He had distanced himself from the large body of the herd, lingering about the edges of his home and listening to the gentle hissing of the leaves in the trees as the breezes passed through the branches. The side of the forest that he saw was quiet and solemn, perhaps best befitting his serious demeanour and his precarious approach to life. He had known little of the bickering amongst the mares over ranks and silly things that either did not interest or did not concern him in the very least.

While Vercingetorix cannot read the sort of distress in the woman's eyes, he can only pretend to imagine what it must be like to lose someone that had once been important in his life. The red stallion had never felt the attachment of having a family that loved him or would miss him if he left, and he had not been so lucky as to fall in love and know what it was like to have someone love him in return. As that could only be the sweetest thing, right? In some other life, the forest stallion would have wrinkled up his nose in disbelief at the mare's sentiments, perhaps blaming her emotional conflicts on being female and then suggesting she take a hot bath and drink some wine to calm her nerves.

Instead, he nodded after a moment or two of silence, resigning any instinctual urge to fight her desire to leave the confines of the forest that he had thought were so safe. “If you think leaving would be better, than I am not one to stop you Vivianna.” He says quietly, knowing that the moment she left the forest, she would no longer be under his protection and that perhaps they would never see each other again. While he had the smallest inklings of what had happened in the din of the herd (sometimes voices would raise about a low speaking level and he would catch stray words), Vercingetorix had no doubt that the sabino would be missed; despite her discomfort amongst the slowly growing numbers of the herd in the forest.

“Once you leave, I cannot protect you, thought.” The dun speaks more seriously now, ensuring he maintained steady eye contact with the mare before continuing. “You will always be welcome back, of course.”