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She was still shaking, Rynia reflected. How many minutes had passed since she had landed, and how many minutes before that had she spent in the air? Normally, she found flight soothing; even though she had been fleeing for her life when she took to the air, she would have expected the flight to have calmed her. But no, even after that lovely aerial interlude she was a basket case.

Was it really that shocking, though? So far today, she had been surrounded by potentially homicidal birds, heard her first concert, encountered a disembodied voice, met the first unrelated stallion she'd ever encountered, been witness to a horrible fight, and been completely and utterly traumatized by said unrelated stallion turning on her with undisguised viciousness. To say nothing of the bodily trauma she'd suffered earlier that morning during her normal training session...

Her wound!

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Rynia was aware that her leg was throbbing in a most unpleasant way. Glancing down, she saw to her chagrin that her mad dash through the trees had dislodged her sticky leaf, and the wound was oozing fresh blood. She sighed; it was a pity there was no source of moving water out here, as she really wanted to give it a good rinsing. She had come to this small glade on the far edge of her mother's territory because it was somewhat secluded in general and far removed from the fight scene as possible. It was no where near as comfortable as her stream side haunt, but it was pleasant enough, with lots of grasses, a big gap in the canopy to allow aerial access, and a small spring suitable for both drinking and, in a pinch, bathing.

To her knowledge, Ladius rarely, if ever, came here, finding it an insecure location. But Rynia found the spot peaceful and relaxing, and the sunlight pleasant. Living in the woods as they did, it wasn't often she was able to really indulge in a sun bath!

Right now, though, her priorities were slightly less self-indulgent. Namely, get out of sight, calm down, and do something about her leg!

Her mother was right, and apparently had always been right. Stallions were dangerous, unpredictable, deranged, not to be trusted; what other explanation could there be for a situation that was rapidly turning into something beyond her worst nightmares? No sooner had Rynia started to calm down and figure out how to get past the trials of the day than her solitude was interrupted by the arrival of the stallion.

It was obvious that whatever rage or bloodlust he had previously awoken was still in full control of him; what other explanation could their be for such behavior? She cursed herself inwardly for having been so naive earlier; she had actually decided that he was a Spirit, for goodness' sake! She had allowed herself to listen to him, and to trust him, based solely on his voice! Who knew what sinister designs he had been planning against her home even then? It was possible his designs may have only been against her (she'd heard what her mother had had to say about the deviant behaviors of stallions; it was enough to make one shudder!), but she doubted she was interesting enough to inspire any such interest in any one, even a deviant.

She had thought she had successfully gotten away from him and his...everything, but his arrival definitely proved that assumption wrong. But now, what was she to do now that she knew?

Her first reaction was to run away, but her leg as throbbing in a very painful way that ruled that suggestion impractical. She'd have to escape by air, apparently, but where would she go??? He'd followed her once, found her another time, what would stop him from doing it again??

So first, she would try a different tack. Her voice trembling right along with her body, she backed up and called out, "You should go!"

That was...unexpected. By crying out, Rynia has hoped to maybe distract him, maybe appeal to his better nature; at the very least, she had hoped it would slow him down. She hadn't expected it would stop him, especially not in such a dramatic and over-the-top manner. If she hadn't been almost beside herself with fright, she might have been tempted to laugh at graceless and horribly uncoordinated manner of his halt, but laughing at him in any context seemed a bad idea, plain and simple.

She couldn't afford to antagonize him any more, that much was certain. She would have to remain wary, but she couldn't afford to be offensive, or even appear so. But what was the appropriate reaction here? Was he the sort, like her mother, that expected deference? Did he want fear? Respect?

Well, whatever he wanted, he was going to get fear, because fear was too strong to be subverted by anything else!

She had taken a few steps further back from him as he struggled to regain his balance, taking herself farther out towards the middle of the clearing. Hiding was already an impossibility, but as he was already here in front of her she saw no point in trying. Better to give herself the best possible situation for if she needed to flee, although she still had no idea where she would feel to.

But no, now she was allowing herself to get distracted! How many times had she been told to never, ever allow her concentration to be taken from her enemy? Here she was, face to face with one, and she wasn't giving him her full attention!

Not that her full attention would have helped much. Her expression remained one of fearful perplexity, his answer having done nothing to clarify her concerns. For starters, what was 'torture', and why was it not allowed? Based on the context, she was guessing her referred to her mother's training sessions, and she was suddenly self-consciously aware of the blood oozing its way down her front leg.

She didn't need to explain anything to him. Shouldn't need to explain anything to him. After all, weren't his actions evidence enough of the kind of threat she needed to be ready for? Except he'd stopped yelling at her and charging her and was speaking much less harshly again...stop it, Rynia! She'd already been fooled by this trick once, she ought to know better than to have it happen again!

Best to just fly away. But no...even though she knew herself to be fast, he was too much of an unknown. He might be faster, for all she knew, and he had those birds...

