Though young, this girl seems years ahead of the pale mare she’d met before, and she feels a retroactive justification in her earlier judgment of Talya’s mental age. It makes her sad to think of the pale girl, though, and she keeps herself present with some effort in an attempt to keep her mood light. “Lovely to meet you, Harley Quinn,” Rhadra says quietly, a warm smile brightening her face. “Are you living in this meadow, or just here for a visit?”
Since recently learning that the land she’s journeyed to is, in fact, a series of islands, Rhadra wants to learn as much as she can about them. Her decision to leave her home herd and go traveling alone was a brave one, bold, but since her arrival on these foreign shores she has felt herself growing more and more timid about attempting anything new. She longs for familiarity, community— a family. And while a rational part of herself understands that, come spring, these feelings will be blown away by warm breezes and the balmy touch of the sun and revitalize her adventurous side once more, she feels small and vulnerable now as winter looms.
She lowers her white-snipped nose to the ground to browse for a bit, pulling up mouthfuls of grass and chewing in quiet contentment at the fact that she is not alone right now. That is something that has surprised her since leaving home: even though she had no strong bonds with anyone in the herd, there was still the sense of belonging just by being near everyone and a part of a group. She misses it. Raising her head, Rhadra flares her nostrils and draws in a deep breath of the cold air, detecting a light hint of moisture. “It smells a bit like snow, don’t you think? Isn’t it too early still for that?” Her eyes move to the distant trees as if to count the leaves still attached to the branches before she glances skyward to gauge the darkness of the clouds. |