Hotaru cannot help the sly, lecherous grin that plays on her lips in amusement. "Me? My, how forward," she chuckles softly. Her face drops off easily, interest apparent in her pricked ears, the flicker of recognition in her eyes narrowing them, trying to discern where she knows the maiden from. "So you know what it is you seek? If I can be of aid, all you must do is ask. We are merely here for our own selfish gains," she hums, eyes sliding over to the new mare that approaches, her dark form sliding between the shadows and the pockets of darkness that winter brings each year between the guardians of the trees.

Though recognition finally clicked at the woman's name - Ghost. "The Cadaverous," she notes, brows rising with an old memory. An old invasion, one she had choreographed beneath her leaders' gazes, before she had risen to the glacial throne she now occupied. It was only strengthened when she spoke to Syrena, remembering a time and legacy all of her own, when the title of Czarina had once been hers to claim.

"We never met on the field of battle," she hums softly, and though she does not apologize her eyes are perhaps a little softer at the edges if one were to look closely. The Valkyrie feels no real regret for invading, after all. But to be thrown from her home, her title stripped from her...that, she can feel regretful for.

At her side Alice, already full of her previous meal, happily whines and nudges the bloodied hare closer to the other wolf. Eager hell black eyes watching intently, her excitement clear. The novelty of another companion close to her species would not wear off anytime soon - all she'd met was the wild canines who could not communicate with her in the way she desired. One lost hare meant little to her, if it meant she could befriend Fantome. She may not come home with us, Hotaru warned softly, but Alice promptly ignored her.

Syrena, the mare introduces, and Hotaru dips her head in greeting. "Hotaru," she offers once more, in case the woman had not been present to hear it. But what's more interesting is Ghost's interest in their respective herds - Hotaru's hind cocks, settling in pleasantly for a discussion rather than trying to woo and wile other strangers into her home. This is someone who already knows her path through the wilds and the herdlands, and Hotaru appreciates the respite.

"The herds have settled with the snow, and most are quiet. We have ranks to welcome you if you've any interest in battle, theft, or the Gods. Deimos and I rule together. Birdsong foals have grown, and the springs wash away what cold remains that the mountains cannot shield." She swings her mane to its rightful place with a shake of her neck, smiling slightly. "Any and all are welcome, if they've the fortitude to stay." Perhaps Ghost would understand what she implied - that any racial barrier that had existed had dissolved beneath her and Deimos' leadership. There was nothing else to say, so instead she turned interested eyes and alert ears to what Syrena would have to say - anything and everything was important from the insides of the Falls. And if she entertained the idea of stealing Syrena away alongside Ghost, well, it was mostly her own arrogance talking.