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Home » Search » Roster » Whitepages » Records » FAQ » Guidebook
chemical kids & mechanical brides
Private Green Labyrinth 
Explorer Kiada
Currently championing: Vjanta
#1
Kiada

She travelled with Rixen from the tidepools in the East toward the far West of the Green Labyrinth. Upon reaching their towering bamboo stalks, Kiada watched as Khairi dove toward the dark looming stalks, hidden beneath the fog. As she stepped closer, she glanced over to Rixen with a small smile cresting her pink splattered lips. “Well, this is it. Like I said, it’s not much but it’s something.” She added in with a small laugh, tilting her dark inky head toward the maze. After a few moments, she stepped into the dark fog, the light disappearing with it as she entered the Labyrinth. After walking for a few moments, she paused in her step to look around yet again.

It was much brighter before, the sun shone through the bamboo and made it seem almost heavenly with all the golds and reds from the leaves.” She paused, reminiscing. Now, instead of there being the beautiful gilt of summer, there was a cloud of mist continually churning and coating the labyrinth in darkness – and then there was the howling wind that seemed to have a body it may have been attached to, somewhere far off within the labyrinth. After a few moments, Kiada glanced toward Rixen somewhat deflated. It was no where near the prowess of Halyven or the Tidepools. Instead, it was dark and dreary, and the complete opposite of what she had explained previously.

"Talk."

img by Mar <3 || coding by Smitty <3


I suck at starting posts, I'm sorry D: @Rixen

TROY FALLS A THOUSAND TIMES,
IN EVERY DREAM I DREAM.
(LIKE ASHES, LIKE ASHES,
LIKE A STAR BURNING OUT.)
Rixen the Vine King
Currently championing: Vjanta
#2
R I X E N

The warm day waned on. The sun was beginning to descend in the sky, though it was still many hours away from nightfall. Energy overflowed from within me, perhaps the result of my eagerness and curiosity. Everything that I saw, from the smallest glowing leaf to the most strangely twisted tree, fed my desire to explore and to better familiarize myself with this place. Wherever I went, there was something new to be seen, or someone new to meet. Slowly, I was becoming accustomed to the constant change in my life, for with it came a certain thrill, an adrenaline rush if you will, that could not be found elsewhere. And so I followed Kiada westward with an inquiring mind, headed for a place in the Rift that I had never been before. 

Eventually, the land around us gave way to gigantic bamboo stalks. At first there were a few here or there, scattered sparsely about the grassy terrain but it was only several minutes of moving at a brisk pace before a wall of bamboo stalks appeared in front of us. The brilliant green stalks were packed so tightly together that it was difficult to see through them at all, despite their lack of leafy branches. Mist swirled out from between the crevices, up and around us, dampening out the sun’s incalescent rays. "You’re right." I breathed, craning my neck to examine what lay before me with great care, as if making note of every minute detail. "It is something." Despite laughing alongside Kiada, even I did not know how I felt about this place yet. Or how to properly put anything I did feel into words. 

Khairi had since disappeared among the mist and towering stalks. I trailed closely behind Kiada, slightly to her right, as the spotted mare stepped into the Labyrinth. My steps were deliberate, and my pale ears perked forward atop my head, listening to the forest sounds. The sun began to disappear. The path before us was dark and obscured by a thick, swirling mist. It rose up all around us, cold and damp against my tiger-striped coat, its ghost-grey color casting each bamboo stalk into shadow. I imagined that the sun must be brilliant beyond the darkness, even if it was hidden from view. Admittedly, the Labyrinth had a foreboding appearance. But that did not deter me from wanting to have a look around, and maybe see for myself what Kiada found so intriguing about this place. "Then this is the doing of the Rift sickness?" I asked, trying to picture Kiada’s description of a bright and sunny place rather than this dark and dismal one. Though it wasn’t so good-looking now, I believed what Kiada had said. The Green Labyrinth must have been a beautiful place, just as beautiful as Halyven and the Tidepools, back when it was not tainted by sickness. Noticing Kiada’s chastened look, my lips turned up slightly as an offer of reassurance. "I'm not disappointed. The sickness might taint its appearance but that doesn't detract from the allure of this place. When we heal the Rift, I'm sure it will return to how you describe."

