Afraid of being alone. The words plucked a cord deep within her so strongly that she nearly cried. Papillon could never be left to her own devices for too long. With her poor memory she constantly needed to be reminded of things. If left by herself she was prone to wandering off and getting lost. She was an adult but she could barely look after herself. It’s a good thing her herdmate came to fetch her or there was a good chance she would have died of thirst, starvation or exposure to the elements before the Bay herd found her. Yet despite her best efforts she usually found herself being alone. She couldn’t say whether that was due to her guardians losing patience with her or her own naive choices. At least when her baby arrives she would have some company that couldn’t leave her. At least not for a long time.

’Do you want to go back? The question causes Papillion to pause and spend a few moments to ponder her answer. There was an implication there that she had a choice. That she could continue her journey towards the Bay without any more interventions. That this mare would not force her to return. In the end the red painted mare decided to answer as honestly as she could. “It’s not the place I would have chosen,” she sighs as though it was a shameful thing to admit. Meeting her blue eyes’ with Avarice’s before she elaborates, “It’s too cold for most of the year, it’s quiet and I don’t have any friends there.” They are complaints, some more minor than others, but she keeps her voice low and even. Perhaps she is still letting the smog of fear cloud her mind bacsue all she had given were reasons not to return.

After a few moments of silence Papillion realized that she hadn’t actually answered the question. “It’s not the home I would have chosen, but it is Zion’s and he chose me, so I guess it is my home aswell.” She then turns her attention north and follows the path of hoof prints on the ground with her eyes. Grimancing for a moment at how far she had to walk to return to the Arch. The prospect was daunting. But maybe this time she would have company on the return journey.

“I only left because I was afraid,” she had made a bad decision, and she deserved to be reprimanded for her actions. There was no excuses but she wanted to explain the reasoning for her choice to leave. She motions towards her rounded stomach as if the fact she was pregnant wasn’t glaringly obvious. “It’s my first baby. I just wanted them to be born somewhere safe. When I hadn’t heard or seen any traces of Zion or his brother for a long time I thought they had abandoned us. Have you seen them?” She asks with her ears perked hopefully. If the Arch’s twin kings had returned then there was no reason not to return. She wasn't running away from Zion, he had given her no reason to, she was simply trying to find somewhere safer.