Green Labyrinth
01-24-2018, 03:19 AM
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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 |
No worries!! :)
