Mauja the FrostHeart
ice cold man watches earth die, eternal winter takes its reign

I'm still alive.

It had been an interesting thing to watch Deimos (perhaps it would've been interesting to watch Kou too; he'd heard her shout, alright). It seemed that Mauja's unanticipated advance had slammed some sort of reaction into his head - he'd even tried to back away, as if afraid to hurt him inadvertently. Did there reside a heart in his blackened chest after all? Had he cared, or simply not wanted to deal with the misfortune of having killed a monarch? He mused on it silently, Kou bumping angrily against him and backing off. His pale head swung around to regard the cremello mare kindly, warmly, knowing that he deserved the scolding. He guessed he was crazy, at least somewhat. "I guess I'm insane," he muttered, thinking about Prometheus disfigured form. "And I guess it'd leave you with a new leader or an urgent quest to revive me - I'd not deserve it, though." He said it with the barest hint of a smile, but she seemed pissed enough to not linger. She went off into the forest while Deimos gave his answer, but silently the King cursed himself for a fool. It was genuine concern that had spurred Kou's words, and he had replied with his usual nonchalance, as if it didn't bother him at all. It had been a gamble, but it had paid off; what if it hadn't? What if he'd died? He remembered the uncanny sensation of having life sucked out of him. A touch, would a single touch had been enough? He was fairly certain it required at least longer than the brevity of their contact.

I am a fool. But he wasn't fool enough to blame this misstep on his exhaustion. He had only himself to blame. "I'm sorry, Kou," he murmured, wishing he could shout it after her, but she was gone already; where to? To grumble about her idiot King? With a flash of a smile he recalled the anxiety she and the Doctor had had for each other when the Sun had come. Perhaps she had gone to find d'Artagnan.

His raven-winged head came back around to look upon Deimos, the charcoal beast of death. How could such power exist in a creature, without killing him? Eyes narrowed a fraction. He didn't need someone killing off the rest of the sparse vegetation. After a moment he said, "Mauja,", in response to the beast's question. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to run off to be on his own, and sleep, deeply, until the world was right again. Exhaustion overwhelmed him again and threatened to cause his mind to crumble. He gave the newcomer a tired smile. "Try to not kill all of the forest, hm? Just call if you need me for something, I'm usually not far. Y'know, you're a charming fellow, why don't you go find someone from the herd to befriend?" Just don't kill them. While darkness shrouded this creature and claimed him its child, he'd sensed no real evil when he'd pushed into his space - just that confused desire not to kill. He trusted whatever seed of kindness that remained in his ashen body to not leave the corpse of a family member for the King to find in the morning. With those words, however, he gave the stallion a nod and began to drift off into the forest. He needed to close his eyes and sleep until the life he'd given Deimos had been returned to him.

( woah, I didn't see tired Mauja coming xD sorry to just end it so abruptly but chah, welcome to the herd? ^^; Mau out. <3 )