[SWP] Dark Days

RIXEN i have late night conversations with the moon; The salty, tangy scent of the ocean hung in the air for what seemed like miles before the water was even visible. But we had not come here to enjoy the scenic view from the cliffside, or frolic down on the sandy beach beneath the shade of the mangrove trees. No - we were on a mission, so to speak. We were on our way to cleanse just a little bit more of the Rift of the sickness that had wracked its body for so long. See, the horses living in the Rift, and even those who'd been brought here through Kisamoa's portal, were not the only creatures affected. The disease had spread to the plants, too.  The mangroves, which should have been standing tall and proud as trees do, had bent this way and that in their pain. No branch was perfectly straight, of course, but this was far worse than a few natural kinks along each bark-covered arm. Like the Matron had said, the trees had begun to tie themselves together. Their branches formed knots so tight that they wound in strangleholds around one another, choking the life away. Blood, in the form of sap, dribbled down the wounded bark, and the limbs that had died slumped toward the ground. Each mangrove looked as it were trying to voice a despairing moan into the damp ocean air. This all became plainly visible as I approached the Tidepools. It was an even sadder sight to see than what I'd initially imagined, and at once I began to think of how we could stop the trees from suffocation one another and themselves. It didn't seem like an easy task, considering the fact that I couldn't exactly talk to the trees. I turned to Kiada, who'd also travelled with me to help, "This is awful..." I surveyed the scene. Everything was so different from the last time we'd been here. "A small part of me had been hoping what the Matron said wasn't true." Another part of me had known all along it wasn't. "Talk." he tells me about the sun — and I tell him about you.

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@Kiada and anyone who wants to jump in!