Tuari does not see him, but even in the shadow, she feels his breath on her skin and it caused her body to shiver uncontrollably. Where once there had only ever been the flutterings of love and excitement, now there is only disgust and horror. Torsten is not the same he had once been. He has changed, even before he disappeared from Tinuvel. He is near, of that much she is sure, he was always near.

The anticipation causes her to startle when the brown spotted stallion appears through the dense growth. Dark eyes widen in with fear as tension coils the lean muscles beneath her creamy gold frame. Not Torsten. It’s not Torsten. Like a summer storm on rain starved earth, the relief that floods her is visible. He was not Torsten. Pale eyes blink beneath alabaster lashes as he starts towards her with head lowered and ears laid back as though he too tried to hide from something or someone. He charges her and instinctively she wheels away to avoid the collision of their bodies. Small ears fall backwards as his strange lilted tones break through the silence that had built itself up between them like a thick curtain of mist. He offers to free her. Offers protection but was there ever any protection from Torsten? Was she ever truly free? She had thought leaving Tinuvel behind would be her freedom, but Torsten always found her. Always he lingered in the shadows and haunted her dreams like a mountain cat prowling in the darkness. She had a choice in this moment, a choice to leave and pray that freedom might finally belong to herself even if it meant once more finding herself in the company of strangers. Or she could remain behind and face the torment that Torsten’s presence promised.

She chose to take the chance.

Though she has little faith in the escape succeeded, especially since this stallion seemed to be hunted himself, Tuari drops her head into a swift nod of acknowledgement as lithe limbs begin to churn beneath her. ”Ill take that chance.” the words are spoken more to herself than to the strange stallion and yet there was something in the softness of his eyes and perhaps even in the strong curve of his back as it towered near her own. What had once lay buried deep beneath the cold fear begins to spark alive with hope. Pale lips press together as Tuari drops her proud head and moves into the shadow of the stallion, finding comfort in the warmth of his skin as it brushes against her own. He was her guiding star now, and she only hopes with him she will find her true north.