Cerosi’s mood had changed since spending time with Akello. She had come here with a lot of fear and anger held inside of her, though she made efforts to conceal and control it. Her upbringing had done a number on her ability to trust others, but she was young enough that much of the damage was easily undone by a little kindness and freedom. There was still trauma, and she still often had nightmares - waking up shaking, sometimes with a small squeal, only to look around and remember she was safe enough to sleep again - but she was much less tense now.

She had spent most of the spring in the Desert now, resting and regaining her strength. Despite the steadily rising temperatures, she was adjusting well to the heat. She spent time in the cave to cool off and rolled in the dust to help keep the sun and bugs off her hide, and for long portions of the day she ran around like a filly who had just learned how to use her legs. Though she wanted to find Cain and offer her comfort for his losses, she continued to stay away, worried that she would not be able to help him or would somehow interrupt his grieving. Cerosi kept her distance, using the time to heal herself and get a surprising amount of pent-up energy out of her system. Finally, when she thought she was ready, she set out to find the painted stallion.

This morning she had not rolled in the sand like she usually did. Instead she made an effort to groom herself, working the dust and dirt out of her tungsten fur, even going so far as to seek out one of the oases that was far enough from the herd that she didn’t think anybody usually drank out of it. Here she rolled in the water, letting the cool spring cloud up from her stocky body disturbing the sand beneath. She felt much better once the sweat and dust had been rinsed away, and she continued to scrub herself until her fur was soft and shiny. There wasn’t much she could do about her mane and tail, unfortunately, which remained a silvery mess no matter what she did, but at least they were a clean silvery mess. She exited the pool and dried out quickly under the hot midday sun, then trotted off, stepping high to avoid kicking dust onto herself. It didn’t really work, and she was slightly less shiny by the time she caught Cain’s scent, but it didn’t bother her. She doubted it would bother Cain.

She followed the painted stallion’s trail for a little bit but then stopped. He was close by, but instead of tracking him all the way to his location, the carbon mare let out a friendly call and waited to see if he wanted to come to her.

• CEROSI •