He was hungry. This simple fact was announced quite frequently these past few days by a rumbling sound that emanated from his belly - Kari liked to compare the sound to the growling of a desert lion, a tremor of earthquake, or perhaps the sound of reality caving in around a giant pit of nothingness. It certainly was how his guts were feeling - empty, void, oblivious to the existence of food. Really, it didn't take a genius to figure out that a foal without his mother would end up starving. Anyone would be able to piece the puzzle together with a bit of time and effort; yet for some reason no one had even thought of asking about his parents. Gee, the world truly was going to shit if the sight of a single, lonely foal had become such a common sight that no one even reacted to it anymore.

Kari had done his best to stave off the wearying hunger. There were plenty of moss, grass and fungi growing in the caves and an abundance of water - strange no doubt given the lack of sunlight, but such was the state of the world these days - yet his body still craved the thick, fat delicious milk that only a mother could produce. He also found himself missing the comfort of a presence to return to. Shadow had never been a very good mother, but at least she had always been there to provide for his basic needs - food, shelter, protection, a set of sturdy hooves to sleep next to and a calm, steady voice to answer his questions. May it be that she held no deeper feelings for him (it's what she claimed, at least), but for Kari she was his one and only mom, and as such, irreplaceable.

It was with an expression of dramatic misery that the little colt entered the waterfall cave, hungry and lonely and utterly convinced that no one in the whole world would care if they stumbled over his dead body in a few days. He didn't even spare more than a few moments of moodiness to curiously examine the new cave; they were all more or less the same already, dark and gloomy and seriously lacking the things he wanted most.

He did pause, however, to study the hairy horse that stood belly-deep in the basin beneath the waterfall, poking hooves and nose and whatnot into the water. His small head tilted curiously to the side as he followed this anomaly, slender tail slithering lazily around spindly legs... He startled as the brute suddenly choked, cloven feet actually leaving the ground for a second only to regain traction against the slippery rock with the pillars spread wide and wings half unfurled. Then he began to laugh, a pearly bright sound that bounced against the walls of the room and mixed with the sound of rushing water. Cocking the tail in a fit of sudden fit of exuberance the gray foal started forward as the big stallion retreated to shallower waters and laid down, tiny feet careful as they approached the brink of the pool and warily tapped at the rippling surface. Clear droplets splashed up against his chest, and with a squeal of delight as the liquid cooled the skin Kari plunged in, cheerfully bouncing up and down to make the water splash even more.

"This is fun!" he eventually exclaimed and froze in place, sopping wet and wings spread widely on either side as he turned a widely grinning face towards the stranger. "I thought you were being strange splashing the water but this is great! What's your name, silly person? You can be my friend, if you want."