He - she will never keep waiting.

On blackened wings, Isopia swiftly flies. She has taken to scouring the skies with her golden eyes trained downwards - she has detected a pattern in the way her herd moves through the land, and she wants to know if it will hinder or hinge on the secrets she keeps. Will their wanderings take them closer to her small hut? Her pool? Will they find her, and then demand to use the things that she as built, in their comings and goings?

She can't allow that.

And so she watches.

Perhaps that is why she finds Zero so quickly, or, as ever before, perhaps it is simply fate. Perhaps the anticipation she feels in her heart is him calling out to her, pulling her close, rather than her desire to keep herself hidden away.

As soon as she sees him below, her breath catches in her chest. Zero. She thinks softly to Hubris, who is already paying attention. Never before has the dragon felt Isopia's thoughts so strongly pull towards another - save for when he hatched, in Volterra's presence - and so the bronzey creature takes note. Hurry.

Her blackened body dives down low, like a jet headed towards the one winged-boy. She takes no notice of what he has, and instead focuses on whether or not they have been found out. If Archibald or Kaj arrive, he will surely be escorted out. And if others find the boy ... well, they will want to know how Isopia knows him, and where they are headed. Both things she would prefer to keep to herself.

"Quickly. Don't let them see you." Her voice appears through the dappled sunlight, as her blackened body twists before him. There is urgency in her tones, and she hopes that he will take note. She doesn't think she's being overly dramatic when she thinks that there's no time to explain. Inside, she desperately wants Zero to see the life she's created for herself, tucked happily away in her glade. She might have wanted Volterra to be in awe of her, to see what she was capable of, but she wants Zero to be proud of her. To delight in the things she delights in, and to share in the same simple happiness that they once did.

But that couldn't happen if they were found out.

"This way. Hurry!"

Her voice echoes behind her and Hubris as they flit on silent wings through the trees.

[IT'S PERFECT JUST LIKE ALWAYS.]

He agrees with an easy youthfulness that she has come to expect of him. Run through the trees? Of course Iso! Play with whales? Race you there! Get into a fight with monsters where you almost die and then I almost fight your parents? Sure! Where's the harm in that?

She listens to make sure that he is still behind her, but she doesn't appear too concerned. Unlike most, Isopia has full confidence in Zero. And why wouldn't she? He was there when she was named, is the one she feels most comfortable around, and is the one she has shared adventures with. He might not stir the rapid warmth in her belly the way that Volterra does, but she actually likes that about him. He makes her warm in other ways - in the cockles of her heart and in the way he stirs her thoughts like no one else.

She leads and he follows, and soon, they arrive.

They arrive to where she lives, a place that few others have seen. A place that she has made her own, and that she is proud of.

This is what he will see.

A glad, surrounded by a thick ring of trees on all sides. There is a slight slope up and to the right, drawing the eye down to a stream that borders the bottom-half of the clearing. Near to the backish centre is a hut composed of stone, mud, and woven leaves. It is large enough to accommodate two, and should he get close to it, he would feel heat magically coming off of the rocks. Near the hut, a handful of meters away, is a rock pool filled with warm bubbling water. Her hottub, the one that Volterra helped her make, is one of her most prized possessions.

"The leads have a tendency to escort out any who they don't know." She said rather matter-of-factly, as she swooped to face him. The raven landed on the ground, but quickly the amazonian-sized Isopia appeared in its stead. She felt awkward being so much taller than Zero - he was the only one who she felt that way around (because he was the only one whose opinion on the matter she cared about), and so she let her head droop slightly, tucked her wings tightly against her body, and leaned slightly, all in an attempt to make herself seem slightly smaller.

"I didn't know you were coming. I didn't know if your Ma would let you see me after what happened.."

Isopia - who rarely looked happy - did.

As Zero looked around her small paradise, Isopia couldn't but help feel that all her work to make this spot entirely her own, had been worth it. If only so that someone like Zero might see it, and appreciate it the way that she did. "That's my hut." She answered casually. "The walls give off heat so that I will stay warm when the frosts come. And that -" She indicated towards the hottub, "-is my hot pool. The same rocks heat it, so the water is always warm." Only a small amount of pride crept into her voice, but it was unmistakably there.

Iso was certainly not one to harbour grudges. She'd only been doing what she thought was right, but so had Ampere. That she thought the blue mare's parenting methodology was flawed, or that she had acted rashly and emotionally, was something that they could argue about. However that she had acted on what she thought was best, was admirable. At least Iso thought so, and so ill-will had been kept for Zero's Ma. Even so, it did make things a little awkward. Iso looked over her shoulder to her hut. She kept the blade given to her by Ampere in there, and she wanted to make sure that it wasn't visible from here. If it was, that meant that Ampere could also see them, were she looking. But as it was, the blade was nestled in some dirt and leaves. For now, their secret rendezvous would stay secret.

The earthen-girl paused, trying to think of a way to combat Zero's self-conscious tirade of words, when he did it for her. As his small body pressed up against hers, Isopia felt the familiar but untraceable welling up of warmth inside of her belly. It spread outwards, racing down her wings and into her hooves. She felt simultaneously awkward, but completely at ease as Zero's muzzle groped higher on her wither. Lowering her death-marked skull around his lightning-splashed shoulder and back, the girl returned his hug, as best as she was able.

Was Zero the only one she had ever been this close to?

Was he the only one she had ever been hugged by, and hugged back in return.

Her wings awkwardly shuffled forward. Was her neck curled about his, enough? Was using her wings too much? Would it make him feel small, or un-whole given that she had two, and he only one? Would it feel like his Ma's embrace? Swallowing hard, Isopia tried to rid her skull of these thoughts, but was completely unable.

"It's okay." She whispered, trying to just erase the tension that the triangle of herself, Zero, and Ampere had forced upon them, and to instead enjoy the warmth of his small body. Although Iso still wasn't overly fond of being touched physically, she earnestly didn't mind Zero at all. "You're a good friend too." She mumbled into his shoulder, before pulling back slightly, unsure of how to tell when a hug was supposed to end.

"Why did you come all this way? Does your wing hurt? We can sit in the hot pool if it does.."

At one point, she had only ever thought of sharing the pool with Volterra, and that was only because he had helped her build it. Still, the monochromatic stallion was the only one, even in the fantasies her mind wove when she had trouble sleeping, who ever entered the waters. But now, with Zero in her small glade, there seemed to be no one else better suited than he, to share the benefits of her labour.