Why had he gone back there? Perhaps it was for a purpose, as if going back to the place he was born was going to instantly give him a new life. Even though he’d been exiled d’Artagnan thought that home might hold the answer to all his problems. How wrong could he have been? That place was not home anymore, there were no traces of his family anywhere, just remnants of a past long forgotten. There were few there that the shade remembered from his youth, some had become admirable warriors and others had fallen by the wayside, but he had gleamed enough from them to learn that there was no blood of his here anymore. Except perhaps for the family of Déodat and even they were distant relatives of a much more royal household, relatives he dared not approach for fear they’d slap him in chains. In the end all he had learnt was that his family was gone… along with Kou. There was nothing in the land of clans to find but bitter regret and a new generation of murderers. This was no longer home and perhaps, somewhere down his crooked past, the cold north of the Aurora Basin had become the replacement for this warped land that had cruelly exiled him.

Even though there was no Kou in Helovia anymore and the old herd he’d served was changing hands, his blood still roamed here. Aviya, Nao, Sacre, Roux, Ráeru… Mesec. The hybrid colt, surely nearing stallion, was an enigma is his life as he both hated and loved the boy. Perhaps it was best that he left in the end and found a life of his own away from his tapped father. Still, if purpose was what he wanted, then there was enough here to tie him down, he had his children to serve and protect. Kou would have to wait a little longer for her Doctor to return to her, but he hoped she would forgive him for dallying as he set on a path to protect his family from anymore harm. He fell to a halt on the cold abyss of the Frostbreath Steppe and looked out across the mountains that melted under a blistering Tallsun. "Just wait a bit longer for me. I’m not done with this life yet" he called out across the waste keeping the image of Kou in his head before slowly letting her fade away. He would have the whole of the afterlife to spend with her, but before then, he had things to do and matters to settle.

Feeling a little better in himself, he turned his gaze in the direction of the Aurora Basin and wondered what they’d been up to since he last saw it. He hadn’t been gone a season quite, but a few days was enough to miss what felt like a months worth of action here. He wondered if the healing magic still ran through him or whether that had gone. It wouldn’t really bother him much; he had been a healer for the whole of his time here apart from the short spell as outcast, though he couldn’t really imagine doing anything else, maybe it would be best to change. To what? That was the question. Though he wouldn’t be any good as a spy, his temper was far too short and his tongue far too quick to offend. A warrior came a little closer, but still, what would he do as a warrior? He’d have to patrol and would be forced from the confines of his cave. A crafter? Ha! Like he’d get in the way of that gear head Ulrik and his weird machines. There was also no way he was talking to the God of Time on a seasonal basis either. He’d only end up insulting the pompous immortal and all manner of ill will would befall the herd because he couldn’t keep his comments to himself. "Are you good at anything?" Came the snide query from his hound who was laid out in front of him. d’Artagnan scowled but, when he thought about it, he wasn’t really good at anything other than poisoning folk. "Killing things" he replied with a snort. Aramis looked at him and cocked his head to one side "such an attractive trait in a healer". For a moment they both stared at one another before laughter broke the scene and the Nightshade shook his head. It didn’t matter what his role was anymore, so long as he could protect what he wanted to protect.

With a sigh and a shift of his leather bag (that was filled with all sorts of weird things), he shuffled his cloven hooves and turned towards the Basin. "Time to go back" he muttered to Aramis, the hound shot to his feet and bounded off in front.

[ooc; open thread! This is d’Artagnan returning to Helovia and on his way back to the Basin. It has a little explanation about where he has been. Feel free for anyone to jump in ^^]

Aramis spotted the heavy weight male first. Or perhaps, scented was a better term. His ears as well, sensitive to the way this ones hooves struck the floor and the shift of his muscular body. It was a familiar sound to the hound, the one of a flight animal, a horse. Just like d’Artagnan. Well, maybe not just like him, there weren’t many cases that special. The cur stopped and his tail slowed from its whipping motion, sharp blue eyes intent on the thick-bodied stallion approaching. Noticing this, the shade followed his companion’s gaze and looked upon the male for the first time. His dark palomino fur, the bulkiness of a draft and lots of hair that ranged in different shades of gold. Finally, and much to d’Artagnan’s agreement, sat a pair of antlers proudly atop his head. His accent was odd and added to his interesting, foreboding like appearance. d’Artagnan came to a halt "’lo" he returned the greeting with his own careful dip of the head, folds of ragged black mane getting tangled on his horns in the process.

He wondered if the stallion was from the Basin, he had all the criteria after all, horns and a coat to keep him warm. There weren’t too many who lingered in the far reaches of the mountains after all, unless he was some sort of mountain hermit. Aramis crept a little closer with his nose at work, sniffing the scents of where this one had been and slowly he made began to try make his way around the big lad. Meanwhile, d’Artagnan thought up a way of beginning a conversation though part of him just wanted to say nice meeting you and be done with it.

