Common

Larka missed this. Moreso than she would ever care to admit. Not love... not a family or a herd... but simple comradery between companions. Never in her life had the wandering nomad ever felt so at peace than in this moment... a moment that she shares with the painted stallion beside her. His visible relaxation and the way his skin shivered at the touch of her own flesh made her all the more aware of the unity between them.

He listens to her. Not just to the sound of her voice but actually listens to the words that fall from her lips. Save for her short time with Shamwari, most stallions that she had ever met simply let the words of a mare fall in one ear and out the other, focused more on talking about themselves or making plans and decisions that the mares were simply meant to follow without resistance. Larka had never favored those types of stallions. She had a brain and she intended to use it regardless of how it made others view her.

She turns the question back on him, curious as to how this painted stallion came to be on the same island as she herself. Tiny silver white ears remain at attention amid the tangle of her dark mane as the petite mare listens to his story. She had heard of the Lagoon since first coming to the islands, but never ventured there. Mikhail's explanation of the lagoons runs far deeper than any she had ever heard. She knew that it existed... but never delved deeper than that. However, the distaste that hangs upon his tones intrigues her and leaves her with even more questions (though they mainly resolved around her hansom companion). Why was it he detested those that called the Lagoon home so? Was it simply because they would rather band together in brotherhood than own a land? Or was it something deeper.

For a moment he is quiet, allowing the pale mare the opportunity to study his face, memories the lines of worry and wisdom that tugged at his whiskered lips. His good eye almost clouds before her, as though for the moment he finds himself lost within his own mind and the memories that he keeps hidden there. In the blink of an eye his memories age him. As though whatever sadness he hide deep beneath were almost to much for him to bare. It left her heart longing to reach out and draw the darkness and pain away... more than she had ever wanted to help another in her life.

Then he is back. Back in the present... away from the memories. He turns his gaze upon her, his tone soft and warm, less gravely than before. She finds herself relieved. A small smile plays upon her ash dusted labrums as the little silverling speaks. "I only spent a short time there but the Prairie was beautiful." she beings, pausing for a moment to turn her gaze from him and once more upon the lands, in the direction where she knew far away lay the island of Luthien. "The prairie is a vast open land, with high yellow grasses that stretch far as the eye can see... she continues again, letting her voice trail off as she turns her soft gaze to meet his once more. "Like an ocean at sunset, the winds roll over the grasses making them appear more like the waves of the surf. Only a single river runs through the eastern edge, where the prairie separates the forest, but other than that the prairie seems to go on forever." she finishes, a single brow raising as she pauses a moment, studying his face before beginning again, this time her voice a little softer and more cautious, hoping that her words would not dredge up the ghosts of his past once more. "Where do you live now Mikhail?'