Martyr went cold when the roan stallion indicated that she had been in the Lagoon for some time. It unsettled the blue overo that his informant did not elaborate with his answer, but so did the advice that followed. Vulcan had been one kind of stallion: willing to help, willing to aid and shelter. If word was true, there had been much shifting on the islands. How could he possibly find someone else like the sooty bay who would risk their skin to save a mare they didn't know? The chilly sensation in his gut frozen into a wide pit.
He could only nod as conversation demanded in response to the stallion speaking. Martyr didn't want to think about how this greying wanderer knew what he did. He didn't want to consider how Emerson must feel at being left for so long in a land known for being full of lawless men. The overo had more faith in his sister's resilience than anything else in the world, but he couldn't help the look of crestfallen concern that washed over his pale features. "Y-yes.. thank you," the paint said clumsily.
The current of his guilt was rising again, lapping at his fetlocks. Blinking a few times, Martyr couldn't think of what else he could, what else he could ask of the other stallion. If he wanted to free her, he had to either get a lead or a few Peaks sisters to help. Well, that or find a position to battle for her freedom itself. The pitch in his belly widened into a chasm as memories of other failed attempts to lead passed through his mind. What was the best path, the quickest path to giving Emerson her freedom? After shaking his pale head at himself, the overo sighed and nodded to the other male.
"You've given me much to think about, stranger," Martyr admitted, voice tinged with the weight of his situation. His black tail whipped once, then twice, stinging against the overo's painted flanks. "Thank you for your help," he said, gratitude finally brightening his tone some. "I hope your path is kind to you." An odd thing to say to end a conversation maybe, but a blessing of the sort was all Martyr could offer the stallion. Then, the blue roan quit the Falls altogether, looking for a way forward.
blue roan overo mustang mutt stallion . 16.1 hands