"No, it ent," Teige agreed, grimacing. "But that don't stop most from asking. Seriously, though," he added, his face softening a bit--behind him, something rustled deep in the orange trees, and his ear flicked back to listen, "I appreciate you not being a total arse...about...it..."

He trailed off as the trees parted behind him and two creatures emerged. They were both, technically, unicorns--each had one long sabre-like horn growing from the middle of their foreheads. One was small even for a horse, with a deep red, striped coat, a white mask and stockings, a long neck and a tufted tail. The other was massive--its head alone was the size of the smaller one's body--and built thick and set-forward, like an ox, with a stripy coat the same orange as the trees with a cream underside.

The larger one yawned, and then suddenly noticed Hawk and Teige. The smaller creature didn't seem to see them, until the larger put out one huge, oddly-cloven hoof to stop it. They stared at Hawk and Teige, who stared back--Hawk, rather unconsciously, had half-unfolded his wings, tensing up.

"Good morning!" Teige said finally, in a conversational tone. "Sorry if we disturbed you."

Hawk looked at him sideways, but relaxed his wings some. The ox-shaped creature smiled at the smaller one, and then sat back on its haunches.

Both creatures changed shape at the same time, then. The ox-shaped creature went see-through, and the trees rustled around him loudly, kicking leaves into the air; a dark figure coalesced on the ground in the creature's place, which resolved into a dark-haired, dark-eyed, somewhat scruffy man with thick eyebrows and a crooked smile. The smaller creature merely stood up on her hind legs, and her form peeled away in brightly glowing striped strips, revealing beneath a curvy black woman with a cascade of curly hair and, on her forehead where her horn had been, a small black star.

"Oh, no worries, fellas," the man said easily. "You headed to Enodia too?"