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Aiyana had traveled to the edge of the Odakota Herd's territory that they had decided upon, a paper lantern glowing brightly in her mouth. She had promised the boys she would be careful, knowing they worried about her in her current condition. However, this was something she wanted to do on her own, at least one last time. Next year, she would do it with them, already having thought of making some kind of herd celebration for this. Also, she had assured Star and Hoshi that she had Yamka with her, who she would send to them if she got into any trouble. She was sure the boys would understand and she wasn't going too far.

Once she was far enough away, she made sure there was enough wind for this to work. Releasing the hold she had on the lantern, she watched the wind take possession of it. As it began to drift up into the sky, tears began to stream down her cheeks, thinking of the loved ones she had lost. She carefully got down in the grass, watching the wind carry her symbol of love to the starry heavens above her head. It was something she felt was a proper way to honor her family, she hoped they liked it.

"I miss you all so very much, more than I can ever express. So much has happened since that fateful day, I have grown to be the mare you wanted me to be..least I hope I have. I have started a family and herd of my own, I hope I make all of you proud. I wish you were here to see my wonderful mate and my caring brother. They are quite a blessing to me, I am sure you would have loved them both. Also, I have little ones of my own on the way, I bet they will be beautiful,"she whispered to the heavens.

Aiyana heard what sounded like hoof steps, causing her to flick her ears in the direction it was coming from. It was coming from the opposite direction from the herd, so she knew it wasn't one of the boys coming to check on her. She tried to think of what she should do, knowing that it most likely was not someone she knew. For all the mare knew, it could be someone who was nice or it could be a Soquili who meant harm. Getting carefully to her feet, she decided to back up into the trees, to provide her coverage.

"Yamka, I hear someone coming, I do not know if they are friend or foe. I need you to scout it out and find out who they are and what they want. Make sure not to get close, I do not want you getting hurt if they mean harm. If they seem friendly enough, lead them back to me and I will learn more,"she spoke to her familiar, switching into leader mode.

"Alright, I will find out their intentions. Just stay hidden until I return,"the bat replied softly. She then took off from her perch in Aiyana's pink curls, before heading in the direction her bonded had indicated. It didn't take long to come upon a black mare and a small ferret. She made sure they could see her, but did not speak right away.

Yamka saw the small ferret notice her first, getting excited like he had never seen a bat before. For all she knew, maybe he really hadn't seen one before, she couldn't say she really knew. Then her ears picked up on the voice of the mare as she greeted her and asked if something was wrong. The small bat knew she had to make a decision about the pair, decide if they were safe to take back to her bonded. From what she could see, they certainly seemed nice enough. The little familiar was a bit excitable, but he didn't seem to mean any harm. She closed her eyes a moment, before nodding to herself and opening them once more.

"You were not disturbing me, but I have a friend who is out here. If you will follow me, I will lead you to her, so you may speak to her yourself. You see, you are at the edge of her herd's territory,"she explained in a quiet voice. She turned in the direction Aiyana was in, then looked to make sure that the pair was following.

Yamka's sensitive hearing heard the small ferret asking if they could follow her to where she had left Aiyana. She had to think the little familiar sure had a lot of energy, definitely more than she did. Now it wasn't like she didn't have energy, she just didn't bounce all over the place. Then Eve's question caught the bat's attention and she let a small smile come to her. It was refreshing to hear someone caring about how they effected another. It reminded her of the family, how they preferred to look out for others. They also hated to intrude on someone's private time, this mare would get along well with her bonded. Actually, she would probably get along with the boys too, now that Yamka thought of it.

"The thing that she came out here to do, is pretty much concluded. If you look off into the distance, you will see a little light being taken by the wind. Also, it was she who had be come out to check on who she heard approaching. If you were intruding, she would not have instructed me to bring you back, if you were hospitable,"she answered.

Yamka looked off in the direction they had released the light, to see if she could still see it. There it was floating further out of sight, a beautiful gesture of love that Aiyana had for her family. It might not seem like much to most people, but then they had not heard the words her bonded said after she released the lantern into the sky. She knew the plan was to make it into a tradition for the herd after this, Aiyana had told her this. Just as the little bad was thinking about this, Eve spoke her questions about why the rest of the herd was not here.

"Well, we are still working on building the herd, it is still kind of small. Secondly, Aiyana had requested to come out here by herself, with just me to accompany me. She hopes to make it one of the herd traditions, but she wanted to do it one more time by herself. It is something she holds near and dear to her heart,"she responded.

Yamka decided to continue flying in the direction Aiyana was waiting in, letting the pair below her think about what she had said. She knew the boys had been worried when Aiyana mentioned coming out here alone. However, the little bat believed they knew the mare would be safe. It was quiet a little longer, before the mare spoke about their herd. She smiled softly, yes they were still a pretty young herd indeed, still working on things.

"You are right, our herd is relatively knew right now. It started out with just my bonded resting in the place where the main family resides. Then from there she met her mate and decided to build a herd. Then her adopted brother came back and agreed,"she answered. By the time she finished speaking, they had arrived at Aiyana's hiding spot and Yamka landed in the familiar pink curls.

Aiyana felt as Yamka landed into her mane of curls, a soft smile on her muzzle. She was about to ask how it went, when she saw a black and purple mare come into view. The white and blue mare knew that it meant that her bat familiar had found the other trustworthy enough to bring her this far. When the other greeted her and apologized for the intrusion, she was beginning to see why her bat trusted her. Her eyes looked down at the little ferret as he was introduced as well, before she inclined her head to both of them.

"You do not need to apologize, you did not really disturb me. I had just finished doing what I had come out here to do anyway. I was just going to rest a little longer, before returning to my herd. My name is Aiyana, one of the leaders of the Odakota herd. You have already met my bat familiar, Yamka, of course. May I ask what brought the two of you this way?"she inquired gently.