Vesna heard him before she saw him, and she was not afraid to broadcast the fact. For a moment, she might have looked to be the pinnacle of relaxation, but the moment she heard hooves, she woke. Her eyes shot open, and her ears pushed back in both mild agitation and in an effort to pinpoint the stranger's whereabouts. Thankfully, he did not keep her wondering for long; no sooner than she had straightened her posture did he arrive.
He seemed younger than her, but he already had the upper hand when it came to size. Vesna could not help but think in such suspicious terms; typically, she might have been more welcoming, but the Islands were completely new to her. For all she knew, they were truly a different type there, so unlike their mainland counterparts. Her eyes locked onto him immediately as she shifted her weight, peeling away from her tree and several steps aside in order to clear herself an escape route if needed.
"Why do you ask if I'm alone, Kalona?" She wasn't sorry for being so direct. In fact, it was as if speaking had given her a boost of confidence. She rose to her full height - though, she still came short of him - and looked him directly in the eyes. Vesna watched his face closely lest he try to lie or give himself away. "Are you?" She asked after a moment, her lips tight. As far as she could tell, he was alone. If he wasn't, she doubted he'd admit to it anyway, but at least...Well, she wanted him to feel at least a little bit of what she had felt when he had asked: suspicion, perhaps even a little bit of uncertainty. Never fear, though.
"Vesna," she offered then, finally exhaling after what had felt like aeons. Though she would not let her suspicions go, or let her guard down, she would at least offer that gesture of peace: a name was important, a gesture in itself. Kalona was young, and Vesna had to remember that, just as she had to remember that she was somewhere new. Things would be different, and perhaps they did not need to dance the same dances she and her mother had when a newcomer came. Perhaps trust was implicit in the Islands, and asking such a question was not so strange to them.
vesna.