Baal recieved the exact response she expected. Her heart hammered against her chest and she sighed. Not out of disappointment but of exhaustion. She had been awake for what seemed like many hours, most of them spend talking to Korri and Rixen. She looked up from the ground and at Rixen. "In that case, I suppose I will stay in Halyven." She beamed a smile at Rixen, her new king. She looked back at Korri and nodded her head at him, as a sort of nonverbal thank you. Korri could take the nod as he pleased.
Her decision to stay was one of survival. She was new to this world, new to the fauna. Usually, she would opt to fly solo. However, if she wanted to survive here, she needed to be with those who had been there before. She looked between Rixen and Korri, waiting for one of them to something. Anything, to get her mind off of the thought of never going home.
I nodded to Korri as he finished, or rather added a positive twist to a rather morbid sentence. It would be morbid if one were new here, that was. I could empathize with the feeling of despair at learning that you were never going to return home again, see your friends, your family, your lover, your sons or daughters. Coming to the Rift, we left all that we had ever known behind, and it was indeed a gut wrenching feeling - at first. But though there was a brief time when I’d felt that all hope was lost, like I had reached the bottom of the ocean with no possibility of rising to the surface, of feeling the air rush into my lungs ever again, hope was there. I could not see it, but soon it enveloped me in its warm embrace, and I found my place here. That I would not trade for anything in the world.
There was a place in the Rift for all, and as long as it was in my control, Halyven would be that place. Certainly this mare standing before me would fit in among our ranks, whether she wished to heal or craft or fight. We were her family now. Her home, should she choose to accept it.
I was glad to hear Baal’s decision: she would return to Halyven with us. Fortunately, she seemed to speak it with confidence, an indication that she was accepting of her fate. Her smile hid away whatever pain she might have felt, but it also reflected how keen she was to join our herd. There was a gleam of approval in my eyes as I offered for Baal and Korri to return to the city with me. “Rest assured that there is a home for you here. We should get going - your family eagerly awaits.”
With that, I turned back toward the city walls, and began to make my way back in the direction I’d come. My morning stroll could wait. After a few seconds of walking, my antlered head swung back and then forward again with the rhythm and ease of a pendulum, just to make sure that the others were following.
The lion isn't sacred when not sleeping near the lamb
So far as Korri was concerned, things went along as expected. Though initially resistant, Baal of course decided to stay with them for the time being. What other choice did she have? Wander the unfriendly dark? Korri smiled at her nonetheless after she spoke, and gave an encouraging nod of his head. Halyven wasn't so terrible. She seemed a resilient girl, anyway.
Rixen spoke then, too, and turned back toward the city. Korri's ears pricked. He lifted one hoof; hesitated; set it down. "Well —" He ducked his head, a little chuckle escaping his throat, as if he were mildly embarrassed. "Actually, I should be going, now that things are settled. I still have a lot of daylight left, and —" Here he glanced at the sky, longing lancing through his heart like an arrow. "My raven is out there somewhere." With a rather more sincere smile, Korri stepped back and nodded at the two of them. "I trust you can take care of things from here, Rixen. Thank you." And then — hopefully before either of them could stop him — he went to pivot and hurl himself into the sky, small wings beating furiously to bear him aloft.
It is evil when it eats unless it's feeding from the damned.
Kingdom of Halyven