"Talk."


they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock



image credits || coding credits


No worries!! :)
{Image: untitled_drawing_by_indelyde-dceus9t.png}
Explorer Kiada
Currently championing: Vjanta
#3
Kiada

Her ears wavered briefly as he spoke, acknowledging that it was indeed something but as she gazed longer at the swirling mass of mist encompassing the green labyrinth, perhaps she missed the undertone to his words that was entertained. Nevertheless, she kept her gaze ahead, waiting a few moments before the antlered man spoke beside her, questioning her of the Rift’s Sickness. She nodded along with that quietly, her lips pursed together for a brief moment before she inhaled. “I wonder if it’s nice again back in Helovia, and this is just the replacement until we heal it and tear it back.” She paused, thoughtfully, before shaking her head. Her white forelock dancing across her elegantly striped face. “No, that doesn’t make sense. Either way, I’m hoping all this hope we’re spreading will fix it. I grew up in this land, it was close to the herds I lived in before.” She offered the knowledge willingly before shrugging.

Her deflation had gone noticed though, and her ears flickered as he spoke of not being disappointed. The words, regardless of his noticing her sadness, seemed to loosen a knot burrowing deep within her chest. She offered him a kind smile, agreeing with the idea and the sentiment within his voice. “I hope it does.” She offered quietly before stepping forward, deeper into the mists. To the point where there was a slight fork in their paths. Kiada pointed with her head toward the left part of the trail, glancing sidelong at Rixen once more. “That path I took and wandered deep within the Labyrinth here in the Rift and met the Magnus Metus. Quite terrifying up close, they don’t have eyes but they have this long snout with sharp teeth that rotate.” She offered to him before angling her head toward the right section.

And over that way, back in Helovia, I found Khairi’s egg against a large bulk of bamboo.” She reminisced, waiting in case Rixen had questions.

"Talk."

img by Mar <3 || coding by Smitty <3


@Rixen <33

TROY FALLS A THOUSAND TIMES,
IN EVERY DREAM I DREAM.
(LIKE ASHES, LIKE ASHES,
LIKE A STAR BURNING OUT.)
Rixen the Vine King
Currently championing: Vjanta
#4

R I X E N

The ground gave way slightly beneath my weight with each step, resulting in a soft crunching sound. Picking up my pace just enough to reach Kiada’s side, my own hooves fell into rhythm with her steps. The mare seemed thoughtful, ears flicking to an fro as we walked through the labyrinth, using the walls of bamboo stalks to guide our path. After a while, I lost track of what direction we had come from and even the one we were traveling in. We must have been deeply immersed in the maze, however, because I could hardly see the yellow sun anymore, even when I tried to peer through the dense foliage. The mist swallowed the Green Labyrinth. The silvery clouds licked at every surface, smothered the greens of the bamboo leaves, the grasses, and the underbrush. It leached out their color, turning everything a lifeless, stone-grey color. Despite the season being Scorch, here it felt like I was walking through a frigid steamroom with every breath. As we went along, the mist became increasingly dense. It was almost tangible, to the point where I could feel it gently pressing back against me, wrapping around me like a blanket as I forged along the barely visible path. My dark hair clung dankly to my neck.

I could not help but feel like I too had been swallowed, erased, eradicated by this enveloping greyness. It hurt my eyes, everything was so white. Staring into the mist made me feel like I was staring at myself staring at nothing. My mind fought hard to drum up a thousand different descriptions to plaster across it. But there was nothing that could truly describe nothing. Each thought I had seemed loud and exposed, just like every movement I made in the silence that wrapped like the pale haze that surrounded us. Maybe the mist was somehow within me, just as I was within it. 

"I hope so too." I couldn't help but feel disheartened, even as I agreed with Kiada. There was no evidence that spreading the hope had any impact on the land. Who knew whether or not the orbs even had any healing effect. It certainly didn't seem like it. 

Though I was not familiar with Helovia and didn't fully understand how it was connected to the Rift, listening to Kiada speak her thoughts aloud made me question the purpose of the Rift. As time went on, I concerned myself less and less with problems that could not be solved, some of which being what the Rift was and why I had ended up in it. There were tasks at hoof whose carrying out I could actually contribute to in some way, such as spreading hope to the reaches of the Rift. Sharing the glowing orb with others allowed me to make myself useful. Or at least, to feel useful. There were few things I disliked more than sitting back when there was work to be done. It was easier to devote my time and energy to these types of things rather than brooding over what could not be changed. But that did not resolve the many questions still lingering in the depths of my cranium. "So this place came here from Helovia?

