Hot breath steamed in the chilly air as the heavy brute stepped lightly through dry grass and bare shrubs. Bulging muscles in his large copper frame tensed with alertness as he walked, russet lobes pressed forward and his shadowed gaze ranged freely over the familiar terrain, over the land that he had come to know so well in the past seasons.

Though he himself had traveled to the distant meadows with the twin rivers, Rhaego had found few horses that he had wished to bring into his home. He was being picky. Thus far, the young and bubbly Rosa Primus was the only true success he had to show for those expeditions. Rhaego found the pony bemusing to say the least - she was an innocent little dove, sweet and cheerful... hardly the typical sort of eye-catching mare he usually found himself drawn to. But he liked her - admired in his own roguish and nonchalant way. If she ever suspected or got the inkling to ask of such a thing, he'd of course be reluctant to admit it.

The other mare to call the Dale home - on the other hand - was one who had found her way through the mountains of her own accord, lured in by the bounties and promises that the wild land provided. His home was lush with forages of all sorts, the steep mountain walls offered protection, and at the time they were quiet - peaceful and inviting. Though perhaps it was also his own masculine scent that had drew her in - the pompous thought had certainly crossed his mind once or twice whenever he had let his eyes linger over Maribelle's painted figure and her ever-mesmerizing wings. The crimson and ivory mare had been worn and travel-weary upon her arrival so Rhaego had opted to respect her space, for the time being - except for periodic checks to assure that all was well, of course - he was allowing her to adjust to the Dale, her home, and to recuperate from her travels. She had certainly appeared to need it.

It was not a difficult task to do, for the stallion found most of his time occupied with the borders, particularly since the recent summons to a challenge that he'd received from some air-headed mare. He'd dismissed her easily enough with swift and merciless attacks - and was confident that she had fled, never to be seen again, but the brute knew in his gut that it could only be a matter of time before a serious challenger set his sights on the foothills. Rhaego busied himself with running patrols frequently but the lands surrounding them had since fallen into a lull, a stillness similar to that which had rested over the land upon his arrival there. Though he still felt compelled not to rest nor let his guard down, he was no longer so uptight or constantly battle-ready... and now he often found himself seeking out the company of his small harem.

However, when his shaded brown eyes fall upon the buckskin sabino mare, he halted. Sweet, sultry words reached across the distance to his ears - the purr of her voice speaking to the testosterone-fueled beast not-so-deep within him; it demanded to answer the female, a growl to her purr. But as his eyes narrow and he flexes his broad neck, the stallion's upturned lips freeze before words can form upon them. He stares, blinking in disbelief.... what was that?! 'That' being the ivory dolphin-fluked tale of the mare. It is a moment before he gathers himself enough to answer, but he does... voice gravelly and deep. "Hello... Naira." He tests her name just as his wide eyes are testing everything that he is seeing, searching for the clue that must prove that he is imagining things. "Rhaego. You are... one of a kind...." He is unsure what to think of her and it is clear in his wary regard of her tail but he is interested in her. "Are you fro---" He trailed off, the words thick and heavy in his throat.