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A sudden peal of laughter cut across the mare's simple daydreams, a shiver of motion in the brush the only warning she would have before Sitareh leapt out, sprays of leaves following the arcing path of her body. She landed hard on wobbling legs, but managed to keep them straight nonetheless, body fluid and flexible enough to allow for some missteps. Once free and out in the open, she paused to lift her head and scent the air like a pretend predator, as if her quarry could be located in such a way. "I can smell you, Hally-lolly-olly-on." she called, voice holding a sing-song note of affection as she glanced around, hoping to catch a hint of sun-kissed gold or some too-small tree quaking with silent laughter. Sometimes it took hours before she could find him, blending perfectly with some sunshiny background, or huddled down between jagged rocks where even his stick-uppier bits were easy to hide. Today was turning out to be one of those instances, and though she thought about asking the nearest sycamore for a teeny hint, just to see if she was on the right track, she knew Hallon would complain that it was cheating. Besides, she would find him eventually, their ideal hiding places sharing quite a few things in common. It was just a matter of time and effort, both of which she possessed in spades.

Her brother wasn't out on the trail, but a bright mare was. Sitareh appraised her quickly, noting the differences between them almost as an afterthought; this stranger appeared to be winged, but not like Honeydew, oh no, she only had one set! They were pretty, though, rosy and fading to white at the tips, like something had perched on the edge of her wingspan and sipped the color away. She was also horned, a singular spiral that stood proud and brassy on her brow, honed sharper than the miniature one she herself bore near the middle of face. But the most noticeable thing to the foal was that she seemed very, very round, her belly closer to dragging on the ground than she'd ever seen before. The filly's tail flicked to send a few recently disturbed leaves skittering, curiosity crinkling her expression. "Hello," she offered guilelessly, stepping closer while her gaze darted between the mare's swollen abdomen and her face. Maybe she was sick? But she didn't really look ill, ignoring the obvious, her features arranged into something closer to contentment. "I'm Sitareh." she continued, not really stopping to consider her words with care as she ploughed ahead. "I like your hair lots. It's real long, I want mine to be long too, but it doesn't grow when I tell it to, so mommy says I need to be patient. Does your tummy hurt?"

Though she had observed the other mare's near-tumble, her wings had already compensated by the time Sitareh bounded closer to lend aid, and the bird-like gesture immediately captivated the filly's attention. They were certainly useful for stuff she hadn't considered, these pinions with all their grace and pillowy, leaf-shaped layers. Was this yet another Angeni? It was funny that she'd spent her whole life up until now not having seen any of them, and now Sita had met two in short succession. Absently, she shifted her body from one side to the other, imagining the weight of wings on her back, the way they might feel when stretched to their fullest. They would be gilded green, one or two pairs, though it seemed like more than a single set might cause a bit of confusion.

It was a brief daydream, ended when she discovered the mare was enthusiastically chatting back at her, a rarity in adults that the filly couldn't help but latch onto with a similar eagerness. Mention of her scales made the little jade mirrors lift slightly in acknowledgement, an involuntary flourish for being referenced again. Honeydew had liked her scales, too, come to think of it. Maybe all winged things secretly yearned for the natural chainmail, but couldn't quite manage flight with it. Scales were heavy, after all. The thought disappointed her for a handful of seconds before falling to the wayside, not about to pout when something interesting was happening.

Sakura's evident confusion at her own state puzzled Sitareh in turn, determining that the bulbous abdomen must not have been causing her discomfort if she had been mostly unaware of it. Still, the kirin-blooded foal drew close and sniffed at the anomaly, giving it a testing nudge with her armored snout. Sometimes pain was hot to the touch, or let off an odor that sensitive nostrils could catch. But the mare's side was merely warm, not scalding, and the only scent she could detect was healthy, the slightest undertone of milky flowers and sweet grass. "It just looks like it might've, that's all," she answered, satisfied by the brief investigation. The filly hopped back and danced around her new playmate, too energized to maintain a somber mood for long. Maybe she had always looked like that - how could Sita have known any differently? And momma said it wasn't nice to point things out unless she wanted to pay someone a compliment. "Your belly's real soft," she tried, finding that sounded appropriately pleasant. It was indeed soft; pink, downy fur and a certain amount of yielding lead her to believe it would make a nice place to rest one's head, if only they could ignore the slight hints of activity taking place beneath the skin.

Thoughts of a previous engagement had her stopping abruptly near Sakura's chest, sight tracking up and down the path they were on. When nothing appeared, she tilted her chin up and asked at a conspiring whisper, "Have you seen my brother? He looks like me, only not so green. 'Cept for his tree, I mean. That's green. We're playin' a game." Surely asking a stranger wasn't cheating, if only because there were fewer of them, and they lacked the omnipresence of the forest.

Sitareh watched calmly as the mare examined herself, content to let her catch up with the information she'd already gleaned. The trees overhead rustled quietly in the interim, spilling simple secrets onto the ground that she had no intention of picking up at the moment. It was quiet where they stood, and she strained absently to hear her brother, a tug of sensation in the long bones of her legs insisting he wasn't too far off. Her gaze moved down to her hooves, evaluating them temporarily with her face scrunched up in concentration. Maybe if she gave them free rein, they would take her to Hallon without further incident. It was possible that the trees were communicating directly with her three-pronged feet, using the wood-grain of them to give her hints without interfering directly.

A bright voice drew her face back to the mare, and she hummed in agreement with Sakura's assessment, pleased that the compliment had worked its desired magic. At any rate, her new friend didn't seem particularly self-conscious about her belly, so it wasn't as though she'd defied her mother's edict of saying something nice or saying nothing at all. Sakura caught up quickly to her more current train of thought, both filly and mare peering expectantly into the brush. When her brother failed to produce himself, Sitareh huffed quietly and looked elsewhere, only to turn wide, awed eyes on Sakura when she admitted her prowess. The filly sidled slightly closer in hopes that some of the skill might inadvertently rub off, wondering if maybe that wasn't what her tummy was filled with. She giggled when the mare admitted her coloration only worked for half of the game, however, eyeing her with consideration. Really, it was a serious problem, not being able to do the hiding part in hide 'n seek. "What if you hid in a rosebush? Or a cherry tree?" she ventured, still keeping her voice in its lower registers. Then an even better idea struck her, and she danced back, grin stretching across her lips. "Or, or, wait, how 'bout this: You could hide in the sunset. Since you're fluffy and pink, everybody'd just think you were a cloud!" It was, as far as the foal was concerned, one of her more ingenious revelations. And since the mare was winged, the fact that it was plausible made it that much better.