Help my little brother, he said. Nyx was a benevolent soul, and helping a poor defenceless ice-trapped colt was precisely the sort of thing she would do - it was a pity that every single sign was yelling trap! at her. She was walking through a spooky-ass forest, following a spooky-ass unicorn, with spooky-ass chills going down her spine - she was entitled to feel uneasy. On her back, Dominus growled, a steady, rumbling sound; she could feel his infantile displeasure at the situation, and his long tail was lashing against her shoulders as he sat curled between the blades. He was a couple of weeks old now and still small enough to nestle in the place he had chosen when he was a hatchling, with black strands of Nyx's mane covering him like a blanket. His intelligent blue eyes poked out from beneath, narrowed and wary as he bobbed with the movement of her body.

But, as they moved through the thicket, the fact it was a trap became more and more apparent. When the stallion spoke, Nyx really wasn't surprised - she just released a groan at her own naiivety, and the fact she was so damn gullible. "That's just peachy," she murmured, tail slapping her flanks as she narrowed her eyes at the blind stallion. Dominus' growls increased in volume until he was like a piece of garden equipment snarling away between her shoulders, and she had to prod him with her mind to get him to shut up and stop distracting her - he clambered up her neck, sharp claws digging into her flesh, and sat between her ears to glower disdainfully down at Morir. As he spoke of his sister, the silver soldier's skull snapped around to focus on the ominous-looking black mare, with such force the lion cub had to grapple Nyx's ears to keep his balance. She was surrounded, with no means of escape. Wonderful.

The silver mare levelled her frigid gaze between the two of them, glancing between them. Her unease levels continued to rise, and she was painfully aware of her young companion nestled on her head - she was like a mother bear over him, fiercely protective and adoring. She had gone from loathing the idea of a mental bond to adoring it, and the fluffy white cub that had befriended her - the idea of him getting hurt was agony to her. "Go", she tried to tell him - he couldn't answer, but seemed to understand her words. He send her a sharp mental rebuke, letting her know that he was not going to abandon her. With a disgusted grunt, the woman looked back to her captors. "So...have you just stolen me for my delightful company, or do you have far more gruesomely painful intentions in mind?" She quirked a brow, outwardly fearless and almost indifferent, but inwardly feeling her heart flutter like a dying bird.

The mare's smile did little to ease the soldier's nerves - it looked as though she was trying to decide what Nyx would taste like on a sandwich. She introduced herself as Confutatis, and for politeness' sake the dove dipped her head in a nod of greeting, almost tipping her companion down her skull. "I'm Nyx, this is Dominus." She gestured upwards with her eyes to indicate the lion cub, who ceased his growling for a moment to warily eye the other female. "This sheep is definitely not one to approach a wolf - but, evidently this sheep is also quite dumb and gullible. My brother's stuck in ice, my ass." She huffed and looked accusingly over at Morir, before returning her attention to the skull-faced mare. "And no, I'm not a huge fan of gore - I would, however, like to know why you two have lured me here." She looked almost scolding, like an irritated mother hen annoyed that she had fallen for the prank of a child.

The other addressed Dominus, something that took Nyx by surprise - she hadn't met many others since finding her companion, but she hadn't expected any to consider the white lion as a true living being. The cub fluffed himself up even more, the tip of his fluffy tail tickling Nyx's eyebrow and making it twitch. Then came a compliment, comparing the silver dove to her leonine companion - perhaps there was some logic there, as after all Dominus must have seen something of the lioness in her to 'choose' her from his egg. "I'll take that as a compliment,"she murmued, before falling silent to await a proper explanation - so far all she had received was some clever exhanges with the demon-skulled wordsmith, nothing of substance, nothing to explain why she had been lured here under false pretences. She talked of family, then, and the girl's ears visibly pricked, interest piqued. "And who, pray tell, do you see as unworthy of their crowns?" From what she had gathered, the herds were just finding their feet again after the long exile in the caves. Nyx had been on her way to see if the World's Edge would take her back in when she had met Morir, the blind weirdo and his worryingly good lies.

The stallion himself spoke, then, and Nyx's attention shifted to him. She felt able to meet his eyes, or, rather, the place where his eyes should be - after all, he couldn't see her, to accuse her of staring like a predator. Simply want to speak with you, he said, and the woman resisted the urge to huff. "Generally, when someone wants to talk to you, they come up to you and talk - they don't lure you into a creepy-ass forest under the pretence of a trapped sibling." Her words were sharp as ever, icy gaze narrowing warily. But then he explained, saying that she likely wouldn't have heard them out had he gone about it a different way - perhaps he was right, but they'd never know.

