Twigs snapped, snow crunched, and Eytan grunted and growled as he ran through the forest ahead of his bonded. She had no worry that she would lose him, the destruction he left in his wake could lead even the blind to him. She only grew concerned when his noise would stop, but then he would start again and she would just sigh and shake her head.

The little cub burst from the trees and stumbled to a stop, his caramel eyes landing on one of the mares that had been at the meeting. He scurried toward her without a second thought, making a bee line for her swishing tail. Eytan rolled onto his back and began pawing at Lakota's tail innocently enough, his grunts and growls continuing and growing in excitement.

Moments later Ktulu stepped from the very spot that Eytan had appeared and halted with her gaze locked on the cub. He stopped and rolled to a sitting position and stared back at his bonded, blinked, then flopped back over to continue playing with the dark mare's tail. Ktulu sighed and shifted her bloody gaze to Lakota. "I apologize if he's bothering you." She said.

Ktulu nodded her head once in response to Lakota's statement. She agreed and that was the sole reason she did not stop him from playing when he began to play. Once he grew older and became more aware of the evils of the world there would be no time for play. The world would cease to be the magical place he saw it as. When he came of age his training would begin and instead of enjoying life and playing he would be fighting and taking life. It was a sad realization, but one she accepted.

Her bloody gaze rose from the bear cub to the mare that was entertaining him at the sound of her sigh. Normally Ktulu wouldn't ask, but she felt inclined to do so, seeing as how the mare had joined her band of outcasts. "Something is bothering you?" She would not force the other mare to answer. If she chose to say that it was nothing Ktulu would leave it at that. If there was an outpouring of emotions, which she doubted there would be, she would just stand there and weather the storm no matter how awkward it would make her feel.

Ktulu understood, though not to the extent Lakota might have wanted her to because the cared not for her other siblings aside from Ophelia. They were of little importance to her because she did not know them and had not grown with them. Varath was a cheeky, arrogant colt whom she had wanted to grind into dirt beneath her hooves upon meeting him. She knew of Vadim only from what Ophelia had told her of him. They were blood, but they still mattered very little to her. They were sheltered and had not weathered any of the storms that Ktulu and Ophelia had. Perhaps that was what had drawn the two sisters so closely together. Being nearly crippled at birth, Ktulu had relied heavily on Ophelia when it came to walking. Even with escaping from Isilme she would not have made it had it not been for her sister.

But she knew what it was to lose her.

"My sister has not always been by my side." Ktulu replied. "The land we lived in before this one was torn apart by the spirits of the dead. Before that a mare, Nyra." She said the name with distaste. "Stole my sister from our family and held her captive because she wanted our home. She hurt my sister." It was only a small cut on the shoulder, but who knew what kind of mental damage Nyra had done before bringing Ophelia to the Tides as her shield. Then there was the time that Ophelia had disappeared and hidden herself away in the Steppe. It was one of the reasons Ktulu was always so relieved when she came back. There was a hidden fear that Ophelia wouldn't come back one day. That she would be lost forever. What would she do then?

Ktulu snorted and shook her head as if that alone would rid her of the fear of abandonment. "I know it's a blessing to have my sister." She said a few moments later. "I also know how quickly that blessing can be turned into a curse." She may have been young but she was no fool. "Don't doubt your sibling's strength. If they escaped they will find you."

Ktulu understood very little of what Lakota's relationship with her siblings was. If they felt about her the way she felt about Ophelia then they would stop at nothing to be reunited with their sister. If they felt the way she did about Varath, however, then they wouldn't care about what happened to their sister. They wouldn't even fight to protect their sister if it came to that. It was a shame for her to feel that way about her brother, but there was nothing that had changed her opinion of him since she had met him in the Threshold.

"If they care they will find you." She finally said, finding it odd to try and comfort someone that wasn't her son or her sister. Her gaze met Lakota's as the older mare turned toward her. She nodded when the blue roan thanked her then shifted her gaze to Eytan, who was still batting at Lakota's tail.

"It is hard to believe in someone else." She finally said. "And even harder when you do and they let you down." Her weight shifted and she finally looked toward the roan again. "But a life without belief and trust is not a life worth living."