But his first triumph would be robbed from him, by coincidence, by.. Valentine. He felt very rude, suddenly snapping his head around before she'd even said her name, but the movement at the edge of his vision had seemed familiar... And it was. It was Valentine, Valentine the Traitor, someone who had regarded Mauja with almost worshipful eyes when he came through the Threshold over a year ago – Valentine, whom he'd barely known but heard of since his return. Hadn't he been Snö's prisoner? Why was he out here again? Were they daft, up in his valley? Rage pricked at the back of his mind, dark, terrifying black-cold rage, a sudden desire to summon the ice and send it crashing through Valentine's chest before he'd even made it two more steps – Mauja bit back a growl, blinked several times, and sighed, ears swiveling back towards Argos. It had all been over in a matter of seconds, even less, and he gave the dark mare an apologetic smile.

"I'm Mauja," he said wearily, knowing that to drop the name Dreven would be suicide now. No, there would be not catch for Dreven today, and the Ice Lord stood in silence while The Traitor came closer, bringing his little girl with him. Gears turned and finally it clicked – he'd seen her, when the Sun healed his shoulder.. just after that had happened. He shifted his weight in silence, listening to Valentine introduce himself, but the young girl was silent; Argos, however, tried to pry a greeting out of her, and Mauja stood to the side, breathing evenly and locking the last of the darkness down. And ah, Valentine was so to the point. Did he truly think Mauja would snatch this mare from before his nose and run off with her? Had he lost all his brains, and thought Mauja was running a rag-tag mix party up in the herd he had been away from for so long?

Please. Psyche would have his balls.

"We do," he replied, honestly, at Argos' question, wondering what had her so on edge. Mauja, for all his height and sharp edges, seemed a rather placid animal, and he'd certainly not done anything to scare her.. or had he? He didn't know. He didn't think so, but maybe she wasn't accustomed to seeing unicorns? Maybe she came from a place where they used to stab you? "But we haven't met in a long time." And he offered the traitor somewhat of a nod, hoping he had enough sense to play along. Did he have a death wish anyway, daring to walk up to the Bane of the organization he had abandoned? "And, miss, if it is a home you seek, I do believe you should follow him. The Dragon's Throat is a warm place to the south, and you will find many feathered kin there."

In my valley, you would only find death.

The Heart Family
Valentine &&
Aiko

The thoughts that must have been going through Mauja's head were equal to those that were going through Valentine's. He was raging with his own inner fury, and it was something that he didn't like to have Aiko with him. What if he recognized her? He surly wouldn't forget her now, and even though he knew there was danger around every lurking corner, even standing to close to Mauja, he felt safe. He wasn't afraid of him, and whatever bull crap he could pull, he would make it out at the end of the tunnel. Or at least he hoped. He looked at him now as he spoke, an almost grimace on his face, which he instead turned into a simple frown. What was it with him that made him just want to tear every last spot off his white coat? The way he spoke about him and his herd made his blood boil, for he knew that Mauja was most likely apart of the racism that grew within the sheltered walls of the North. But he felt as if he knew something deeper about him, but it wouldn't come to him. It was the same thing that he could never come back to, could never remember quite exactly what it was that he couldn't remember. But now the midnight mare was talking to my daughter, and Aiko was less scared, having the blunt ignorance of a foal. She jumped to the mare, extending her muzzle in greeting, and saying her name in a very excited tone, though she had trouble saying the mare's name, in which I let out a small sigh. She was so young and beautiful, and there was no way the likes of the Basin would ever touch a single hair on her tiny pelt, or I would swear to the Gods of vengence. "Hello Ar-gos, I'm Aiko Darleane, or Aiko for short. You should come live with us, and the Draggon's Th...Throat. It would be fun!" She smiled and looked up at me, as if she needed my permission for the mare to come home with us. "Please Daddy, can she come?" "Of course she can dear. Hello Argos, it's a pleasure. Yes, unfortunately I do know this stallion, but that is not a question for now. Please, come join me and my daughter to the Dragon's Throat, and I will make sure you are comfortable and safe there." With that, he only returned Mauja's nod, but did not waste time in turning around and walking back, while Aiko went ahead calling his name. He looked back to see if that mare was following, and only paused over Mauja once. He had no intentions of dealing with the beast today, but someday, he would. "blah blah blah."

