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How long, now since she first left the mountains? How long since she had seen the land of her birth? It was not a question that particularly bothered her, not in the traditional sense. Senka was not prone to bouts of homesickness. Indeed, she had no intentions of ever returning home. The mountains were too stifling, too secluded. There was not enough in that cold country to satisfy her questing mind, so she had left. No, she did not miss her home.

When Senka considered the time since she had left, it was to wonder at all that she had learned and seen and done in that time. The young mare had met so many Azrein, even the great Valdien, and had learned so many of their stories. She had even met some of those humans. The king himself had greeted her and shared some of his painful history. As the shadow-coated mare trotted through the plains, she could not help but wonder who she would get the chance to meet today.

Normally, Sena was very aware or her surroundings, a necessity living on her own for so long. So, she was most surprised when another Azrein made her presence known. She pranced forward a few steps, then whirled around to face the stranger. What she found was a lovely blue mare who looked a bit coquettish. Not that it would do the stranger much good against Senka. She was generally immune to the advances of other females.

"Good morning," she said, ever-polite. "You startled me."

"Not at all," she demurred. "I should have been paying more attention."

The mare considered Tardis's question. It was not a menacing one, but from the wrong kind of Azrein, it could be a dangerous one. Why would anyone want to know whether she was traveling alone? To learn if anyone would miss her, perhaps?

If Senka were a more suspicious individual, she might actually be wary. As it stood, she did not think that Tardis meant ill, and even if she did, Senka was confident that she could talk her way out of it, anyway. Besides, here in front of her was another person from whom she might glean fascinating stories. It was far too much temptation for her to turn away from.

"My name is Senka and I do travel alone." She cocked her head slightly. "Do you?"

For a moment, she had to wonder about the stress Tardis had placed on her not-mate-relationship with her travel-partner. Did that mean that they were in denial, or that they truly would never be mates? However, she quickly shrugged it off as presently unimportant. She could make a better guess later, after Gallifrey's promised appearance. What interested her now was that last bit. They had traveled the Isle for years? Tardis must know so much! How many stories would Senka be able to gather from her? She was eager to find out. First, however, there was another matter to attend to.

"Oh, yes. I would love to walk with you for a time."

It was rare that anyone showed a particular interest in Senka's past. Of course, that might be because she had a tendency to immediately take hold of the conversation and all but drag others' stories out of them. She had to think for a moment about where to begin.

"There's not much to tell, really," she began. "My birth herd lives in the mountains, isolated from the world and uninterested in its affairs. I had a quiet life growing up, a boring one, but the storyteller took me under her wing and told me about the Isle. Strange stories. Amazing stories. I had to see it for myself. So, as soon as I was old enough, I left. I'm afraid I have not long been traveling the world."

Senka glanced at the other mare, certain that her personal story would have bored her. She really had led an unremarkable life so far. Her story was only just beginning.

"But I am much more interested in you. You said you have traveled all over? Would you tell me about it? There is so much that I have not yet seen. So many stories I have not heard."

"Of course," she replied. They were reasonable questions. The mare supposed she had been a little sparse with her details, but only because she had assumed that Tardis would not be interested. Clearly, she had a storyteller's need to gather all pertinent information.

"I resided in the Unthal range. Near the border of the Southern Field and the Sander Lake." Or it would have been near the border, if they had not lived so high and so deep. Still, Unthal was a long range, and any relative points were helpful. As for the other question...

"Her name was Bryanni," Senka sighed wistfully. The memories numbered amongst her best, but the pain was still sharp. "She died soon before I left the herd."

Very dear to her? That was perhaps not the word she would have chosen. Senka thought of the old mare who was gruff and hard and whose tongue cut sharper than even the winter chill. While Bryanni may have become fond of Senka in their time together, she rarely showed even a hint of it. Still, they had grown on each other, despite everything, and Senka owed much to her mentor. While the young mare may not have grieved for very long in the traditional sense, she still felt the loss and she would always honor the old storyteller who had given her something to live for.

So, when Tardis expressed her sympathies, Senka offered her a bitter-sweet smile and thanked her for her concern.

At the mention of a snack and what was sure to be a good story, she perked up, her melancholy disappearing as though it were never there.

"Mmm, this is very good," she observed. "They are not so sweet in the mountains." She turned curious eyes toward Tardis. "Where did you start your travels? Were you always with Gallifrey or did you meet him somewhere?"

Senka nickered in amusement. The way she complained about her Galli reminded her of her own frustration toward Bryanni when she was younger. The old mare was the closest thing to a mother she ever had, but that did not mean she made it easy on the old storyteller.

"Below the Isle?" she wondered, amazed. She had heard tales of he lands below, of course. It was really not so very long ago that Azrein had returned to the Isle, but she had not really thought about where they had all come from. Somewhere above, perhaps? Or some other floating isle, if there was such a place? She had not realized that there were so many of their kind in the lands below.

"Really? What is it like?" Another thought occurred to her. She did not know about Galli, but Tardis certainly had no wings. "And how did you get here?"

Tardis's assertion that the colors were brighter on the Isle only made sense. But the rest, well...it was an interesting idea, the thought that the lands below did not have two-legged species. If anything, she would have thought that humans were more abundant in the lands below and Azrein came from...elsewhere. She did not have much time in which to postulate, however, as another Azrein was approaching.

He was a large stallion, to be sure, and he was brightly colored. Rather like a sunset, now that she though about it. Oh, and he was a persnickety one. He sounded just like a hassled parent. The idea made her smile.

...did he just call her lovely? She mulled the possibilities over, but decided that he was probably just being a gentleman. He probably referred to most mares as lovely.

"A pleasure," she said when Tardis introduced them. "I hear you two have been together for a long time. It must be nice to have such a constant companion, despite everything." Everything being their arguments, of course.