Oh, my tongue's the only muscle in my body that works harder than my heart
Night rendered him in stark colors. Shadows drew the glimmer from his gold, made him a pale ghost in the skies above the labyrinth. Korri moved slowly across the land, pausing often to circle back, his eyes scouring the landscape. This place was new to him. It was also strange: a dance of shadows and tricky light down below. The constant sensation of voices nearby, but no one spoke. No reason in particular for Auga to be here of all places, but eventually Korri circled down anyway, his hooves skimming the cool earth. Maybe it was safer in the sky, but he couldn't see very well. The idea of surrendering and simply leaving to search elsewhere irritated him. So he took the the ground.
It was even stranger down here: dim and shifting, all shadows and muted starlight. He found himself wishing for the thousandth time for his raven's eyes, for her sharp wits. But he was alone. Alone, wandering through the mist with his wings loosely folded. His footsteps were quiet on the soft footing. His thick coat warded off most of the chill, but his breath plumed to mix with the shadows. Korri harbored the unpleasant sensation of being watched, but he didn't smell anything other than the cool damp and the color green. He didn't hear anyone else.
"Hello?" He called. His steps slow and even on the ground. The farther he went, the more he wondered if it was, in fact, worse to be alone than it was to happen upon unexpected company. But then he wondered what kinds of things might live in the mist, and remembered the strange creature he had met at the Blood Falls, and thought perhaps he should be glad for his solitude.
your battle-worn tongue doesn't say the truth anymore. that you are ruined —
The shadows of the Labyrinth were great and ominous, just as they always seemed to be. They were no longer the bright golden lands she had found her companion in, where her brother and her frolicked in their youth. It was a frightening place now. Before all she had to worry about were the random Helovian creatures, though there were so little of them that were a threat. Here in the Rift, nearly everything was a threat. So Khairi remained on alert and Kiada continued her own explorations in the dark shadows. She found a small outcrop to investigate, searching for any kind of herbs or things that might be helpful to her herd.
Yet when she found nothing, she went to change her direction when she heard a slight “hello?” and froze. After a moment, she recognized the voice and lifted her inky head up high. “Korri?” She called out in the direction she thought he might be in. Then, she began to move away from her little hiding spot in the attempts of pinpointing the smaller pegasus. Of course, the mists and shadows of the Labyrinth made it incredibly difficult to actually find the correct area, so it took a bit of searching before she was certain she was in the correct vicinity.
“I didn’t know you’d be out here.” She chuckled quietly to herself, looking into the shadows and mists, realizing she might look quite silly if he wasn’t where she thought he was and instead appeared in a random direction just seeing her talking to herself in one specific direction. Oh well, this land was confusing enough as it is, and she wasn’t sure if it would go back to normal any time soon.
"Talk."
and you wonder why he lets you — the butcher
touch him — the sun
Oh, my tongue's the only muscle in my body that works harder than my heart
Of all things, Korri never expected his own name thrown back at him. He froze, his brain working quickly to decipher the phenomenon, categorize it either as threat or beneficence. Recognition won out eventually, though, and Korri pricked his ears in the direction of the sound. "Kiada?" he called, moving in the direction of her voice. They met like ghosts appearing out of the mist: two brightly colored shadows blooming suddenly out of the darkness.
Korri took a moment to look her over, savoring briefly the pleasure of finding a friendly face where he never expected one to be. As well: the pleasure of a friendly face at all in this strange, hostile land. He smiled at her surprise, and bobbed his head. "I've been exploring," he replied honestly. "I'm certain Auga is here somewhere, though I've yet to find her..." Korri's voice trailed off as he regarded the shadows again, a frown overtaking his cheer. How long had the raven been lost to him? How long could she be lost? Didn't she miss him?
Or was she happier without him?
That particular thought crowded in too close whenever he allowed it, and Korri shoved it off yet again to offer a strained smile to Kiada. "It's nice to see you again," he said. "Do you come out here often? Looking for herbs?" It did not seem the sort of place plants might grow, but the Rift made little sense, anyway.
your battle-worn tongue doesn't say the truth anymore. that you are ruined —
They were like ghosts, as Korri’s voice seemed to resonate from nothing but mist and shadow. But she continued to search, hoping the two would coincide and she could glean some strange shadow in the mist as her smaller friend. Soon enough, the two were face to face, both golden and honey hued, the only spark of color in this barren dark place. She offered him a bob of her head as a smile graced her pink splotched lips, happy to see him. Though she glanced around briefly looking to see if she could find his companion in the shadows, unless of course he hadn’t found her yet. She refrained from asking, from bringing up that pain if he wasn’t concerned about it for the time being.
Instead, he offered up the information easily and her dark ears flicked toward him as she stepped a bit closer toward him in an effort to ward off the shadows. The flames along her back wafting up to provide some heat and prevent the darkness from spreading ever closer. They crackled quietly while Kiada glanced around as he, too, looked for his companion. So Kiada nodded, a solemn sort of smile crossing her features as she regarded her friend. “Khairi is exploring too, I’ll have him keep an eye out.” She offered him kindly, returning her dark inky head to face him.
Then, as he asked her if she came here often, she offered a subtle nod. She lifted her head then, her dark mane sliding across her golden neck as her white forelock shifted over her striped face. “It’s… Nostalgic for me.” She began, shifting her weight to settle in for a story, offering Korri a smile as if to say she’d be willing to explain it all if he wanted to listen. “I wasn’t yet born when the Helovian gods ripped lands from the Rift into Helovia. But this was one of them. When my twin and I were young, not even six months old, we explored these lands in Helovia. It’s where I found Khairi.” She offered, her voice growing perhaps a smidge hoarser as she spoke of her brother. But she shook her head to try and prevent the memories from sticking too hard. “It was golden and beautiful, a wonderful maze. Not full of horrors and darkness like it is now. But I still try to come to see if I can help it.” She offered quietly, turning to Korri once again and letting her soft glacial eyes land on him once more with a slight shrug.
"Talk."
and you wonder why he lets you — the butcher
touch him — the sun
Green Labyrinth
