected herself. Old mistakes, old sadness; but they were a part of her, just like the softening eyes as she gazed down at the motherless filly.

"You didn't look too happy when you talked about Nyx... Don't you like her? It was very kind of her to take you in. If she is all you have now then perhaps it would be better to try for some gratitude, at least."

Woolly white ears played curiously atop the curly poll, listening for the reasoning of the child. If someone had been there to help her when she lost her mother... Ah, but they had been, hadn't they. Badger and Mauja, Maren, Miykael and many, many more whose names and faces she lost in the blur of tears. She had not thanked them at the time, but now as Erthë looked back upon that dreadful day she remembered, and the warmth and gratitude that filled her heart could not be conveyed with mere words. Perhaps this girl was just too close to the grief still, too young to know what had happened even...

Poor child.

"What were their names?" she asked softly, kind as a warm spring wind. "Your parents... do you know?"  

Thank the Goddess that Erthë hadn't shrugged off the little pest without trying to listen. The last thing she deserved was to be abandoned a second time.

And to hell with every parent who ever left a child behind!

DANCING IN DARKNESS
to the sound of a drum