As soon as the figure raised its head to peer at him (or so he assumed, he could not be sure), Mikhail felt his stomach sink, as if he had swallowed all the stones in the pond and they now weighed him down, anchoring him to the spot in which he stood. Ears flattened back against his nape, he took another step back, prepared for any sort of confrontation that might come. But when it - they - spoke, he was so taken aback, any thought of violence disappeared from his mind.
The voice was gentle, warm and feminine. For a brief moment, Mikhail found himself surprised by this revelation. Having spent the majority of his life living among males, he was unaccustomed to the company of women. Feeling simultaneously agitated and guilty, he slowly lowered his head to her. Tail snapping sharply against his hocks (a lingering sign of his displeasure), he opened his mouth to speak.
"Who are you?" Mikhail demanded tersely, leveling his unseeing eyes at the female before him. His voice held the slightest tremble, the adrenaline in his blood causing him to tremble like a foal in front of a wolf. There is no danger, he tried to tell himself, but the encounter had only served to remind him of how unprepared he was. The world was a wild and treacherous place, and he was not suited to it. He never should have left the Lagoon, he realized, but it was far too late for that now. If only this realization had come sooner, but it seemed luck had not been on his side recently.
Forcing his rigid posture to relax, the tobiano stallion stepped forward, turning his head to examine his new companion more closely under the muted light that managed to filter through the heavy rain clouds. She was dark, and tall - almost as tall as him, he imagined. Her sable figure contrasted sharply against the fresh snowfall of the forest, an ever-present shadow lingering in his sight.