Själ

"Alright." The other voice surprises the girl, who is so concerned about her friend that she didn't notice the other present until it spoke. Själ whirls suddenly, her metaphorical hackles raising as her ears pin and her teeth bare viciously, more than prepared to fight to the death for her Zèklè. But she recognizes the form almost immediately and relaxes. This is the Mountain that bested her in her very first spar, and something about the tribrid's cautious approach indicates that she is not a threat. So if it wasn't either of them that had frightened Zero so, what was it that he'd been running from?

Realizing suddenly that she is standing almost awkwardly close to the young stallion, the princess glances back and forth between her two newly-found companions. Recognition colors Zèklè's eyes, a hint of relief apparent in the lines of his face. It is clear that the girl is at a disadvantage here: Zero knows and appears to like the stranger, yet Själ doesn't even know her name. A barely-there, petulant frown appears momentarily on her visage. She does not like to share, particularly when (as far as she knows), Zero has always been her friend.

Jealousy aside, concern creased Själ's brow as the pegasus stallion began to speak. Knowing him as well as she imagines she does, she notes his laughter sounds a little too loud, a little too forced; his smile does not reach his eyes, and there is a shifty sort of nervousness that lingers even after the girls have revealed themselves. It is not the Zèklè that she knows, but it is undoubtedly the Zero that she loves. And for the Zero that she loves, she is willing to brush aside what just happened. After all, would she not be mortified if she were to find herself in his place? Would she not want to forget her fear?

Even so, anger boils within her as she considers how to get him to tell her - and the demigoddess, who has him so frightened. She will make them pay.

Perhaps the Mountain will want to join her.

She forces a smile. "You're a convincing actor," she tells him, adopting the affectionately teasing tone that she reserves just for him. "I don't smell that bad, do I?" Her lopsided grin becomes more genuine, but she still cannot shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong. It shows in subtle ways, ways that would likely be invisible to anyone who didn't know her well: there is a slight crease between her brows that isn't normally there, a few taut lines around her smile that betray her tension. Rolling her eyes towards the stranger-who-she-sort-of-knows, she says dryly, "Please tell me you didn't smell me, too?" It is a desperate attempt to share some of Zero's spotlight, but it is all that she can do at the moment.

"Talk."
--Ansgar.--