Stratton was quiet when he answered her question, as though he was unwilling to attract any attention, but there was no one in sight. Although, if she thought about it, Blaine knew that Stratton was much more likely to get into trouble than herself if an angry band stallion caught them trespassing near his herd; at worst he might try to make her join his troop, but another male he might see as a threat and become violent towards.

She turned her head to admire the landscape. It was lush and verdant, but fairly plain and empty; it was not so spectacularly different to the island they had just left. Unfortunately for excited adventurers Blain and Stratton, they had inadvertently chosen the only one in the chain of islands that had almost the same climate as the Crossing. Nevertheless, this place was somewhere new, filled with unfamiliar sights and smells, and that was interesting in itself.

Stratton seemed a little more relaxed then, and Blaine returned his smile. The idea of a run was tempting, it had been some time since she had ran with her herd before she had left on her travels to arrive here. She was just beginning to accept when a thundering of hoof beats distracted her, and she trailed off, ears and eyes searching for the source of the sound.

The long grasses in the distance were moving, pushed aside by a grey-brown blob that turned into a grullo stallion that approached them swiftly and eagerly. Blaine watched him uncertainly for a moment, but the stranger’s face split almost instantly into a wide smile and she relaxed, smiling back at him before glancing back to Stratton.

She willingly stepped forwards to exchange breaths with the stallion as he offered his muzzle, then focused on his face with one blue and one brown eye.

“We were exploring,” she explained. “We came from the Common. This is Stratton,” she said, gesturing with her pale grey nose at her companion as she introduced him, “and I’m Blaine. Is this your home?”