This was the first time I had ever been beckoned to a meeting and whatever I expected, it certainly was not what happened. As I arrive, I looked around for Calder and, not seeing him, found a place as far back from the group of “horses” as I could. I recognize Zandora, Rexanna, and Lena - but none of the others and though I tried to offer those three a small smile in greeting I was feeling far too overwhelmed by the mass of strangers that was gathering. Overwhelmed and amazed at the fucking rainbow of creatures that stood before me. They looked like a herd out of legend, one right out of the stories that I used to tell my daughter. Gods and goddesses, one for every little thing that you could imagine and all with a different appearance. Before Helovia, I hadn’t known that those imaginary figures actually existed - they were silly things that had been made up to entertain foals.

Of course, the illusion that the Basin was composed of great gods and goddess only existed if you were deaf and/or stupid. It took no time at all for arguments to break out and the vision of those great stories snapped. My golden eyes widened in surprise as I watch the match taking place. They might look formidable and intimidating, but with each rising voice and pointless comment I found myself imagining them all as foals. Perhaps they needed to take some time outs in the caves where they could freeze their brains back to sense. The temperature was surely dipping far enough.

Or perhaps I was just witnessing the effect of living in the cold for too long - and I honestly could not say that I cared for it. I had been attracted to the Basin because of the safety it provided but I was not seeing a unified herd capable of protecting themselves.

I snort quietly under my breath and linger, finding small comforts in the fact that not everyone present had completely lost their minds - there were a few calm voices and the two who had called us all together (the leads? I had to assume, neither introduced themselves) seemed to remain level headed enough as they tried to call everyone to order. Whether it would have any effect, I would just need to wait and see.

But I certainly planned on talking to Calder about what his idea of a safe herd was - because this could not be it.