a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

The bay mare felt prickly all over. She was the first to whinny and rear, voicing her support to her dam, during Macabre's speech back on the shore of the Peak. She swam with vigor among the herd, bringing up the rear of Peak warriors who stealthily rose from the surf onto Luthien and dispersed into the wooded terrain. Just before Macabre and Bozena disappeared down one forested path, Wasp locked eyes with her mother. She gave both mares a stern nod of support before snorting and trotting off into the trees by her lonesome. She would find both of them later.

Cries erupted from the darkness. It took some time to get used to this strange sensory overload. Wasp was on high alert as she moved through the tall trees, her heavy hooves crushing twigs and low lying brush with every step she took. Eventually she found a gaggle of mares being guarded by some bachelor stallions, and without a second thought, she launched into the clearing where they stood and took them on. The first few kicks her opponents landed on her body were just what she needed. The warrior of the Peak narrowed her amber eyes and pushed back harder with teeth bared. She was able to disrupt the trio for long enough that the mares being held hostage were able to flee back into the woods.

Wasp chased one stallion back through the trees. Her ears laced at her poll, she bobbed this way and ebbed that in pursuit of his path, until the trees gave way to the beach again. Puzzled by this change in direction, Wasp slowed and scanned the desolate beachscape, her nostrils flaring as she caught her breath. She watched the spindly-legged stallion high-tail it over one sand dune and out of view. Lucky him, she thought internally, before she pivoted on her haunches and returned her gaze to the woods.

She trudged along the same path until she heard the sounds of two others in the distance. One somewhat familiar voice - definitely a stallion - was muffled by the sounds of a running stream. Intrigued, Wasp drew closer until she spied the form of a pale mare and Rougaru in the distance. A chill shot down the length of her spine as she stood frozen, hidden among the brush. She'd fretted over this moment - over finding him on the battlefield - but she never imagined it this way. She watched him stalk sinisterly toward the mare and her heart lurched in her chest. If this were any other stallion, the Peak mare would certainly have intervened by now. But it was Rougaru.

Finally, the mare pushed forward through the brush, hardly trying to keep her actions quiet. She stumbled over the rocks at the riverbank and lowered her head to drink downstream, but not far from the pair. Her amber eyed looked for Rougaru now. She didn't need to say anything - if the two just locked eyes for one moment, maybe that would be enough for him to reconsider what he planned to do next. The bay mare then lifted her head from the river's edge and stared hard down the way at both of them. Her ears were lazily pinned against her poll, but her expression was stricken. She gives Rougaru one stern nod before turning again, and heading back into whatever waited for her just beyond the treeline.

W A S P