❀

Her friend never seemed to have any trouble finding her, and today was no different. She hadn’t wandered the meadow for long before the pale-maned colt found her, his voice chipper and happy as he called her name. Hazel perked right up, her nervousness about confiding in him melting away; it wasn’t so much that confidence replaced it, but being in Mjöllnir’s presence made her happy even in the isolation of the Peak, and it was comforting to know that she did not have to convince him to come on an adventure with her in order to enjoy herself. Still, it was hard to envision the young stallion being disinterested in something as exciting as a trip down the mountain, and that did give her confidence.

"Hiya," she greeted him in response, shaking her mane as he played with it so that it draped over his face. She laughed; their hair was of a similar color, and it was difficult to tell where her own mane ended and Mjöllnir’s began, making him look like he had a comically thick and long forelock falling across his eyes. "Can you see under there?" she asked with a bright giggle. The sun was not quite at its highest point yet, but the rays spilled over the mountain peak behind them and illuminated the pale fringe of mane over Mjöllnir’s face. It appeared to glow pale silver-gold, and she could see the icy blue of his eyes glinting behind the tresses. She thought he could probably see just fine.

Hazel gave her mane another shake to free her friend of his blindfold. "Actually, I have some ideas," she said when he asked her what she wanted to do. Her voice held a note of mischief and secrecy, though she did not actually know if they would get in trouble for leaving. "Do you remember where you and Lagertha found me, down the mountain? I was really scared then, especially when Liland tried to take me, but I’ve been thinking it might not be so scary anymore. I… I kind of want to explore," she said. The confident mischief had slowly been replaced by a tentative note as she spoke, for she was still nervous about exploring the land below. "Would you want to go with me, if I went down there again?" she asked, her gold ears pricking toward him hopefully.

Hazel