Cardinia's work and discussion with the riders soon caught Malinola's attention, as the starry drak had been reserving herself from judgement about humans in general... but she and Cardinia talked at length over weeks and decided to partner up. It was a little painful to go through knight training with the youngsters coming out of squire-hood, but Cardinia was game for the challenge and she feels like one of the riders now, like she'd always been here.

She came to enjoy Ocusa's calm sense of camaraderie over her time integrating with the castle, too. She and Ocusa tend to compliment one another, one of them posing a question and the other coming up with solutions to it... sometimes just for fun, sometimes to solve a problem for the castle's outbuildings or supporting structure. Cardinia isn't sure what kind of relationship Ocusa has with her head knight, Ichafore, and she has no idea that Ocusa isn't all that she seems, but she has come to rely on the high knight for friendship and further challenges.

She decided to give it a try, though, for the sake of her friends and family. Admittedly, the stunning views and the tropical warmth of the grounds selected for Castle Timara won her over... but she would never have believed that she'd find a perfect human, either. Malinola met Cardinia by chance, though of course proximity had much to do with that. She had been sitting in on a group discussion about some planning when Cardinia came up, slate under-arm, and began an incredibly clever speech on how certain architecture could be utilized to make it easier for unbonded draks and humans to interface without requiring mind-paired knights to waste their valuable time couriering people the length of the island.

Since then, Malinola sought Cardinia out for more discussion, and chatted with others who knew her better. The pairing came relatively swiftly after that, ironically, but Malinola hasn't looked back. Some part of her had been seeking a second mind, the input of thoughts outside hers but parallel with (and even intermingled with) filling a sense that had felt stifled. The pair are still quite independent from one another, but Malinola enjoys the extra insight.

Besides pairing, Malinola's starry and earthen hues reflect an almost caste-like mentality that most simply accept as who she is. She is stubborn and bossy, but she listens and considers her options before she comes to a decision. She expects others to listen to her in turn, and when she's not afforded respect, she can grow quite short with the recipient of her frustration. Malinola expects to be courted semi-regularly, and grows discontent when she doesn't have the admiration of others... but she recognizes this almost instinctive 'flaw' and she works hard to earn the respect and adoration that she craves. Because she is quite a bit larger than many of her drak kin, she does a lot of heavier lifting, but she's smart, and she finds clever ways to use that strength to even better effect. She trains those who are curious to work with tools, though admittedly it is difficult to work as efficiently without the delicate thumbs and fingers of a human counterpart.