He felt a bit guilty, actually - not for touching Deimos, perhaps, but for intentionally stalking Kou. She'd been scarce both around him and the Edge, and he hadn't spent much time thinking about her and the incident... She'd stormed off, yes, but she'd not broached the subject to him at any point later, so what was the reason to worry or ponder it? There was none at all, and, foolishly, he'd gone about his usual routines for too long. It wasn't until they'd met again, when Zar'roc came, that he'd realized that something was horribly, utterly wrong in their relationship. Kou hadn't spoken a single word to him, but given him a look that had pierced his heart in an unexpected way - a look of distrust, betrayal, maybe even disgust. It had come as a shock, a brutal wake-up call, but that had not been the time nor the place to sort it out. No opportunity had presented itself until he chanced upon her leaving the Edge. Uncertainty had plagued him into stalking her instead of simply waylaying her where she was, and their journey had taken them in to the Deep Forest. The heavy crowns were a welcome respite from the heat, filtering out the sunlight and trapping shadows beneath them. Mauja breathed out a sigh of relief, shaking his head and neck.

The relief was short-lived, however. You could only go so far in Helovia without either leaving it or running onto a shore. This was.. if you went far enough east.. you actually got out. The sudden realization nearly stopped him in his tracks. Was Kou running away? Leaving? He couldn't risk it happening. He couldn't put this meeting off any longer. It had to happen. Cursing silently under his breath, Mauja heaved himself into a ground-shaking canter, eating up the uneven forest floor with long, desperate strides. What if he was too late? What if they were deeper than he thought, and she'd be long gone, out in an unknown place where he couldn't even dream of finding her again, and making things right?

Making things right.
Such a foolish hope, and a fool he was.

He didn't know why his heart kept trembling. He'd never let anyone in, to protect himself from this kind of pain - pain that crippled, blinded, like a flash of too bright like and a deep stab of something thin and sharp. So why did he care so damnably much about one mare's opinion? The truth stared him in the face. Because she's a friend. He often tossed the word around, brother and sister, but he'd always held the world at an arm's length, trying to not get too attached, too involved - and yet here he was, up in a frenzy about the opinion of one mare. He cursed himself for all kinds of fool, and nearly ran straight over her.

"Kou!" he shouted before he realized what he was doing, and then abruptly slid to a stop. His disheveled mane lay on both sides of his neck, his forelock tangled up against his icy horn. A thin sheen of sweat covered him. "I- I thought maybe you were trying to leave..." he managed to get out in a lower, awkward voice, trying to explain his rather abrupt arrival and relieved shout.