Ann returned quickly after burying the offal, and settled beside the fire, watching the crackling flames as they licked the undersides of the meat on the sticks Riala had prepared. He glanced toward her, watching her face in the flickering light. She still looked like she had eaten something rotten or sour, her eyes reflecting her mood in a way her face never could. He knew better than to press, than to ask questions that ought not be asked, and he knew that anything he said to try to make her feel better might backfire and only make her feel worse. Or, perhaps even more disconcerting, the questions might cause an argument between them and cause things to be said that couldn't be taken back or forgiven.
Sighing quietly, Ann shifted so he could lean back on his hands and raise his gaze to the sky, where he could see the beginnings of thousands of stars shimmering in the increasingly dark backdrop. As the night grew longer, more stars would appear, he knew, each shining with its own individual brilliance that neither outshined nor overrode another star's luminescence.
"Do you have legends about the stars?" Ann asked abruptly, but softly, not wanting to disturb the quiet peace that had enveloped them but also wanting to fill the silence. "We do. The elders tell stories about how we first became brothers and sisters of our horses. A wild star fell from the sky and crashed into the earth, startling our ancestors that had set up camp nearby. When they went to investigate, they found in that crater the remains of the star, shattered into strangely shaped pieces. And the pieces moved. One stood up on four legs, and approached the chieftain, a powerful stallion made of stardust. With him came many mares, and from there, my people were born. We've been born alongside our horses for generations."
Ann craned his head to look toward Ma'akéné, who grazed nearby. The mare lifted her head from the grass, met her human brother's eyes, and whickered softly before resuming her evening meal. He looked toward Riala then, offering her a small smile. "It's just a story, but it reminds us of just how small we are, and that we wouldn't be who we are without where we came from."