Exploitation & Exploration

in my thoughts i have seen rings of smoke through the trees, & the voices of those who stand looking. As if the Rift had answered her call and brought someone to her, the filly spun nimbly on her long legs, her burgundy and gold eyes expectant and childishly large as Leanna appeared before her. It was the Helovian God's fault - her grandparents - who had killed Isopia. Not the rift and not Kaos. Otem had to keep reminding herself of that, for it was all too easy to forget and find herself on the "I hate Kaos" band wagon. But look! Proof! She had needed someone, and someone had appeared. And although Otem did not know it, this someone had both known her mother, had known how to heal, and had knowledge of plants. The rift had chosen well. "Hello!" Otem returned brightly, a smile on her pretty features. "I'm Otem. And yes I'm okay. I like plants and so ... I wanted to learn a bit more about them. Only the last ones that I tried to eat made me see things that weren't really there. So I called out to see if anyone was around in case things went sideways again." The words rushed out of the girl with uncharacteristic youthful vigour. Normally Otem refrained in all instances from sounding childish. But something about Lyanna's presence had a reassuring effect on her. "Wait ... Lyanna? Lyanna the ... the ...wind.... the wind..." The words bubbled and died on the ram-horned girls tongue. She couldn't quite remember what came next, but she was sure that something did. "You were a queen in Helovia. With Alysanne, weren't you? Only I forget now what you were called."