Osiris nodded her head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet the two of you." She took a few more steps forward. "You speak the truth. I am hungry. I suppose not eating for a few days will do that to you." she replied, her stomach beginning to grumble as she laid eyes on the tender grass. She lipped at the grass beore tearing it out of the ground. The taste was better than she remembered. She took a few more bites before she raised her head. "Tell me more about this "heart of the desert" you were talking about. What do you expect to find there?"

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Empatha raised her head and looked at the sun. She notes that it is high noon, and turns her attention back to Osiris. "They say that at the center of Zoni desert is the land for the horses. Sort of a paradise, I guess. Raja thinks that his herd is headed there, and since I didn't have a heading before, I'm following him. Paradise sounds like a good idea to me." Empatha stretched her neck out and sniffed at Osiris' withers delicately. "You've come far. We should find you some water." She perked her ears and looked around the area, looking for something.

Osiris nodded. "Water sounds amazing right now." she remarked, looking out across the sandy desert. "Tell me if you think me too forward, but how do you propose to find the heart of the desert?" She bent her head down once more to eat some more grass.

Empatha spotted what she was looking for, and started walking away. She sheepishly looked back at Osiris and said "I'm no good at navigating, but I figure the heart must be somewhere south of us. From there...alot of wandering is due." She disappeared over a dune, leaving behind her a trail of hoove prints in the golden sand.
She returned a few minutes later, head raised high, carrying a cactus branch in her mouth. She set it down next to Osiris and nudged it forward with her muzzle. "Avoid the spines, but bite into it. There will be some water inside, and if it is not enough you can chew on the fiber, and there will be more for you."
She flicked her tail to ward off a pesky fly, bit at her back where he had been sitting, then turned back to Osiris. "I learned that survival trick from an old warthog I met a couple days back." She shook her body, sending a puff of dust to come off her once shiny coat. "I hope it is enough for you."

Raja had stayed there quite and thinking to him self about how to get through the humans over the mountains. It would be risky to go with the two mares, but what was he to do. He could easily loose them in the mountains. "NO! What was i thinking! I was taught better then that." Raja said to himself snorting out loud. Besides, he did want to start a herd of his own, but what he wanted more was to be under a saddle once again. The wild didn't seem as pleasant to him as a cool refreshing dip in the pool back home. Raja licked his lips, they were dry and cracked. Water sounded pretty good by now. He looked at both of the mares to gain their attention. "We will find plenty of water in the mountains and maybe some grass...but after that there will be nothing for us to drink or eat when we pass into human territory; unless we get captured." Raja grinned at his last sentence as if to spook the mares. He didn't want to be caught by these people though. They would most likely eat them.

Empatha looked to the mountains and then turned to Raja. "Are you sure the human territory is safe to pass through? What will happen if we get captured?" she had caught Raja's grin, and had felt her resolve to be a wild mare slip a bit.
She pawed at the ground, trying to find cooler sand to soothe her hooves with.

Osiris took a large bite out of the cactus and tasted the refreshing water. She swallowed slowly, reveling in the sweet taste. She took another bite and raised her head. "Bah. Let the humans come. I can fight ten of their strongest men." She flexed the muscles in her chest and neck. "You lead us, and I'll be the bodyguard. Of sorts." She grinned, wondering how the stallion would react to that.

Empatha lowered her head to Osiris "You certainly seem strong enough to be our body guard." She flicked an ear in Raja's direction. "But if you get to be bodygaurd, and Raja's the leader, what should I do? Besides be defended in my delicate state and follow Raja."

"We will be safe as long as we stay away from their dirt paths and travel by day." Raja said as he began to paw the ground with his right hoof. He glanced in irritation at Osiris's remark. The sounds of war began to echo from the mountains. Guns, explosives, and mixed voices could be heard. The humans were at war to the east. Raja looked into their direction. This was good news, the humans would be focusing on each other instead of horses. "If we are going to make it through human territory we should go now while their at war. The only humans we may run into are deserters. They are no threat to us if we stay together." he said pushing his hoof into the ditch he had dug. He dipped down and began to drink fresh water from the ground.

Empatha lifted her head and listened to the sounds of the humans war. "I believe you're right, Raja." She stretched her muscles and started towars the mountains. She paused and glanced over her shoulder. "I'm ready when you two are."

Osiris nodded slowly. "I agree. We hsould leave right away." The sounds of war had reached her ears as well and she was becoming skiddish. It reminded her of her old life in the steel mill and she wanted to get away as fast as possible.

"Very well." said Raja heading west of the mountains. He paused for a second, he wondered if it was his people fighting. He quickly shaked his head trying to focus on finding his herd first. He started to canter past Empatha towards the mountains.

(I have to go now...you can go ahead with out me.)

(Bye, Skye! Thanks for coming! )

Realizing she was going to be left behind, Osiris broke into a canter. "Hey! I'm coming too!" She caught up with the other two quickly thanks to her long legs and walked alongside Empatha.

Empatha snorted and tossed her head, pushing herself to go a bit faster in her canter. Raja was faster than she expected, and Osiris' long legs gave her a benifit. Empatha, though, was not used to running. Having been a show horse, the most she'd done was jump a few fences and high trot for her masters.
Raising her tail high, she decided to make the best of this new effort, and let the wind in her fur coax her along.

(thanks skye! See ya around (: )

Osiris looked over at Empatha, frowning slightly. She kept pace while the other horse pushed herself forward. She was used to hard work and labor, so she didn't tire easy. But she could see that this mare was having some trouble keeping up. Osiris didn't wish to show off, so she let some disance grow between her and Empatha, with the other mare in the lead. Besides, if the humans attacked, she wanted to be in the back so she didn't have to look for the companion behind her.