Each kick with his hooves started to loose power as his strength began to wane. Ever since he had lost sight of his brother he could feel himself sink into despair as his body sank in the waves. Desperate, he instinctively started to call out above the waves when they were not crashing over his head. With each cry he could not tell if it was loud enough, or strong enough. It was always a distant muffle to his soaked through ears. As the sounds continued to fade, his panic rose with his voice, high and shrill, begging for this not to be the end. Slowly his calls started to die out and still he tries to keep his head above water.

At last, he felt something more solid under his hooves. With a final surge of home he kicked himself forward until he was able to pull himself out of the crashing waves. Looking back at the expanse he had just crossed, he called out behind him, desperate for his brother to hear him, begging for some kind of answer. The boy fought the tears in his eyes, hearing nothing sent out and nothing come back to him. He looked around, his body trembling from more than just exhaustion. He called out into the island, desperate to hear anything, for anyone to hear him. Head hung low, the seasons aged colt pressed on, knowing he could not simply stay by the shore. With each step his tufted hooves started to drag more and more until his lean, silver painted body finally fell to its knees. He stayed there a moment, his soft nose in the sand, breathing hard and fighting the urge to close his eyes for longer than a blink. A minute rest and he pulled himself back up until he was able to make it to a patch off the shore of what looked like edible grass. Trembling, he looked around and uttered another questioning noise, unable to form words. He knew the pain of what happened when someone came into a herd unannounced and unwelcome. Dark eyes looked dizzily back at the waves. He knew if he needed to swim again to escape he would die. Pleading with any that would listen, he started to nibble at the grass he had found. He just needed to rest and to be warm. Every other bite, he would lift his head and look about, terrified that someone would chase him back into the water.