The blind man looked awfully chilled, but Nyx supposed he had little reason not to be - he couldn't see, after all, if she was about to lunge at him and shove her horn so far up his backside it tore his throat. It must be difficult, to cope without sight; to not be able to pick up on all the tiny body-language signals that make up the equine language. He introduced himself as Morir, and explained that Confutatis had taken him in - how kind of her, Nyx thought sardonically to herself, noting the 'good cop, bad cop' routine the pair seemed to have down to a T. Still he didn't offer an adequate explanation about why she was here, instead asking about herself. "Would it make any difference if I told you I was nineteen hands tall and bonded to a ten-foot lion?" she innocently asked, just because she could. But then her expression turned serious, and she sighed. "I'm a unicorn, I come from Isilme, where my parents were the infamous Querida the LightningQueen and Nato, leaders of one of the herds there. I like long walks on the beach and copious amounts of grass." Without meaning to, she had resorted to her oldest tactic of using humour as a defence mechanism, and couldn't help but chuckle to herself once she realised what she was doing. "Dominus is a white lion cub, a couple of weeks old, and he says hello." She judged as much from her bonded's mental images, despite the fact he could not communicate in words.

Retreating a step so she could look at both her captors with only the minimal amount of head movement, Nyx spoke again - two simple, curious words. "Why me?" Of everyone in Helovia, why me?

She sensed some trouble in paradise, though, a brewing tension between the blind man and the acid woman; Nyx remained silent, gaze darting between each of them as Confutatis drew herself up to her full height to glower at Morir. With the imminent threat of attack now seeming to be out of the way, Dominus released a huff of boredom and shimmied down his bonded's neck to curl up in the crook of her shoulders, tucking his nose into his tail and promptly falling asleep. Typical little boy - no interest in politics when there was no bloodletting involved. It was hard for Nyx to constantly remind herself that her lion was a mere cub, a few weeks old; he couldn't be expected to follow her conversations religiously, not yet, anyway. Men think they are always the biggest, always the strongest, pointed out the other mare, and Nyx's muzzle twitched in a momentary grin. Oh, yes - stallions had an uncanny knack to turn any conversation into a pissing contest. It was how they were made, to rule and dominate, to lord it over women and weaker men alike.

Her features twisted to shock as Confutatis revealed she, too, was from Isilme - and that she was a daughter of Oblivion, no less. Her mother had told her tales of the skull-faced killer, although Nyx had always been hardpressed to see if she spoke out of hatred or envy. "He used to rule the Woodlands, the same as my parents did," remarked the thunder girl, internally tittering at what a small world it was, and also how amusing it was that she could stand and make smalltalk with a woman who had kidnapped her. Confutatis had a knack for public speaking, she'd give her that - her words motivated the iron lady, made her want to storm into battle with sword raised and beast at her side, to conquer and own. She was usually more of an accidental warrior than an intentional one, but something about what this mare was saying appealed to her. Morir chimed in, then, and a small hum escaped the dove's mouth as she pondered over their points. She could certainly use a little excitement in her life, a cause to fight for, instead of wondering around aimlessly. Perhaps this could inspire her, give her a reason to ply her trade of war instead of simple boredom.

Now, she just needed a dotted line to sign.

"You two can be very persuasive, you know," she remarked with a small note of amusement in her voice. Her eyes momentarily widened as Morir stepped aside, exposing an opening - an out. She could leave now, turn her back on these two and go back to her mundane life of munching grass and trying to rise through the World' Edge ranks - or she could be something, fight for a cause. There could only be one decision, really, and with a final glance between the pair of them, she nodded. "Very well, then. I'm in." Just like that, she'd signed a deal with the devil - had to be more fun than her current life, anyway. "I have no aspirations to lead - I'm a soldier, not a queen. But at least you don't have to worry about me trying to snatch your crown, so, you know, every cloud and all that." She allowed herself a small snort. "So, to clarify - you go around usurping leaders you see as unworthy and replacing them with yourselves?" Nice one, Nyx, signing up for something you know next to nothing about. "Oh, another thing. I am - or was - a member of the World's Edge, and I consider a lot of that herd to be my friends. I won't harm them, not without good reason." She felt a spasm in her chest as she thought of her father - what the hell would he think of her, joining a gang of mercinaries with aspirations of grandeur? And Lace, her old friend - even the leaders, who had welcomed her so easily. She would not betray them - she was not that sort of woman.