a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

Wasp felt strangely at ease in Rougaru's presence, despite the looming threat that hung over them like a thick fog. The steps she took to approach him felt endless - her heart had been beating against the confines of her chest, threatening to seep out. But the second she halted, took a deep breath, and stiffened her posture to stare him down, the fear she had anticipated never arrived. She looked across the short distance at the silver bay stallion and did not see her friend. She didn't see the mentor who had been kind to her, during one of her most vulnerable moments. She didn't see the stallion whom at one time, had let her dam pass peacefully through his terrain after a bad storm.

Instead she saw the creature who stole and raped - a beast who aligned himself with her most dangerous enemy. As her mother lay dying in the dirt on the Forest floor, Rougaru continued to pillage, herding that innocent pale mare back to Atlantis. How could she call someone who was capable of doing that, of all that her trusted friend? When the day came where he'd have to choose between her - the Peak- and Cullen - his ally in the Lagoon - she knew where his allegiances fell. It was not here, where he stood right now.

There was a part of her that wanted to feel heartbroken about this revelation. Rougaru filled a void and critical need in her life at a crucial time. But she knew now was not the time to mourn the end of that relationship. Right now, it was about Vanya.

The dark bay mare listened to the stallion, her ears erect and pointed in his direction. She bobbed her head once in acknowledgement, before her ears swiveled back against her poll, catching the painted mare's words from behind her as Vanya forced her way into the conversation. Wasp did not trust Vanya. She couldn't tell, even in this moment, if her pleas were genuine or not. But she knew enough about Rougaru's brutish behavior that Vanya today would become the martyr for all those he had wronged in the past - whether she deserved it or not. Where Vanya went after causing trouble for the Peak, well, that was a topic for another day.

She let both parties have their say, but the friesian-blood mare stiffened notably when Vanya revealed Rougaru had tried to take away her son, and then forced another one inside of her. Wasp's amber gaze locked with Vanya's then, but her face remained stiff and emotionless. Then her stare narrowed onto Rougaru. "Vanya and her sons - both born and unborn - will not be leaving with you today." She spoke plainly, but sharply. "Nor will they any day in the future, unless she decides to return to Atlantis of her own free will."

Wasp did not move an inch after announcing this decree. Instead, she merely stared at Rougaru, waiting for what she anticipated would be an emotional response. "Vanya made it clear she was in need of help, and my sister provided her safe refuge." Wasp explained. "No matter our history Rougaru, I cannot and I will not bend on what the Peak stands for. We will fight for Vanya's right for freedom. I will fight for it, should you choose not to leave now, in peace, with what she wants."

W A S P