I stand for a while in the Field, my heterochromatic eyes staring down the few equines that drew near me. It’s apparently enough to scare them off, ‘cause none of them are dumb enough to actually approach me. Guess one little girl’s too scary for them. That is, until one VERY strange looking dude walks up, apparently undeterred by the large blinking sign over my head flashing “STAY AWAY.” Yeah, I’ll admit it – my body language doesn’t exactly scream inviting, even though I’m sitting here in this godforsaken place presumably because I’m waiting for someone to approach me. I never said I wasn’t a complicated bitch.
Anyway, this guy – he’s more messed up looking than most of the equines I’ve run into around this place, but out of the ordinary is kind of, well, ordinary in Beqanna, so it’s not nearly enough to scare me off. I do feel a moment of pity for the guy though – I mean, I might have a chip on my shoulder the size of Russia but for all the screwed up shit that’s happened in my life, at least I wasn’t born looking like that. Must have been tough. 
He keeps a respectful distance away from me – whether because he’s afraid of me biting his head off or because he thinks I’m some gentle damsel in distress who’d be scared of the big bad stallion I can’t tell, but either way it makes me smirk. Not that the first isn’t kind of true – I’m a snap first, ask questions later kind of girl after all. 
He introduces himself as Elysium of the Valley – I know of it, even though I’ve never been myself. Hard not to at least have a passing knowledge of all the kingdoms when you’ve grown up around these parts. When he asks why I’m here though I snort derisively, my mismatched eyes giving him a disdainful look. Selling Girl Guide cookies, what do you think? I snap, rolling my eyes. Ok, so probably not the best first impression to make if I’m hoping to find a home out of this stupid endeavour, but really – what brings me here? The same stupid shit that brings everyone here, obviously – I’ve got no place else to go. 

 
He smirks in response to my sarcastic response to his dumb question, and I struggle between scowling, angry at anyone who dares to find me amusing, and grinning, knowing that only people like me find sarcasm and attitude like mine entertaining. While my brain does this little tug of war, the expression on my face doesn’t waver, continuing to portray what I’ve come to think of as my default expression – brash, disdainful, leaning towards pissed without really going overboard. What can I say – I have resting bitch face. 
I snort at his retort, not really having much to say in response – I’m NOT a pleasant person, but a backbone I’ve got in spades. Kind of a pre-requisite for dealing with this world on your own. Here there be monsters, and they come in many forms. His offer to leave makes me pause. I don’t have anything against the guy really – he could be worse. Recruiters tend to lean heavily towards the bright white smiles and overly polite chit chat from what I’ve seen, and honestly I’d rather be approached by a serial killer than put up with that shit, but this guy’s neither (well, I don’t THINK he’s a serial killer, but in Beqanna you can never really tell). On the other hand I don’t feel any particular draw to the Valley, but then, I don’t feel any particular draw to ANYWHERE – that’s why I’m here in the first place. 
So I snort again at his remark, tossing by dark slightly as I shift my stance. When did a bad attitude become a selling point? I retort, staring at him with eyes that don’t match, trying to suss this guy out. After a few moments of silence I relent, lashing my tail against my hindquarters. Amoxia. My name’s Amoxia. 

 
He starts in on the sales pitch, and I brace myself, expecting the usual spiel, which seems to go in one of two directions – either they blather on about how nice and welcoming a place is, or they pitch that their kingdom is the path to glory and that it’s the best in the whole wide world. The first always bores me – nice doesn’t suit me, and nice people tend to be the boring people. The second usually just makes me roll my eyes, because EVERYONE thinks theirs is the best kingdom, and they rarely have anything to back up their bullshit.
Elysium however manages to surprise me in just a few words, and the emotion actually manages to break through me mask for a moment before I can catch it and supress it again. A king with a sense of humour and a ragtag band of unusual characters was definitely not in most recruiters’ normal sales pitches, and it’s enough to make my lips quirk upwards ever so slightly. While I have no problem with power and glory, an interesting group of people is a much better draw in my opinion – moth-man seems to have hit on a perfect selling point for me, whether he realizes it or not. 
I don’t let it show though; I let him finish his speech, and I actually listen. Oh sure, I ignore the bits that my brain automatically categorizes as sales pitch bullshit, but the parts where he’s talking about what his home is actually like appeal to me. I have no problem with work, when I want to, and success, while a stranger to me, does have its appeal. But it’s the picture he paints of the people that make me think that maybe it’s worth the trip down to the Valley to check out this kingdom. I mean, worse comes to worse I can always bail and come back here, or bum around the Meadow like I have my whole life. Best case scenario, I find a few people who don’t bore me to tears like most of the world’s population seems to.
So I shrug after an appropriate length of silence has passed since he finished speaking, my expression giving little away about my musings. I guess I could check it out, I finally say, knowing that I’d need to relent at least a little on the callous bitch demeanor I’ve been cultivating my entire life. I was sick of living alone with nothing to do. Life like that was too boring, too purposeless. Maybe the Valley would have something that could appeal to me. Didn’t mean I had to let him know it though.