"I'm sorry, you what?"

"A ferocious creature attacked me. Luckily, I fought it off with my skill and strength, and this one was so impressed, it tagged along." Hunter said, gesturing to the owl on his back with his head. The owl didn't pay attention, focused instead on watching the area for a mouse or other creature it could snatch up for food.

The horse with Hunter furrowed their brow. "Hunter, what's got you so interested in going down in the dungeons? Pardon my prying, but you didn't seem very curious of the place until recent times. What's gotten you so interested?"

Hunter snorted at his cousin's question, waving a hoof as he ho-hummed it off. "Oh, just boredom, Harvest." He said, crossing his hooves as they lay in the grassy meadow. Not far off, a few other horses were socializing and showing off their gains from the tunnels, with a few birds singing in the trees and eating berries. Hunter watched them with ears turned back, while Noctus briefly glanced at the birds' berries.

"…You want status?" Harvest crossed one hoof in front of the other as they regarded the other horses in the meadow.

"Yes." Hunter picked up an apple from the pile they'd set up to eat. "I'm tired of others treating me like a-" Hunter stopped mid-sentence, leaning down to bite into the apple. "Oh, what was that term?"

"A 'nepo baby'?" Harvest asked, chuckling.

Hunter nodded. "Yes! I'm sick of being seen that way." Noctus turned his head backwards to look after hearing Hunter's snapping tone, then shifted back around to watch for mice again. "I'm more than just Lunar's son."

"Your mother wouldn't be happy that you campaigned so soon." Harvest replied, his blunt and sudden response making Hunter blink in surprise. "Yes, I know about it. You were lucky the two you were with got you out of there."

"That won't happen again," Hunter said bluntly. "I know what I'm doing, and I've learned from that mistake."

"For the sake of your mother, you'd better hope you have." Just then, Noctus launched off of Hunter and swooped down, snagging an enormous rat that had tried to run for cover. "Because if not, you won't be the only one who regrets it." Noctus was about to kill it, but the rat reeled back and snapped at him, making the owl jump to evade its jaws. With the extra moments of bought time, the rat skittered away, leaving Noctus frustrated as his chance at a meal slipped away.