More often than not, when he was wandering alone, the red dun found himself wondering over the others. It seemed as though the forest had fallen empty in the winter, and slowly the numbers started trickling in with the coming of spring. Already there was the telltale signs of the changing of seasons, even though the dun and his bay companion stood in the middle of a land that was awash with snow and ice, if they were to listen carefully they could hear the soft dripping of melting snow.

With his nose pressed into the soft, hairy skin on the girl's shoulder, he feels a sort of familiarity in standing so close to the girl, fully aware that he had known her since she was a child, and realized that he was a great deal older than he thought he was. It had been a long time since he had stood beside Ava on the shore of the cove, watching as the sea foam stallion returned from some great adventure. That man would greet the champagne woman and ignore the boy. It had been an agreement between boy and man that neither existed to the other, and Vercingetorix was able to go onto the world without worrying about disappointing his 'father'.

Breathing in softly, he turns his eyes to the mare's swelling belly, feeling as though time had swam by quickly, leaving him somewhat confused and a little behind in the eaves of the forest. “I guess you've been doing well enough...” He muses almost completely to himself, despite Costello standing right beside him. “I seem to have a tendency to hide in the forest these days.” Solitude suited him best. When the nightmares came for him and he found himself thrashing and kicking in his sleep, Vercingetorix was thankful that he had no audiences to disturb him or to become concerned with his stability. He was tired, and it seemed as though he no longer needed as many hours to sleep, and he was running on fumes.

Surely it showed in his face. He knew that there were some women in the forest that would be able to spot the lines around his eyes and ask him what was wrong. Thankfully, Costello could not interrogate him or frustrate him with words.

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