The normally dormant land of unicorns was unexpectedly teeming with life today and d’Artagnan had to marvel as he was joined one by one by an interesting array of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Mismatched pools widened in surprise as the first horned head to trot into view before him was the familiar dusky bronze of Ulrik with bonded in tow. So, the Engineer had found himself a servant of hell had he! As a brotherly smile broke out across the face of the bloody Doctor, he noted the way in which his gear head friend limped slightly and winced at the memory of their latest battle. It was not the Nightshade’s finest moment and was one of the main instigators for his downcast feelings right now, though the injury could have been from anything, it was always the first thing that sprang to the front of the elder stallion’s mind. Perhaps in the future looking back, these days may turn out to be d’Artagnan’s most challenging.

He began mental preparations for the bombshell he was about to drop, but allowed himself a brief respite with a husky laugh at Ulrik’s regret and offered the stallion some comforting words. "How about I go prepare you a patient and you can…" He fumbled with his words for a minute, not knowing quite what to call the tribal marked stud’s ‘job’ in the matter and ended up just nodded his head to all of Ulrik. "Do your thing." Words. d’Artagnan never quite managed to get along with words; he was almost certain Kou would agree.The conversation turned to himself then and the shade suppressed a sigh, the heavier part of the conversation had come about, but not before he was joined by others and he postponed answering Ulrik’s question as to his own well being until after he acknowledged his daughter who had indeed arrived around the same time.

She was very much a mare of her own independence now and a soldier at that. d’Artagnan had never been secretive as to who his favourite child was, he knew many would frown upon him for choosing between children, but the girl was his first born and a chip off the old block. Quite literally it seemed as he gaped at her broken horn, a feeling of rage burning inside him and his eyes grew flinty. For a moment, a glimpse of the former imposing Nightshade was visible, drawing himself into his tall frame as he struggled to contain the anger that threatened to bubble to the surface. "Who did that to you, Aviya?!" His voice was low, almost like a growl, fatherly instincts daring the face of the idiot who dared mark his daughter in such a manner.

He might have proceeded to march off to find the bastard there and then if it wasn’t for Aviya’s next question which brought his anger down a peg or two to a low simmer. Mother. Apparently his daughter had yet to find out and he offered her a rare comforting grimace, "your mother, along with your twin brothers, were taken by the Worlds Edge. I have not heard from them since before the invasion and I do not know if they have escaped." He watched his daughter carefully, knowing full well that if she was anything like he was in his youth then he’d have a tough time holding her back from waltzing straight to the land which was her birth home. He prayed to anyone who cared to listen that she had at least inherited some of her mother’s common sense.

However, in the time he had been informing his daughter of the unfortunate events, the Reaper himself had appeared along with an interesting little character who called him of all things… Papa?! Crisis forgotten for the moment, the Nightshade turned on his old friend with a raised eyebrow and an all knowing look. d’Artagnan never thought he’d see the day, a mare had defeated the Lord of death himself and her before him was the fruit of that loss. "Congratulations" he quietly nodded to Deimos, his mind wondering what condition the mother would be in considering the Lord’s… Affliction? Grabbing onto his bonded’s thought, Aramis’ presence increased on the Nightshade’s conscience with a wave of amusement behind it, at least she went out with a bang. d’Artagnan threw the hound a look of disbelief, biting his gums to chase away the laughter that threatened to erupt across the snowy mountains, his eyes glazing over temporarily before finally he caught himself. Idiot was all he offered the hell dog in return.

Lastly before he could turn to the matter that required the most attention, he regarded Korra in pleasant surprise. When was the last time he saw that mad mare? Where had she been? No, d’Artagnan wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know exactly where Korra had been, he could have been angry at her mystery absence, but then again who was d’Artagnan to comment. The battle fluttering to his mind again. He gave her a nod once, accepting into his rather large circle of friends and family. The time had come, he needed to present his problem to these few horses (and foal) and respectfully take his leave. If they would let him, that was.

He turned to Ulrik, finally able to answer the Engineer’s last question and he used that as a guide into laying out his heart for all to see. "No, I suppose if I’m honest, I’m not in what you would call… an alright place." A shaky start, but he persevered. d’Artagnan wasn’t used to speaking so much and in front of so many, without the help of at least a few curse words that is. "I feel I am becoming more burden than use to you all. I no longer wish for this title I was given… First Doctor, now Mender. I never really fit the role in the first place, the Gods must have been full of wishful thinking when they handed me their power." He laughed bitterly at his own statement and frowned, this was becoming harder than he thought it would. He knew what he felt, but to put it into words was something else. Eyes roamed about the land, as if trying to find his inspiration there, but instead, with a sigh, he found more confirmation. "I’m sorry if you expected more from me, but I can no longer live this stagnant herd life, I need to find where I left my blood lust…" He smiled because, oh, there were so many ways of finding ones blood lust again.

Finally, he turned to Aviya, "I’m going to go find your mother and then perhaps I will go find elusive Mauja and his fluffy bird, if the idiot hasn’t dropped off the face of the earth and joined old man time lost in space… Know that I am proud of you Aviya, you can do much better than your old man. If I am within reach of call, I will of course always come to your aid." With that he turned on them all as a whole and fell silent, wondering what their responses would be after announcing his retirement of sorts from the Mender title and all but pledging his allegiance to Mauja.

[oh man, sorry for the wall of text and it being uber late xD My muse for him is really below par, but it did return with this post. can you tell rofl]