so Eden sank to grief

Oops! Gotta go clear that out! Also, I really loved this thread <3 All the feels, man. All the feels.

Malachi did not know if what they had could have been called a friendship, either, but it had been something, and he knew it had been something by the way his heart ached when he looked upon her now. Though he could not see her thoughts, nor those of others, he would have been surprised at the way they had seen him: as a king, an usurper, as a higher being, and as someone with surpassing value. But he had seen none of those in himself, and had never felt more than a servant, and maybe that was why he had fallen: the Glacier was always Tuwawi's. It was never his. He had never been a king, and he was never meant to be one.

Her words tugged at his lips, and his mouth quirked to a faint smile. It lingered when she studied him - a souvenir of better days - and he waited in patience for her to give him her decision. He hoped she would see his reasoning, but Scarlett only declined his offer again. Yet he saw her reasoning, and though he wished to argued, he stilled his voice. If his presence would cause pain to either, then he would follow no further. They deserved better, and a fresh start, and it was clear his presence would only bring them memories better forgotten. Scarlett was capable, strong and compassionate, more a leader than he had ever been, despite what others might have had against her, and despite how she may have seen herself. Though disappointment filled him, he dipped his head, resigning to her decision with an aching acceptance.

"Then I guess this is goodbye, until next time." He said softly to the ivory queen - for there would be a next time, and it would be far brighter than this. Malachi stepped aside to offer Scarlett the trail's full reign and watched her snowy figure disappear between the towering pines that littered the Glacier's base. Adlartok would be waiting, and she had no time to spare. He murmured a quiet blessing after the one he had betrayed before turning his paws to wander through the forest for a final round. The paths did not breathe their welcome any longer, for the trees had heard his denouncement of them.

Malachi did not move far from the trail that led to Scarlett's den, but returned to trace the path to the empty site, lingering over the boughs that still held the scent of the duo, and followed their path to the border, but no further than that. Here their paths parted, but would be touched by equal hardship. The life of a loner was no life for a wolf, but it was this path Malachi turned to pursue. He had no master to bind him, and no queen to follow, for his heart would again be his guide. Setting his gaze toward the sea he lingered for a moment in the cool mountain air, frozen in a memory of what the Glacier had been. It would survive without him, for Tuwawi would make it her own. But his time was over. The tendrils of dawn reached their fingers across the pallid sky when the man finally shifted, and he lurched to face the horizon, his paws brushing the ground of Duskfire for their final time.