It was like a game, bringing her through the waves and back to the forest. As they crashed into the inky blackness of the sea, the froth of the waves rose up to greet them, curling at their hooves and licking at their bellies as they fell into the water. Here, he led her, his strong, striped legs thrashing against the currents and his head bobbing determinedly above the sea, turning his body towards where Luthien lay and twisting his dark-tipped ears behind him, listening for the telltale splashes of his companion to assert that she was still there.

The island rose up before them like a castle in the distance; the great trees were it's tall spires, and the shore of gravel and sand that greeted them was the massive wall that lay around his home. They would not have to battle the forest or the sand to breach his home, though, and soon they were rising from the waves and stepping onto the shore. Hooves sinking into the sand, Vercingetorix still finds himself hurrying along, listening to the crisp sound of his hooves crunching against the gravel and then the dirt and leaves as they moved further into the forest. Soon, they were there.

Slowing their pace, they walked the rest of the way.

In the darkness they walked, their ears twitching at the sounds of birds alighting on branches and the rustling of the moist leaves at their feet. The forest was damp from rainfall that had passed through here earlier that day, and they were wet and stinking of the sea. As they walked, the shadows of the trees swallowed them, leaving little to be seen but the silvery-white hair of the woman and the soft, redness of the stallion's coat in the darkness. The moon would not light them up tonight. Eventually, they are not far from where the herd had gathered amongst themselves, and the stallion stopped- not quite ready to give up his company with the strange girl and surrender her to the women of the forest.

She too stopped, still with a soft hitch in her breath as she looked expectantly at him, as if he were to lead her on another grand adventure. Instead, he quells his quickened breaths with a sigh and a soft snort, looking back at her as if he was waiting for her to say something. The mare did not know where they were, and certainly had little or no idea of what was expected of her. She was to stay here, as he assumed she could glean from the way his shoulders relaxed and he did not glance carefully into the trees. Vercingetorix found comfort in the forest, and assumed that all others would as well.

“I don't know your name.” He says softly, trying to keep quiet so as to not attract the attentions of the others- so the two of them can talk without women and children demanding his, or her, attention. That would come later, when the red dun left the dark woman to integrate with the rest of the herd.

stallion, red dun, crossbreed, fifteen and one hands, russell.