The fact that Akello's father felt like a failure for something that had happened to the mare made Vesna shockingly intrigued, but she knew better than to raise the question that burned on the tip of her tongue. What had happened? And why did the stallion feel such a responsbility for it? Perhaps she had started to project a little, but how could she not be curious? Rather than make such a social stumble though, she kept her silence and gave Akello a sober, understanding look and a slow nod of her head. She could understand the guilt, at least. Or rather, the feeling like a failure. It often accompanied death, even if one hadn't been responsible in any particular way. Nature had to find a home for the feeling, she supposed.
The change of mood was relieving, and she felt as if a certain weight had been lifted from her shoulders even as they trekked up the slippery slopes. She spied back over her shoulder and watched Akello every so often, finding herself smiling whenever she did so. Vesna? A good teacher? She laughed and shook her mane out, just like he had. "How flattering, Akello. They must raise gentlemen in the desert, hm?" She flashed him a mischief-ladden grin over her shoulder, but then quickly continued onwards. Once they cleared the slope itself, they had to navigate towards the rocks and broken trees that lined the water up the ledges. Though drier than the mud, they offered their own challenges.
Akello's question made her take pause for a moment, though she did her best to make it look as if she was simply choosing a new path. Still, even from behind, he likely could have seen the pause in her breathing, and a certain tightness in her body as she tried to figure out a good answer.
"I guess one could call it a mission," she finally said, having apparently chosen a new path, though it might have deviated from their original one by no more than a foot. In any case, she hurried up it, and scrambled up onto a rockier ledge. It was there that the mud and earth turned into stone and wood, with more ledges than paths.
"My mother and I heard so many tales about these islands, and with nothing tethering me to the mainland anymore...It was time I found out whether they were true or not." She shrugged, though the words had felt almost hard in her mouth. "I want to see everything I can here, so I've many destinations. It'll be likely, I imagine, that I'll someday call these islands 'home' too." She flicked an ear, feeling more awkward about those particular words. Calling the islands home? Calling anywhere home? Now, that would feel unusual.
Another ledge, and she leapt up and scrambled up it. She took pause and turned slightly in case Akello needed any help, but she had to admit that he seemed more than capable. From the new ledge, it was easier to see the path up and, by extension, their destination itself. It was not the top of the mountain, sure, but at least the incline was no longer so sheer. They'd be able to walk more freely there, and the waterfall would be no more than some rapids and a long, rushing river snaking up the slopes.
"And what of you, Akello? Did you come here just to explore, or did you have a particualar destinatin in mind? Some place you've heard tales of, all too curious to find the truth of them yourself?" She raised a brow and cocked her head. The fires of youth often demanded exploration for nothing more than its own sake, but the fires were just as ceaselessl curious too.
"On some of the greater mountains, one must traverse these kinds of slopes for hours - or even days - at times. Fortunately, this mountain is not so great, though it is just as majestic." It would have been an offense, otherwise. Despite the mountain's lack of sheer height and incline, it was still coated in massive boulders, towering trees and discrete wildflowers among the moss and grass, after all. "You can see where the paths level out, and the mountain becomes kinder. Why don't you take the lead, Akello? The path is easy to find, and now you know what to look for."
vesna.