No, she needed to try to...talk him away, somehow. "I don't know what you mean; these wounds are from training, nothing else. How can I expect to ever protect myself if I can't fight?" Realizing that might be construed as an admission of weakness, she hastily added, "And I can fight, I just prefer not to if I don't have to."

Rynia let out a small, hopefully imperceptible sigh of relief as Raines stepped back and gave her more room between them. She still remained on edge, quite aware that the distance between them was nothing if he were to choose to lunge at her suddenly. She debated internally whether it wouldn’t be best for her to causally put the pond between the two of them…or maybe even the full meadow. The only problem with those ideas was that she doubted she could do anything casually, trembling and antsy as she was. No doubt if she were to move at this point he would think she was up to something and attack again, or at least try to bridge the gap again.

Best to just stay where she was. The only immediate problem she’d have to deal with was the fact that as her adrenaline rush continued to wear down, her leg began to hurt with a much greater intensity. Apparently running hell-bent through the trees and undergrowth on an already injured leg was a bad idea; she’d have to devoutly hope that no permanent damage had been done to the limb. Without realizing she was doing so, she’d shifted her weight to favor the injured leg.

He was still talking nonsense, she’d noted. She’d never before heard some of the words he was using, and had no idea what they actually meant. Her mother had told her to be leery of anyone who spoke using overly flowery language, because such speech was inherently deceitful. Rynia didn’t know about that, but it was certainly very confusing. She didn’t know what a ‘megalomaniac’ was, nor ‘sadistic tendencies’, but they certainly didn’t sound very complimentary in context.

Rynia’s first instinct was to argue with him as he sharply and without care slandered her mother and her way of life. After all, what did he know of her, and her life, and her world? How was he supposed to know what was best for her and pass judgement on her mother’s training methods? It was hardly Ladius’ fault that Rynia had been born to be such a disappointment, and she (as Ladius herself had often said) was only trying to make the best of bad source material. It was a testament to Ladius’ perseverance and training that Rynia was so good at eluding pursuers, and was as familiar with the territory as she was!

But she wasn’t able to utter a single word in her mother’s defense, due to her insidious, treacherous thoughts.

Because even though she didn’t want to listen to any invasive propaganda, she couldn’t help but hear what he was saying. And some of what he was saying, horrible and slanderous as it had to be, made sense. Wasn’t it true that it was her training injuries that had left her vulnerable to the very first onslaught of the birds by the river? Wasn’t it those same injuries that now left her in pain and openly bleeding in front of Raines, the first true stranger she’d seen since she was a foal? It might be a testament to her mother’s determination to protect their space that more Soquili hadn’t appeared previously, but didn’t the very lack of enemies mean that the training regime was, perhaps, excessive?

She shook herself slightly, trying to dislodge her disloyal thoughts and mount a suitable argument, but words failed her. She felt a horrible twisting in her stomach, imagining Ladius’ twisted scowl of displeasure at such disgustingly shameful behavior. Surely there was something she could add?

After a few agonizingly long moments of silence, she blurted out the only thing she could think of. “You shouldn’t be here!” Hardly a rebuttal to any of his statements, but at least she hadn’t been struck dumb…

It was rather neat, the way he flipped her 'argument' back around at her. Not helpful, by any means, but neat. And darned if she didn't know how to respond to that, either! Rynia was beginning to get the impression that debate was a great weakness of hers, and it might be best for everyone involved if she just stopped talking. What was the point, when all she seemed to do was talk herself into a corner or make herself look like a complete idiot?

Neither should she, indeed. Why, this was her home! The place she had been born, the place she had grown up, the place that served as her security and protection from the greater world. Here, she'd learned to fly, she's learned to run, she'd learned...well, everything! Here was where she'd had the happiest times of her life, playing with her sister, being defended by her sister...

Her sister.

Rynia bit her lip unconsciously as an ally Raines never might have suspected crept into his arguments. This was her home, and she had had many happy times here, but those were long past. How long had it been since Shiraz had kept company with Rynia in the forest, encouraging her to greater speeds and longer strides? How long had it been since she had laughed at Rynia's stammering apology the first time that Rynia allowed herself to truly let go when running and had left her sister in the dust? Shiraz had been more than her sister; she had been her cheerleader, her moral support, and her best friend.

But she had gone, gone out into the wider world. And she had tried to take Rynia with her, arguing with their mother in a way Rynia would never dream of doing herself about the advantages that could come to Rynia from a little world exposure. What Shiraz had left unsaid was the benefits that would come to Rynia from a little time away from their mother. Shiraz had been their parents' darling, a tough and tenacious fighter who used her horn like a saber in combat. But she, alone of the whole family, had truly been fond of Rynia for what she was, and had truly made their home a home.

What was left in this 'home?' Days and days of training, which left her physically and emotionally drained, battered, and beaten. A world where the highlight of her days was the hour or so she spent on her own applying balms to her injuries. Where she never heard any kind words, or saw any true smiles.

