He smiled back as she thanked him, not sure why she seemed to be happy that they had found each other or that she could talk to him - he wasn’t the best at conversations, though he had been giving it more effort lately. But he wasn’t about to snub her for it, even when all he did was try to comfort her as best as he could. “Well I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to talk to me, Maren.” He responded kindly. Otherwise their shared stay in these caves might very well be unpleasant! The torrential downpour that awaited outside might have been a better option of the silence had been hostile or uncomfortable. They were both, thankfully, saved from that outcome and could wander the caves together.

She followed as he led, the memory of the paths to take coming back although it had been what, a year or more since he had last been down here? Just after his return he had come here, searching for his family. Even then there had been others lingering, he had run into Sacre again!

Now, though, he doubted very much that they would find anyone else down here. They would be left at peace to explore.

Mesec felt so glad that the wall was a success with Maren - he watched with delight as she brushed off the dust, trying to take it all in. The firelight flickered around them and he stood off to the side - he knew what pictures were on the wall, he had explored them the last time he was down here. It was a treat, after all, just to hear the amazement in her voice as she took it all in, to watch as she explored every moment that was depicted.

It wasn’t until she asked him about some flames that he stopped looking at her and looked to the wall to see what she was talking about. “Yes, it was engulfed in flames at one point. A giant dragon, I think, or the Sun God.” Or both at different times? His knowledge on the Throat was pretty spotty, but he knew that there had been wars there before - knew that the large tree that still stood there was a remnant of the time before the wars and before the fire. He’d have to ask Ampere to tell him more about the history of his new herd.

He moved closer when she asked him if he knew the meanings, silver eyes searching the wall as he got a better look at it all. He picked out the stories that he knew, the obvious ones - the unmistakable form of his mother and the other gods as they meddled here and there. “Some of them... most of them, I think. I wish I knew more, like I said.” Most of his knowledge was from what had happened after the gods had showed up, but there was little about what had happened before. He did not believe that the gods had brought life to this place, just order.

But the one story he did know was how he knew about this place and when she asked, at least he could speak with some certainty on that subject. “We were trapped down here once, all of Helovia. One Orangemoon, a sickness infected the lands, great clouds of darkness came. Something the gods couldn’t - or wouldn’t - stop. I was on the beach when I first saw it - it was unlike any storm I had ever seen. Magical and wrong.” He frowned as he remembered the feeling. The infection of fear and the need to warn the Foothills as he fled before the darkness. Everyone else he knew had been there when it happened, this was the first time he had the chance to tell the story to someone new. “It was like… a physical manifestation of fear. It infected the lands and those that had lingered in them - turning them into wraiths. We were lucky, these caves had been discovered and Helovia’s population that was not infected took shelter here for a long time.” It had been interesting, the lot of them all sheltered down here. Smelly, certainly, but there was a decent amount of space so that they could spread out. “I think they were down here for a little over a season.” He was still unsure about the exact time when they had discovered that it was safe to return to the surface, or how they had found out. His own return to Helovia did not happen until the next Birdsong.

@[Maren]


I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.