the swim is surely easier on pidgeon than some of the others in their little herd. unlike her dear friend grier, her barrel isn’t round with a foal. it is still a struggle though, with the dark water pulling down and swirling around her white and brown speckled body. She follows havelle dutifully toward paradise. twice she risks a worried glance behind her, hoping to catch sight of the strawberry roan painted figure of her friend, but she is quickly reminded by a douse of saltwater in the face by an offending wave that she must focus on the task at hand.

the little mare, thick winter coat heavy with saltwater, stumbles up the shelf of the beach nervously. she busies herself shaking water from her sides, casting nervous glances behind her to finally catch the sight of grier making her way laboriously to the shore. a shudder of relief passes over her. with dark brown eyes she glances up the shore warily, wondering what would meet them besides the mare zjeena who had summoned them here. her insides give a nervous flutter when she remembers the tall swarthy stallion who had interrupted Liland her first day at the crossing. would she see him again?

pidgeon doesn’t have long to wonder and fret about these things… her attention is stolen by zjeena. she has never met the mare, and has heard very little… but there is something about her bearing, and of course the close resemblance to havelle that is very telling. She and havelle stand together, waiting to address them and so pidgeon walks timidly toward the duns, head submissively low.

she listens as best she can, though her attention span has never been the best. at first she is distracted by the caws of strange birds, the vast sea of deep green jungle foliage that lay behind them…but then zjeena brings her story to life and pidgeon finds it hard to focus on anything else. though she has no tie to the mare nor is she particularly grateful for being uprooted from what she had considered a pleasant situation at the bay, she feels suddenly overwhelmed by the events the fjord describes. large tears well up in pidgeon’s soft dark eyes and roll steadily down her cheeks as she listens to zjeena’s testimony of hardship and pain… all because of liland.

the spotted mare had always thought of him as a little strange perhaps… not any stranger than herself…. but never capable of this. he had always seemed polite and kind, if not a little indifferent toward her. she tilts her head, deep in consideration of the blond mare’s words. her heart is somewhat broken, thinking of the sadness she had endured and it breaks a little further thinking of liland alone in the snowy tundra facing the threat of wolves. it seemed he had done it to himself though, and when she thinks of how he had given her little choice to accompany her to the bay in the first place she feels a little less pity toward the stallion.

with a sniff, trying to clear the thick emotion than has a tight hold of her heart and mind, she steps forward. She listens closely to grier and nods as she acknowledges her friends choice. her own voice is a little less sure, but she echoes the decision of the strawberry roan. ”I’m so sorry… for those things that happened to you Zjeena… and well… i’m very grateful now, to have the choice you didn’t. Liland was never unkind to me, but i’d like to stay too for now. if you could tell him for me Belikov? Tell him I’m sorry but I wish to be here with my friends.