another mind, another soul, another body to grow old. it's not complicated.
I've lost my best friend, I don't even know where the fuck I am, I am not putting up with some incorporeal bullshit trying to mess with my magic or my stuff.
That was perhaps the best summary of the things Otem was feeling that she had ever heard. Although Otem hadn't been personally harmed by whatever incorporeal Rift-thing always seemed to show up, something inside of her still wanted to rebel against it. The Rift has a whole had been so .. so giving thus far, offering Otem small items as well as the magic that made her coat softly glow and the oak leaves that always seemed to be present in her mane. But this place, the portal seemed unnecessarily brutal.
"The last time I was here the mare I was with said something similar. But it just .. .it comes. There's no time to fight back or even ask for an explanation." Otem said patiently. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Aryel fight back against the Portal-monster (that was something she really would enjoy) but because she was fairly certain that it was impossible. The thing hadn't even given Aurelia a chance, and the golden mare had been ready for it.
"Oh, it just does that. One of the gods of this place gave them out. They just ... split whenever we find someone who is without." Was Kisamoa actually a god? Had he ever said as much? In that moment, Otem couldn't actually remember. She made a mental note to try and pin down the answer as soon as she could though.
A bat?
Pandora hooted from her position on Otem's wither, and turned her pale face towards Aryel. If Otem hadn't assumed Java was Aryel's companion (or former companion), Pandora certainly had. Although the owl might have eaten the bat if she had half a chance, with Aryel's description in mind the owlet would be more careful in the future. Shaking her feathered head slowly, Pandora's wide gold-ringed eyes appraised the mare with sympathy. Both Otem and Pandora knew what it was like to be separated from each other, and although their bond had been newly healed, the memory was still fresh. "No, I'm sorry. But we'll keep an eye out, won't we Pan?" The owl hooted her agreement. "I"m Otem by the way."
The Portal
