The wind continued its solitary race across the land and hit Erthë full in the face. She swore loudly as her eyes and mouth filled up with sand, already in a dark state of mind that certainly did not improve with this. At least now she had a good explanation for the running eyes and croaky voice, if anyone would think to ask about it. She hated crying, hated letting others see her cry and, most of all, she hated that she couldn't get over the reason why those hateful tears kept appearing in her eyes.

Blinking and grimacing at the discomfort, she looked up and noticed a dot moving across the plain some distance away. Through her blurred vision it was hard to make out any features, but the scent that came drifting on the wind was vaguely familiar.

Great. The last person she wanted to see such a display of weakness, and there he was trotting along like some cruel joke.

She could ignore him and just get on with her own business. It would be the sensible thing to do, seeing as they weren't friends and just barely on the neutral side of mutual dislike. The times they had bickered and quarreled stood out more vividly in her mind than that one, awkward time spent in the Rotunda, where she had forgotten why she followed after him in the first place and accomplished nothing. He was still a stranger, his motifs and reasoning as unknown to her as how fish managed to breathe under water.

What did she even want from him? Friendship? Well, to not be enemies would be a decent aim at least. It was kinda fun to bicker with him, in the same way she enjoyed poking fun at Volterra, but unlike with her big black friend she found little in the way of humor about Rikyn. Did he ever laugh and joke and play around with others? The thought was odd, hard to reconcile with her picture of angry eyes and back-turned ears.

Perhaps she just hadn't been around enough to see it. OR something about her made the unicorn see red, she wouldn't know.

She remained on the spot for a while, hesitating as she watched the dark smudge slowly move across the expanse. Conflicting thoughts and feelings tumbled through her mind, and slowly - not quite as reluctant as she would like to be - Erthë started forward, her course angled in such a way that they eventually would cross paths.

Better just do it, she was heading in that direction anyway. Yes, lets tell ourselves that.