That voice. Arlo. He'd finally returned from the Throat. What had taken him so long? Was the brute injured so badly he couldn't bring his wounded ass to be shown shame before my eyes. It didn't matter anyways, we had helped the Throat win - that was all that mattered. You were doing it for a good cause - helping someone keep their home, Innerste said proudly and I merely shook my head.

Pain. Continue to suffer... Unheil purred in my head, laughing at the true state of pain that was constricting over my frame. It was almost too much. Between my heart feeling as though some grasp was pulled so tightly around it and my lungs sectioned off like a cord was wrapped around the middle I couldn't get my heart to beat in the correct rhythm. And, my lungs were not allowing all the air in which I so desired to have causing me to suck in oxygen in small, short, successive breaths - as if I had been running for a long time and was out of breath. Instead, it was the soul of that colt Amara had talked too attempting to get back into a vessel once more.

Come out! Perhaps I didn't want to come out of this little corner of the marsh no one had yet to circle into. Perhaps I wished to stay in my little cove, safe from any wandering eyes or dangerous hooves. But, no. New member must be welcomed. And so, I would force myself to start moving again. I clambered to my feet, feeling every muscle groan in it's complaints of having to bear weight again, and I edged forward. One of my pupils was still slightly larger than the other, and the light did manage to bother me a tad - but the effects of the poison were gone and I at least had a clear head.

And, so I pulled from the trees and into the center clearing soundlessly. I eyed the mare, feeling the souls bouncing around in the atmosphere of these lands gleefully - as if they knew that she was much like us. She was taller, and much longer in the back and legs. Black with stars and white markings. Oh, and that lovely spear attached to her cranium. She held herself with a grace that could only be taught and part of me simply threw that off to the side. Grace, respect, manners - they were all things that were taught. But had she some kind of mental reasoning as to which would actually grant her our acceptance, our welcoming arms?

"Arlo." I spoke, raising an eyebrow. My voice was gravely, torn between an almost child-like voice and the natural soprano chords that spilled from my maw. The soul will not leave you. Unheil laughed, believing he had found a way to finally torture me. But, little did he know that my body was already winning the war against the shattered colt in my body. "Who is this?" I question, my jaw clenching as I felt my heart seize up for a few seconds - a flash of anger and pain shooting through my orbs and then immediately dissipating.

No name. No attempt to acknowledge the mare past a tiny bob of my head in hello. I wanted to hear from Arlo what he had dragged in. I wanted to know why he had been gone so long. I wanted to know how his fight had gone. But, it would be rude to bombard him with questions - and with the pain rippling through my body I did not have the energy to do so. So, shuffling my way back a little I allowed my weak frame to lean up against the base of a tree. If anyone tried anything they would get to be my guinea pig - I would see if I could really pull their soul from their frame...

SEELE