Eventually the path split into a fork. My emerald gaze followed the mare's gesture as she told me of her encounter with the Magnus Metus. As I looked down the hazy path, it was easy to envision it lurking there in the gloom. Her description of the creature filled my mind with images of a vicious, bloodthirsty beast with snapping jaws ready to sink into its prey. To top it all off, Kiada detailed its rotating teeth. Those must be something else. Undoubtedly, as Kiada said, the Metus must be terrifying. "How did you manage to escape that predicament?" Attempting to lighten the mood that was as damp as the mist swirling around us, the question departed my vocals accompanied by a half-amused snort. I turned my head in the other direction as Kiada directed me to where she had found Khairi's egg, examining the area scrupulously, although it was difficult to make out too many details in the gloom. 

"Talk."


they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock



image credits || coding credits
{Image: untitled_drawing_by_indelyde-dceus9t.png}
Explorer Kiada
Currently championing: Vjanta
#5
Kiada

She was thankful for the questions, as they tore her mind away from what the Labyrinth had been and what it may not ever return to. There was a smile tugging on her lips as he asked if it came from Helovia, and with a small shake of her head she turned to face him. “Actually, the whole thing is quite interesting.” She began as a way to start the history lesson that she, too, had endured during Helovia. “In Helovia, before I was born, there were a few lands ripped from the Rift and brought to Helovia. Originally, this place as well as the Riptide Isles, the Halycon Flats, and the Blood Falls were all Rift lands. However, when it was brought over the Riftian gods came to take back their land. The Helovian’s killed them.” She paused, waiting a few moments to let her story sink in deeper.

I think that’s how Kisamoa started, a presence created to try and retrieve the lands and life to the Rift. We were lead to believe that the lives of those living in the Rift were horrible and that it was a blessing that our Helovian gods had brought them here. I’m not sure how true that is, now, though. I wonder what this place was like when their gods reigned.” Kiada spent a moment thinking on it, shifting on her feet before her icy gaze landed on Rixen again. “So originally, no. It came from here, our gods ripped it into Helovia, and when we came to the Rift it was torn back. I guess that does a lot to the land.” She offered him with a gentle smile, pausing and allowing him time to question if he had any.

But then her conversation shifted to the Metus, and she flashed quite the roguish grin toward him. “I ran like a fiend.” Then she offered him a wink. “I never did quite finish it, though. That task. I’ll have to face him again but I’m hopeful that it goes a bit smoother this time.” She shrugged slightly, looking back over to him to see if he had anything to add about his own experiences with the Rift and trials.

"Talk."

img by Mar <3 || coding by Smitty <3


@Rixen <33

TROY FALLS A THOUSAND TIMES,
IN EVERY DREAM I DREAM.
(LIKE ASHES, LIKE ASHES,
LIKE A STAR BURNING OUT.)
Rixen the Vine King
Currently championing: Vjanta
#6
R I X E N

"I'll bet." I replied, returning Kiada's smile with ever so slightly upturned lips. Then I was quiet so that the mare could speak. One ear was pointed in her direction, listening closely, and the other swiveled toward the stalks of bamboo directly ahead, alert for any signs of danger. We continued to walk through the labyrinth at a leisurely pace. I couldn't have walked much faster even if I'd wanted to. Given how misty it was, it was nearly impossible to see more than a few meters ahead. 

Kiada spoke of Helovia. Several horses I had met thus far during my time in the Rift had come from that place. As I talked to each one of them, the story of how Kisamoa brought them here was revealed to me bit by bit. From what I knew, it wasn't anything like the way I ended up here. I certainly didn't have such a compelling story to tell. 

