Tan Jala eyed the mare as she spoke, swishing his tail at her grand introduction. Briefly, he considered bending a knee in a mockery of a bow to this so called Desert Queen. But, somehow, he restrained himself. After all, he had promised Banshee he’d behave while she was gone… And so instead, with a soft snort, he tossed his head one way, and then the other, as if looking for any others. Had this Shaydowfax perhaps spotted some suspicious lurker? Goodness, he hoped not. “Fear not,” he quipped, dark eyes glinting with humour. “You need not fight for my attention. Seems it is just you and I, doesn’t it?”
The spotted male takes a moment to observe the mare a little more closely. If his eyes did not deceive him (as they sometimes did), it seemed that this stranger carried a life within her. This took Tan Jala aback, but he hid it well. It was reckless for any of them to be travelling alone in this wintry weather, having not just the cold to deal with but the increased threat of predators driven by hunger. This mare was certainly risking a lot. And for what? The appaloosa male wasn’t kept waiting for long.
An ear twitched in response to her words, and for a moment, Tan Jala was silent. Then, a rumble of laughter spilled from his mouth. “Do you realise how morbid that sounds?” he asked, before tossing his head and chuckling under his breath. “Uh, thank you, for the offer - if you even could call it that. But if you want bones and carcasses to decorate your desert and make it feel more homely, you’ll have to look someplace else, bodysnatcher.” With that said, he turned dismissively and resumed his foraging just as relaxed and at ease as he had been before Shaydowfax had approached him.
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