[private] the ghosts that we knew

[Tarian]

What had @[Altissima] said the last time they met?

It takes him a moment as well - because his mind is preoccupied with remaining alert for monsters - to remember. But the pegasus has always been quick to remember (especially the things he shouldn't) and when the pale wisp of a creature emerges into the clearing that Tarian has found, their last conversation comes jolting back to him.

A land is not just rivers and grasses.

Well, now it was full of darkness and flesh-eating monsters. His ears prick in her direction as he angles his pale head towards her and tries to better see her shadowy silhouette. Oh hell, she curses and Tarian feels oddly amused. Tucking his wings neatly against his scarred sides (and hiding a particularly gnarly scar from his last round in the Alliance), the Loessian feels his brow rise. 

Perhaps she would have preferred a monster.

Within Loess, he says very little. The residents know very little of Tarian's rather dry humor (Lepis had perhaps known but that was a secret she took into the next life). Keeping his mouth shut had also served him well during his captivity in Pangea. He had said relatively little, curiously watched a few of the natives, and then had managed to return to Loess and her canyons unscathed. So why is it with Altissima, he suddenly says so much?

Tarian knows he shouldn't; he should bite his reply back down.

But for some reason, he just can't help himself.

"Been there lately?" the pegasus retorts. "I bet it's paradise compared to this mess."