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

He was sweating, too, the salty liquid stiffening and graying his pale coat where it ran unchecked. Their proximity to the sea was a welcome thing these days, for it was a fairly easy thing to get down to the beach and take a cooling swim in the endless, blue waters. But, both sea and home were still far away, and the sun had risen to shine down on them without a single shred of mercy. Mauja had tried to stick to a northerly path underneath the trees of the Threshold, where some shade existed even if the winds sighed hotly, but there was a stretch of more or less open terrain between the eastern forests and the western ones. To the south the Thistle Meadow spread out, these days not as lush as it usually was, but rather it was cast in shades of yellow and brown decay, and the once soft soil was hard and dry. Dust clouds rose where you went, and the sun made them shimmer like gold; it was beautiful, but that was the only positive thing about it. It clung to Mauja's legs, itched and chafed where skin rubbed against skin.

He hated it.

They'd been busy hoofing it across the dried-up meadow when it seemed Daltoff had had enough of it. One pale ear flickered in his direction, and despite the fact that it wasn't really aimed at him he felt the need to answer. "Not much. See the forest over there?" He waved his horn in its direction; once it had been dark and vibrant, mysterious, now it was little but bare trunks that moaned in pain. "That's the start of the Edge forest." If only he could fall to his knees and have the ground carry him home.

Idly he wondered where Korra was - she'd been at the Threshold when he found Daltoff, charming in her own strange way. She was a vicious creature with a savage's honor and pride, and it had been amusing to see how the great dark bay had at first been wary of her, confused, as if not sure what she was - equine, unicorn, or beast? When he had realized that their hearts lay on the right path, it seemed like he had looked at her with a different glint in his eyes, as if taking in the impressive antlers again and coming, grudgingly, to accept that maybe she was a useful unicorn after all. Mauja gave a tired smile. He'd come to appreciate the diversity in their race, from short Aurelius with his ram's horns to tall, lithe and graceful beings like d'Artagnan - who, despite looking very much like a normal unicorn, had two - well, one and a half, since one was broken - glass horns. The King had never seen him impale anything with them, and wondered if the glass broke if used, and if that was the reason he had one and a half. If that was the case, they were quite useless. Seiren had a better horn.

Silence had descended upon them again, and Mauja became lost in the playful push-and-pull of his thoughts. Time passed, faster than he had guessed, and once more twisted shadows fell across his alabaster back. He released a shuddering breath. Home. For both of them. He craned his neck to look back at Daltoff, a small, sad smile on his face. "Home," he said, sorrowful affection in his voice. "Less beautiful than it ought to be, courtesy of the fucking sun." Pale tail slapped against sweaty hocks as he forged deeper into the familiar territory, where the trees stood thick and offered ample protection from the sun despite their lack of foliage. Once there, he stopped, resting one shoulder against a rough trunk - he winked at the newest member of their family, and then let out a deep call, letting the unicorns of the Edge know that they had yet another brother to greet.