She hesitated before she could answer Mesec.  She was truly torn, perhaps for the first time in her life, about whether or not to tell the truth.  Najya had never found her self in this predicament before, never had the truth been something that could cause so much more pain than simple ignorance to the fact.  She knew that keeping such information from him would only exacerbate the hurt – like a wound festering just below the surface.  Not to mention the fact that there were others that witnessed what had happened and may reveal the information to him in a potentially tactless manner.  Not to mention there was Lucius to consider.  Her gaze flicked back to the zephyr resting on her withers and she offered a reassuring smile to the little one.  She didn’t know how much Lucius remembered, either.  There were too many moving pieces, and even though she wanted to save him the pain he deserved to know.  He needed to know.  
 
The little mare let out a ragged-sounding sigh.  “You were confused when you woke up.  You lashed out at those around you as you tried to get your bearings, or at least that’s what I assume was happening.”  She offered him a small smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.  “You were quickly distracted by the wolves, which drew you away from the others.  It was so overwhelming and confusing, no one could blame you, Mesec.” She finished, again revealing as much as she could by protecting certain details.  If asked directly about her shoulder, she would answer.  But she wouldn’t volunteer the information.  Not yet, at least.
 
Another wave of feeling unwell swept over her.  It wasn’t the aches and pains from the battle.  This…this was something else.  She blinked and her vision became hazy, dissolving away into a million different colors.  When she blinked again, the world became normal once more.  Strange, she thought.  Her curved ears flicked towards Mesec in time to catch his concerned words, and she quickly brushed them away – redirecting her attention to the present.  “No, no. I’m fine. Your mother washed away the battle fatigue. I just think I may have picked something up – a cold or something.  I’m fine to pick up where we left off,” she added, not wanting to delay their journey any longer.   As she spoke the first drip of tar made its way from her nostrils, and she absent-mindedly wiped it away against a foreleg – trying not to draw attention to the fact.
 
At Mesec’s final words – Najya offered him a small, genuine smile.  She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. “I won’t press, Mesec.  Your story is yours to tell, but there is something that I learned that might be helpful to you. Guilt is an emotion with little function, Mesec.  We beat ourselves up with guilt with no benefit aside from reinforcing the negativity.  We tell ourselves again and again that our actions somehow reflect our worth.  But they don’t.  We are more than our actions.  So instead, let us regret our mistakes.  Let us learn, not belittle.  I only understand because I’ve been in the same position more than once – I’m still not good at it, not all the time – it’s a difficult lesson to learn,” she finished, touching her muzzle to his shoulder softly. 
 
She then stepped away from her friend and gestured in the direction that they were originally traveling. “Shall we?” she said, in a far brighter voice than before, gesturing away from the bamboo forest that had brought Mesec so much pain.