She becomes aware of his presence, tucks her chin to her chest, suddenly self conscious, and she watches him from the corner of one blue eye for a brief spell, before turning to look at him fully, her delicately curled ears standing to attention. They swivel at the tell-tale thud of hoofbeats in the near-distance, but the blue stallion moves, and it is enough, more than enough to hold her attention. Jaya does not shrink in on herself, nor does her body adopt a stiff, apprehensive posture in preparation for fight or flight. The blue of her eyes is momentarily guarded, however, but at the cordiality of his greeting, she softens, and a gentle smile curls at the corners of her pale mouth.
“The rising sun will warm us, and if we stand together, the bite of the air will be hindered at getting to us,” Jaya replies in her naivete, and it is nothing but innocence that drives her to step nearer and pivot on her small hooves, so that she tucks in against his side. “I know,” the small, young mare murmurs in response to his mention of warmer places, and she is momentarily distracted by the scent of him, dry and earthy, tilting her head and leaning away to better take it in, narrow muzzle skimming the skin of his near shoulder, drifting toward his chest. The trees nearby provided cover, and where the copses grew thickly near the Falls (but far enough from the water itself for a chill to not linger in the air) - it would certainly be warmer there, even without the early morning sun. “But it’s beautiful here.”
She dips her head when he speaks again, though whether it was an acknowledgment that she’d heard him, or an indication of agreement, that she had heard the same, it was not clear. But a moment later, the words sink in properly, and Jaya is stirred to life by them. Salem. She knew that name… “Who told you?” she asks, taking his words perhaps a little too literally, and not realising that it was from experience that he spoke. Though, there is a brightness in her eyes and the smile from before has come creeping back, so perhaps it as a semblance, a clumsy attempt at a lighthearted tease (though it is not in Jaya’s nature to be purposefully coy).
She quiets a moment later, and when she does speak again, her voice is weighted with thought and curiosity. “I come from a place like Salem. Or my mother did. She lived there, for a time, in Salem’s Western Canyons. And I have a brother there…” Jaya pauses, something inscrutable crossing her delicate features, but then it passes and she does not dwell on it. “Do you live there - somewhere on the Desert Isle?” the cremello girl asks, even though she thinks she already knows the answer. And a moment later: “What's it like?” |