palm in the blue paint and pressed it to his chest. "And finally, my handprint, for you to know who to love, and be loyal to." She cupped his head into her palms and put her forehead on his muzzle. Devvyn looked over at Brook, who was still painting the white filly with red and purple. Brook stood and looked happily at the filly. "Kendal is done. It's only noon... Maybe my Father will help us halter train Loyal?" She said. Kendal strutted past Wolf with a glare. What was up with that mare?!  

Wolf dodged Little Creek and ran to the other side of the corral. Devvyn and Brook sat laughing on the fence. The warm afternoon sun dappled Wolf through the trees. Little Creek slowly came forward again. He looked surprisingly young, and acted like a young boy, laughing and joking. "Oh come on Creek, Nana could do it faster!" Giggled Devvyn from the fence. "Well, lets see if miss-smartie-pants can do it then!" He replied, playfully tossing the halter to her. Devvyn hopped down and caught the halter, grinning micheviously. Little Creek took her place on the sunny fence. Devvyn clicked her tongue and patted her leg. Wolf pricked his ears and whinnied, before galloping over to her, sniffing at the lightly beaded leather halter. She held it up and Wolf took a hesitant step back. Devvyn saw his nervousness and put her are through the halter and petted Wolf with her other hand. "See, Loyal? It won't hurt you!" She said with a reassuring smile. Wolf eyed the halter and looked at Devvyn. He realized that many horses were gathered around the corral. "Looks like Loyal is pretty popular!" Called Brook from the sun-dappled fence. Wolf saw Marrone and the brown mare near the fence lookinging amused. The silver stallion, Burro was looking on with an expression of mixed sternness and confusion. Wolf closed his eyes and leaned closer to Devvyn. He heard the tinkle of beads and felt the straps tightening on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Devvyn looking at Little Creek with a smug look on her face. "Told you!" She exclaimed, attaching a buffalo hide rope to the halter quickly. Wolf backed away from it but it followed. He turned his head various ways, and found that it was not alive or harmful. "You should let Healing Sparrow to change his bandages. Then, put him in the pasture for tonight." Said Little Creek, hopping down from the fence. "I will!" Replied Devvyn, leading Wolf to the healing tent.

After Healing Sparrow replaced his bandages, Devvyn led Wolf to an unfenced meadow. Other horses were running around or lazily grazing and gossiping. "Alright Loyal, tonight you stay here. Now go and make friends!" Said Devvyn, taking off his halter and shooing him away. Wolf watched as she walked into the large teepee. He turned around and looked around the pasture. Groups of yearlings and foals were chatting and having races. Wolf shyly walked to a small crabapple tree and began to ravenously graze. A cool breeze carried the scent of a group of other horses, old and young. He looked up and saw the group shyly shuffling his way. "He saw us!" One whispered, but the breeze carried the word to Wolf. He lowered his head again with a small smile and swished his tail contentedly. "Uh, hi..." Said a dappled filly. He smiled at her. "Hello." He replied. The other horses of the group grinned back shyly. The filly, who seemed to be oldest, spoke first. "My name is MorningGlory. This is my sister Lilly," she said pointing to a dun filly, "and StrongHeart, both my siblings." She said, this time motioning to a very young brown colt. Wolf smiled again. "Nice to meet you. I'm Wolf." He replied, chewing some grass. "But you're not a wolf, you're a horse!" Giggled StrongHeart from behind MorningGlory. MorningGlory began to apologize for her young brother, but Wolf snorted with amusement. She smiled and looked fondly at StrongHeart, who looked confused. Another yearling stepped forward. "My name is Burr. My sisters here are twins, Suzie and Marri." He said, motioning to two gray and white fillies, who smiled impishly. Wolf grinned warmly. "Nice to meet you all." He said nodding. Secretly, he was rather uncomfortable with the group of 6. "Well.." Began MorningGlory, but Marri and Suzie interrupted, "Are your scars REALLY talon wounds?!" Burr glared at them, but Wolf was holding back a burst of laughter. "Marri, Suzi! Mind your manners!" Scolded MorningGlory. "No, no! It's fine. And yes, they are talon scars, from the eagle." He said looking curiously at the twins. They gasped and beamed at each other. "Really?! Well, after you think about it, it's not really surprising... Eagles do attack for no reason." MorningGlory said thoughtfully. Wolf snorted in outrage. They all pinned their eyes and looked confused and scared. "Sorry. I just hate it when horses judge those they don't know! This eagle is great. I helped him when his wing was broken, and he helped up defend our homeland in return. When the buffalo stampede came..." He trailed off, looking towards him homeland. "What happened at the stampede?" Asked the twins. MorningGlory glared at them and began to scold them, but Wolf broke in. "The stampede came as my herd went to the river to drink. I was next to Strider, watching for cougars, with eagle sitting on my back. He started making strange noises and pacing, but Strider and I were confused. Then we heard it. The pounding of the buffalo herd running, but it was too late. Strider was crushed and I was swept away. The eagle tried to pull me away, but he couldn't spook away the buffalo. My dam tried to follow but it was too dangerous. I made the eagle go back and teach my-" Wolf was interrupted by an ear splitting scream in the night. The sky was becoming ever-darker and he spun around.

