Common

Roux didn't watch the fight but stayed close enough to Snapdragon to see which way that it went. And when the large mare charged off afterward, clearly upset, Roux knew her answer. Paradise had changed hands once more.

She supposed she should be angry or sad, but she felt nothing. Staying with Snapdragon had been out of convenience and a nascent bond of friendship, but she had never deluded herself into thinking that she was going to find herself any sort of typical herd structure there. It made her wonder if her father's herd had been an anomaly rather than the rule. She certainly hadn't found anything like "normal" in the three times she'd tried now. Perhaps it was her that was unusual instead, the weirdo that did not belong in the sort of herd where she could expect some casual flirtation and then (mostly) generic disinterest. Hell, she'd even given up on the thought of finding love. She'd settle for someone who wanted her around at this point or even someone apathetic to her existence but enough of a livewire that things happened.

The silver bay huffed to herself as she crossed the invisible line separating the Commons from the rest of the Crossing, and set a path further inland. Here, autumn was looming threateningly on the horizon, promising to set the islands ablaze with activity once more. She had considered waiting to see if maybe that would garner more interest, but Roux suspected that if it went the way she thought it would, it would only sting worse for being in Fall.

Flicking the flaxen strands of her tail across her hips, the daughter of Rougaru lowered her muzzle to the ground but found she had no appetite. Never before had the Commons filled her with so much unease and she was unsure of why this was different. When Frey had claimed her, he had made his dislike clear from the beginning and they'd never really had a chance to move past that. She still didn't understand what had led Siren's Symphony to claim her, but it didn't really matter in the end considering that arrangement had been short-lived. Snapdragon had been her longest attempt at herd life so far and she'd found it unbearably droll. There was no flirtation, no excitement, no thrills. Just the same thing every single day until it didn't matter if it was spring or summer or fall: she'd wake up and do the same thing until she was too tired to keep her eyes open.

The thought of doing that again, of suffering the same indignity of boredom, made her uneasy. Perhaps she should just abandon this quest, too, the way she'd given up looking for Faline. Perhaps she wasn't cut out for this herd life thing after all.

maresilver baylove