Eliska tipped her head towards Acorn as she spoke, big eyes glittering darkly brown in the direct sunlight. After the mare's first sentence, the filly was quiet for a second, but soon broke into a round of laughter that rang across the dunes like bells in the warm wind. "If we do, can we take some of them back with us?" She wasn't grossed out by the idea; in fact, she was fascinated, and secretly hoped they would see some bones or something. It may have seemed morbid for someone her age, all that preoccupation with dead things, but not too long ago her Papa had showed her his own stash of Things Once Living, and now she wanted to find some of her own.

Acorn's next sentence disappointed her, but she soon forgot it as a stranger approached them. Her curious gaze focused on him, nostrils flaring wide to take in his foreign scent. Her teeth clacked together instinctively, an unconscious gesture of peace on her part. His was the smell that peppered the sand around them, and when the golden stallion introduced himself, his name sounded familiar to her. Papa had probably told her who lived here and she, not really one for details, had promptly forgotten it, but this stranger fit well within his desert backdrop.

If he wasn't the King here, she didn't know who would be.

Eliska leaned into the touch of Acorn's muzzle, peering at Encantador and waiting for a turn to speak. Acorn had failed to give the stallion her own name, opting to call her a mouse instead, so she took the opportunity to introduce herself, young voice strong and unwavering in her throat. "Eliška," she clarified. "My Papa told me we were allies, so Acorn and I decided to go exploring." It made sense in her mind, and she failed to see how someone might get mad that two strangers were wandering around in their home. What was the problem if they weren't bothering anyone else? He had come to them, after all.

"D'you know any good spots we could check out?" Maybe he knew of an oasis somewhere. She really hoped he would show them one, but she refrained from asking specifically for it lest she be disappointed.