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"Hmm..." Senka eyed the stallion. He was no fun at all, trying to run away with Tardis already. They had barely scratched the surface of all that they surely had to tell each other. The Six take her if she was going to give up on her conversation just yet. As luck would have it, Tardis seemed to feel the same way.

"Afraid of a little socialization?" she teased. "What is the point of all of your traveling if you don't at least meet the people?"

She turned back to the other mare, effectively ignoring Galli as per Tardis's advice.

"Where else have you been?" she inquired, her interest obvious. "What have you done and seen?" She tilted her head ever so slightly. "Or is it my turn to speak of an adventure? You have been so many more places than I have, though. I'm afraid I would run out of stories before you even got started."

Pleased that she would not have to waste time arguing with the stallion when he was clearly going to lose the argument anyway, Senka considered her options. She really had not been off of the mountain very long at all. Barely enough time to meet a handful of new people. While each of them were interesting in their own way, they were not what most would consider particularly noteworthy. Well, none of then save one particular pair.

"I'm afraid that I only have one personal adventure to tell," she said at last. "I will start with that. If you are interested in the lore of my herd, however, I can trade you many such tales in exchange for your adventures. Or perhaps the few tales I have collected thus far on my journey."

She paused a moment to compose her narrative, such as it was.

"But a few weeks ago, I had the great honor of being welcomed to the Greater Herd Plains by the Azreth, the human king. He has a special bond with all the Azrein aligned with him, as you know, but there is so much more to him than that. He is wise and good, yet still so young. Too young by far for all that he has been through.

"He shared with me some of his past, and it held such horrific stories. Terrible things. Tragic things. Even the rare rays of light were tainted by darkness. There has been far too much sorrow in his life." The mare lost herself in those stories for a moment before she shook out her mane.

"I met Valdien, too," she added casually, as though meeting the first of their kind was an everyday occurrence. She smiled at the memory. Oh, but even ancient as he may be, Valdien was still a fine stallion.

Senka frowned. She had assumed that these two had at least a basic understanding of the way that the Isle worked, but that did not appear to be the case. Even she, a mare who was isolated in the mountains most of her life, knew more than they appeared to.

"Not all Azrein here follow the king. Some choose to follow the Six, a group of our kind who oppose the very notion of a bond between Azrein and humans. They are a violent group and they are not above killing other Azrein in the name of their cause, or for the simple pleasure of it. Others choose to remain neutral."

The rest of his question was trickier. How can one describe the king to someone who has never met him? How could she possibly convey the depths of his love for Azrein? His respect for them? The lengths to which he is willing to go to protect them? She had to try, though.

"The king is not bonded to every Azrein of the Greater Herd in the traditional sense, though I have heard that he is bonded to more than is usual. Rather, he has a special connection to each of us. He can communicate with us telepathically, and thus we can feel the truth of him.

"He is worth following. What he stands for, the love he has for us, his will to preserve the right of Azrein to bond with humans: all of that is worthy of our loyalty. Or at least, it is worthy of mine."

She flicked her tail, uncertain if she had managed to convey her point. "You would understand if you met him."

The mare frowmed slightly as she remembered her own encounter with the Six. She was not a prejudiced creature and for the most part, she was content to let people live as they wished without judging them. However, there had been something about them, indeed, about many of the Azrein in the south that rubbed her the wrong way. Hearing the tales of horror other Azrein had to tell about them only confirmed her own instincts. The Six were bad news. But that was neither here nor there.

"The king resides in Castle Avandere, north and east of here," she said. "There is much more to him than mere charisma. It would be most worth your while to meet both King Azreth and Valdien." Indeed, that would be far better than merely hearing about them from her. They were something that one had to experience for one's self. There was simply no way to truly describe them otherwise. Not even with her skills as a storyteller.

For a moment, Senka could only stare at the stallion. She had not expected him to invite her along with them. The thought had crossed her mind that Tardis might, but given his initial disapproving tone, she had expected Gallifrey to protest the idea. Even as Tardis exuberantly encouraged her to agree, a slow but bright smile made its way onto her mouth.

"I will gladly guide you to the king," she said before glancing at Tardis and adding, "So long as you tell me all of those stories you promised."

"That is all I can ask," she informed the other mare.

Tardis's glance had not escaped her. It seemed that the male of her new group could cause a few problems for her, perhaps even stop Tardis from sharing certain stories. Now, she did not wish to get the mare into trouble, however, she refused to be deterred by the stallion. It was not as though she used her stories for ill purposes, and if she learned something best forgotten, she was not one to spread such information. Just because she was a storyteller, it did not mean that she was an indiscriminate gossip-monger. Regardless, Senka believed that all knowledge was worth learning and if she could find a way to get those secret stories, she would do her very best to acquire them. She was not the type to give up easily.

"Of course," she graciously agreed with Galli's deferment. Perhaps a small spark of her determination showed as she gracefully rolled to her hooves, or perhaps she managed to hide it. Either way, it was certain to be an eventful journey. As the mare pointed them in the right direction, she wondered just how many times she and Galli would butt heads. Time would tell which of them was more skillful with their words.