The mare at Kaj's side has been curiously quiet. I have been wondering if she means to join as well, since she smells of the wilds, but she'd given me her answer as she bows out amid my questioning. I watch her go with a turn of my eyes and little else. I have my lion to worry about still.

Just as the girl departs another comes to replace her, though this one draws from my side of the land, his face familiar. Aaron, protector of the Edge, brother to Kiara and son of Solstice. I can sympathize with this poor stallion that has fared worse than most of us in these trouble times. I can imagine his grief and anger at having his family torn from his sides; truthfully though I cannot, my family long lost and since forgotten. I don't think I feel such care or passion for anyone, even myself at times. I know that it should be a hard fate, and I can at least respect his level head as he endures.

I appreciate his support as he comes to rest at my side. Though I think I've since decided that Kaj is not a threat and will be a great addition to the Edge, I would be a fool to trust so easily so quick. Besides, he can take Kaj now.

My tail finishes its work and lays limp at my sides. The ground around me has been splattered black and shines with the wet. I pay it no mind, well accustomed to it. In the process of my asking Kaj had given me two clear responses. A warrior, he seems most liken to and comfortable with, and a crafter perhaps. He's in luck then that Aaron, a long-tested warrior here, has arrived.

I bow my head as Aaron introduces himself and begin to retreat so I may depart from this conversation. I would leave the stranger, now a brother, in the capable hooves of one more suited for asking and answering. It is better that be befriends a fellow he will be ranked with. Aaron can train him and teach him in ways that I could never understand.

The weight of my duty has been displaced. I interrupted the intruder and made them kin. Nothing else in my job description requires social interaction, so I fade back into the mists much the way I had come. I give a lasting look to Kaj, proffering him a smile of reassurance. Welcome it tells him, my eyes bright in this din.