Conquistador has abandoned his worries in his wake, focusing solely on the thrill and joy of the chase. He had managed to elude Dia briefly by slipping into the shallows, but as the water draws level with his knees, the colt becomes uneasy, and shies back toward the beach - right into the mare's outstretched muzzle. The combination of her gentle push and the waves' not-so-gentle pull unbalances the yearling - his hooves slip out from beneath him, and with a splash and a spray of salty droplets, Conquistador is briefly submerged in the sea.

Fortunately, the young palomino manages to drag himself back upright before the next swell arrives. Coughing and spluttering for a moment, he turns a baleful eye on Dia from beneath the streaming ivory curtain of his forelock - and then bursts into laughter. "That was fun!" he calls, his voice a little breathless from the run, but none the worse for wear. To be truthful though, his spill had been frightening at first - the burn of saltwater in his lungs reminds him of his near-drowning experience.

And remembering that day only serves to remind Conquistador of his brother, whom Xina had warned him was not to be trusted. He is a snake, the roan mare had explained the day they had watched a brightly-colored and undoubtedly poisonous serpent cross their path. The colt remembers watching with bated breath, his heart thrumming against the bars of its bone cage in frenzied palpations. Xina hadn't needed to explain to her charge that the creature was dangerous - his instincts had screamed for him to turn and flee. Did Xina mean that Rade was dangerous, too? And was his roan brother really going to return to take him away from his new family?

The horizon draws his gaze for a few seconds, and a pucker of worry briefly furrows his brow. Shuddering his tawny hide to dispel the persistent fears that cling to him, the yearling turns back to Dia, and his lips curve upward again. Stepping purposefully toward the 'teke, Conquistador shakes his coat in a dog-like manner, aiming to give her a good soaking too.