It has been a long time since Ayiana found herself in the company of anyone other than her own child and even then, the little colt Tyriaan had never really bothered to test her boundaries. Not like this. Shamwari had always been such a kind stallion and never was there a need to herd his mares anywhere. The prairie had always been safe, at least that is what she remembers. To say she is confused by the boy’s actions are an understatement. Even Tyr had not bothered to try and force her one way or the other.

Despite her larger size and his clear youth, Ayiana stares him down in the same manner she might watch a rabid animal. She had seen one once, a rabid coyote to be clear, it had frothed at the mouth and its salivating jowls worked up and down as it paced around and around in a panting circle, wearing down a dusty trail in the yellow grass. She had been young then, no older than the boy that stood before her now but she remembered clearly the beast’s glazed and wide eyes and they were no different than the ones that stared back at her now. ’Insane’ that was the term that Shamwari had used when he tried to explain to his curious daughter why she must avoid the creature and any like it. Insane was the word that came to term when she stared into the expectant eyes of the brash colt who continued to lunge at her with snapping teeth clacking inches from her heels.

She wanted to do nothing more than rush away from him as far and as fast as her hooves could manage but it was clear that he had the advantage. However when finally her verbal agreement clears the squeals and screams, there is a remarkable change in the little beast. He stops. Simple as that there are no more snapping teeth or angry screams. Instead he merely halts for a moment as though she herself had suddenly gone rabid. Her steps stutter as she tries to glance back at him, watching as he quickly regains himself enough to catch up to her plodding form. Unlike her baby-swollen form, he moved gracefully over the uneven rocky, prancing proudly near her hip with his thin neck arched. If she weren't so lost and so tired she might have been tempted to attempt to flee him or at the very least give out maneuvering him a good old fashioned try. However her lips are parched (something the squealing did not help) and her ankles feel heavy and swollen from wandering aimlessly over unfamiliar territory that she is far from prepared for. All she really wanted to do was to get a good deep drink of water and sleep.

’Home…. Go home’ he barks and Ayiana cannot help but to scoff and give her golden head a shake. Home. As if she even knew what the term meant anymore. Shamwari had uprooted them all when he left and though she had briefly imagined she found her place with Gavriel, it too quickly disappeared and left her lost again. ”Home….” she repeats, memorizing the flavor of the word on her tongue. Sadness lingers in her dark eyes for a brief moment, ”I don't even know the word anymore.” she murmurs, more to herself than to the colt pressing against her heels. For a few more moments they continue on in silence, her head bent and breathing heavily beneath the fierce midday sun and him high-stepping at her side. He guides her along the edge of the tall rockface and Ayiana allows him to lead for fear of slipping on unstable shale. She had already learned how unstable the rocks could be here and was not yet willing to let death take her beneath a pile of suffocating rubble.

’Raegar’ he speaks again and she tilts her head back just a bit to fix him in her amber gaze. Was this his attempt at playing nice? He asks for her name and despite the unease she still felt about him she reluctantly obliges. ”Ayiana.” she speaks, her tone a little less dour and perhaps even the tiniest bit hopeful.