Introductions

Direct continuation of fav.me/d6ty0jm

An hour later Michelle finished putting away her clothes and left her small but tidy room to find Ari's identical dwelling. She knocked on the doorframe and, upon receiving an invitation from the younger girl, walked in and dropped to sit on the low bed, idly tracing the intricate quilt. She watched Ari unpack a moment before breaking the silence.

"What was that whole thing with the funky salute?" Michelle imitated Kaveh's gesture from earlier, using her right hand to touch over her heart.

"It's the left arm, not the right." Ari said, unusually reserved. "It's... a respectful way to greet a Slayer. You basically.... you bring up your shield-arm, and nod to them, and ask for their notice. If they nod back, it means they acknowledged you, and they sort of....they promise to protect you."

"Well that's awesome then, isn't it? He basically swore fealty to you."

"It's not like that!" Ari snapped, surprising them both with her anger. "It's a pledge, an honor, it means a hell of a lot more than a simple handshake. I didn't even-" Her voice cracked and she turned away to straighten her closet, swallowing before continuing. "I didn't even make it, I can't.... they can't depend on me."

"You got through training, it can't be that much more responsibility. And it's not like they're even in any danger here."

"You're not helping." said Ari and it was more angry than exasperated, at which Michelle's smile slipped off her face. "It's not a joke, it's not a game, it's not a friendly handshake; it's a promise that you'll be the one standing between them and the dragon when that time comes. It's respect and honor and /trust/ and I wouldn't expect an outsider to get i!"

She spit the last words, so angry her hands shook until she gave up on the closet and dropped what she was holding, storming from the room. The sandstone hallways blurred between her tears and she kept walk-running until she was thoroughly lost, tucked up high in one of the towers. The view was stunning and utterly irrelevant as she climbed out a window slit and scrambled up onto the flat, square roof. Collapsing at last, she pulled her legs to her chest and cried into her knees.

The sun slipped across the sky, warming her back by degrees until she stopped crying enough to look up. Wrung out, she didn't register the slight form sitting at the edge of the roof until the figure coughed politely.

"You looked like you should not be alone." the woman said in African-accented-English, glancing over her shoulder at Ari before patting the spot next to her. She waited until Ari scooted reluctantly closer to look back out at the view. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Ari said, voice rough.

"Alright." The woman was young, only a few years older than Ari, her features a beautiful blend of African and Iranian. She sat silently as Ari scrubbed the tears off her cheeks and finally offered, "I like horses more than people."

Ari snorted. "You can say that again."

"You missed lunch. And dinner. I thought you might be hungry." She offered Ari a wrap stuffed with rice, which the younger girl devoured immediately. "Would you like to meet the horses?"

Placated by the food, Ari merely nodded and followed her back into the tower. Their descent was made in only slightly strained silence and Ari welcomed the cool breeze that met them as they stepped outside. Beside her, the woman let out a piercing, tri-tone whistle that was met by whinnies, and in moments a small section of the herd that roamed the grounds trotted up to them.

Leading them was a gorgeous red and white horse who ignored the girls the moment she was within earshot. "That is ملكه مادر." The Persian rolled smoothly off her tongue and when Ari made a face at the strange sound she giggled and tried again. "It means...The Queen Mother. Queen is perhaps easiest. She is in charge of the horses here and is very mean. You do not want to make her angry." She reached out in an attempt to pet the mare, who snorted and deftly sidestepped, making her laugh. "Always so grumpy."

A shorter stallion nosed into her side, happily accepting the petting instead. "This is Shahjahan, or just Jahan.  He helps Queen by being more friendly. He has no sense of personal space." The stallion wickered agreeably at her, then stretched his neck out to Ari, bumping her with his nose until she cracked a smile and scritched him behind the ear.

Upset by the lack of attention, a blue roan stallion darted forward, nosing at the woman's pockets in search of treats. She pushed him off with a fond smile. "بد کوچک is crazy. It means... Little Evil. He is possessed by the Devil himself." She shook her head as the stallion lost interest and took off across the compound without paying Ari any mind. "He would be a great racer if he could stand still even a minute." 

"Ah, and Lou." The yearling leaned against her side as she pet him, gauzy butterfly winds slowly flapping. "He is a strange little one, but he grows on you."

She caught Ari yawning into her hands and smiled. "The others can wait until morning." She started to turn and lead them back towards the housing but Ari stopped her.

"I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh!" She blushed slightly and offered a hand to shake. "I am Zuri. Very nice to meet you."

Some new people now, and a lot of plot |D 

Evil is as yet unintroducted, I'm just trying to finalize his design. 

Zuri will be an important character going forward, and is the rider of the butterfly I'm breeding for ;D

In the original writing of this scene, Ari then introduced Zuri to the original DWE crew, but it took too long and was repetitive for those already familiar with my horses. I decided to cut that whole part out, which is why the gif is of Jager walking even though he's nowhere in the story. Whoops!

Ref: 25.media.tumblr.com/f2ac4e4411…