Mae cannot help the soft chuckle that leaves her at her daughter’s antics. The filly had such a precious soul, but also a playful one. Sometimes she misses Sol Volk when she watches Kæja run around her, though the colt had definitely carried a different spirit than her daughter. Did he still follow Rafe around, or had he grown passed wanting to mirror his father? Mae hoped that her son was thriving in the Badlands, her tender heart could not handle thinking anything else.


When Kæja had settled down enough to realize she didn’t actually know where she was going, Mae began to walk in the right direction. “This way.” She beckoned, but did not keep such a slow pace. She knew her daughter would grow bored of it shortly in her desire to know what came next. So, with a toss of her delicate head that cast her long pale mane into a rippling, waving curtain, she broke into a canter. It felt nice, to be doing this with her daughter. She knew Kæja would not always find her so fascinating, and that one day she would find her own place within life. But for now, as Mae glanced back at her, she would fully enjoy this. Every second she was allowed to take.


When a small meadow lay ahead, Mae turned away from following the stream’s guidance and out into the open. Climbing the small rise she had told Kæja about, she only stopped when she reached the top. There, she glanced back to make sure Kæja had made it alright, before turning to look at the distant Peak. It stood like a beacon of hope to all that could see it; in all it’s glory and all it’s strength. Mae had never visited the summit, but she hoped that she could someday, before life would take away the ability with an aging body. “There” she said, pointing it out to her daughter. “Such a mountain only befitting to the warrior women of the Islands.”


“It is home to only mares. Both those who seek refuge, and those who wish to fight on behalf of those that cannot.” Mae looked to Kæja again, studying her face, wondering what she might think of something so different from how she was raised. “If you ever feel the need, Kæja, they will always stand on your behalf. Just as they would teach you how to protect others.” Though Mae wished her daughter to always be kind, she didn't truly want Kæja to carry anything else of her mother's ways.