[private] until the night turns

[Mazikeen]

m a z i k e e n . When the ringing alarm of the entity snaps Mazikeen out of sleep, she no longer expects it to be Nashua or Bolder’s mother. That time has passed and she’s accepted that the chestnut youth will be a permanent addition to Hyaline. It suits him, this place, and he’s been growing into a talented shifter and a willing student. She is not far behind Gale when he rises from where they had been curled together, though she doesn’t bother to shake the leaf litter from her fur - she catches a few glimpses of his thoughts in his mind and much of it falls away when she becomes a mare just as he turns to look at her. A small smile playing through her orange eyes as she catches glimpses of his thoughts - that he still thinks it could be Nashua. But when they move to the lake together, she finds herself glad Gale has more trouble reading her thoughts than she does his when the trespasser does end up being Nashua. But her annoyance at being wrong with her assumptions doesn’t last long. She is a hunter, a warrior, after all and she goes on alert - finding that she’s eager for a fight. Mazikeen had not worn her horns the last time she had spoken to the chestnut stallion so she does not now, adorned only with the scars that mark her body - the most noticeable ones, around her eyes and heart, new from when Bolder’s father was last here. What will he think of them, she wonders. Will he guess correctly who gave them to her? She tries to see if she can read Nashua’s mind but she only catches more of Gale’s thoughts (finding they match her own as they wonder just how much Nashua knows). Gale’s voice is friendly and it grates on her ears but she takes care to keep her expression neutral as she greets Nashua in a quiet voice with just a bit of warmth. As though him being here is some sort of salvation for her as well as his son. “It’s good to see you again, Nashua.” It is what she thinks she would have greeted him with if she was still the same mare that had spoken to him last time. A mare who had hope for better days, a mare who wasn't absolutely delighted with how things were turning out instead.