"Live ‘round here?" he asked before his impatience got the better of him and he shifted his bag a little more. Some days the damn thing was fine and easy enough to carry, but other days it rubbed or felt wonky on one side. This was one of those days and his mismatched eyes glittered in annoyance as he struggled to get it to a more comfortable position. If only he could just take it off. He was sure the fur underneath must have been wearing away by now. He’ll be bald soon! If growing age wasn’t bad enough! Flashes of a possible future, bald and old, grumbling incoherently… the red grimaced. That wouldn’t be a pretty sight and a future he was quite literally scared of.

His eyes glazed over the stranger once more and finally zoned in on a particular feature "nice antlers" he gruffly admired.

[ooc: :DDD whit thread!! <3]

"I do believe he might skewer you if you get any closer" the merlot Doctor dryly commented down the mental bond to his hellion guard. His antlers were nice, but they also looked rather dangerous should one fall into their path, which was commendable, a good set of horns were a good set of weapons. Aramis, however, glowered back at his friend as he began to return to his side and the shade shrugged "just a thought" he brushed off, not really wanting to rile the hound more. He wanted to get home in one piece. His mismatched gaze returned to the bulky stranger and a small smile couldn’t help itself from appearing on his lips when he mentioned a familiar place. The icy embrace of the Basin was home to many horned and a few, rather awful looking hornless. The draw of the cold north brought many to their borders such as this one, he wondered what made him follow the road that many others have and trek into the mountains. For some it might be the draw of familiar kin and others, a complete whim. Though the shade was happy there was another of his kind to join their ranks, the more the better, that always seemed to be the way.

"It’s also got a few fine caves" he added to the lad’s description with a whimsical expression, ah he missed his dark corners! He’d examined many poisonous specimens in his damp hole in the wall and even took a few too many with Mauja once. That was a fine night! The world seemed much better when it spun upside down and walls were to be walked through.

Returning to the present, a rumbling snort of laughter rattled quietly through his body and out his nose. "They are aren't they, I wouldn’t want them blunt" he admired his glass horns, almost going cross-eyed looking at them and, though they might not look perfect, the Mender wore them with pride all the same. Unscarred horns were surely poorly used, back in his birth home in the land of clans, nearly everyone’s horns were damaged in some way. Still, the Doctor did sometimes wish the second one hadn’t snapped in half, it reminded him of that arrogant noble brat who had defeated him. Horns aside, the hairy heavyweight had decided to introduce himself and the shade gave a brief nod of acknowledgement. Grimalkin. Another name to lose in his God-awful memory.

"I’m d’Artagnan, a Doctor from the Aurora Basin" he returned on his rough toned vocals. "Aramis is my guard" the Hellhound sat back onto his haunches as his name was mentioned and watched the interaction with a bored expression. "Seems we are bound together by herd, how long have you been here?" The Nightshade inquired, he hadn’t seen Grimalkin in the Basin before although d’Artagnan was not the most observant, in fact, he could have completely missed the fellow. Although, he looked rather hard to miss.

[ooc: shoot me D: I knew I was missing a thread somewhere >_<']
@[Grimalkin]

d’Artagnan watched in fascination as the antlered lad seemed to go from stiff to friendly in a passing moment. The Doctor almost nodded to himself, suspicion first and trust later, one of the best ways to survive. Or, at least, the Nightshade believed it as so. In fact, it was probably best to not trust at all if one could help it. This red-coated cutthroat had only ever trusted one horse and she was dead in the ground. In a glance she had captured and tamed his twisted heart, yet, in a moment she had fallen, motionless on the ground. Still, it was best he did not linger on that thought lest he dredge up her memory that still lingered so raw in his heart. There was no need to show this greenhorn the madness that lay dormant within, not yet anyway. Instead, he found himself grinning away and nodding along, he was only a season into his stay. "I prefer Frostfall myself, the days are shorter and the nights are longer" his voice hummed wistfully, he was eagerly awaiting the cold change. "You should stick around, the north is the best place to be" he said firmly. There had been a time in the past when he would have never of dreamt of saying such words, once a Doctor of the mists he had longed to return to that coastal cliff side and the drab forest. Yet, he had lived in the mountains for so long now that anywhere else just wasn’t right in his head. Well, for d’Artagnan that was, nothing was ever right in the Doctor’s head.

"Hah! Yes, good suggestion" he concurred with purring content and began to follow on next to the blonde haired stallion. Aramis set off in front and his dark body soon disappeared onto the horizon, the hellion never lingered long when the conversation lost his interest. There weren’t many conversations that kept the hounds attention.

By now, d’Artagnan had turned his attention onto the history of the mountains with a thin grimace. It wasn’t a great story in fact it was quite pitiful really. A God who probably felt sorry for them took in an outcasted band of unicorns and thus the Aurora Basin was created. There was more to it than that, but the shade was sure that was the bare bones of it. He took in a deep aged breath as he suddenly realized how long ago that was and looked to Grimalkin with interest "I’ve lived here since it was created and even before that. The God of Time created the Aurora Basin some few years back when a battle caused a few of us to flee the Worlds Edge to the mountains; we moved in here and the unicorns have held it ever since." Thinking back, it had been a dire moment in history, a moment that still made him bitter and angry. Though it had subdued somewhat over the years.

"Is there anything specific you’d like to know?"

@[Grimalkin]