07-05-2016, 06:11 PM
Riva is glorious in her triumph; her first successful recruit! Oh, and a new friend, which Riva has never had friends… never had a need for them honestly. That was a type of baggage she never really wanted to saddle herself down with, or so she told herself. Damn Lagertha! She’d curse the Queen for making her more susceptible to things like this, like making friends… still, it was nice but… agonizing too, like what if Fayella decided she didn’t like the Jungle and never wanted to see Riva again? Oh the horror! She feels an odd protective instinct towards the mountainous little mare already which so un-Riva-like that she is aghast at herself for the way she is feeling and how rather carefree she is being, all things that are so not like the fiercely bitter Riva few have come to know.
“Good,” she says with a nod, fairly impressed with how truthful and quick Fayella is to admit that she can hold her own if necessary but would prefer the path of peace. Riva has a quick tongue and a quicker temper, and ought to be more suited for war but her strong points lie in the fact that she is blunt and apparently not too shabby at being diplomatic, so it remains to be seen what she will do for the Jungle besides recruit more sisters to swell their ranks. She likes the excitement she sees in the mare’s eyes; it brightens them and Riva knows she has made an excellent choice this day in approaching Fayella. “Come then, let me show your new home.” and the bay tovero sets off on the path in a comfortable pace that allows them to ramble on.
“I should warn you, it’s only been a couple of years since there was a big war here and they tried to burn the Jungle down. It takes time for the land to grow back strong and green; it has done that already in such short time but there are still parts of the Jungle that are hard to look at - you can see the waste they laid to her but so too, can you see the new shoots poking up through the raw dirt and ash.” They pass by some of the destruction then head on towards the greener untouched parts of the Jungle. “There is a river nearby but it is not entirely safe to drink from alone, too many crocodiles. There are plenty of pools here and there to drink from and cool off in though,” she throws a smile back over her shoulder as the Jungle opens herself to them, revealing the brightly colored birds that flit through the trees. Riva likes the macaws best, their plumage brilliant and their mimicry even more so.
“This clearing,” she says with an indication of her nose in the direction that they are heading to, “Is the main ground where you can find most of us.” There is a large tree in the middle and it is there that the paint mare halts, hoping that Fayella has not found the trek too tiresome. “What do you think? Oh, and I hope you don’t mind the heat…” it was rather humid in the Jungle, but Riva’s own pelt was so thin that the heat did not make her sweat continuously like it might others. The heat could kill you as easily as anything here could, she muses. “The Queen might ask tell you the same thing that she told me - that most mares only make it this far, after that, you choose whether to stay permanently or visit. If the former, then the Jungle will begin to give up her secrets to you the longer you are with her. If not, she remains mysterious and tricksy like anything else can be, but I think you will be with us for quite some time…” Her smile is amused, and more a smile than her usual wry grins which means Riva is definitely becoming a softy where Fayella is concerned, and that should be concerning in its own right but she basks in the simplicity of this easy companionship.