She went on to list a number of lands that I had never heard of before, save for this one. According to the gold and black hued mare, the Green Labyrinth, the Blood Falls, the Riptide Isles, and the Halcyon Falls had all been Rift lands brought to Helovia. Kiada was not wrong when she said the story was interesting. In fact, I found the idea that lands could be moved from world to world fascinating. How was such a thing possible? Before arriving in the Rift, I never could have dreamed of such an event. The Rift was full of magic and seemingly every creature living here possessed it in some form. Here, magic flowed rampant and wild, intertwined within the sights, sounds and smells of the world. It was so unlike the land where I was born. There, such power had long been dammed up and caged, so deeply hidden away that its existence was no more than a legend. But in the Rift magic was in symbiosis with reality. As Kiada spoke, I began to think that surely this ripping of land from world to world had something to do with magic. That was the only possible explanation I could think of. While this might have always been the obvious conclusion to most horses, to me it was a foreign concept, and like so many concepts, one that I wanted to better understand. 

The story unfolded with the Riftian gods returning to Helovia to reclaim their lands, followed by the possible birth of Kisamoa, whose name I had actually heard once before. Although Kiada did not clarify, I suspected that the Riftian gods' ripping of their lands back to the Rift had something to do with how all of these Helovian horses had ended up here. Their arrival at the same time seemed to be no coincidence. Talk of gods got me thinking. The Rift had gods. Helovia, from what Kiada told me, also had gods. But I did not come from a religious herd and had never thought much about the idea of gods. Nor had I seen a god before. I wondered what one might look like. Was a god a great and powerful being, one that I would be able to recognize? Or an ordinary one, which could be easily mistaken for a normal horse? Perhaps a god was an invisible entity not meant to be seen. When the mare finished speaking, seemed to be offering me an opportunity to inquire further. Rather than ask another question just yet, I took the opportunity to speak what was on my mind. "I have never encountered a god before..." I spoke softly, thoughtfully, almost to myself.

Having taken my turn to comment, that left one more question to be answered. Kiada flashed a mischievous grin followed by a wink in my direction as she spoke of her encounter with the Magnus Metus and her apparent escape. I hadn't seen one myself, but it was safe to assume that the Metus was probably as frightening as any other Riftian creature I'd encountered, if not more so. "What exactly is your task? And may I offer you my assistance in completing it? I'm happy to accompany you next time you face the Metus, if you'll allow me. Not that I think you're incapable or anything... but it is said that light is the task where two share the toil.." With dancing green eyes, I shot Kiada a playful wink back. 

"Talk."


they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock



image credits || coding credits
{Image: untitled_drawing_by_indelyde-dceus9t.png}
Explorer Kiada
Currently championing: Vjanta
#7
Kiada

There was this ease in Kiada when talking with Rixen that she hadn’t seemed to understand until now. He brought up interesting points, questions to continue the conversation where she may have thought it dead, and seemed to read her face and body language in a way she hadn’t remembered since Helovia – when her fire animals were a constant presence on her spine, showing the world what emotion she felt in that exact moment. Here, in the Rift having it hidden was a blessing and a curse, one where she wished she could keep that restraint and jokes to hide the feeling she felt so often underneath. Yet, she missed the unique-ness she had. She supposed it was possible to keep it active, but risk singing the mane that had begun to grow out quite far, and let Khairi not have a place to land on her back.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt as though it was part of her story – the ever changing ebb and flow of it that had come as a result of the Rift’s magic changing portal. Regardless, she found herself adoring Rixen and his simplicities, his casual ease with conversing and the comforting presence he offered her whether he realized it or not. So when her tale came to a near end, and Rixen mentioned he had never met a god before, she offered him a gentle encouraging smile. “Once I thought it to be frightening. Perhaps I’ve become brazen, but I actually yelled at Kisamoa once and was never smited for it.” A hearty laugh slipped through her lips.

Though I probably wouldn’t recommend going out and yelling at the gods. The ones in Helovia seemed to have an easier way of hurting people. While Kisamoa had hurt me mentally, in a way he was trying to save us all. I had heard in tales of Helovia that one of the gods had turned one of us against ourselves and actually murdered others because of it.” Her face grew a bit grim, but it cleared within a few moments. “With all the threats Kis might give us, I don’t think he’d do that to us.” She offered thoughtfully with a small shrug.

