Whether it had been her motive to recruit him, or she had initially just approached to converse with him, Roland knew the mare would leave empty handed. He was pleased to see she was understanding of his decision, though he could see the whisper of disappointment on her face. Her heartfelt wish brought a smile to his lips, and he inclined his head in thanks. It had been too long since he’d held conversation with a kind and friendly being, and his mind was allowed to stray from the troubles that clouded through his weary mind. At least she asked no questions, sparing him the strenuous task of fabricating reasons for his wander lust. He did not know what he was looking for, if there even was anything he sought, but he too hoped that it would come to him in time.

His enthusiasm somewhat blanched at her description of the herd lands she hailed from, though it did not show on his face. She painted a vivid picture with her words, yet a land of cold and ice was not an idea that appealed to him, when he patronized the sun and relished its warmth. He was a vain and selfish creature at heart; anything that would force him to endure discomfort or unhappiness would be avoided at all costs. But that wasn’t a fact he would openly advertise, for he was not proud of the trait. Still, her offer was intriguing, and perhaps one day he would visit if his travels ever led him in the direction of the Aurora Basin herd. It could be the home he’d always wished for, but he was not ready to face the bitter cold of winter again after the season had just passed. There would be time to consider her offer in the calm of solitude, a companion he was no stranger to after months alone.

“Thank you, perhaps I will,” he said truthfully, fixing the auburn mare with a kind cerulean gaze. The first words to pass his lips in this new realm were not a bundle of interwoven lies, coated in honey and alloyed with fragments of the truth so it was not too difficult to swallow. She even had his name, which was a detail he did not normally gift to others, especially ones he had just met. It bestowed both a twisted feeling of uneasiness and comfort in his heart. As long as he did not sully his title once again with the moniker of con artist or gyp, she would have no reason to use it against him; motivation for him to change his ways lest he be chased from Helovia as well. Yet without the falsities he commonly spoke, tainting ever word with vibrant guile, he seemed emotionless and flat, void of life and colour.

He did not know where he would travel next, or where the meandering trails that wound throughout the vibrant forest would take him, but he sensed it was time to make his leave. He had nothing else to say to her, and there was nothing more she could do for him; there was no reason for him to further consume her precious time. He glanced towards the rising sun, rays of watery light oscillating across the washed-out sky. Dawn had passed them by, and the day was in the cool embrace of morning. He wanted to make as much use of the daylight as he could, no longer feeling it was necessary to travel by night in this new land.

“I should be on my way,” he pointed out, as if it were a sudden realization rather than the nagging feeling at the back of his mind it had truthfully been. He turned away from Lena, moving slowly, experimentally into the trees, away from the mountainous foothills he’d descended from. “I hope we will meet again. ” He cast a glance back to Lena, hoping his leave was not too abrupt. There was little time he could waste in conversation when his future lay, bare and unrealized, before him. With a final smile of farewell, he vanished into the trees, thoughts still lingering on the sienna mare. Helovia was to be his new haunting grounds.

walk walk walk
"talk talk talk"