Hoshor Plains sediment ii

the foal kicked selenia awake. uttering a low groan, she unfolded her legs and hoisted herself upward with great effort. 

too tired to remain standing the night before, the mare had lain down near a cluster of cows and answered her exhaustion. but selenia was determined not to be weak among the bison, who chewed their cuds in the early morning and pointedly ignored her.

the mare relieved herself on a tussock of stubborn grass not far from the resting herd. the dark mahogany of her eyes turned toward the horizon over which she had come, searching not only for wolves but for a flicker of mane, a whinney which might announce that she had been found by her band.

behind selenia, a cow stretched her stiff legs as she watched the mare in curiosity. she was perhaps the first among her herd not to be annoyed by the horse's presence, though she knew her calf from this year had already heckled the mare, he and his agemates.

but to be tested was the bison's way. each day was a competition. many of their number had fallen to the unnatural gathering of wolves. the cow, known by a sound which no non-bison could parse, would be called umini by selenia in the days to come. for now, she was only a stranger which paced up to watch the dawn rise beside her new, odd herdmate.