But then Rixen was asking about her task with the Metus and she reached down to that dark deep pit within her – where the trial had encased her soul in a sticky black tar that had her mind reeling at the feel of it. “I’m not sure. I think I’m just supposed to challenge it.” She offered him, tilting her head toward him as he offered to help her with the task. Her eyes widened slightly at the offer and the wink thrown in her direction. Swishing her tail briefly against her hocks, she reached her muzzle out in an attempt to brush it along his shoulder with a smile. “I would like that very much.” Her voice was quiet and she let her eyes linger on Rixen for a brief moment before she turned back to the mist-kissed Labyrinth. “And then after that I need to eat the eye of a beaked bear. I’ve never seen one before, but I can’t imagine it would be pleasant.” She laughed quietly, her head remaining forward.

"Talk."

img by Mar <3 || coding by Smitty <3


@Rixen <33

TROY FALLS A THOUSAND TIMES,
IN EVERY DREAM I DREAM.
(LIKE ASHES, LIKE ASHES,
LIKE A STAR BURNING OUT.)
Rixen the Vine King
Currently championing: Vjanta
#8
R I X E N

Though I had spoken under my breath, my words still managed to reach Kiada’s ears. Of course they had - it was impossible not to hear even the faintest sound, the world around us was so quiet. The silence, apart from the crunching of hooves as they crossed a damp carpet of grass, caressed my skin like a thick and heavy blanket lingering in the air. My intention was not for the words to evade the mare, but I hadn’t meant so speak them. Like anyone, sometimes I was prone to mumbling my thoughts aloud, and mentioning that I had never seen a god before was one such instance. Being the philomathic creature that I was, an explanation in any form never bothered me. I liked to keep my mind occupied, to learn all that I could wherever I went. Knowing more about the Rift somehow made me feel safer living here, even if in reality I was in no way protected from danger or risk. Silver-tipped ears swiveling in the mare’s direction, I gave my attention to the sound of Kiada’s voice as she went on to describe her own encounter with a god.

She had yelled at him, and he was the type to allow that, apparently. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but not the response I’d expected. Kind of funny, a mortal mare berating a god, an all-powerful being that could end her life in a heartbeat. "Really?" I said with an amused laugh as I walked along. This was a reason why the Labyrinth was near to Kiada's heart. It was calming, in a way. The sound of our breathing and hoofbeats and pleasant discourse resonated among the quiet bamboo stalks. I exhaled softly. Barely visible in the cold air, the puff of breath was accompanied by an idiotic smile and a chuckle, "In that case, I don't think you'll catch me trying that one out for myself."  

If the opportunity to meet a god one day ever arose, I would not pass it up. There were so many things one could learn from a god. I wasn’t sure what to expect to hear when the mare's pinkish lips continued to move. Perhaps some heroic tale or epic adventure, like the ones I’d grown up hearing as a colt. However, what Kiada told me next was quite the opposite. The mirthful expression plastered across my features morphed into a concerned one as a token of my sympathy. "That must have been awful." The Helovian gods, from what I'd heard of them, were full of surprises. Terrible as a god's surprises could be, they seemed to be balanced out by the more pleasant ones. "At least Kisamoa's intentions were to help..." As always, I sought out the good in the situation. "In a way, I think that makes things better, knowing that he did want to save you. I'm glad he did. Without you...without and all of the other Helovians, this place would be awfully lonely. It seems that I've bumped into a number of horses from Helovia and haven't yet seen a face who was born in the Rift. Not any that I've been aware of, at least. I have never met Kisamoa, but I hope he wouldn't turn on us like the Helovian god that you speak of. Thankfully, by the way you describe him, he doesn't seem like that type." Not that there was really a choice in the matter. I'd just have to trust that Kisamoa wouldn't slaughter us all, even if doing so was in his power. It felt strange to trust someone who I only knew by name with my life. 

We continued to meander through the Green Labyrinth, all the while the silvery mist continued to thicken around us making the scenery increasingly more difficult to see. My verdant orbs were forced to squint to ensure that I did not bump straight into a bamboo stalk or stumble clumsily when the ground dipped in here or there. Kiada probably knew the way around far better than I did, seeing as I had never visited the maze before. As such, I kept close to her, not wanting to lose sight of the mare amidst the brume. Fortunately, her golden color made her more visible, contrasting starkly against the dull greyness of the low-hanging clouds. "Do you earn something at the end of said challenge?" Surely Kiada would not want to face the Metus solely for the sake of doing so. They way I saw it, endangering one’s life in such a way ought to have some incentive or be accompanied by a reward. Who in their right mind would endure the troubles and toils of facing the Metus for naught but boasting rights? And that would be if one could escape alive.

