More talking. It makes me uncomfortable- I start to feel as if her chatter is incessant, and while it doesn't annoy me, I feel cramped and isolated. I'm not good at this- talking. I wish Arbutus could speak for me, for if I am to make friends in this herd, I certainly shan't do it the way I have been. My life has consisted of managing on my own and hiding from the truth- how am I to stay by this mare's side and help her find it?

But I am sympathetic for her- after all, she is a sad soul, and I can relate to that, if nothing else. My eyes trace the intricate vine marking across her nose, and I wonder if she recognizes even that. How awful she must find it to have no memory of her origins- how desperately I long for such a thing. What she construes as fear I would face happily. To remember nothing but my own name... how simple that would make things. No mourning, no loss, for there would be nothing to remember and miss.

She asks me, then, to give her a tour. What will I do or say? What even is a tour of this land? I am almost as new to it as she is. I had wandered aimlessly in my weak attempts to patrol, but had succeeded in little else. I freeze, my mouth slightly parted as I attempt to say something, anything, in reply. It is Arbutus' gentle touch as he lands across my withers that gives me the strength to say anything more. "I'm afraid I'm quite new to these lands, I'm not sure how much I know myself. And... I'm not sure if I should show you too much of the territory, unless you plan on joining," I add at the last second, remembering that as a soldier I am supposed to suspect and keep trespassers out. Still, I always do a poor job of being hostile. "If you want to, though... you know, I bet you could. Join, that is," I conclude nervously, nudged along word by word by Arbutus' warm, gracing feathers. My yellow gaze flickers to her eyes briefly before settling on the ground, and nervously I shake out my beard as I wrap my tail around my weak knees. I try to think of something more to say, perhaps ranks to offer, anything, but my mind goes blank and I suddenly lose any recollection of how I was welcomed into this herd. I let my gaze travel over her black hawk wings, and feel naked without any of my own. I want to tell her something about them- perhaps compliment her, but my timidity leaves us a pair in silence.