The pair fell into step easily, reminding Siobhan poignantly of her few friends in the Ridge. Her heart ached at the loss of them, but she felt guilty mourning their loss. She had made this choice and ripped them all apart; she didn't also get to be sad about it.

She drew in a quiet, reflective breath and leveraged all of her attention against Tigerlily's story. She remembered the way that Bjorn had told her of the fierce man that he had been in the Nordurland, and of the things he had not been proud of. She had forgiven him for it once, before everything in their lives had devolved. She wondered if he still regretted them now, or they had simply been words spoken to soothe her tender heart. The Siobhan of those days had agonized over his darker sides, confusing their necessity with a desire to commit atrocities.

This current Siobhan knew better. Had learned that kindness did not always win, and that light very rarely prevailed over darkness for long.

Tigerlily's description of the Nordurland brought a smile to her lips and she nodded along. It was easy to picture Bjorn and his children in a place such as that, and even though a part of her hated to admit it, snow had always suited the handsome Bera Konung better than jungle flowers. As the sabino mare mentioned Róisín, Siobhan smiled reflexively and nodded. She had no doubt that if her mind was still set on the Nordurland that she would make it there one day. Roi had a way of getting what she wanted in most scenarios.

"The Peak," she answers quietly, a bittersweet smile twisting on her lips at Tigerlily's choice of words. "She loved hearing the stories about her aunt there." There was more there too. Roisin hadn't wanted to be a warrior until Nyimara had chased and tortured their family into hiding. Before that, she'd wanted to be an explorer. A mare who travelled to every new land that she could find in the hopes of bringing back the same sort of magical stories that her father had. "And she wanted to be strong, like her father." Siobhan finishes quietly, worry for her daughter rising again.

"I'd like that," Siobhan says quietly, a smile ghosting across her face. "She needs all the strong role models she can get." She lowers her head to the water to sip the icy water slowly, fighting against memories of the last time she'd drank water so pure and so cold.

The reminder of the space between her and her past is daunting, and in the wake of walking back through the memories of this place and of the Ridge, she can feel her energy ebbing. Offering an apologetic smile to Tigerlily, Siobhan touches her shoulder gently. "Forgive me, but I suddenly feel exhausted. It was good to speak with you, Tigerlily. I hope you take care." And then she turns away - not from the budding possibility of friendship - but from examinations of a past that was yet too treacherous to wade through comfortably.

OOC: We can end it here <3