Despite being in the more temperate region of the islands, the Forest was heavily affected by winter with droves of storms coming through, bearing with it several inches of snow. His new region was pristine, a virgin land, not a mark upon the freshly blanketed terrain. The painted stallion sighed heavily. While he carried much sadness with him from his past life, seeing his new home as if were untouched by any before him gave him a sense of the dawning to a new day, a future he hadn’t expected to ever find after the loss of his beloved and their son.

His shaggy coat and muscular build kept him from feeling the chill. He was made for the cold and with the number of trees within his borders it was easy to find shelter from the worst of the incoming weather, so he wasn’t too worried about the storms which kept rolling in. However, he did want to build his herd. Warmth would be easier to find with more bodies to huddle next to, as well as give him a reason to keep moving forward. He was a leader without followers, a protector without those to defend, and he didn’t know what to do with himself outside of those roles.

At this thought a whiff of another horse, or was it two, crossed his nostrils, almost as if the universe was listening to his wandering mind. It always seemed to end up in the past where he was stuck, but enough time had passed that he had gotten to the point where he could at least begin to peek ahead now. A glimmer of hope was sometimes all that was needed to open the door to a brighter future, and he was willing to take a look. He had already been through the worst of what life had to offer, although he wasn’t sure he could survive the pain again. But those were the darker ideas drifting their way into his thoughts and he pushed them aside, choosing to focus on finding the strangers within his realm.

He stepped into a clearing and saw a pale colored femme with an almost grown darker colt by her side. His ears flicked forward and caught snippets of the conversation between the two, but he did not bring himself within sight until the conversation seemed to be over. Despite not hearing the entire conversation he was able to hear enough to get the gist, and to understand that the colt seemed uneasy while the mare seemed without a care in the world. Confusion ran through his mind; shouldn’t it be the other way around? A foal had no business worrying after his dam. The stallion wondered about what the dynamic was exactly, and he brought himself nearer the two to find out.

“Greetings,” he began. While many stallions would run strangers off immediately, Rilke was a bit more diplomatic than that. He was no longer in his youth and rash with it, he had learned how patience and manners could turn a situation positive rather than problematic. “I am Rilke, the new lead in this land. What are your names?” Despite the colt being so young, he had a feeling that he was the one with whom details would be exchanged, the mare seemingly in her own little world. The older stud’s champagne eyes clouded with melancholy. What a sad life for the young boy in front of him. Sympathy flowing from his features, he looked at the pair and awaited a response.