you're the closest thing to hell i've seen so far
But, on the plus side, Auriel seems happy. He perks up at her gratitude, chest puffing back out slightly. He did a good thing. He made a girl happy, and that's got to be a plus, right? He might even have made himself a friend. She asks if he's okay to get home and he nods, full of masculine bravado - truthfully he thinks he may well collapse here and sleep it off, but he wouldn't say that in front of a girl. "I'll be fine. I'm strong, see. Can run for ages." Liar! His heaving chest and rapid snorts probably give the game away, but hey, he gets points for trying. She invites him to these Hidden Falls, whatever they are, and he beams. Fun with her and Shida? Definitely. Maybe he'll even drag Nymeria along and they can have twin contests. "Yeah! Was nice to meet you, Auriel." He gives her a gentlemanly dip of his head, because that's what stallions seemed to do and it strikes him as only right.
Despite his tiredness, she is still within sight, so he forces himself to break into a trot back towards home, as if to say nope, nothing wrong here. His muscles beg for mercy and his breath still catches in his throat as his legs slog against the thick snow, but that's preferable to looking like a weakling in front of his new friend.
[ you can't stray from what you are, you're the closest thing to hell i've seen so far ]
[ use of force/magic on him is permitted aside from death/maiming ]