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The desert was beautiful at night. The sky was clear and full of stars. The sand sparkled in the warm moonlight, like so many jewels. Unfortunately, the desert also became terribly cold and dry then.

Kai had been busy running errands all day, so she was just now heading home. She left hoofprints in the sand behind her as she walked - she knew if she stopped moving, she'd only feel colder - she shivered, and her teeth chattered. She couldn't wait to get back to her teepee where it was comfortable. And warm.

All of a sudden, she stopped. She had taken this path many times before. She knew it as well as she knew every hair on her body. Now, though, she had seen something she had never, ever seen here before. It was a small, run-down hut lit by candlelight. She thought, This is strange. Nevermind that. It looks warm in there! I wonder who's home?

After that, she walked up to the entrance of the hut and said, "Hello? Is anyone home? May I come in? I'm just a weary traveler on her way home."

Kai, at first, was afraid. It wasn't every day that you saw houses move by themselves and most of the times she saw things that weren't as they were supposed to be, something bad happened. Is a monster going to come out of there and try to eat me? How would I even explain those injuries to anyone?

Then, she candlestick birds appeared and tried to scare her off. She was relieved. She just laughed at them. "Hahaha!" She thought they were some of the most ridiculous, impractical things she had ever seen. Her giggles became intermingled with snorts before finally dying off.

"Thanks, ma'am. Are your birds always like that?" She thought it must be hard to have company over if they were.

"Yes, I am. You may call me Kai. If you don't mind telling, what may I call you?" One of many things she could tell just by looking at her, was that the older mare had a story to tell.

Kai thought, Things are going better than I thought they would. She hasn't tried to eat me, yet. And not only that, we're actually having a conversation. An odd one, still, but it counts. She wasn't trying to be especially flattering., but she supposed there were some uncouth soquili who would speak more roughly. "I'll call you Baba Yaga then. When it comes to names, short, sweet, and simple work best. It's both memorable and practical."

Unlike her, she thought names did matter. Without names, it was hard to make sure that whomever you wanted to speak to made sure it was she you were speaking to. To her, there was a big difference between, "Come here." and, "Kai, come here."

"I seek a place to stay and rest. I'm not lethargic by a longshot, but the cold has knocked the wind out of my sails. Give me..." Her voice trailed off as she did some mental calculations. "...an hour and I'll be as good as new. As lively as a raccoon, no doubt." The image of a raccoon catching tons of crayfish without ever getting tired appeared in her mind's eye.

Her mouth does look rather menacing in this lighting. It reminds me of a hawk's beak. But it's not like there's blood dripping from it or anything like that. And I wonder wear the skulls she wears around her neck came from. She firmly stood her ground and every now and then, her eyes were drawn down to the candle birds.

"You have a point. Time is one thing you can never get back once you give it." She pondered a bit about what she could offer in return and then said, "Unfortunately, I don't have much of physical value on me, unless you want me to hack off a pigtail or something." Now, she wished she hadn't said that. She actually would not be surprised if Baba Yaga did ask for something strange like that.

She put more thought into what she said next. While she was cocky in thinking so, she thought of herself as young and strong. There had to be something she could offer to do. I can't say she needs help. She was fine before I got here, so she really doesn't need anything from me, does she? Still, while I can do a lot of things, myself, if someone told me she would do anything I asked, there are things I would love to make her to. Her eyes became dreamy at the thought and her head became filled of visions of a random mare fetching her water, while she minded things back home.

She was brought back down to earth, when she thought of her current predicament. There would be plenty of time to daydream later. "There must be something you want done that you'd rather not do yourself. I'll have you know I can do just about anything."