The colt walked back home, basket in maw, through the mire and the rain. He did not like this weather, no, for it caused his hair to stick to him uncomfortably and he feared for the warmth of his egg. He had gathered fresh grasses and such before the rains had started, but it would never be enough in his eyes. He was clouded with the desire to protect his egg, to find his brother, and nothing else. The colt found none of those things in the Thistle Meadow, but he caught his brother's scent before the rains had washed it completely away.

The trail brought him to the Deep Forest, where the twins had practiced with their mother many weeks ago. Abraham remembered the day, his body disobeying him when trying to move like the shadowmere. He grunted, flicking his head up to get his growing forelock out of his eyes, but it splattered and curled around his horns. Grunting again, Abraham pushed on. Once he was well into the forest, the canopy protected him from all but a few renegade, rebellious drops of the chilled water. Nonetheless, Abraham felt a shiver crawl up his back and he started to shake. His shoulders and neck showed the shiver the most, and he knew that if he was cold, covered in all this hair, his egg must be feeling it, too. The dark prince's ebon brows pushed together with concern and he darted under the nearest tree. "It'll be alright, little one. I'll protect you. He set the basket down gently in the pine needles as he spoke, and he instantly remembered something his mother had said in a passing, side comment. The needles are the best insulators. Use them wisely, if need be. Excellent! Taking his feathered hooves he scraped up a pile of the needles and used his lips, as gently as possible, to fill the basket and the spaces around his precious egg. The act was meticulous, but well worth it, and it took him several minutes.

Abraham. The child's head shot up. What was that? Mismatched eyes narrowed and the colt picked up his basket by its handle once more, taking tentative steps out from under his safe place. Abraham. It was Reginald! The colt bucked happily, knowing his brother was near. "Reg!" Abraham called out, voice muffled by the basket in his mouth. The colt trotted quickly, his body wet and heavy, to where the voice had come from. He saw him, his older brother, taking shelter under the branches of a great pine. Abraham joined his side and placed the basket down before touching his nose to his brother's shoulder, in the fashion he had watched his father do to his mother. "I have the greatest news, Reginald." The colt muttered, flicking his dripping forelock out of his eyes again. He looked at his brother, oddly colored eyes nearly bursting with the excitement of the news.