mauja the frostheart. It had been an odd couple of days since he'd found Druid in the Threshold. Wary of the boy's condition and conscious of his strength (or lack thereof) he'd made sure to travel slowly, stopping often at patches of still-fresh grass and cold streams to try and replenish Druid's reserves. The last thing he wanted was for the colt to tire in the Steppe and be unable to take another step upon that vast expanse of snow. Death by cold was not painful, but slow, and he had no desire to witness it again, least of all as it came from an innocent child the fates had, for one reason or another, left alone. Would he have survived until Frostfall if Mauja had not come by to pick him up? The desire to live was there, in the instincts which had first warned him to keep his distance, but willpower alone could not sustain you.

He'd made sure the colt had got a few hours to sleep if he could before they braved the north. The further along the isthmus they had gone, the colder the air had become, but he'd been lucky for once. The day had been warm, and surprisingly windless, as they crossed the Steppe. The thin layer of snow had even begun to melt under the golden glow, but he knew that tonight, the cold would reclaim it and glaze its surface over with thin, smooth ice. Mauja's ears had swiveled almost constantly atop his head, his keen eyes scanned the horizon, knowing that opportunistic predators might take the risk of driving him away just to get at the colt.

A sense of relief washed over him when the Basin came into view. Foreboding, the mountains rose around the valley, their peaks laden with snow and ice, dark crags of stone breaking it up where the vertical walls offered no purchase. It was a fortress in many ways, accessible through a narrow mountain pass, but within, it was sheltered. Most of the time the range kept the winds out, making the air within still and calm, and the hot springs in one corner extended under the earth, or at least he suspected so as the Basin's earth thawed completely in spring and nourished lush grass. Still, out here it was cold, but he'd warned the colt, saying the journey would be worse than the destination, and he could only hope that reassurance kept the scrawny boy going.

The sun was slowly slipping towards the horizon when he led them into the mountain pass, occasionally nudging Druid's neck to keep him from walking into the walls or to alert him to shifts in the rocky floor. Within the shadow of the pass he realized that his mind had been so occupied with wondering if Faelene would kill him for asking her to nurse Druid that he'd forgotten all about the other mother currently in the herd — Delinne. Her daughter, Destry, was just a few months old, and he'd been meaning to seek her out anyway and see how she was doing. Losing Azzaron had not been easy, but it was for the best. She had to think of her future, and time had hardened the stab of guilt into a scar which barely twinged when he thought upon it. They'd all made their choices, for better or for worse, and he had to believe it was for the better.

Moving out of the pass's mouth the valley spread out before him. A faint dusting of snow covered the slopes, the large lake's surface barely rippling in the faint breeze. Most of the Basin had been cast into shadow as the mountains blocked out the sun, and he knew that the night would be cold as the clouds were thin and flimsy. "Here we are," he told the colt gently. "We're within the Basin now, but we'll go a little further, to a warm place." Flicking his tail and touching Druid's shoulder encouragingly he began to lead the way towards the corner where the hot springs nestled against the cliffs, their steam rising into the sky. With each passing second the mineral smell increased, the air grew warmer, and moister. Pausing a few yards from the nearest pool he held out his muzzle to make sure Druid didn't keep going — he was pretty sure the boy wouldn't appreciate the surprise of stumbling headfirst into a pool of hot water. "Here. That's better, isn't it?" And as he smiled at the blind colt, he reached for Irma's mind, and was surprised to find that she was already searching for Delinne.