Dawnlark Plains People Change

Sequoia nodded at his spoken assumption about Mahler. She wouldn't consider herself a "greenhorn," but she was willing to bet that many others did. That didn't mean she had to agree with them. Njord explained that he had only been there a little while, moving away from where he had been born (or at least lived for quite some time, if she had to guess).

When he asked if she'd run away from home, Sequoia flinched. It was only a moment, missed unless he was paying close attention, but it passed as quickly as it had come.

Something like that, she replied. The gene pool where I'm from is in dire need of new blood, so I figured I would make room for that.

And, along the way, perhaps she could spread her own genes around.