It had been so long since Shiraz had left that Rynia had almost forgotten what it was like to be around anyone truly happy or sincere. Perhaps that was what had allowed her to trust so implicitly in the "spirit' originally, the sincerity in his voice. Even now, while she stood in continued fear that he was going to charge her and break her legs, she couldn't avoid the fact that everything he said rang with the same intensity as his original disembodied comments. He might be out to get her, but he sounded so...concerned

Rynia said nothing, just gnawed on her lip and flicked her gaze from the stallion to her wounded leg. How could it be that she could be even tempted to take the word of a stranger over her own mother?

~~~~

It was almost disgusting how predictable her daughter could be, Ladius thought with a grim smile as she made her way through the trees. The sound of voices wafting through the trees told her that both her hunches had been correct; that Rynia would head for this clearing, and that the stallion would follow her. Perhaps it was time for her to start incorporating some lectures on the dangers of routine into their daily training sessions.

Either way, it wouldn't be long before she put an end to this nonsense once and for all.

Rynia had never met anyone quite like Raines before. Granted, she had never met anyone outside of her own family circle, so it wasn't like she had a wide range to compare him with, but regardless he was proving to be a creature of extreme novelty to Rynia. She feared him, feared him with all the ingrained paranoia of a creature who had been brought up to fear. His words, his appearance, his presence, his very novelty were all red flags that set off every danger alarm she possessed. And yet...

Her mother was probably right about her, on some level. She must be insensible to the true dangers of the world, because why else was she still listening? Why had she allowed herself to listen to the chorus of birds (birds she had still not completely ruled out to be assassins or planners of some devious plot, but who were at least very musical and pleasant to listen to), and why was she listening to him now instead of fleeing once more? She knew this land, he didn't, and she ought to have the advantage.

But rather than flee, she stayed, and she listened. Listened in somewhat stubborn silence, to be sure, but listened all the same, to him talk in his not-at-all harsh voice about an apparently magical land where you didn't have to spend your entire life training if you didn't want to, and where there was apparently no shame in being a failure at combat. Where if she wanted, she could probably spend an entire week doing nothing but watching the fish jump up a river. If they even had rivers there.

After he finished speaking, there was a long, pregnant pause as she mused over what he was saying. Could it be possible that he was right, even a little bit? Her leg ached, and she unconsciously shifted her weight to ease it just a little bit before she asked quietly, "Do you have trees and streams there?"

"I suppose you have magical mushrooms, too? And friendly little woodland creatures who sing and dance and make merry?" The snarled words were practically spat out, so disgusted was Ladius with what she heard long before she had come into visual range of her daughter. Any hope she had of Rynia exhibiting common sense had long since evaporated, but that didn't mean she had to stand there so idiotically, asking inane questions of a Soquili already established to be, at the very least, a trespasser. Rynia was already wounded, a clearly easy target, yet rather than doing the one thing she was good at, running away, she was standing there chatting with the stallion like a brainless magpie! It was almost too much to be born, and Ladius' already foul mood was not improved upon by this scene.

It would have been easy to, at the very least, catch Rynia unawares. A good whupping could only do her daughter good at this point, she had so obviously forgotten everything she had ever been taught. If Ladius had hands, she would be ripping out her mane in exasperation, But she didn't have hands, so her fury and disgust was broadcast in her tone, in her voice, in her posture. One who didn't know any better might have thought a mountain lion had burst into the clearing, Ladius had been so low and slinky in her posture. Even now as she stood glaring at both Rynia and Raines, her head was low and her teeth were bared. This was one unhappy mama, and she wanted everyone to see it.

See it, and hear it.

"If I didn't have the events of earlier to build on, I wouldn't believe what I'm hearing. Are you really buying this 'fairy tale', Rynia? The words of a perfect stranger, who has so blatantly trespassed? And who has clearly singled you out for I don't know what, by virtue of your being so predictable and gullible? I can't believe any daughter of mine would be so idiotic, but once again you show me what a failure you are when it comes to having sense. I should almost think it would be better if this stallion were to kill you where you stand than to have you go on as you are now, oblivious to everything reasonable and right!"

~~~~

Whatever thoughts Rynia had been entertaining, whatever questions she had been about to ask of Raines, flew right out her mind as her mother erupted out of the woods. Her first thought was shock; how had Ladius managed to find her so effectively? Her second, fear; fear that a new fight would break out, or that she would be disciplined. Unconsciously, she drew back from Ladius, her wings half-spread in reflex as her fight-or-flight reflex threatened to kick in. But half-spread was as far as she went, though she recoiled from her mother's hostile gaze and harsh tone as though she'd been struck. It was nothing specifically new to her, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

She was cowering back in a suitably submissive stance when she heard a voice she almost didn't recognize as her own, meekly saying, "I was only listening, Mama, just like I was earlier, and nothing has happened; he hasn't done anything..."

~~~

Ladius' eyes flared at what was obviously defiance, and she spat out one word in response. "Yet."