I am at once instantly relieved and horrified as Faeanne and Tandavi come into my line of sight. A thousand thoughts tumble through my youthful mind, and for a moment, I think I can actually hear my brain begin to fizzle. I have learned much from Mother, and so far, diplomacy has been my best subject (at least, I think so). Both females are from the Throat, do they know me? Surely they must know Mother and Father ... hardly anyone doesn't. And given how hectic my birth was, they must have heard. The burning on the inside of my wings is also a fairly obvious giveaway as to my lineage. And so, I feel as though I should be confident and not nearly as ignorant of this situation as a I am.

Besides. They're girls. Pretty ones. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that yet.

As the bird lady lands, my mind is put to rest, at least I have something solid to focus on now, rather than the horrible ignorance of youth. She advises that we are either to go together, or alone. I'm not sure I like the sound of that choice. She winks at me, and I decide to wink back. I've never tried a wink before - I sort of scrunch the right side of my face upwards, which ends up looking more like a wince. But since I can't see myself, I assume that I've mirrored her actions well enough.

Although there are three paths ahead, the bird lady seems to be intentionally blocking one of them. Leaning forward, I try to peer over her shoulder to see what is on the path she is blocking. Is it dangerous? Is that why she's blocking it? Or is it the easy way? I open my mouth to ask, but promptly slam it shut. If Mother were here, she'd probably tell them that if I needed to know that information, the bird lady would tell me. She seems to be in charge. Still, I want to see what's behind her.

Rocking backwards on my hooves, I resolve to take the path closest to her. Maybe I can peer through the foliage and see what would have been down the other path?

I stride forward down what is technically the center path, confidently nodding to Faeanne and Tandavi. If Father were here, he would make a decision, and so I will too.

It doesn't even occur to me that should my beautiful herdmates follow me, I could be leading them into a trap.