The buckskin's anger fleeted as quickly as it had set in, though she felt the boy was a loose cannon of emotion. One moment he was furious, and the next he looked just a sorrowful as she'd felt coming into this land. Common sense told her to run away from such a strange, explosive stallion, but dark spindles stood defiantly in the snow. What good would it do her to run away? In the cold of Frostfall she'd likely die anyways, might as well be at the hooves of a handsome brute. At least her last vision could be something with some beauty.

It was with shining pools that she took in his apology. He talked almost as though he knew her, had met her before; like someone who had reason to care for her. Why did he speak so passionately? Didn't he see that she was but a stranger to him, just a lone mare lost in this place? Half of her wanted him to leave her, not lift her hope that would be all too easily shattered. The other half wanted to believe every word he said, to let him take her away and bring her back to life. Confusion and pain wracked her brow as she gazed at the passionate stag. She wanted to question why she was deserving of anything. Maybe this was the Gods way of sending her strength. Was this tanned buck some sort of angel? A loud, wild angel?

The silver doe held her nerves together, feebly, as he came closer. She inhaled quickly, almost a gasp, when he pushed her chin up into the air. Her dished muzzle drifted upwards at the pressure, too shaken and weak to defy him. If not for his words, she would not have understood what he meant by the gesture, but the point was made clear. He didn't like to see his own kind in such a poor state, and he seemed to recognize the careful ancestry the humans had instilled in her lineage, the stone elegance that had been driven into her blood. Ebon lashes batted, the rest of her body quite still, chin still resting high in the air, as it might have been when she was more than just a mare. The tawny stallion seemed determined to bring her old pride back to the surface.

"Do not apologize to me, stranger. My nerve should be stronger than it is. I will try, if you will it so much." Icy pools gleamed with more vigor, infused with curiosity, and most of all, gratefulness. "I am Bellatrix. I was once a champion, in the land of my birth." Pride found her face, diluted by the wistful sadness of what had been. Shaking midnight tressed at the nostalgia, she continued with her gaze back on Ricochet. "What is you name? Are you guardian of the Equines in the world?"