The sun was bright against my eyelids as I rolled upright and I squinted against it as I got my bearings. Weeks, now months had passed since I had lost my battle against the bear, and while my wounds had healed, some of the illness persisted. I rarely felt pain, and the attack was no exception, but the sickness that had followed had swam up my bloodstream and poisoned me until I'd hovered on death's door, hidden deep within the depths of the Lagoon. Fevers, chills, nausea. You name it, I dealt with it.

It hadn't been until the past day or two that I'd felt any resemblance of myself and been able to do more than stagger drunkenly toward fresh water and back. Even so, I felt less steady than I was used to as I moved toward the rustling figure in the distance. I wasn't even sure if I still held a position among my peers given that I'd been more or less delirious during the last elections but I figured I'd act like the Marauder I was until I wasn't.

As my gaze finally landed on the intruder, I let a smile slice across my lips as my eyes darkened. A lone woman, then. My favorite. She didn't give off the sort of vibe that she'd been around here long given that her steps were hesitant and her eyes wide. She gave the impression she was a little lost, if I were honest.

Vulnerable.

"Aren't you a long ways from home?" I asked, head cocked as I walked closer, angling to begin to circle her. "Do you know where you are, little dove?"

Stallion - Young Adult - 15.2 - Brown Overo