Rain and Ivy

VALKYRIE She stood in the storm Valkyrie had no idea where they were (the rainforest, yes, but within it, no), yet it seemed a trivial complaint  as she strode aside the shadow of pure grandeur. The rain continued to fall. Soil that had been deprived for many seasons was choking on the torrents of water that had, thus far, saturated the forest; downward deviations which had at first seemed to Valkyrie to be mere paths networking hither and thither, were now gushing rapids, ready nearly to burst their banks. Air that had tasted so clean and fresh at the beginning of Drench, now held a putrid, mouldering flavour and dormant plants which had thrown forth bright, excited, newly nourished foliage were now horribly overgrown, encroaching almost every trail they followed. …which was all fairly tolerable, regardless, for K’yarie was magnificent. She and the pristine Shieldmaiden had been wandering the rainforest for many weeks, sharing stories (less so the latter), and the celestial goddess, imparting pearls of perfect wisdom and culture upon the smaller devotee. Ever infatuated with her new friend, Valkyrie absorbed all that was offered and found herself along the way feeling a little more comfortable, here, trapped in the Rift. One particular day, or night - the clouds dimmed the world grimly so it was often hard to tell - she was following K’yarie slowly through the murkier centre of the forest when the other paused quite suddenly before the figure of a lovely, green tree. With a keen interest in anything which struck her idol’s fancy, the pallid pegasus stopped also to examine it. Upon first glance, it looked no different to the countless other bodies of wood and leaf around it (perhaps though, among the larger). Valkyrie narrowed her eyes, glancing back to the taller briefly to gage the expression swimming through her purple, spangled features; K’yarie began to move, however, gliding slowly nearer before vanishing beneath the now visible tangle of rampant vine. Delicate, cupped ears titled forward curiously, engrossed, for it was not common for the celestial beauty to dabble in the muddied shrubbery - not to mention, they both had a preference for the vast night sky above sheltered, cracks and crevices. For a moment she waited, considering the entrance, anticipating her friend’s return from her random excursion through the forest’s wet, overgrowth. As the seconds ticked by, intrigue nagged at her dithering mind and the need to know what was happening soon persuaded her into motion. Neat, round hooves carried her beneath the veil of weeping vine, arriving her upon a scene that was both wonderfully provocative and utterly underwhelming. He was there, the idiot with the thorny face (though the nature of her presence lured her closer). A second dying man in as many days - half her luck! Yet, as Valkyrie thought to harvest his disfigured form for a trophy, she realised that K’yarie was hovering over him concerned; the contempt displayed so visibly for the rusty twit on the cliff-top, was entirely non-existent here. Sighing, she scuffed backwards to wait by the periphery of the old, lifeless trunk’s core. There came the sound of muffled hoofbeats from the distant wall, and the Daughter’s stark blue eyes fell upon the coloured, soggy canvas of another. At first, she failed to recognise him, for feathers no longer seemed to cloak along his spine, but as he swept in upon the fallen, she caught view of his face: Vynter. “HA!” She almost blurted, instead, ears slid into a disdainful, about-faced position. “Oh Vynter,” she hummed with a sugary smile curled across her lips. “I suppose he will wake now? Is this true love’s first kiss?” Eyes rolled derisively in their rose-tinted sockets, and a soft, disdainful snort rattled past her nostrils. Perhaps he hadn’t seen her there upon intrusion, lurking in the shadow behind K’yarie. What an unfortunate oversight... and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.

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