“Not quite,” he says with an affable grin. “I made a friend recently and invited him back here. Indian Hemp’s the name. Keep an eye out for him; he’s good stuff.” Old and pretty much blind, yes, but with at least as much life experience as the buckskin standing before him— and good enough company to keep around even if, for the Lagoon’s purposes, he might not appear to have much to offer.

He shrugs at Kasabian’s question and glances toward the surrounding trees, his eyes tracing the melting edges of the sticky piles of remaining snow at their roots. “This is home, y’know? I’m used to small crowds. I didn’t really think anything was amiss until I started checking out the social grounds and found like, old signs of life. Hardly anything fresh. Figured I’d wait out the quiet,” he says, grinning a bit too wide, affecting a casual indifference toward how solitary he’s been the past few months. “Glad I did, too. The Islands seem to be stirring.”

Kendry’s white ears perk. “I’m down for anything,” he says. “I’ll follow you, boss.”

KENDRY
stallion . draft mutt . five . perlino [EE Aa CrCr] . 18hh . son of marlena