She said it counted now too, and he would have to take her word for that. In the daze of returning, the frantic pace of slipping back into the rhythm of life, into the slot he once had held for himself, he hadn't truly pondered about the Aurora Basin and how it came to be. How had they got this place, really? As he slowly waded into the warm pool his mind spun, trying to fit the pieces together but whatever picture he painted came out crooked and bent. He understood the reason for its name, and he was thankful it lay among the mountains, but beyond that.. he knew nothing. It was not a feeling Mauja particularly enjoyed, but he didn't want to ask about it. Not now. This moment was far too precious to burden with such things, and thoughtfully he lowered his dark muzzle to the spring's surface. It was warm, at odds with the slight chilly bite of the wind, but the combination was pleasant — relaxing, even. He'd been a bit doubtful of it at first, but the longer he stood with his legs submerged in the warm water, the better it felt. The smell of mineral was strong in his nose, and cautiously he sucked a little of it into his mouth. It didn't taste like water, and with a grimace he raised his head a fraction and let it dribble out again. He wasn't surprised about it, though. He had expected it to taste wrong.

He wasn't that far out yet, but the ground began to slope at a steeper rate beneath him. The sound of her body breaking the water's surface, the slight grind of hoof against rock before each step found purchase had his ears flicking back, and soon his head followed. At first she seemed unsteady, or at least uncertain, but with each passing second she seemed to relax more and more. His grin grew softer as he watched her, the lights rippling upon the surface and reflecting in the wet patches of her fur. Where he stood he could feel the slight motion of water moving against his legs, pushed by her. The longer he watched her as she drew closer, the more certain he became of one thing: she was beautiful. She was not slim and slender, she did not have a dished face, or a traditionally feminine appearance — she had the body of a soldier, with her own scars to show for a life not yet half-lived. The second thing he became certain of was that it was, for the most part, a platonic observation, and a different kind of beauty than the white, deer-like mare of his dream had possessed. In this moment of discarded masks and bared soul, he could, almost, admit it to himself, but not quite — but he could admit to, apparently, finding red-haired girls beautiful. Good thing Ktulu didn't have red fringes.

His silver-blue eyes were drawn to hers, and for a moment he did not understand what he saw in them. The silver bits seemed to shimmer like stars without the aid of the sky, but then he recognized it for the playful, mischievous glint he'd seen in them a few times earlier that night. Once he had identified the look, his own eyes narrowed, as if to say I'm watching you, which was wholly ridiculous as she blinked out of existence in the next moment. Mauja's heart skipped a beat and he automatically shifted his stance to stand taller, firmer, all four hooves planted firmly on the slick bottom as he faced her. Nostrils widened and drank in the night scents, but she was so near that it hardly helped — the only thing it did was soothe the sudden fear that she'd never been real. Her smell lingered, and he could do nothing but wait.

The water surged when she moved, but how could that possibly help him? He had no inkling as to what she was about to do, and when she, apparently, crashed into the colorful surface he was helpless to stop her. Warm water rushed against him like a wave, slapping up against his pale throat and threatening his head; he'd flung it up, nose to the sky, and backed up a step. He wanted to say something, call her a trickster devil, but the only thing which came out was a laugh; he'd been intending to just wade across and explore what laid on the other side, if anything, but it seemed she had something else in mind... Narrowing his eyes at her again, now that she was visible, he mirror her move. Powerful haunches, together with the water, balanced his weight before he crashed down again, hoping to splash her properly. An eye for an eye...

Mauja Frosthjärta