He had offered them privacy, quite against his better judgement, wheeling overhead upon silent wings, but Silas could not quell the burning mistrust for the stallion that seemed so relentlessly; so carelessly, to pursue his beloved. Sharp shimmering lilac rarely left their location, and pupils pinned angrily as they witnessed the stallion step closer, to lean his face against Africa’s. Stiff chords through his throat began to vibrate, to growl and rebuke, but he was far from the reach of their tapering ears; perhaps even so high that his circling form might have appeared only as a dim fleck against the sickly grey mulling across the blue arc sky. He knew that she would feel his frustration- their bond allowed no chance of secrecy.

The lust luring his voice forward seemed to fade almost as suddenly as it was thrust by the reckless opportunity given; the stoic nature of a creature cold and without care returned to meet the ginger plight of her smile. That gesture slipped quickly into oblivion, chased perhaps by the words quick to fall from his black whiskered maw. She agreed, mostly. She was reminded constantly of her mortality, of the foolish will of her mind and brazen swing of her heart- none who had sheltered beneath the Heart had any true sway over the path of their life, and certainly they had rediscovered that fact quite crudely. Prayer and loyalty to the highest of powers; to the God of the Sun, was all she could do to influence the direction she was to take.

"Ay…" she sighed softly, glancing left and out across the vastly overgrown meadow as it lay before them. There was no movement to attract her attention; not even the playful waggle of a wren skipping between shrivelled thistle heads on quest for those minute, but delicious seeds within. Perhaps it would take a long time for any form of normalcy to return.

She could feel the tension simmering as vicious flashes of crimson red through her bonded’s clever mind. His discomfort both alarmed and upset her- though express that she so carefully did not. Wandering creamy eyes again found Windwalker’s face, though they did not linger- they found no warmth to burry into, no solace to hide behind. Instead she drew a breath and shrugged with a loose smile curling her mouth, gazing absently into the south. "No. Anything I might once have occupied myself doing has been too dangerous. A prison offers only so such entertainment." Africa laughed lightly, optimistically, peering with one eye to see if his expression would soften at all for the sake of her attempt to smooth tension with small talk.

Of course, the majority of her hours had been spent meditating beneath the shadow of the Wall of History; praying for the safety of the herd (in vain, she had not realised quickly that all had disbanded), her kin, and an end to the sickness.

By the question she asked next, the black stallion seemed startled- albeit subtly, and without the emotional transparency she had once been privilege to. Coaly ears stiffened quickly to receive his response, her eyes betraying the disappointment as it began to swirl prematurely through the cluttered (but not so wounded as it had been previously) mind behind. "I don’t, no… I just thought…" She paused, realising suddenly that not all allegiances were as sound and set as her own. "Well (her dappled shoulders shrugged again the pink hairless scar across the left shining vividly, and she chuckled passing her eyes across the grass ahead) , I suppose those herds really don’t exist anymore, do they." A quietly humble sadness swept through her and Africa wondered who, if any, would be returning to the desert when the cue was given.

There was a strident call from above- Silas had been descending through the flare of a bitter, pregnant wind and the one-winged mare realised with a start, that grim grey clouds had gathered as a thick quilt above. "I think it might snow." She said, gazing towards the heavens, dispelling the uncertainty about Dragon’s Throat’s future bravely, and turning in the direction that would lead them back to The Sanctuary. "I don’t plan to stay any longer in the cave; I just want to report our findings to W.A.R, that the darkness has weakened out here." Playfully she reached to bump her maw against his nose, already the frail glass fence between them had been tested, so she figured innocently the gesture would be harmless. Slowly she stepped away through the swishing tips of meadow-grass, gaze dancing back for a moment to see if he would follow.