Aryel didn't hesitate in returning his nuzzle, always happy to see her friend. The two of them had been close friends for some time now, and there was no horse she more relaxed and open around. They played. They sparred. They patrolled together. He had been the first to greet her in the Dragon's Throat. And when Levi had returned weak and delirious after pursuing Catallatio, she had helped him to the oasis.

She noticed the sweat on his coat and guessed he had been training or running hard. She knew he was entering the tourney, and wished him the best of luck. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her own coat, but not nearly as much as him. It was colder up in the air then down on the sands. "A bit worried about Frostfall coming up," she said in response to his question, "but otherwise fine." Their desert home normally produced enough food to support the herd, although the high heat of Tallsun probably did more damage than the colder season. Still, the sweat sort of gave him an athletic look, not that he wasn't fit already. Recently, she had begun to notice herself taking more interest in his appearance. It didn't make her like him any less. She had just begun to notice that he was a pretty attractive stallion.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about feeling that way.

She then turned her attention to Andromeda, who seemed to be a horse of few words. Not that it bothered her. She herself was probably the bolder and more rash of the three. It would be good to have someone who was more reasonable in their ranks. In response to her simple reply, she nodded. "Ah, good. No big predators, no Basin hornheads," here she shot a grin at Levi, "no striped buckskin idiots threatening to take over with his great big army of one." At least it seemed that Tio had dropped off the radar once and for all. They wouldn't be seeing any more trouble from him.

She did worry about their kidnapped brethren, though. Rumours frequently circulated through the herd, and she had heard several pertaining to the Basin. That Cassiopeia was safe at home again and her captor a prisoner himself, and, shockingly, that Kri had lost her battle to return Athena. She hoped that one wasn't true. Kri didn't lose fights...did she?

Walk walk walk walk.
"Talk talk talk talk."

I stood stoic and for a moment, a flash of anger interrupted my calm as the two of them greeted each other, and immediately horror festers within me for the sudden emotion was not just simple rage but a flickering sense of jealousy, for their companionship. It was hard to stifle the sudden green-eyed monster, and it was as if I could taste it inside my dry mouth. I wanted to flee the scene, whirl about and leap, take off from the gentle little nudge of friendship. I could not understand why or how this feeling roared up in me. So often I was selfless and giving, understanding each of life's precious moments- should I not cherish the bonds forged through blood and sweat of these two sergeants, my equals in rank? More troubling to I was why I might feel this odd sensation. I thought myself introverted, coming to terms with the elusive balance of the social life and life alone. Dutifully and loyally I stood to my herd, steady as always, a rock in the sea of change that flowed around me. I was consistent. I was renowned for my silent mouth. But that didn't mean I did not...

I find myself turning in circles around my thoughts, and hush the sigh that rises to my sooty lips, wishing I could shake off the maddening feeling of envy, the fierce and unexpected yearning for someone who was close to me, for once, a confidant and accomplice, daring and dashing to balance out my level-headness and cautiousness. My tail swishes in dismay, at my frivolous thoughts of romance and courtship; soon I will wish to become a broodmare and spend my days raising children!

To my great relief the conversation ebbs awry from the delicate feelings that I so bad-temperedly wish to avoid, instead crawling to the great abundance of activity that arose within Helovia, as if the gods, with their recent disappearance, had poked a stick into the ant's nest. Yet even here I somehow find fault within their declarations, communique, and bits of gossip. It is strange how these two have somehow, inexplicitly, been able to push all my buttons in the first proper meet of the three of us, but still I keep my face carefully neutral, having no desire to drive away the two. Perhaps the one and only sentence I have wholeheartedly agreed with was Aryel's statement of her fear of winter. In fact, I dare to open my mouth and agree, just scraping by with the barest minimum of words in the middle of their positively cheery greetings. "As do I." I find it mildly surprising this mare so quickly known for her rashness and sharp little tongue was prepared enough to think ahead to the raw, biting cold of Frostfall. Then again, is it not pressing on all our minds at this time of year as us wild horses eat and feed in greater quantities, to try and fill our thin sides until we very much bulge outwards?

I tamp down the rising frustration as Aryel's voice runs on and on chit-chatting about all manner of things. Still keeping my voice carefully in check, bordering on a touch cool, I input my opinion. "I doubt Catillatio held any threat to us. Putting forth an attack on him would have only, perhaps, driven his fuel to attack." I pause, resisting the urge to add in a skeptical snort. Instead, I smoothly continue (beginning to wonder if I am coming in sounding a touch snobbish while I mean only the best)- "As for the Basiners, I do believe they still hold threat to us in their twisted own ways. I fear that several of ours have gone missing as being held captive by them."

Indeed I am worried; my gut gives a little wretch of fear at the thought of any of the Throat being held so far north. Chances are, they may simply freeze to death, used to the more milder winters of the south; could their coats come in quickly enough to protect them from the freezing chill? A rescue party to head north would border on idiotic, when we were used to warmth and they had the upper advantage of resilience to cold. But there could be no way we could leave them sitting up there, to abandon our very own.

It was a troubling matter.