He had not expected her to come back. The moment he had found the dapple grey missing amongst the ranks of the herd, he had searched high and low for her, for nearly a week before bringing himself back to the group, disappointed and somewhat disheartened. For a while, he had been distracted by the affections of his herdmates, finding them more accepting to his presence and more willing to open up to him. Some had opened up entirely, allowing the stallion to proceed as was most natural, leaving the bitter taste of love-making in his mouth and the intense urge to sequester himself to the edges of the herd where he could do the least amount of harm.

Some women had offered him gentle touches after they had paired up, while others had driven him away with teeth and kicks once he had finished his job. All in all, Vercingetorix had been put into a rather dismal mood once he had seen to all the mares in the herd.

Eventually, as the heat of the autumn had died down and the red dun had found himself no longer needed for anything but the loosest grasp of protection, he had started to stray a little further and further from the herd, letting the mares go about their business. As the sunlight had started to wane and the stallion found himself moving through the trees farther from the herd than usual. The sunlight was weak today, streaming through the fall leaves on the trees in small, slim rays of light that beaded against some morning dew. Gazing up for a few moments, the dun was thankful for the short days when the rain would relent and the autumn sun would grace them all with her presence- it seemed today was one of those days.

After long, heavy bouts of rain, the rivers and creeks that wove their way through the forest had become swollen and quick moving, and the ground was soggy beneath the stallion's feet, weighed down by fallen leaves and mud from the rain. Vercingetorix's passage was not entirely graceful nor silent, and his hooves squelch against the damp ground as in some places he finds himself covered in mud up to the knee. Otherwise, he is fine with have he moved. Everything was quiet when he heard a soft voice reaching out through the trees, and as he turns his head to sniff cautiously at the air he catches a familiar scent.

Strangely awestruck and somewhat confused, he thinks that she had gone unseen by the stallion for some time, that she had been hidden in the trees for weeks- months before she had come out of hiding for whatever reason. Instead of weighing the reasons for her disappearance and her return in his head, the red dun turns towards her and makes through the trees at an eager walk- almost jog. Once he does find her, Vercingetorix is surprised to see that she looks ragged and tired, and instead of looking like she had been in hiding for a long time, she looked as though she had travelled the foothills of a far away place and came back tired and hungry. Inching forwards when he sees her, he has slowed in his pace and instead aims to get carefully close to her. Once close enough, he nudges her shoulder with his nose, just trying to make sure she was real and that the shadows that often played games with his head were not trying to trick him.