Meadow

Jusket finally stopped playing spot the difference with the twins as Trell started to speak, settling his gaze on the brown stallion. His smile started to fall the more the stallion spoke. He glanced over at Jola. His pink companion was frowning, her eyes squinting slightly as she glanced between the pair. He wasn't sure what she had assumed, but he knew they shouldn't get involved. Sibling grudges were best handled if strangers didn't interfere, in his experience. He pulled his hip away to bump it against hers again. She glanced sideways at him, just long enough for Jusket to give a small shake of his head.

"That does sound... difficult." The blue stallion spoke, not trusting Jola to hide her suspicions. He also wanted to disperse the tension in the air and direct the conversation to smoother waters. "We cannot grow without pain, however. There is a lesson to be learned in every experience." He attempted to pick his words carefully, not wanting to offend the twins. He was glad when Trell moved on, and an easy smile came to his face as the topic switched to mountains.

Jola glanced at every face in turn now. She didn't like the way Trell was talking about his sister, nor how Kikka didn't defend herself. If Jusket made those sorts of comments about her while she was standing right next to him, well, he'd be aware of her displeasure, to put it lightly. Still, he thought it would be best to move on and spout some nonsense wisdom. She worried about him too much to argue it right now. Instead she smiled to Trell's compliment and chuckled lightly as she and Jusket traded looks over Kikka's question. The gratitude in his gaze made it well worth putting the twin's dispute behind her. "Yes, we are foreigners," she started, turning her attention back to the twins. "From very far away, actually. I'd be surprised if you had found our home. And impressed if you climbed our mountains." She grinned easily.

Jusket moved to press himself against her again. "We grew up in the same herd, yes. We weren't friends back then, however." He laughed lightly as Jola turned to grin and nudge at him. He fell silent as she took up the story.

"His herd took me in. They found me wandering the mountainside, no mother in sight, and Jusket's mother raised me as her own alongside him. We hated each other," she laughed, and Jusket easily joined in. They didn't care that they hated each other in the past; they loved each other now. "When he struck out on his own, so did I. We didn't start to like each other until a few years later, when he tried to wrangle me into his herd. It didn't end well for him." She winked at Jusket, and another guffaw exploded from him.

The blue stallion shook his long nose once he controlled himself. Thinking about the days he spent without Jola was like remembering a past life. As long as she was by his side, nothing else mattered. "I didn't recognize her at first," he admitted, "but once I did, well, I wasn't about to let her into my herd. But you stuck around. Not close enough to annoy me, but I remember you trailed after my herd sometimes. Why was that?" His attention had turned to his pink companion, twins nearly forgotten.

Jola tossed her mane and grinned at him. "I didn't want to be a herd mare. I wanted to explore, and fight, and see the world. Unfortunately, everywhere I went on that mountain range there was a stallion to try and claim me as his own. But everyone feared Jusket. No one dared to steal a mare from him, and I always stayed too close to his herd for any stallion to risk it. It was a very beneficial arrangement for me."

"Not for me!" Jusket snorted, "But seeing her so often, and having to drive her off every time she got too close, well, it was too much work. And after a while, I forgot why I didn't like her. So she became an honorary member. She would travel with the herd, break off to explore when she pleased, but she protected the rest of the mares. And they liked her too much to let me drive her off."

"And now here we are," Jola cut in suddenly. There was much more to that story, but now that she focused back on the twins, she realized she didn't want them to have her whole life story. "But never mind us, blabbering on. Tell us about some of those places you explored. Have you seen anything strange out there?" She smiled pleasantly and glanced at Jusket, who was still pressed against her. He grinned loosely, caught up in the memories of the past. It would do to keep his mind there. Maybe he would rest easier tonight with those memories, instead of the ones from the past few months.