Her dark head whisked through the air, and if it wasn't because he already knew she bore no horn he probably would've flinched; as it was, he stood steady, eying her with a kind of polite curiosity but feeling his stomach plummet and freeze when her soft nose touched his. Black velvet brushed against black velvet, an involuntary shiver going down his spine. He hadn't expect that.. not that it mattered; she seemed almost embarrassed about it, and he gave her a gentle smile, as if to say it's alright. But her vibrant green eyes were already drifting away, before returning to his with a very unexpected question – certainly nothing he'd ever been asked before, by a hornless. The notion that she did not wish to live with her own kind.. that someone wouldn't want to... It was foreign, and confusing, and intriguing all the same. "Perhaps," he hedged quietly, knowing that this conversation was quickly going out on thin, rotten ice. Valentine's set of ears, listening, was not what he wanted. Not when this .. possibility .. presented itself.

"You are very interesting Mauja." Only some good fortune delivered her comment in the spaces between his breath, otherwise he surely would've choked on the air in surprise. How.. what? Surprise had widened his blue eyes slightly, and as he glanced at her, he found her peering at him in a most ladylike fashion, as if shy, the green distorted by the strong, straight lines of her black lashes. "I.. am?" he responded faintly, arching one 'brow as if to question the statement, but he said no more at the time as Aiko Darleane, Valentine's darling little foal, tried to recruit the older mare. Well, you couldn't fault her for lacking enthusiasm at least, and Mauja felt his lips twitch into a patient kind of smile.

But Valentine, he was too sour for his own name, saying that he unfortunately knew Mauja; and Mauja felt his black heart make a grimace, his soul mumbling that it was a blessing to know your enemies. He should regard it as such, but if he wanted to be sour.. well, let him, and he was already walking away as Argos was explaining to little Aiko she didn't want to go live with her own kind in the Dragon's Throat.

"Have a nice day," Mauja called sweetly at Valentine's turned back, wondering if he, too, came off as an ass whenever he tried to goad someone into motion by walking off. Maybe. Maybe he should pay more attention to what he did. He frowned for a very short moment before turning to Argos with a charming smile, letting his eyes shimmer in that way they sometimes did, as if struck by sunlight. "So.." he said, slowly, weighing the options, the consequences, and deciding that he did owe is herd something. "Do you want to come home with me?"

This wasn't the first time – names and faces flashed in front of his mind, and at the forefront was Keahi, Skækja as he called her, and the rather cruel parting he'd given her. Vanamo, then mare Cineviam had brought home. Lotus, the irresistible amazon. Why was it that mares, eying him in that way, expressing the faintest kind of interest, made him want to run away? Slam an ice spike through them and then cool his own blood until he froze? And why, why, did he always hide the discomfort, and entertain them? He gave her that smile because he knew that it would mask the unease, because he wanted to encourage her, and at the same time, he just wanted to run away.

But this time it was for a purpose. At least, that was what he told himself, giving a rather demure shrug. "Truth lies in the eyes of the beholder," he said airily, as if it could somehow explain it all. But the real truth was, that most he were around didn't find him that exciting. Mysterious, maybe, because he kept his secrets closely guarded, but if they thought him dashing, they didn't say, or give it away. Maybe they thought Psyche would have their guts for it? Least of all he had expected such praise, such blatant interest, to come from a pegasus. A pegasus mare. A pegasus mare he had wicked plans for.

And she seemed all too willing to go along, if her blossoming smile was anything to go by. And for a moment, he felt guilty; he was a rather likeable fellow and he knew it, and he was using that, to lure her in.. but he forced that aside, instead letting his smile grow into a rakish grin. "Splendid!" he said, swinging around in the snowfall to face the north. "This way, Argos." And he said it with warmth, not with guilt, offering her a hint of that smile again before moving off through the forest, heading north, towards the Basin. Towards.. well, he didn't quite want to think of it yet.

( you can reply here one more time, and I will set something up for us in the Basin in a day or so ^^ Edit: continues here! )