Kendal was teetering on the edge of a small cliff over the strong river. A large male cougar almost as big as her was snarling and spitting at her. Wolf looked around and saw Burro racing from a hill across camp, but he was too far away. Wolf knew what he had to do. With an bloodcurdling battle cry, he raced toward the cougar who backed away from Kendal, to face the colt. "No!" he heard Devvyn scream. Wolf reached them and began to strike out at the cougar. Memories of Strider fighting off cougars flooded his senses. He kicked it and leapt back, but the cougar jumped onto his back, weighing Wolf down with his sheer size. Many horses screamed, including Kendal, and he began to buck with all his might. He heard a sickening cry and a splash and he knew Kendal had fell. The cougar had gotten a strong grip on his bandages, and Wolf recalled the move Strider used when the cougar would not fall off. Wolf threw himself to the ground, landing on the cougar. He quickly rolled off and stood, and killed the cougar with a shark kick to the neck. He peered over the edge of the river and saw Kendal uselessly paddling, the river sweeping her away. Wolf jumped over the edge, ignoring Devvyn's screams, and held his breath as he plunged under the dark waters. His mane swirled as the underwater current began to sweep him away. He resurface and gasped, hearing the screams of many horses, dredging back the horrible memory of the stampede. He heard Kendal scream and saw her white form standing out in the dark night. He struck out with all four long, lanky legs and quickly caught up. He saw the silver and brown figures of Marrone and Burro racing along the bank, along with other horses he did not know. As he reached her, Kendal began to sink, exhausted from her struggle. He dived under her and resurfaced with her safely on his back. He used the last of his energy to struggle onshore, where he coughed up mouthfuls of the river water. Burro, Marrone, and the other caught up and he heard Kendal struggle to her feet and be led to the village by Burro. "Wolf!" Exclaimed Marrone, bending over him and looking worried. "I-I'm fine... Just tired... And my eye." Replied Wolf, suddenly aware of a sharp pain in his left eye. Devvyn rushed up and hugged him wordlessly. "What eye? Show me." Said Marrone. Wolf turned his head and opened his eye painfully. He heard Devvyn's gasp and Marrone told him to get up. He struggled to his hooves, Devvyn shooing away curious horses. He slowly stumbled over to the healing teepee, where Healing Sparrow was gathering dried herbs and bandages. Wolf sighed and layed down near the entrance, drifting into an uneasy sleep of cold, rushing, dark water.

 The next day, Wolf awake with his eye bound in cloth, and Devvyn sleeping on his side, using him like a pillow. He smiled to himself and sat up, awakening Devvyn. She smiled at him and embraced his neck. "I had thought I lost you when you went under..." She whispered. He nickered softly and nosed her long, black hair. He began to stand, and she went to pull on her moccasins. He swung his head around, not used to only using one eye. He pricked his ears to the entrance flap. He made out many low, worried, and serious voices. He walked over hesitantly, and poked his head out slowly. He saw MorningGlory, Burr, and their siblings, and also Burro and Marrone with two mares. One was the mare from Marrone's herd, the other he did not know. The stopped talking and smiled, nuzzling him. He saw Kendal standing sheepishly a few teepees away. He stepped out, feeling the teepee flaps slide along his bare back. His bandages were gone! He twisted around and saw that there were now 5 silvery scars on his back. He whinnied to Kendal, who trotted over shyly. He turned to all his new friends and smiled. He would go home someday, but not for a while.

The next winter months passed