It does not surprise Valve that Evaline is gone—she hadn’t seen her for a few days since they all met at the oasis, and her scent was becoming noticeably scarcer. She hardly seemed content with her circumstances here, and so regardless of the manner in which she had disappeared, Valve felt no sorrow on her behalf. Gabbar’s scent still lingered on the wind however, and as she came and went to the oasis for nourishment, she would occasionally catch sight of him standing still as stone, just out of reach of food and water. He punishes himself… she mused silently.

Valve flicked her tail as she drank from the cool oasis spring water, imagining how she might dismantle the bastard stallions that dared encroach upon her conversation with Nyazik. They had no idea who they were trifling with, and she would most certainly hold them accountable for their foolish actions, even if Gabbar had enabled those actions (however unintentionally). His mistake was not telling her about them, not even giving her the opportunity to dissuade them from coming to the conclusion that this herd could be targeted. She snorted, irate, but willing to talk all of this over with Gabbar when he was ready.

When the day came that the Arabian approached her, she lifted her head to meet his gaze with unfaltering solemnity. She could see the tension in his every limb and line of his face. When he spoke, admitting his wrongdoing, Valve found very little satisfaction in it. On some level she was glad that he has seen the error of his ways, but there was no pleasure in dealing with an ally’s disloyalty. She was disappointed in Gabbar, and until he proved that he was again someone of prominence, that disappointment would likely continue.

“Yes, moronic,” she echoed. “But worse yet, you have eroded my trust in you.”

She paused a moment, letting the effect of her words settle on him. “I will fight with you again to defend this land that we won together, but I shall do it with reservations until you once again have proven that you do in fact see us as equals.”

Gabbar was lucky, but he doesn’t know it. Valve was not the sort of creature who doles in very many second chances. If it weren’t for the fact that she still needed him on her side she would have acted far crueler in this moment. They had enemies, and if they remained divisive they would stand no chance against them.

“Now,” Valve continued. “You said you knew one of those trespassing bastards. Tell me more about him.”

VALVE
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