Rainforest Cliffs
It was about the beginning of the second week and to her overwhelming dismay, Zahra was still alive, drifting restlessly and aimlessly between the forest of ancients and the fluorescent wilderness to the north. She was starting to understand, more so accept, that this wasn’t hell - and she was far from dead; that this was the hand that she’d been dealt, whether or not she liked it. Out of all the chaos has risen one positive to note though, her sadness - that aching, sorrowful, loneliness - had been very much distracted.
Often she thought of her sisters, pined for their steadfast, nurturing company, and weary legs had scoured many miles over the strange new contours of the Rift (or so she had witnessed others calling it), searching for them. Hannah had vanished within moments of their arrival - a wild glint had flashed through her eye and like a feral fox, her beloved form had vanished without trace into the whispering shadow. At first, the concept of such a great loss hadn’t dawned on the grim-featured girl, but as the days wore on, and the population around her became less and less escapable, the hole left in lieu of that emotional bond began to sting.
Occasionally there were snippets of sound from the spider who yet huddled inside the web burrow in her mane. Ilham had not fled her side, thankfully, but it was evident that their connection had grown ill, quiet and broken. Through some capacity, the tiny arthropod had been busy weaving new layers along the end of their silken ream (the resource from which her magical ability to craft, drew from). The conflicted mare was relieved to know the youngest of her dear siblings was safe.
Though sad certainly, the dysfunction of these cherished - before, unappreciated - relationships, had inadvertently along the way, played a healthy part in the rediscovery of herself.
Zahra had more or less made peace with the fact that Helovia was gone; for her it was a positive thing, for the realm of the four gods, the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the Time, was interwoven with the pain of the past and everything that had been a negative influence in her life. Though a slim weight of guilt was harder to shed, she was more than glad to find a new sort of familiar - and one that bared absolutely no semblance, the the previous. So too had her dreams begun to soften whenever she so inclined to sleep; instead of the constant harry of confusing flashbacks, she was revisiting her time spent here, in the neon wilds.
It was true; in spite of all the destruction, the arachnophile had a lot to be thankful for.
There came upon the wind - through the earth, resonating to life through her veins - a voice, an urge, that commanded obedience, and without ability to defy it, the winged girl slithered forward from her reflection beneath timber towards the rocky southern rim of the old, breathing forest. An assembly had gathered before the formation of a different deity - one that she had heard rumour about (perhaps), but not that she had ever seen. Or had she? With a quiet, undecided (and almost fearful) eye, she beheld him and ears tilted forward curiously to engage the message he imposed.
Who was this?
The rain eased across her sodden shoulders as though quietened by the ominous rumble of divinity through the atmosphere, and while the light all around her dulled to a moody twilight, around him it gathered, flashed and flared in vibrant, vivid hue. The more he spoke, the more the situation seemed to Zahra, to make sense. She realised quickly that this immortal with the help of his Helovian counterpart, had sucked the inhabitants of her world into this whole new dimension; neither heaven, nor hell! It was a fresh beginning, a clean start, and in accordance with his concluding request, the spider-girl drew a deep, brooding breath and nodded (if only to validate the idea for herself). "Thank you..."
“Like delicate lace,
So the threads intertwine,
Oh, gossamer web
Of wond'rous design!
Such beauty and grace
Wild nature produces...
Ughh, look at the spider
Suck out that bug's juices!”
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