She looked at me and smiled and I met her lingering gaze. Then I felt her move closer and her soft muzzle graze the blue-grey hair on my shoulder, the skin underneath tingling at the touch. For but a heartbeat, in that moment I suddenly felt different. It was a sensitive act, and an unexpected one, unlike any I'd experienced in a long time. Perhaps it was a gesture of gratitude, a way foreign to me. Not knowing what to make of the brief moment, I launched back into conversation as a way of alleviating any following awkwardness even before it presented itself. "Let me know when you need me. I'm usually around. Can’t go too far with that giant wall keeping us all in." I laughed as time moved again, referring to the strange, impenetrable black wall at the Pinnacle that stretched for miles in every direction. Kiada's second task was by far more revolting than challenging the Metus was terrifying. "I wonder who came up with that, eating a bear's eye. No offense to them, but that's pretty disgusting." I wrinkled my lips in disgust at the thought. I'd hate to have to eat an eye. "Maybe there's some magical herb around here for getting a foul taste off the tongue afterward or something." Something of the sort probably existed here in the Rift. Almost anything imaginable, and even the unimaginable did. I cast another glance in Kiada's direction even as she continued to look forward.

"Talk."


they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock



image credits || coding credits
{Image: untitled_drawing_by_indelyde-dceus9t.png}
Explorer Kiada
Currently championing: Vjanta
#9
Kiada

She listened as he added little bits and pieces to her story, her ears flickering with the amusement that danced beneath the icy hues of her eyes as they continued their walk in the deep mist veiled world of the Labyrinth. When he laughed at her mentioning that she yelled at Kisamoa, it twisted a smile along her lips. She shrugged when he mentioned he wouldn’t try it, and nodded to him. “Probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” She admitted with another small chirp of a laugh, glancing over toward Rixen.

Yet as she continued her tale and looked to the antlered man beside her, she noticed the concern that flashed across his face. Kiada wasn’t alive during that time, but the tales were there – the ideas that a god could simply appear and make you their willing slave was something she worried for when she was a child, but times had changed and whether or not the Moon Goddess was the patron of her second herd, she still didn’t trust the goddess in the slightest. She did trust Kisamoa, and perhaps that was her being naïve or because she somehow managed to fill the hole in her heart with the time she spent with the strange god. She bobbed her head to Rixen in agreement. “I suppose you never know, but I do hope that he wouldn’t do that.” Thoughtfully, she offered a small smile.

But then as he asked about what she’d earn at the end of the challenge – and that burrowing drowning feeling threatened to appear again, it took her a few moments to actually muster a response. She lowered her head slightly while Khairi continued to fly from above. “Well, a couple of seasons ago, Kisamoa tried to right some of the wrongs he’d done. He lit up these lights in this strange river I’ve never seen again, and tried to summon the dead.” She paused, glancing over to him. “It didn’t go as he planned. They came back wrong and ruthless, trying to kill us and him. He fell into the River, and rather than leave him there like everyone else wanted to do, I went in after him. If he had raised them then he could fix them. But the river wasn’t like normal water, it was deep and full of death and bodies and…” She shuddered slightly at the memory before shaking her head and stopping her walk completely to look upon Rixen with bright icy eyes.

I went into the river, it showed me my death, and when I was done I found Kisamoa and helped him regain strength to close the river. And finally, when we resurfaced, he could close it, but for stepping in the river I have this feeling that I’m constantly drowning.” There was a small laugh that left her lips, though there wasn’t any merriment hidden beneath the tone. “I’ve gotten used to it for now, but it makes me cough constantly in the morning and at night. The first few months after getting it I couldn’t sleep or talk with it.” She added in quietly, before the conversation shifted to where she brushed his shoulder. The fur was soft beneath her own velveteen muzzle before they kept walking, and she offered him a solemn smile. He spoke up before she could though, mentioning that giant black wall on the outskirts and she nodded with a small (actually cheerful) laugh.

