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"I mean it. Besides I don't think this girl will let the others separate us. She seems different."Path said as they were led into the pen.

Gwen took off Konoha's halter and closed the gate. She stood looking at the pair before heading over to where she had left her paint mare. She unsaddled and put the mare where she belonged before heading to her room. She had to pass the Colonel's 'house' on her way to hers.

Eclipse stood in the pasture with the other mares; she stood next to Brook and Emma, who were on the outskirts of the herd. She was extremely tired, but she refused to lie down to sleep until she had settled into her surroundings.

Slowly she was drifting off to sleep, more out of exhaustion than wanting to, because she was still nervous. Her muscles were locked when she was standing straight up, so it would be easy to fall asleep. Even so, every time she seemed to drift off, she would hear something odd, and it would bring her back to wakefulness.

Colonel was watching the wild horses. He smiled as they jumped at the normal sounds of the Fort. Starting to fall asleep he pulled his hat down over his face. Half-asleep he heard the knock, sighed, took his feet off the desk, and placed his hat on the desk. "Come in." He shrugged a hand through his curely brown hair.

Konoha continued to clean Path's wound, taking comfort in the action. She jumped every time a new, loud sound came their way. Finishing her task she looked about the pen and located the other three mares that they had seen. Seeing that they were as jumpy as she, she nickered to the palimino. Haveing found a comfotable way to stand she didn't want to mess it up by moving and yet wanted to make sure that the others were ok too. "You ok?" She tensed her muscles as a few large tame wolves ran past the corral.

Konoha left her comfortable spot and hobbled over to the mare. "I'm fine, just a little bit of a limp." As if to contradict herself she shifted her weight away from the leg and leaned slightly against the fence, trying to regain the poistion she had eariler. "I'm Konoha by they way and that's Path." She looked over her shoulder at Path, still a little mad at him but missing his warmth. "Path will get us out of here. You can come join our herd when we do escape." She had doubts that they could get out but she acted on instinct and only told the mare encouraging things.

"Truce." Colonel knew that with Gwen being one of the few women in the Fort that worked outside a kitchen it had to be hard. He assumed that she had a hard time with the men constantly flirting with her. He knew that some of them did because of the stories that he heard. "It's going to be hard going with those ones. We haven't had horses that fought like that for a long while." Around his men Colonel would never have spoke his true mind, he would have kept up the idea that the horses weren't a problem. "You need help with her, come get me first. I don't want the men messing her up. She's pretty and would fetch a large sum of money as a well trained ridin' horse."

Konoha resisted the urge to nicker at Path. Instead she leaned against him and swished her tail gently to ward away a fly. now that she had stood next to Path, leaned on him and laid her head across his back, she felt a new connection between them. She wanted to be near him, but wasn't jeaslous at his greeting of the other mare.

Colonel returned the smile but quickly switched it for a frown of thought. "That it will but we can't waste that much time. You'll have to train her as much as you can with the injury. Short sessions, with more per day and away from the other horses." He looked back out to the mare and stallion in the pen. "You know I have seen few stallions that have stayed that close to a mare. Granted they put up more of a fight for their mares but not like that one." He glanced back out the window as the first hints of color showed on the buildings as the sun had started to set.

Konoha returned the nuzzle more gently than before, more reflective of his own. "Yes, it is but it has quit throbbing so much." She didn't say that she could feel her very heart beat but the pain was starting to receed to her hock and below, only flareing above when she placed weight on it. She shifted back to the aquird standing position, so that her leg was sticking out to the side, but no weight was on it.

"Where ever they are hopefully they can deal with the loss." Colonel looked out the window at the mare, "Maybe she was, but I don't think so. A lead mare wouldn't wander off but then a stallion wouldn't have come after any stray mare." He was assuming that the mare had been the one to wander. "But then a lead mare wouldn't go after a wandering stallion."

"That will take too long. We can get out of here way before that, I'll cope." Konoha hated the thought of staying in the place for so long. She laid her head on Path's back, something she hadn't done before that day. Exhausted she had given up on trying to look around in the setting sun.

Colonel returned his attention to Gwen. "Nothing but giving the men pick of the horses. Why?" He didn't exactly return the smile but the start of one tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Colonel played dum "I'm afriad I have no idea what your talking 'bout." He mimicked Gwen's "'bout" and smiled. "Your gonna have to spell it out." He waved to the chair opposite him, officialy offering her a chair without saying it. Something about Gwen caught him in a way that the other women around the Fort didn't.

Konoha's ears shot backwards as the group of dogs ran back the other way. They tumbled around over a bone and one ran into the corall. Konnoha had relaxed and didn't see the dog in the pasture. The dog had spotted the horses and ran up to investigate them, he barked and approached their legs. Konnoha started and backed away from the dog.