The first few days had been the greatest trial; Conquistador is a frail child, both in body and spirit, but the woman with whom Rade had left him seemed unaware of this fact. His dam, Hikea, had always matched her pace to his - never pushing him, never testing his limits. Xina, as Rade had called her, made no allowances for his weakness. The first time she had ventured into the jungle, Conquistador had struggled to follow, eventually becoming hopelessly entangled in a dangling vine. His first instinct was to cry for the help of his surrogate, but she had neither responded nor returned for him. Eventually, and with great difficulty, the colt had manage to extricate himself and continue along his way.

He found Xina waiting for him around a bend in the hidden path that cut through the dense foliage, near enough to rush to his aid should he encounter any true peril. In that moment that Conquistador began to understand that his caretaker wasn't truly a heartless and pitiless creature. She just cared about him enough to want him to be strong. And so the colt is determined to overcome the frailties that are a result of an aged mother who had been unable to sufficiently feed her son. As the stormy Atlantean 'winter' yields to a more mild and agreeable spring, he is capable of galloping short distances before he becomes winded. He pushes himself even in Xina's absences, determined that one day he will match her stride.

His body would never be big, but his heart was.

A lather of sweat clings to his golden coat as Conquistador draws to a gradual halt, his heart continuing to race even after his hooves are still. For a moment he is overcome by his weakness, sides heaving as he struggles to draw breath into lungs that seem momentarily absent from his body. But the moment passes, and he drags his limbs into motion again, walking into the surf. Letting the waves swirl around him, washing the perspiration from his tawny hide as he watches the boundary between sea and sky.

His brown eyes are deep, and ancient with sorrow as he contemplates the man he had briefly known - his brother. Rade had said he would return - but then, so had his mother. And so had Debonaire. Only Xina could be counted on, could be trusted. Having faith in anyone else would just be another weakness.

Turning his back on the horizon, Conquistador's gaze sweeps the beach, seeking the bay roan mare and her daughter. He has been fortunate to avoid the company and inevitable questions of the rest of the herd so far.