Faolain had never thought of herself as built for any particular climate. She enjoyed weather across the spectrum, for the black mare had a healthy respect for mother nature, and was often awe-struck by the displays of violence the elements could unleash. She was adaptable, and found ways to remain comfortable in most conditions, generally preferring the cold over heat; yet, her body seemed to breathe a sigh of relief in the warm, misty shadows of the jungle. She found it easy to maneuver through the dense foliage, her slim body sliding through the trees like a droplet of ink. It felt correct.

She bowed down to drink from the stream she had led Shamwari to, her ears trained toward him as he spoke. When she lifted her head, she met his gaze with her usual impassive expression, though in her mind she was grateful. "That is comforting to hear," she said, though of course, it was not that simple. Shamwari continued, and Faolain listened silently, processing his words with care. The information was unfamiliar to her - as natural as she felt in this landscape, she was still an alien here - and she took a few moments in silence to consider what the copper stallion had said.

She had a few options, but this news about Rougaru was not ideal, and it did complicated things. Faolain was not deterred, however, as it was in the nature of politics to be complicated. On the one hand, she could disregard Rougaru’s opinion of her leadership and of her friends, and be publicly supportive of the Prairie and thus of Luthien. This option held many unknown risks, both to her and to the chestnut stallion. Would Rougaru ignore them, and simply reject Faolain as an ally should she make such a proposal? Or would he outright consider her an enemy for this choice, and go out of his way to make either her life or Shamwari’s difficult? She did not want to cause the Prairie leader any hardship, though she did not want to name him an enemy just by pulling out of their pending allyship.

"You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I thank you for that," she said finally. She was about to vocalize a question - if they were not allies, did they have to be enemies? Or could they remain friendly without any strings until Faolain had a better feel for Rougaru’s presence as her neighbor? - when her ears turned hopefully away from Sham and toward the coast where they had just left. The familiar, uneven footsteps of Iscariot were approaching, and she knew it was the ivory stallion before he came into view.

"Iscariot," she said warmly as the perlino greeted her with a playful nudge, which she returned, before bumping her muzzle into his. A wave of relief crashed over her as she processed that her friend was not only safe, but here, where he would remain so. When Rivaini did not join him, for a moment Faolain felt alarm, but Iscariot was relaxed and the inky mare knew that if bad news was coming, she would already know. She smiled happily up at the tall Andalusian before regaining her composure and regarding Shamwari once again. As the two men had already introduced themselves to each other, she did not linger on their meeting and returned to the earlier discussion as though there had never been a pause. She remained close enough to Iscariot that their fur nearly touched, however.

"I have a few options to consider," she continued. "But I don’t want to rush into any of them. I am not in any position to make a call with as little information as I have, as it turns out." She chuckled, though she was not genuinely surprised to find that there was more drama between islands than she had heard of before her claim of the Ridge. "I do not imagine that there is any rule saying we must be enemies unless we are allies. I think it would be best to return to this discussion when I’ve learned a bit more about Rougaru and what threats he may pose. I hate to think he may cause you any trouble because of me. I trust your judgment of him, and I don’t wish to be associated with someone who punishes those he is obligated to protect. However, there is no doubt he is stronger than me. I would not like to be his enemy, either, if I can avoid it." She sighed, her gaze wandering over the vibrant green hillside as she considered how to proceed. "I also know that there is not much I can offer you as your ally. I don’t wish to call on your help when I am unlikely to be able to reciprocate. For now, I think I will lay low and observe; I will learn how to be a better leader, and hopefully how not to piss Rougaru off until I can hold my own against him."

She laughed again, a dry chuckle that did not hold much humor in it. Her dark gaze swept to Iscariot, then back to Shamwari, and she waited to hear the copper stallion’s thoughts, though if Iscariot had any input on the discussion she would welcome it as well.