Zorro (novel) blossoms into a romance, and Diego is forced to remain at home to recover after suffering a few broken ribs during the attack. Diego and Bernardo then undergo a test to prove their maturity and to find their spirit guide, a totemic animal which would guide the boys' future. Bernardo's spirit guide is a horse, in the form of Tornado, a motherless colt which Bernardo encounters and cares for. Diego's is a fox ("zorro" in his native Spanish) who saves his life. After the events in the forest, Alejandro, oblivious to the Indian training Diego has been receiving, receives a
Zorro and cunning for the bumbling authorities to catch, and he also delights in publicly humiliating them. Zorro is an acrobat and an expert in various weapons, but the one he employs most frequently is his rapier, which he uses often to carve the initial "Z" on his defeated foes, and other objects. He is also an accomplished rider, his trusty steed being a black horse called Tornado. Zorro is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally "Don Diego Vega"), a young man who is the only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega (originally "Don Alejandro Vega"),