Following her return with Kaurma to Nerine so she could speak to Breckin, and still unaware that she'd been under the mare's influence, Nalia had decided to make another trip to Loess and see what other residents lived there. And to possibly avoid the mare in case she got back before Nalia did. The filly wouldn't say she hated, or disliked, the mare she'd met during her first visit, but she did get an odd feeling about the fanged creature and her gut told her she should at least keep her space.
The filly arrived back at Loess fairly late in the day, hanging out near the border in case some horse found her and asked her to leave; being near the border gave her a quick escape route. Content with exploring the beautiful flowers again, despite the winter snow still on the ground, the filly entertained herself with going through the fauna by some of the hot springs in one section of Loess. But it appeared someone else had the idea as well.
The sound of rustling in the bushes alerted the filly to the presence of another nearby creature, and quick as a big cat, she stopped sniffing the flowers, opened her wings, and took to the sky. Once she was up high enough, she turned her head to see who was going to appear where she'd just been, curious as to who it could be at this late hour. Then again, who was she to talk, when she was out here in Loess this late in the day and should be back home in Nerine where it was safer for her?
Luckily, for Nalia at least, it wasn't Kaurma. Who knows what that mare would do if she found the filly here alone, at night? Instead, the creature was much taller that Kaurma or Nalia herself, with a black coat speckled with white spots. Nalia recalled the name of a breed that lived here that had those spots, but this horse's sheer size and body type spoke that he was something else entirely.
Enticed as to who he was, the filly followed him from above, keeping her wings flapping just light enough to keep her airborne and from losing height. She didn't want to be seen just yet, for she didn't know this horse, nor did she think he lived here. He calmly walked through the trees and bushes that were encased in a light frost similar to snow, seemingly unfazed by how the white powder danced over his coat before melting into water. A few times, she lost him in the shadows thanks to his dark coloring, but as soon as the white speckles reappeared, she knew where he was and resumed tracking him to where his destination was.
The familiar heat of the steam pools reached Nalia's senses, and she waited among the trees, watching to see what the stallion would do. She remained quiet as he walked among the vegetation, not bothered by the rock-lined path that led to the steam pools. She did not notice the well-worn lines in the dirt, simply because she had not yet come this far, having instead busied herself with the flora a few yards back the other way.
The stallion let out what sounded to Nalia's sensitive ears like a content sigh before he walked right into one of the steam pools, a small cloud of heat rising up and covering his form. Nalia flew a bit closer to try and see him, but thanks to his white speckles being covered by the water, and not knowing the stallion was facing away from her, Nalia's eyes failed to pick his form out in the dark.
Curious to where he could've gone, the filly flew down to hover over the steam pools, her eyes peeled to see if she could figure out where the stallion disappeared to.
@[Chemdog] Based on how you wrote it, I wasn't sure if Chemdog had submerged himself in the steam pool, or not, so I left it a bit more open by saying that if he hadn't, he's facing away from Nalia and that's why she can't see him; she can't see the white on his face or chest. Let's see how entertaining this could be, shall we?