I wonder if it will go away with the hope lights.” She pondered aloud before he began to speak of her trial. She offered him a brief roguish grin and a shrug. “I don’t know, one day I just wished it would go away and I felt this tendril of darkness – like the tar from the tarpits on the inside over my heart and it told me what I needed to do. It’s the weirdest thing, honestly.” Kiada shrugged, but nodded when he spoke of a herb. “Here’s hoping, otherwise I might want to burn my tongue off.” And as if in answer to her joke, she sparked a small amount of flame from her spine with a wink in his direction.

"Talk."

img by Mar <3 || coding by Smitty <3


@Rixen <33

TROY FALLS A THOUSAND TIMES,
IN EVERY DREAM I DREAM.
(LIKE ASHES, LIKE ASHES,
LIKE A STAR BURNING OUT.)
Rixen the Vine King
Currently championing: Vjanta
#10
R I X E N

When Kiada mentioned how she hoped Kisamoa would not turn on us, I agreed with a subtle tip of my antlers, "Me too." If he did, all could be lost.

I fell silent for a time, harkening to Kiada’s words as she detailed another encounter with the Riftian god. It was difficult to decide what to think of Kisamoa, based off of the things I heard about him. Already, he came off as a strange sort of god. What god would try to summon the dead from their peaceful slumber, thinking that such an action would bare no consequence? I understood that he meant well, however, I did not see what good could have possibly come of it. Whoever and whatever sort of creature he was, Kisamoa seemed to mean well. His actions seemed not to be products of malice. However, from the storied I'd gathered, he did not to know how to carry out said good intentions smoothly, without wreaking some sort of havoc. Who was I to complain, as an ordinary mortal who could definitely not do a better job. Especially not in an unpredictable place such as the Rift. The more I mulled it over, the more I began to consider the idea that like the rest of us, perhaps even gods were not perfect.

The mare shuddered when she spoke of diving into the river of the dead. I’d have shuddered too, if I went for a swim in so horrifying a place. It was brave of Kiada to dive in after him. It was brave of her to risk her life to save the life of someone who had, in a way, destroyed her own. Kiada stopped walking, and I stopped beside her. Her glittering blue eyes fell on me, and in turn, my green ones searched for contact. With my gaze locking on the gold-hued unicorn, I offered her a warm embrace, a look of understanding and compassion, if she would accept it. When it came to something like this, which I could not possibly understand, I took my role as a listener seriously. I sympathized with Kiada. To feel as though you are constantly drowning must be terrible. She certainly didn’t deserve that in return for saving a god. 

The tone of the conversation changed constantly, but in an almost rhythmic sort of way, like the ebb and flow of water lapping the shore. We went from talk of gods to Kiada’s tasks to the river of death she spoke of, and at last our words fell on the subject of the wall. I recalled the last time that I had been there, not too long ago. "That’s just what I was thinking…Two orbs didn’t seem to have any effect on it, last I checked. Maybe the orbs of hope are not meant to breach the wall. That, or we’re going to need a whole lot more of them." I mused in response to Kiada’s remark that the wall might go away as we continued to spread hope across the Rift, "There being a wall makes me wonder what might be on the other side. If there is another side. Interesting how if there wasn’t a wall I’d probably have far less interest in what is on the other side. I mean, I’d want to explore the land of course. But not being able to see or know something always seems to make you want to, you know?" By now my speech was easy and free flowing as a river, becoming increasingly comfortable as we conversed.

"Likewise, I hope such a remedy exists, and that you don’t resort to burning your tongue off." The laughter was carried in my voice like ripples in a still pond after a stone had been thrown in. It radiated outwards through the Green Labyrinth which had fallen silent up until that moment. The Labyrinth was gloomy and grey, yet somehow the laughter seemed to warm the cold place up. I found myself smiling in spite of myself, and it was genuine. It wasn't even the subject of our conversation that made the grin appear on my lips like an upturned crescent moon. There was no explaining it. I was simply happy, made evident by my expression and the sparkle in my green eyes. "I must selfishly admit that I enjoy talking to you, Kiada, and it would be a shame if I couldn’t anymore. That aside, I’d imagine burning one’s tongue off would be accompanied by a slew of many other, rather painful problems-" Despite there being serious undertones to my words, my vocals maintained their warm, humorous resonance to the end of the sentence. "-ones I'm sure you would not wish upon yourself.

"Talk."


they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock



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