The Pinnacle
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R I X E N I didn't really know what a good solution was, but perhaps like everyone else, I was reluctant to admit it. Everyone, myself included, was sort of throwing ideas against an invisible wall and hoping that one or two would stick. The group continued to debate about where and when it was best to meet. After contributing my initial thoughts, I fell back to silence for some time, listening to what everyone else had to say and trying to think of a solution. Otem appeared to be processing what everyone else had to say, weighing the merit of each point. She would nod her head as each horse took his or her turn to speak. Though many of our opinions differed from her own, she seemed to be handling everyone's criticisms of her proposal well. The burgundy mare said nothing in the way of outright disagreement with others’ ideas with the exception of Raein’s words, after which she quickly defended her fire idea. While I found gaps in her thinking, Otem made good points overall. Updates every so often were not enough. We would need some sort of system for emergencies or urgent messages, in case something were to happen. No one, not even myself, had given that problem much consideration thus far. Her fire idea was good, and it was true that smoke was not nearly as hazardous as fire was. But an awful lot of smoke would need to be produced for someone to see it from far away. And there was always the chance that on a particularly gusty day, wind could interfere with a smoke signal. Though I refrained from mentioning it, as everyone had already begun discussing other aspects of said meetings, I didn’t think it was safe to just hope that someone else would be nearby in the event of an emergency. Something more reliable would be safer. Someplace more accessible too, in terms of location. The more I thought about it, the more complex everything became. As soon as Otem finished speaking, Kiada began. Demonstrating her own control of the flames, she summoned a fire-tornado that gyrated around an invisible vertical axis, its tail touching down lightly on the earth’s surface. After enough time had passed for everyone in the circle to get a good look at the dancing funnel of bright light, heat, and smoke, Kiada extinguished it with apparent ease. On the ground before the spotted unicorn, there was a little blackened patch where the flames had charred the earth. More than skill alone was required to manipulate fire like that. To me, magic held an immense power that no amount of skill could make up for. Unlike mere skills, magic seemed to have no limitations to what it could do. Magic could appear in any shape or form, and I was certain there was magic that could do anything imaginable, and even things that I couldn't possibly fathom. I leaned into the circle slightly, focusing my attention on Kiada as she continued to speak. Her words also held merit. One of Kiada's suggestions was that different horses should play the roles of messengers, staying in the east and west to relay information. Interesting. This could also be useful, but how we would go about implementing such a complex plan? It was probably best if we discussed it when everyone could agree on the simpler things. My response to the curve-horned mare was but a few soft-spoken words. "I couldn't have thought of that myself." Aside from that, I offered no more on the subject. I did not want to tackle a problem without having any idea how to go about solving it. However, the polite thing to do was to at least offer some type of acknowledgement, and so that was what I did. Next, Kiada suggested we meet at Halyven rather than here. Given my fondness of the place, I was glad to hear Kiada’s idea to hold our meetings there. Of all the places I had seen and explored in the Rift, it was by far the most fascinating, a ruined city distinguished by its many pointed spires. The ruins were as beautiful in death as they must have been in life. If anything, traveling there for meetings would give me an excuse to visit the ruins more often. Bobbing my head approvingly alongside Otem and Roscorro, I hastened to expressed my approval in both speech and action. "Right." Following several looks of approval, Otem took up the reins of conversation again. As she spoke, Otem collected everyone’s thoughts together and presented them in a more organized and clear manner. Halyven. Every half-moon. The idea was agreeable enough. "That sounds fair." I said at last with a hint of a smile showing on my lips. Then, turning to face Otem, I addressed her directly before posing my question to the whole group. "Otem, earlier you mentioned the possibility of a serious, unexpected, or dangerous situation arising that would require immediate action. What are we to do in the event of an emergency?" "Talk." they heard me singing and they told me to stop quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock |
