She wore her scars as her best attire.

Maybe it was the fact she had been gone for so long, wandering aimlessly around the rest of Helovia, meeting new faces and committing them to memory, that she had forgotten some of the faces of her home. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t seen anyone else, other than the usual creatures that kept the Basin appearing as a moving beast, breathing life into a place that had been so cold for so long without the consistent embrace of life aside from the flocks of birds and packs of wolves.

Or maybe people were just gone.

It was a thought the Thief didn’t think was possible, to be honest. She held so much loyalty to the Basin, for them to offer her a home and give her a job - to continue working on the task and become something greater that the idea of leaving just felt so terribly wrong. Perhaps that’s why she told the Elephant King no so many times to his offers, knowing deep down it was breaking both their hearts. But she had a duty to do at the Basin that she wasn’t done with yet - that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be done with.

So she spent some time, imagining up different ideas on how to rope others to join them. She had visited the threshold since her birth, despite still carrying the roundness of her belly and the obvious signs of carrying milk for not one, but two children this time. She had plenty of time with the two of them while out and about to think of something that might be at least a bit interesting. But of course, it would require preparation and the approval from the leads. This lead Rexanna to ponder her thoughts and organize them as best she could, not thinking that Hotaru would be in a good enough state (for the last time the golden mare had seen her Lady had been on the Steppe, both of them pregnant and ridiculously emotional) to bring up such a matter. She had decided on trying to happen across her Lord, the one that had given her so many opportunities when Thranduil brought her to their icy fortress of a home. She had been thankful, and still was.

Daybreak had just crested across the peaks of the highest point of the mountain range as she stepped out of her cave. Her children slept soundly while she made her small escape. Of course, the new mother didn’t venture far from her home, for her cave was close to the hot springs and so she stood a ways off from the simmering pool of liquid, pointing her bright golden horn to the sky as she became washed in golds, pinks, and gentle blues of the sky with hardly a cloud in the atmosphere. Clearing her throat, she aimed her head high.

“Lord Deimos! I would like to speak with you.” Her voice was loud but soft across the winds of the Birdsong morning as she settled back in, flicking a pale ear back toward her cave and shooting it a quick glance to make sure she hadn’t woken the sleeping beauties. Then, as she waited, she tried to file her ideas in a way that would make sense. She recalled the event of the Falls when she had just came here - a winter wonderland if memory served her right. She hadn’t actually gone to the event, but she heard from others at Ashamin’s story telling event what had happened. It sounded like a beautiful way to prove to the rest of the world that the Basin wasn’t as cold as everyone made it out to be. Sure, she knew the rules and heard the rumors of it being a unicorns domain. But who’s to say they couldn’t take in others that showed promise? With a heavy sigh, the Thief shifted her weight and waited - unsure how to bring it up and if her Lord would even like the idea. But it was something and that was really all she had at the moment, not really knowing who had left. As far as she was concerned as she traversed her home, it was becoming a barren place, despite the cheery vibes from Johnny and Tiamat.

"Talk."

a stunning dress—

made of hellfire.

Rexanna